148 Str ALEXANDER MACKENZIE

could not accomplish much without special
privileges, to compensate for the special privi-
leges of other bodies. A chartered company
was the solution. If his plan had been
accepted when it was first suggested, part of
the coast would have become British territory
many years before it did, and Canada would
probably have included to-day the states of
Oregon and Washington as well as British
Columbia.

The government, however, was not dis-
posed to meddle with ancient vested rights.
It was suggested to Mackenzie that the first
step ought to be the union of all the Montreal
interests. Going back to Canada in March,
1802, he made enquiries which convinced him
that the North West Company could not be
converted to any scheme so ambitious. Writ-
ing in October for Hobart’s information, he
said that the bitterness between the rival com-
panies was intense, and he urged the govern-
ment once more to set up a military estab-
lishment at Nootka so as to declare British
sovereignty; he was afraid that other nations
would get there first.