been achieved through the determination and
courage of a single individual.

The task which Mackenzie set himself
was to reach the Pacific. His own account,
in the preface to his Voyages, of his motives
and qualifications is worth quotation:

I was led, at an early period of life, by com-
mercial views, to the country North-West of
Lake Superior, in North America, and being
endowed by Nature with an inquisitive mind
and enterprising spirit; possessing also a con-
stitution and frame of body equal to the most
arduous undertakings, and being familiar
with toilsome exertions in the prosecution of
mercantile pursuits, I not only contemplated
the practicability of penetrating across the
continent of America, but was confident in
the qualifications, as I was animated by the
desire, to undertake the enterprise.

It was undoubtedly Peter Pond who
determined the course of Mackenzie’s first
attempt. Pond was better informed than
any other man about the geography of the
Athabaska district, but he was not a trained
explorer, and he often drew on his ample

Wuar Lies Beyonp tue Mountarns? 39