At length, in 1817, the British Government intervened through the Governor-General of Canada, and in 1818 Lord Selkirk left North America disgusted, and two years afterwards died at Pau, in France, from an illness brought on by grief at the failure of his projects.
Sir Alexander Mackenzie also died suddenly in 1820, in Scotland.

For twelve years he had been member of parliament for Huntingdon, and since 1812 had been the determined opponent in England of Lord Selkirk's plans of forcible colonization.

After his death, however, in 1821, a sudden movement for reconciliation took place between the two Companies.

Thenceforth the Hudson's Bay Company ruled over the vast regions of British North America, beyond Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the two Canadian provinces.

Under their government the work of geographical exploration went on apace.