a so-called higher civilization which often gives to the
unspoiled children of nature its worst rather than its best features.
And up in the Mackenzie River district where we left Inspector Jennings
in charge we find that able officer also engaged in prescribing certain
rules regarding the conduct of visiting ships which tend to ward off
from the unsuspecting natives some practices which would not be for the
good of these innocent people.

Down in the Middle West the Mounted Police were having difficulty with
people whose type of religion, being unmixed with intelligence, led them
into fanatical excesses. The Doukhobors, or "Spirit Wrestlers" as their
name means, were a body of people who had come from Southern Russia,
where they had not enjoyed anything like liberty. When they arrived in
Winnipeg, where I recall speaking to the first band through an
interpreter, they sent back a cablegram to their friends, which was
shown me at the time by Mr. McCreary, Commissioner of Immigration at
that point. The cable read, "Arrived Canada safe are free." The change
was a little too much for them, and they did not realize that they were
not free to become nuisances to others. They were ignorant, illiterate,
but had the merit of being conscientious and being willing to suffer for
conscience' sake. This latter characteristic always prevented me from
condemning them wholly. Once their ignorance was removed they would
become industrious and orderly citizens.

But in the early stages they were fanatics and used to go on
pilgrimages, they said in search of Christ. Inspector Junget, Sergeant
(now Inspector) Spalding and others of the Police had a lot of trouble
in rounding them up, giving them food and preventing them from shocking
communities by their parades. The Police used great tact and in the end
succeeded in impressing these strange people with some sense of
responsibility. In the midst of the difficulty a half-crazed man named
Sharpe crossed from the States with some others. He said he was "Christ"
going to "God's people, the Doukhobors," but as he was heavily armed and
threatened to shoot anyone who tried to stop him, his claim was
naturally rejected. Inspector Tucker and a detachment went to see Sharpe
and reported that an arrest could not be made without shooting, so it
was decided to wait and watch. Sharpe sent the following letter to
Tucker: "To save bloodshed use some judgment. I will not give up alive,
so some of us would