Sir ALEXANDER MACKENZIE

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Company, so that their rivalry would end and
his dream be realized of a great combine
reaching to the Pacific coast. Neither was
selfish, but their points of view were not
compatible. Both were imperious and strongly
partisan, and it is no wonder that they soon
quarrelled. To Mackenzie the North-West
was a savage region capable of producing furs
alone; to Selkirk it was a rich and unoccupied
land crying for inhabitants. The two asso-
ciates were soon bitter enemies, and all sense
of proportion was lost. To Selkirk Mackenzie
became a greedy trader seeking to keep half a
continent as a range for wild animals; to
Mackenzie and his allies Selkirk became a
land speculator, a stock jobber, using his
influence with the Hudson’s Bay Company
to secure a vast estate for himself without
payment. It is hardly necessary to say that
both views were quite untrue.

As soon as Mackenzie grew suspicious of
Selkirk’s plans he urged without avail the
immediate purchase by the North West Com-
pany of all the stock of the Hudson’s Bay
Company which could be got. It would have