Daily excerpts from the journal of Alexander MacKenzie on his epic Voyage to find an Overland route from Canada to the Pacific Ocean: (Con't)
“It rained in the morning, and did not cease till about eight, and as the men had been very fatigued and disheartened, I suffered them to continue their rest till that hour. Such was the state of the river, as I have already observed, that no alternative was left us...but the passage of the mountain over which we were to carry the canoe...As this was a very alarming enterprize (sic), I dispatched Mr. MacKay... ”
Some of his men were sent hiking over the mountain until they should find the river navigable, some are sent to find the “Indian carrying-place”, and some stayed with him.
“The people who remained with me were employed in gumming the canoe, and making handles for the axes. At noon I got an altitude, which made our latitude 56.0.8.”
“At sunset, Mr. MacKay returned...they got beyond the rapid, which, according to their calculation, was a distance of three leagues.”
According to Google, about 3 miles per league.
“Unpromising, however, as the account of their expedition appeared, it did not sink them into a state of discouragement; and a kettle of wild rice, sweetened with sugar, which had been prepared for their return, with their usual regale of rum, soon renewed that courage…”
He hasn’t written much about food, only the odd remark here or there. This is the first mention in his journal of wild rice, however the voyageurs and fur traders would be no strangers to maple sugar.
(Photo By elPadawan)
He wants to know how far west he has come.
“I sat up, in the hope of getting an observation of Jupiter and his first satellite, but the cloudy weather prevented my obtaining it.”
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