A Nobleman's View of the North-West. 547 



wisdom and righteousness of their dealing on enlightened principles, 

 which are fully followed out by their servants to-day, gave the cue 

 to the Canadian Government. The Dominion to-day through her 

 Indian officers and her mounted constabulary is showing herself the 

 inheritress of these traditions. She has been fortunate in organ- 

 izing the Mounted Police Force, a corps of whose services it would 

 be impossible to speak too highly. A mere handful in that vast 

 wilderness, they have at all times shown themselves ready to go 

 anywhere and do anything. They have often had to act on 

 occasions demanding the combined individual pluck and prudence 

 rarely to be found amongst any soldiery, and there has not been a 

 single occasion on which any member of the force has lost his 

 temper under trying circumstances, or has not fulfilled his mission 

 as a guardian of the peace. Severe journeys in winter and difficult 

 arrests have had to be effected in the centre of savage tribes, and 

 not once has the moral prestige, which was in reality their only 

 weapon, been found insufficient to cope with difficulties which, in 

 America, have often baffled the efforts of whole columns of armed 

 men. I am glad of this opportunity to name these men as well 

 worthy of Canada's regard — as sons who have well maintained her 

 name and fame. 



" And, now that you have had the patience to listen to me, and 

 we have crossed the Continent together, let me advise you as soon 

 as possible to get up a branch house, situated amongst our Rocky 

 Mountains, where, during summer, your members may form them- 

 selves into an Alpine club, and thoroughly enjoy the beautiful peaks 

 and passes of our Alps. In the railway you will have a beautiful 

 approach to the Pacific. The line, after traversing for days the 

 plains, will come upon the rivers, whose sheltering valleys have all 

 much the same character. The river beds are like great moats in a 

 modern fortress — you do not see them till close upon them. As in 

 the glacis and rampart of a fortress the shot can search across the 

 smooth surfaces above the ditch, so any winds that may arise may 

 sweep across the twin levels above the river fosses. The streams 

 run coursing along the sunken levels in these vast ditches, which 

 are sometimes miles in width. Sheltered by the undulating banks, 



