On the night of May 5 we left Winnipeg, and our observations began with the day at Brandon. From that point westward to Regina we saw abundant evidence that last year had been a "rabbit year", that is, a year in which the ever-fluctuating population of Northern Hares (Snowshoe-rabbits or White-rabbits) had reached its maximum, for nine-tenths of the bushes in sight from the train had been barked at the snow level. But the fact that we saw not one Rabbit shows that "the plague" had appeared, had run its usual drastic course, and nearly exterminated the species in this particular region.
