In North- West C<m<l<i. 67 



cry after another jack rabbit, and a splendid bit of coursing 

 was seen to advantage over a level stretch of prairie. The 

 three deer hounds were close behind the heels of the hare, then 

 followed the two setters some distance behind, while half a 

 mile in the rear was the little water spaniel, running at kis 

 full speed. It was amusing to see him so eager in the chase, 

 yet so far behind ; he was no match for the nimble hare and 

 the fleet-footed hounds. Two of the hounds were losing 

 ground, but the youngest and most sleek kept close at the 

 heels of the hare, and we expected every moment to see the 

 hound seize the hind legs of the hare, who was fleeing for his 

 life ; every second we expected jack would drop, but he had a 

 knack of turning so suddenly that it thwarted the hound on 

 several occasions. This exciting scene terminated by the hare 

 and hound disappearing behind a slope near the railway. We 

 afterwards heard that poor bunny succumbed, as the railway 

 hands saw the dog devouring a rabbit alongside of the railway 

 track on their way home from work. I went home and had sup- 

 per with the farm-manager, who showed me over the farm and 

 ranches. While at supper, a cowboy came in and reported that 

 some Cree Indians had stolen a mare, and had gone west to- 

 wards Swift Current. He was ordered to be up and after 

 them at day-break, and to take a brace of revolvers and his 

 swift horse. Next evening he returned home safe with the 

 mare, having overtaken the Indians at Goose Lake, nearly 

 forty miles west of Rush Lake. They told him they had found 

 the mare, and after a few threats and curses they gave the 

 mare up to him, and he reached home tired, having ridden on 

 horseback eighty miles that day. This farm and ranch, con- 

 sisting of 10,000 acres, is owned by the Canadian Agricultural 

 Company. These farms, ten in number, occur at intervals of 

 thirty miles between Rush Lake and Calgary. The country 

 around here is specially valuable as a stock-raising district. It 

 is impossible to conceive of a better stock country than that 

 lying between the Cyprus Hills and the railway. The Cyprus 

 Hills stretch from Goose Lake to Medicine Hat, on the South 

 Saskatchewan River ; they gradually rise towards the west, 



