Pioneering in Kootenay, 



253 



of duty are "settlers' goods," including agricultural machinery that 

 had been previously used. On landing at Montreal the Customs 

 officials demanded several hundred dollars duty on the old steam 

 launch. To this I objected, and as I had letters from a member of 

 the Cabinet at home to Sir John Macdonald and others in high 

 official positions, I thought I would test their efficacy at Ottawa. 

 The amount and rigidness of the red tape that manacles the official 



THE " MIDGE," THE FIRST STEAMCRAFT ON THE KOOTENAY WATERS. 



Transported by the author, on men's shoulders, over a 

 pass in the Selkirks. 



world of Canada is something incredible, and while I soon saw that 

 the head of the department was anxious to meet my views, he 

 could, of course, only do so by abiding by the regulations. The 

 point I tried to make was that if settlers could bring in a steam 

 plough free of duty, I should be enabled to do the same with the 

 steam launch, for, as I laughingly argued, in the present overflowed 

 condition of the tracts of land I was acquiring in Lower Kootenay, 



