78 Sir ALEXANDER MACKENZIE

ning of May.” He satisfied their desires to
the extent of a nine-gallon cask.

A sharp frost reminded him that he could
not linger, and he continued upstream on the
23rd. He had selected a spot near the junction
of the Smoky River with the Peace for his
winter quarters, close to the site of the town
of Peace River to-day. Here, on November 1,
his party arrived after a hard struggle and in
very cold weather. Two men had been sent
ahead in the spring to prepare timber for the
buildings, and they were found to have done
their work “with activity and skill.’ The
despatch of this advance party before he had
returned from England seems to show that
Mackenzie’s plans had been made when he
went on leave in 1791. Seventy Indians were
waiting for him, to open trade and to receive
the usual presents; their concerns occupied his
first week. Then he busied himself with super-
vising the building of the fort. His dwelling
was ready for occupation on December 23,
when his men began work on their own houses.
He comments on their life as follows: