MAMMALS OF ]SrOKTHEEN CAiNADA 237 



Haebotte Poepoise — Phoccena phocoena (Linnseus). 



In the oft-referred-to statement of London fur sales, half 

 skins of the porpoise appear without a break from 1856 to 

 1869, inclusive (I can not say if any were previously secured 

 for export) ; then we have the columns for 1870 and 1873 

 blank, while the catch varied between 4 (the lowest) in 1862, 

 5 in 1863, 6 in 1864, and the highest (2,278) in 1865. 

 The total sales for the twenty years amount to 14,048 half 

 skins — equal to, I presume, 7,024 killed porpoises. As 

 neither Dr. Robert Bell nor Mr. Preble mention this animal, 

 it is probably not an inhabitant of the waters of Hudson 

 Bay, and must, therefore, be considered as a product of 

 Labrador seas. 



The discoverer of the great Mackenzie River (which figures so 

 frequently in these Notes, and from which a large amount of 

 material was forwarded to the Smithsonian Institution, and which 

 has also for a long time heen, and still is, a valuable and rich fur 

 preserve) surely deserves some notice, especially by a later fellow- 

 townsman. The celebrated fur trader and explorer. Sir Alexander 

 Mackenzie, was a native of Stornoway, Lewis, Scotland, who emi- 

 grated to Canada in 1779, and soon after engaged in the fur trade, 

 and in time became a partner and leader in the Northwest Com- 

 pany. In 1789 he discovered and descended the Mackenzie River 

 to its outlet in the Arctic Ocean. In 1793, by way of Peace River, 

 he was the first white man, with matchless prudence and fortitude, 

 to force his way across the Northern American Continent, and there, 

 in latitude 52° 20' north, left his mark on a rock by the seaside, 

 bearing the inscription: "Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada by 

 land the twenty-second of July, one thousand seven hundred and 

 ninety-three.'' Mackenzie's discoveries added new regions to the 

 realms of British Empire and commerce, and in doing so extended 

 the boundaries of geographical science. He did much more, and 

 but for his labours, and those of his contemporaries and successors 

 in the Fur Trade, it is doubtful if any part of that country would 

 to-day be a portion of the Canadian Dominion. Mackenzie is 

 described as " possessed of a vigorous imtellect and a fine physique, 

 of medium stature, square, muscular build, very strong, lithe, and 

 capable of enduring great fatigue. He was a remarkably fine-looking 

 man, firm and dignified, refined and noble in thought, with a mind 

 and energy bent on enterprise, and filled with zeal for the benefit 



