In 1851 he was elected to parliament for Haldimand, defeating George Brown. He at once allied himself with the Radicals (the “Clear Grits”), and, on the leadership of that party being assumed by Brown, became one of his lieutenants. He was still miserably poor, but refused all offers to accept a government position. In 1858 he resigned his seat in the house, owing to incipient softening of the brain, of which he died on the 29th of August 1861.
Turbulent, ungovernable, vain, often the dupe of schemers, Mackenzie united with much that was laughable not a little that was heroic. He could neither be bribed, bullied, nor cajoled. Perhaps the best instance of this is that in 1832 he refused from Lord Goderich an offer of a position which would have given him great influence in Canada and an income of £1,500. He was a born agitator, and as such tended to exaggeration and misrepresentation. But the evils against which he struggled were real and grave; the milder measures of the Constitutional Reformers might have taken long to achieve the results which were due to his hot-headed advocacy.
The Life and Times by his son-in-law, Charles Lindsey (Toronto, 2 vols., 1862), is moderate and fair, though tending to smooth over his anti-British gasconnade while in the United States. An abridgment of this work was edited by G. G. S. Lindsey for the “Makers of Canada” series (1909). In The Story of the Upper Canadian Rebellion by J. C. Dent (2 vols., Toronto, 1885), a bitter attack is made on him, which drew a savage reply from another son-in-law, John King, K.C., called The Other Side of the Story. The best short account of his career is given by J. C. Dent in The Canadian Portrait Gallery, vol. ii. (Toronto, 1881).
(W. L. G.)
MACKENZIE, a river of the North-West Territories, Canada, discharging the waters of the Great Slave Lake into the Arctic Ocean. It was discovered and first navigated by Sir Alexander Mackenzie in 1789. It has an average width of 1 m., an average fall of 6 in. to the mile; an approximate discharge, at a medium stage, of 500,000 cub. ft. per second; and a total length, including its great tributary the Peace, of 2,350 m. The latter rises, under the name of the Finlay, in the mountains of British Columbia, and flows north-east and then south-east in the great intermontane valley that bounds the Rocky Mountains on the west, to its confluence with the Parsnip. From the confluence the waters of the combined rivers, now called the Peace, flow east through the Rocky Mountains, and then north-east to unite with the river which discharges the waters of Lake Athabasca; thence to Great Slave Lake it is known as Slave river. Excluding the rivers which enter these lakes, the principal tributaries of the Peace are: Omineca, Nation, Parsnip, Halfway, North Pine, South Pine, Smoky, Battle, and Loon rivers; those of the Mackenzie are the Liard (650 m. long), which rises near the sources of the Pelly, west of the Rocky Mountains, and breaks through that range on its way to join the parent stream, Great Bear river, which drains Great Bear Lake, Nahanni, Dahadinni, Arctic Red, and Peel rivers. The Mackenzie enters the Arctic Ocean near 135° W. and 68° 50′ W., after flowing for 70 to 80 m. through a flat delta, not yet fully surveyed. With its continuation, Slave river, it is navigable from the Arctic Ocean to Fort Smith, a distance of over 1,200 m., and between the latter and the head of Lesser Slave Lake, a further distance of 625 m., there is only one obstruction to navigation, the Grand Rapids near Fort McMurray on the Athabasca river. The Peace is navigable from its junction with Slave river for about 220 m. to Vermilion Falls. The Mackenzie is navigable from about the 10th of June to the 20th of October, and Great Slave Lake from about the 1st of July to the end of October. All the waters and lakes of this great system are abundantly stocked with fish, chiefly white fish and trout, the latter attaining to remarkable size.
MACKEREL, pelagic fishes, belonging to a small family, Scombridae, of which the tunny, bonito, albacore, and a few other tropical genera are members. Although the species are fewer in number than in most other families of fishes, they are widely spread and extremely abundant, peopling by countless schools the oceans of the tropical and temperate zones, and approaching the coasts only accidentally, occasionally, or periodically.
The mackerel proper (genus Scomber) are readily recognized by their elegantly shaped, well-proportioned body, shining in iridescent colours. Small, thin, deciduous scales equally cover nearly the entire body. There are two dorsal fins, the anterior near the head, composed of 11-14 feeble spines, the second near the tail with all the rays soft except the first, and behind the second dorsal five or six finlets. The ventral is immediately below the second dorsal, and is also followed by finlets. The caudal fin is crescent-shaped, strengthened at the base by two short ridges on each side. The mouth is wide, armed above and below with a row of very small fixed teeth.
No other fish shows finer proportions in the shape of its body. Every “line” of its build is designed and eminently adapted for rapid progression through the water; the muscles massed along the vertebral column are enormously developed, especially on the back and the sides of the tail, and impart to the body a certain rigidity which interferes with abruptly sideward motions of the fish. Therefore mackerel generally swim in a straightforward direction, deviating sidewards only when compelled, and rarely turning about in the same spot. They are in almost continuous motion, their power of endurance being equal to the rapidity of their motions. Mackerel, like all fishes of this family, have a firm flesh; that is, the muscles of the several segments are interlaced, and receive a greater supply of blood-vessels and nerves than in other fishes. Therefore the flesh, especially of the larger kinds, is of a red colour; and the energy of their muscular action causes the temperature of their blood to be several degrees higher than in other fishes.