Over the Divide : 153

that they had arranged among themselves to return at all costs. "The men, meanwhile, were chafing to leave but unable to muster the necessary resolution. Mackenzie appeared to be wholly inattentive to their behaviour. After several hours he ordered four men to step into the canoe and drop down to the “guardhouse,” and he was relieved to find that his command was instantly obeyed. The re- mainder of the party walked down. On drawing near, the leader, in a sportive moment, quite thoughtlessly shot an arrow towards the guardhouse, when to his astonishment and infinite alarm it struck the logs, and instantly created confusion among his men, who had just landed, and thought they were attacked. A disturbed night followed in the course of which their dog sensed something in the woods, and at two in the morning the sentinel saw about fifty paces away what he thought wasa bear, but daylight proved it to have been a human figure creeping on all fours, an old, grey-haired, blind man, who had been compelled by extreme hunger to leave his hiding-place. ‘The old chap’s fears were quieted, and he was warmed and fed and questioned, when it appeared that some Indians from above had followed after Mackenzie’s party and spread the story that they were enemies, and the unexpected return of the exploring party in direct contradic- tion to their own declarations confirmed them in the belief that the strangers were in truth powerful enemies. The people were now so scattered, the old man said, that it would be some time before they could meet again.

This account decided Mackenzie to proceed with his purpose, depending on the old man, whom they carried along by force,} to explain their attitude to any natives they might encounter. “Ihe men were in a state of extreme ill-humour all day, and, not daring to openly vent it on Mackenzie,

1 Quesnel River was passed at 3 p.m.