Peeps at Many Lands: Canada

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J. T. Bealby. Peeps at Many Lands: Canada

CHAPTER I. THE GREAT DOMINION

CHAPTER II. THE FAR WEST

CHAPTER III. HOME-LIFE IN CANADA

CHAPTER IV. WINTER SPORTS

CHAPTER V. FIFTY BELOW ZERO

CHAPTER VI. LAW AND ORDER IN CANADA

CHAPTER VII. THE SHIP OF THE PRAIRIE

CHAPTER VIII. GOLDEN WHEAT AND THE BIG RED APPLE

CHAPTER IX. CANADIAN TIMBER

CHAPTER X. WEALTH IN ROCK AND SAND

CHAPTER XI. SPOILS OF SEA AND WOOD

CHAPTER XII. WATERWAYS

CHAPTER XIII. FIGHTING THE IROQUOIS INDIANS

CHAPTER XIV. THE HABITANT OF THE ST. LAWRENCE SHORE

CHAPTER XV. THE HOME OF EVANGELINE

CHAPTER XVI. REDSKIN, ESKIMO, AND CHINK

Отрывок из книги

The province of British Columbia, which is separated from the rest of Canada by the great range of the Rocky Mountains, is itself a "sea" of tumbled mountains, which reach all the way from the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean, and, like the northern portion of the Dominion, is covered with forests. Here again there are several large rivers, such as the Fraser and the Columbia, and a great many lakes. British Columbia is an exceptionally highly favoured region. Not only is she rich in natural resources – minerals, fish, lumber, fruit – but she can boast of scenery which can vie with that of Norway, as with that of Scotland, and even with the scenery of Switzerland.

Take, for instance, the Grand Cañon of the Fraser River. This is "a narrow gorge, where the river winds its tortuous way between great broken walls of cliffs, dashing against the huge black boulders which lie in its path, covering them with white foam and spray. As the cañon expands, the scene is varied by glimpses of Chinese gold-washers on the gravel-bars, or Siwash Indians fishing with dip-nets from the rocks for salmon; while here and there are scattered drying-frames festooned with red flesh of the salmon, and fantastically decorated Indian graves give a weird touch to the scene. Here the mountains of the coast range, which the river passes, rise to heights varying from 6,000 to 9,000 feet above the level of the sea. They are extremely rugged and densely wooded, the south and western slopes especially, luxuriantly covered with the characteristic growth peculiar to the humid climate."

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Victoria is the capital of British Columbia. It is situated on Vancouver Island, on the Pacific, and its climate and natural beauty have made it the home of choice for many English families retiring from service in the Orient, and so it is the most English of Canadian cities. Vancouver is the commercial capital, it is the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and from its fine harbour steamship lines run to China, Japan, and Australia. Prince Rupert is a new port farther north, and is the western terminus of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway now being built across the continent.

British Columbia has been called a "little paradise on earth," and if beauty of scenery, and the poetry of Nature, and the contentment, prosperity, and happiness of man can anywhere combine to make a spot on this earth anything approaching to a paradise, assuredly that spot is to be found in the fairest province of the Dominion of Canada. And how many of the names of the little towns which cling to the feet of the mountains mirrored in these lakes have not only musical, but richly poetic names! Who can listen to such words as Kelowna, Summerland, Nelson, Vernon, Castlegar, Halcyon, Mara, Kootenay, Slocan, Okanagan, without feeling a thrill of poetic delight? Were these names as familiar to the mind as are Lomond, Katrine, Leven, Blair Athole, Glencoe, Inveraray, Oban, they would not fail to conjure up as many pictures of surpassing scenic beauty as do those pearls of the Scottish Highlands, especially as in many respects the physical features of the two regions are somewhat alike.

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