152 Sir ALEXANDER MACKENZIE

the only representatives of Great Britain, and
they gradually succeeded in occupying effec-
tively a large region west of the Rockies.
Mackenzie left the work of exploration to
younger men, but behind the scenes, in Mon-
treal and in London, he continued to strive
for the full realization of what he called his
“favourite project.”

In 1804 he appeared for a short time in a
new field. In August he was élected a mem-
ber of the Assembly of Lower Canada for the
county of Huntingdon, and he retained his
seat until 1808. He did not feel that he was
a success as a legislator. He wrote to Roderick
from Quebec while attending the session of
1805: “I am heartily tired of legislation. I
sincerely wish that those who thought them-
selves my friends in being the means of get-
ting me so honourable a situation had been
otherwise employed.”’ During the succeeding
sessions he was frequently absent in England,
and probably he did not again take his place
in parliament.