“I now mixed up some vermilion in melted grease, and inscribed, in large char- acters, on the South East face of the rock on which we had slept last night, this brief memorial—

“Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, the twenty-second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.””

I will now quote an incident of Mackenzie’s return voyage which throws additional light on the subject:

“As I thought that we were too near the village, I consented to leave this place, and accordingly proceeded North-East three miles, when we landed on a point, in a small cove, where we should not be readily seen, and could not be attacked except in our front.’

The words ‘“‘could not be attacked except in our front”’ invite comparison with The Rock and the abandoned village site, both of which Mackenzie had already described as ‘‘well suited for defence.” They were well suited for defence against attacks from the main channels to the North or South but not against one from the ‘‘troublesome fellow’s”’ village in Elcho Harbour; and the fact that canoes from this direction could creep up unseen to within a few hundred feet of The Rock explains Mackenzie’s desire to move further from the village to a place where “we could not be attacked except in our front.”

“The two canoes which we had left at our last station, followed us hither, and when they were preparing to depart, our young chief embarked with them. I was determined, however, to prevent his escape, and compelled him, by actual force, to come on shore, for | thought it much better to incur his displeasure than to suffer him to expose himself to any untoward accident among strangers, or to return to his father before us. The man in the canoe made signs for him to go over the hill, and that they would take him on board at the other side of it.’7

26 See page 349, Mackenzie’s Voyages. 27 See page 350, Mackenzie's Voyages. Page Twenty-five