For several years, the Colonial Office had been urging the Hudson's Bay Company to proceed with the survey of the vast territory over which it exercised sway; and to satisfy the pressing demand of the government, the Company had engaged Philip Turnor as astronomer and surveyor. Possessed of a sound theoretical training, Turnor had been employed in England as one of the compilers of the _Nautical Almanac_; and since 1776 he had added to his qualifications a wide practical experience drawn from numerous surveys throughout the region of the Bay. Here was a man who could solve Thompson's doubts and difficulties, and correct the deficiencies of his education for the work which he had in view. An eager pupil, Thompson sat at the feet of Turnor during the winter of 1790; and when, in the following spring, he returned to York factory, it was as a man with his mind made up. If a man knows clearly what he wants and has the intelligence and perseverance to pursue his aims, no obstacle, not even such as these which confronted Thompson, can keep him from attaining his goal. Thereafter Thompson and his beloved instruments were inseparable companions in journeys that carried him for thousands of miles through the wildest parts of the unknown west. By day and night, he was an object of wonder to his French-Canadian and Indian followers, as, armed with his sextant, telescope, compass, and other instruments, he took observations on the sun, moon, and stars. While he sought to determine the position of rivers, lakes, and mountains, to be recorded on the map which was to be his life's work, his activities suggested to their superstitious minds the idea that he was in communication with powers not of this world, and earned him the title which he bore among them, Koo-Koo-Sint, "The man who looks at the stars." CHAPTER III TRADER, SURVEYOR, EXPLORER When Thompson returned to York factory in the spring of 1791, it was to find that great changes had taken place at the fort. Five years before, the tyrannous sway of old Humphrey Marten had come to an end, and he had been succeeded as governor by Joseph Colen. This man was to direct Thompson's movements during the next six years.