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 for the trade emporium on the Atlantic side. "But," says Mackenzie, "whatever course may be taken from the Atlantic, the Columbia is the line of communication from the Pacific Ocean, pointed out by nature, as it is the only navigable river in the whole extent of Vancouver's minute survey of that coast; its banks also form the first level country in all the southern extent of continental coast from Cook's entry [Inlet] and, consequently, the most northern situation fit for colonization, and suitable for the residence of a civilized people." The line of posts would begin at the mouth of Columbia River, and in the Rocky Mountains it would connect with the head of Saskatchewan River, which it would follow to Lake Winnipeg and Nelson River. Related to this continental trade would be " the fishing in both seas and the markets of the four quarters of the globe."

Mackenzie appeared to anticipate little difficulty in carrying out his plan of using the Columbia, assuming that it would be a simple matter for Great Britain to acquire title to the territory through which it flowed. He remarked that the boundary between British and American possessions in the Northwest must be rectified by drawing a line from the Lake of the Woods