lieve that the Galician immigration has brought a very desirable class
of settler to the North-West and one which will in a short time be of
material assistance to the productiveness and prosperity of the
Dominion." And the record of these people during the years since this
wise officer wrote these words has amply borne out his opinion. In the
earlier years the excitable character of the Galicians, and the absence
of instruction in their old haunts as to rights of life and property,
led them into the commission of a good many offences against our laws,
but no alien race has been more anxious to become Canadian and
especially, amongst the young people who have grown up in this country,
we have met many who are a large asset to the Dominion. As a rule they
are industrious, and Constantine's vision of their future has become a
reality.

[Illustration: FORT SELKIRK, YUKON.]

[Illustration: ESQUIMAUX FAMILY.]

Up in the Yukon that year there were continued echoes of the famous
O'Brien murder case detailed in our preceding chapter, the leading note
being that the capture and execution of this desperate criminal had
attracted world-wide attention to the efficiency of the Police and had
made the Klondike country safer for everybody. For instance,
Superintendent A. E. Snyder, who took over the command at White Horse
from Superintendent Primrose, says, "I am very pleased to be able to
state that there were no very serious cases of crime during the year. I
am satisfied that it was not for want of material that we were indebted
for such a happy state of affairs, as among the class of people
continually on the move coming in and going out there are quite a few
that would be capable of attempting anything if they were certain of
escaping detection. I can only attribute the lack or comparative utter
absence of serious crime to the extreme watchfulness of our men which
renders it well nigh impossible for loose characters to engage in
doubtful enterprises and stay in the country. The (under the
circumstances) speedy and condign punishment meted out to O'Brien
elicited favourable comment from citizens generally irrespective of
nationality, the Americans especially commenting favourably on it and
contrasting it with their experience of similar incidents in mining
regions of the Western States." Referring to the same case Inspector
Starnes, then in charge at Dawson, says, "This case has cost the
Government a great deal of money, but I a