In North- West Canada. 95 



inp's. The time will come when buffalo horns and skulls will 

 be valuable. Medicine Hat is the cream of the antelope 

 country, and a rich ornithological centre, but before the oolo- 

 gist goes out collecting he should be provided with a pair of 

 long boots or extra thick leather leggings, as this is a district 

 where rattlesnakes are plentiful. Fortunately the rattlesnake 

 always sounds its rattle for a few seconds before he darts his 

 head at the intruder to bite his legs" and this gives an oppor- 

 tunity to run out of the way or blaze away at him with a 

 gun. When approaching the haunts of rattlesnakes on horse- 

 back the rider can easily tell when danger is near, for the 

 horse commences to tremble from head to foot with fear, and 

 when a horse finds a rattlesnake concealed in his path he 

 -springs wildly to one side and bounds away over the prairie, 

 often throwing his rider if he is not on the lookout for such 

 troubles. Deaths are occasionaly caused through rattlesnake- 

 Ijites, the best remedy for which is to suck the poison out of 

 the wound as quickly as possible and tie a handkerchief 

 tightly round the limb that is bitten. Another good remedj' 

 is to drink a gill of whiskey, for if you can get under the 

 influence of alcohol before the poison has taken effect there is 

 little danger. 



As we approach Crowfoot station all are alive for the first 

 view of the Rocky mountains, yet a hundred miles away, and 

 soon we see them — a glorious line of snowy peaks rising 

 straight from the plain and extending the whole length of the 

 western horizon, seemingly an impenetrable barrier. As we 

 speed on, peak rises behind peak, then dark bands of forest 

 that reach up to the snow line come into view : the snow- 

 fields and glaciers glisten in the sunlight, and over the rolling- 

 top of the foothills the passes are seen, cleft deep into the 

 heart of the mountains. We are now in the country of the 

 once dreaded Blackfeet, the most handson)e and warlike of all 

 the Indian tril^es, but now peacefully settled in a reservation 

 near by. 



We have been running parallel to the tree-lined banks of 

 the Bow river, and now, crossing its crystal waters, we find 



