Earty Lire 5

The year of Mackenzie’s arrival in
Canada is also not definitely known. The
date of 1779 is that most frequently given;
but, in the letter just mentioned, we find
Mackenzie acknowledging in June, 1778, the
receipt of a parcel of clothes from Scotland for
which he had written the year before, com-
plaining of the high prices charged for them
and of the conduct of another brother who
was also in Canada. From this it appears that
he came out in 1776 at the latest, and possibly
earlier; some put the date as early as 1771.
In 1779 he entered the service of John Greg-
ory, a prominent merchant of Montreal who
had a considerable interest in the fur-trade,
and for the next five years he was employed
in his office. There he learnt much, and
rapidly won Gregory’s regard and confidence.
But his was not a disposition to be satisfied
with the routine of ordinary commerce, and
in 1784 he went on an independent trading
venture, with an outfit of goods supplied by
Gregory, to seek his fortune in Detroit, then
a small backwoods town. During that winter
the course of events in the Canadian fur-trade