ARRANGING MATERIAL FOR NEW MUSEUM 267 



and just trailed it along behind him all along the road. (I have 

 met, since we came to Sidney, Lieut-Col. T. Perrett, who was 

 blinded in the Great War, and he was the teacher, of whom I 

 have just spoken, at Medicine Hat, and through whom I obtained 

 the snakes. He told me this himself in an interview I had with 

 him a short time since.) 



After making a large collection at Medicine Hat, we left 

 there and moved to Crane Lake, where we camped for over a 

 month and, through the kindness of Mr. Andrews, who had charge 

 of the large herds at that place, we had permission to collect in 

 all their territory. This was the dry season that people have 

 been comparing with that of last year (1919) and Crane Lake was 

 so low that William S. and myself, with Mr. Andrews, waded 

 through the lake to the island, where we found a wonderful col- 

 lection of water fowl and took a large quantity of eggs. It was 

 this season that we made such an immense collection in the vi- 

 cinity of Crane Lake. This was owing to the fact that Crane 

 Lake had a greater bird life than any other part where I had been 

 before in Canada. From there, we went with Mr. Andrews up 

 into the Cypress Hills, where they had a large camp, and located 

 ourselves there and collected birds, snakes, fish and plants to our 

 satisfaction. When we returned to Crane Lake, I found a letter 

 addressed to me by Dr. Selwyn, telling me that our appropriation 

 had run out and that I must return east at once. So, early in 

 July, we started for home. At that time the grass was so dry on 

 the prairie that I noticed eight fires starting from the sparks from 

 the engine before we reached Swift Current. When I reached 

 Ottawa, I spent the remainder of the season, as I usually did, 

 collecting in the vicinity of the city. 



The winter of 1894-95 was spent as usual and, during the 

 winter months, the members of parliament discussed the question 

 whether the North West was not a failure after all, as the country 

 was drying up, the lakes were disappearing, and many of the 

 settlers were leaving the land. The Government decided that 

 they would send me, with a small party, to examine the southern 

 part of Saskatchewan and Alberta during the coming summer and 

 see if the general belief was founded on fact. So, early in the 



