July 7, 1793. Act Of Negligence.

 July 7, 1793.

Excerpts from the journal of Alexander MacKenzie, on his way overland to the Pacific Ocean.

“I was so busily employed in collecting intelligence from our conductors, that I last night forgot to wind up my timepiece, and it was the only instance of such an act of negligence since I left Fort Chipewyan on the 11th of last October.”

     There are ways to re-set his clock, however none of them are easy. The transit of Jupiter’s moons combined with his astronomical tables could give him time; provided he can see Jupiter and can wait for the next transit. Using the Sun is a simple, but far less accurate method, because the time from noon to noon again is sometimes more, and sometimes less than, 24 hours. Also, sunrise and sunset times change by a few minutes daily. He must have a table for those corrected times as well, although he doesn’t say so. Either way, he obviously got it fixed that morning, as he continues to quote times in the journal. It is also quite possible that Mr. MacKay had a timepiece with him as well, which he could copy from.    

     “At five we quitted (sic) our station, and proceeded across two mountains, covered with spruce, poplar, white-birch, and other trees. We then descended into a level country, where we found a good road, through woods of cypress.”

     It is quite difficult to follow this trail with Google Earth, compared to following his voyage using the river courses. Trails can be difficult to see, even when zooming in. And his reckoning of miles may be less accurate than his computations of river miles. Also his lack of descriptive land-marks makes it hard to pinpoint the actual camp locations. Portions of the trail have been used for thousands of years, and there are a number of prehistoric cultural sites along the route.

Picture 1. The Alexander MacKenzie Heritage Trail, today known as the  Nuxalk-Carrier Grease Trail.

Picture 2. B.C. Government plaque.

Picture 3. Euchiniko Lake, B.C. 

     “About three we perceived more people before us...Here I was under the necessity of procuring another guide, and we continued our route on the same side of the river, till six in the evening, when we crossed it...our guide recommended us to proceed onwards to a family of his friends...where we arrived at half past seven. He had gone forward, and procured us a welcome and quiet reception.”

     Once again, he is relying entirely on his native guides to introduce him to the next group of people as he comes into contact with them, and to interpret. He needs them in order to avoid conflict, or to surprise anyone, and to make sure that he will be welcomed. He has met several people on this day, and I suggest that interested readers indulge themselves in his account of that.

     “The water of the river before the lodge was quite still, and expanded itself the form of a small lake. In many other places, indeed, it had assumed the same form.”