ON SNOW-SHOES TO THE BARREN GROUNDS 



young woman resplendent in beads and glittering tin- 

 sel. I really ought to include the mounted policeman, 

 for he too has a uniform which, with scarlet jacket 

 and yellow-striped breeches, is deserv- 

 ing of greater attention. But the 

 mounted policeman has that which is 

 far worthier of comment than uni- 

 form. He has the reputation of being 

 the most effective arm of the Cana- 

 dian Interior Department. And he 

 lives up to it. These " Riders of the 

 Plains," as they are called, patrol a 

 country so large that the entire force 

 may lose itself within its domains 

 and still be miles upon miles apart. 

 Yet this comparative handful main- 

 tains order among the lawless white 

 men and stays discontentment among 

 the restless red men in a manner 

 so satisfactory and so unostenta- 

 tious as to make some of our United 

 CREE HUNTING-SHOE, States experiences read like those of 



6 feet long a t\TO. 



The success of the Northwest Mount- 

 ed Police may be accredited to its system of distribution 

 throughout the guarded territory. Unlike our army, it 

 does not mass its force in forts adjacent to Indian res- 

 ervations. Posts it has, where recruiting and drilling are 

 constantly going forward, but the main body of men is 

 scattered in twos and threes over the country, riding 

 hither and thither a watch that goes on relief after re- 

 lief. This is the secret of their success, and a system it 

 would well repay our own government to adopt. The 

 police are ever on the spot to advise or to arrest. They 



