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CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 


f  *.., 


EMIGRANTS  DANCING   A  SCOTS   REEI, 

The  Scots  element  is  very  marked  all  over  Canada,  and  in  some  places  Gaelic  is 
actually  spoken 


CANADA 

THERE   AND   BACK 
BY  HARRY  BRITTAIN 


PRIVATELY  PRINTED  FOR  THE 
AUTHOR  BY  JOHN  LANE  AT 
THE  BOD  LEY  HEAD,  VIGO 
STREET,  LONDON,  W.  MCMVIII 


Printed  by  BALLANTYNE  <5r>  Co.  LIMITED 
Tavistock  Street,  Covent  Garden,  London 


TO 

LORD  STRATHCONA  AND  MOUNT  ROYAL 

FOR   WHOM,   WITH  EVERY  CITIZEN  OF  THE  EMPIRE,    I 

ENTERTAIN    THE    SINCEREST    ADMIRATION    AND 

WHOSE  MANY  KINDNESSES  DID  SO  MUCH  TO 

MAKE    THE    MEMORY    OF    OUR    TRIP    IN 

CANADA    A    LASTING    PLEASURE, 

THESE    FEW   BRIEF    NOTES    ARE 

BY    HIS    PERMISSION 

DEDICATED 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  THE  ATLANTIC  VOYAGE       .        .   ,    ,        .  3 

II.  QUEBEC         v       •        •        •  •  '    •        •        .13 

III.  MONTREAL    .        .      V^V^-^     ...  24 

IV    TORONTO       .        .        .        ,    \  .        ,        .  44 

V.  A  DASH  FOR  NIAGARA         .        .        .        .66 

VI.  THE  GREAT  LAKES      .        ...        ,        .  73 

VII.  ON  THE  PRAIRIE.        .        .        ,        .        .  80 

VIII.  THE  PROVINCE  OF  ALBERTA       .        .        .  89 

IX.  BRITISH  COLUMBIA 106 

X.  VANCOUVER   .        .        .        .        .        .        .  112 

XI.  VICTORIA               .        .        .        .        .  •  121 

XII.  THE  JOURNEY  EAST  FOR  HOME  .        .        .  127 

XIII.  WINNIPEG      .        .        .        .        .        .        .  134 

XIV.  OTTAWA         ,        .        .        .        .        .        .  143 

XV.  THE  ENVOI 153 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

To  face  page 

EMIGRANTS  DANCING  A  SCOTS  REEL     Frontispiece 
LACHINE  RAPIDS,  FROM  THE  BOAT       ...      32 
TORONTO,  THE  CAPITAL  OF  ONTARIO  :  A  GENERAL 

VIEW 44 

A  GREAT  GRAIN-CARRIER:  A  WHALEBACKON  LAKE 

SUPERIOR         .......      70 

THE  RAILWAY  ACROSS  THE  PRAIRIE  :  REPAIRING 

THE  LINE          .......      80 

REGINA,  THE  CAPITAL  OF   SASKATCHEWAN  :  THE 

MAIN  STREET 86 

SUNSET  ON  THE  Bow  RIVER,  IN  THE  HEART  OF 

THE  ROCKIES   .......      92 

"  THE  KOODOOS  "  AT  BANFF  .  .  .  -94 
THE  DEVIL'S  CREEK,  NEAR  MINNEWANKA  .  .  98 
THE  TRAIL  TO  THE  LAKES  IN  THE  CLOUDS  .  102 
THE  ASULKAN  GLACIER  IN  THE  SELKIRKS  .  .  108 

LYTTON,  FROM  THE  LINE no 

A  BIT  OF  NEW  WESTMINSTER  ....  118 
PASSENGERS  DISEMBARKING  ON  THE  ARROW  LAKE  130 
WINNIPEG,  THE  CAPITAL  OF  MANITOBA  :  FROM 

THE  C.P.R.  HOTEL 138 

OTTAWA,  THE  CAPITAL  OF  THE  DOMINION:   THE 

LIBRARY  OF  PARLIAMENT        ....    150 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

THE  hasty  impressions  of  an  average  tourist, 
together  with  a  few  odd  photographs,  is  all 
that  this  somewhat  short  account  pretends  to 
be  ;  but  if  by  means  of  it  I  am  able  to  per- 
suade one  or  two  friends,  who  have  yet  to 
learn  the  delights  of  Britain  beyond  the  seas, 
to  try  a  tour  in  the  great  Dominion,  I  shall  be 
more  than  satisfied. 


CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  ATLANTIC  VOYAGE 

To  the  British  tourist  who  intends  to  put  in  a 
holiday  in  the  great  Dominion,  the  first  two 
items  of  advice  are — go  by  a  Canadian  boat 
and  book  early.  There  are  no  better  boats 
afloat  than  those  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Rail- 
way, or  the  Allan  Line,  and  there  is  no  better 
introduction  to  Canada  than  that  of  the  mighty 
St.  Lawrence.  That  this  is  duly  appreciated  the 
"  last  moment "  man  is  apt  to  discover  when 
attempting  to  purchase  a  stateroom  on  one 
of  these  popular  ships  a  day  or  so  before 
sailing. 

One  of  the  most  delightful  months  to  spend 
in  the  country  is  September,  and  the  visitor 
could  not  do  better  than  leave  London  about 
the  middle  of  August,  returning  home  again 
at  the  end  of  the  Canadian  autumn. 

At  this  time  of  the  year  one  has  to  take  a 
3 


4         CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

rather  large  assortment  of  clothes,  for  in  this 
vast  territory  and  at  many  varying  degrees  of 
altitude  a  wide  range  of  temperature  is  met 
with.  It  is  also  a  good  thing  to  have  a  few 
large  and  strong — very  strong — boxes,  instead 
of  a  more  numerous  variety  of  the  smaller  and 
lighter  kind  used  for  European  travel.  A  com- 
pressed cane  trunk,  excellent  for  Europe  and 
the  East,  stands  a  poor  chance  on  the  average 
North-American  railway,  surrounded  by  its 
solid  semi-armour-plated  companions.  A  large 
box  in  the  place  of  two  or  three  smaller  ones 
also  saves  expense,  for  in  the  delivery  or  col- 
lection of  "  checked  baggage  "  the  charge  made 
is  usually  twenty-five  cents — or,  roughly,  one 
shilling  per  "  package,"  irrespective  of  size,  so 
that  when  one  is  continually  moving  from 
place  to  place  with  a  numerous  assortment 
of  small  trunks  the  baggage  item  is  by  no 
means  inconsiderable.  All  that  is  allowed 
in  the  car  is  a  dressing  case  or  "grip." 
Everything  else  must  be  checked  ;  therefore 
the  grip  should  be  as  light  and  compact  as 
possible,  for  outside  the  larger  towns  such  a 
thing  as  a  porter  is  almost  unknown,  and 
the  married  man  must  be  prepared  to  make 


THE  ATLANTIC  VOYAGE  5 

his  exit  from  the  car  with  a  grip  on  each 
side! 

As  far  as  money  is  concerned,  one  cannot 
do  better  than  take  Cook's  circular  notes. 
These  should  be  made  out  in  multiples  of 
dollars  and  not  in  pounds,  for  in  the  later 
currency  one  is  apt  to  lose  a  certain  amount 
when  cashing  them  in  out-of-the-way  places. 

Having  succeeded  in  getting  accommodation 
on  the  Empress  of  Britain  for  my  wife  and 
myself,  one  bright  August  morning  we  left 
Euston  by  the  special  boat  train  for  Liverpool, 
and  a  few  hours  later  were  aboard  the  great 
liner. 

We  were  delighted  with  the  Empress;  our 
state  room  could  not  have  been  more  com- 
fortable, and  the  whole  arrangements  of  the 
ship  were  all  that  could  be  desired. 

One  transatlantic  trip  is  very  much  like 
another,  for  nowadays  the  question  of  weather 
is  not  so  vital  to  these  great  ocean  liners  as  it 
once  was ;  still  sunshine  is  always  pleasant, 
and  this  we  were  fortunate  enough  to  enjoy 
all  the  way  across. 

We  had  a  very  merry  party  on  board,  and 
the  usual  games,  sports  and  sweeps;  also  the 


6         CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

usual  concert,  in  which  many  excellent  singers 
entertained  us,  and  several  who  thought  they 
could  sing,  perhaps  entertained  us  even  more. 
We  were  mostly  British  or  Canadian,  with  a 
sprinkling  of  Americans  bound  for  the  middle 
West.  One  or  two  were  going  over  to  assist  in 
the  gigantic  schemes  of  which  Canada  offers  so 
many  chances ;  not  the  least  interesting  was  Sir 
R.  W.  Perks,  the  Million-fund  Methodist  M.P., 
whose  mind  was  fixed  on  the  building  of  the 
Georgian  Bay  Canal,  and  who  proved  a  most 
entertaining  fellow  passenger.  Then  there 
were  representatives  of  the  Dominion  at  home 
—Mr.  Duff  Miller  and  the  Hon.  J.  H.  Turner, 
who  look  after  the  interests  of  the  seagirt 
provinces  of  New  Brunswick  and  British 
Columbia— three  thousand  miles  apart.  Some 
Canadians  were  returning  home  after  a 
season  spent  in  England,  among  them  Mrs. 
Fielding,  whose  husband,  the  able  Minister 
of  Finance,  in  company  with  Mr.  Brodeur, 
had  remained  behind  in  Paris  to  arrange 
with  France  the  most  important  treaty  which 
has  yet  been  effected  between  Ottawa  and 
a  foreign  country.  Lastly,  there  was  a  con- 
tingent of  tourists  from  the  old  country  who 


THE  ATLANTIC  VOYAGE  7 

wished  to  see  something  of  that  newer  land 
which  is  now  looming  so  large  in  the  public 
eye. 

So  much  for  the  saloon  ;  but  there  was 
another  part  of  the  ship  with  800  souls  which 
was  full  of  the  greatest  interest.  Many 
instructive  hours  I  spent  among  the  emigrantsi 
and  listened  to  their  high  hopes  and  expecta- 
tions of  the  promised  land.  A  splendid,  strong, 
well-dressed  lot  they  were,  and  it  would  have 
been  hard  to  have  come  across  a  finer  type  of 
prospective  settler.  The  downtrodden,  dirty 
outcast  from  Southern  Europe  was  conspicu- 
ously absent,  and  in  his  place  one  met  on 
every  side  fine  determined  specimens  of  Scan- 
dinavia and  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  On  the 
sunny  afternoons  many  weird  forms  of  musical 
instruments  appeared,  dancers  were  encouraged 
by  a  cohort  of  concertinas,  and  the  skirl  of 
the  pipes  soon  had  a  Highland  reel  in  full 
swing. 

I  wandered  all  over  the  third-class  quarters 
("  steerage  "  is  now  a  dying  word),  and  except 
for  the  fact  that  one  is  confined  to  a  par- 
ticular part  of  the  ship,  one  might  put  in 
a  week  in  many  worse  places  and  at  a 


8         CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

considerably  higher  cost.  Plenty  to  eat,  plenty 
of  room,  delightfully  clean,  and  oceans  of 
fresh  air. 

The  Empress  of  Britain  is  a  boat  of  14,500 
tons,  and  her  fine  upper  deck  is  a  long  way 
from  the  water.  Far  above  this  was  the  home 
of  our  skipper,  Captain  Murray,  who  at  this 
somewhat  giddy  height,  has  most  comfortable 
quarters.  Here  he  showed  us  various  scien- 
tific instruments  (difficult  to  the  landsman's 
understanding),  amongst  them,  the  submarine 
telephone,  connected  with  both  port  and 
starboard  side,  by  means  of  which  he  is 
able  to  detect  and  locate  the  sound  of 
the  bell  on  a  rolling  buoy,  many  a  mile 
away.  From  this  lofty  spot  we  had  the 
pleasure  of  watching  a  dot  on  the  horizon 
gradually  turn  into  a  Dominion  liner,  which 
we  overhauled,  passed  and  saw  fade  away 
until  it  became  a  dot  behind;  such  is  the 
smug  satisfaction  of  a  few  extra  knots  on 
the  sea. 

Three  sights  of  the  North  Atlantic  we  were 
promised  on  our  way  over,  a  whale,  an  iceberg, 
and  the  Northern  lights ;  all  of  which  duly 
occurred  ;  the  whales  and  icebergs  appeared 


THE  ATLANTIC  VOYAGE  9 

together,  three  specimens  of  each,  the  former 
quite  near  and  blowing  in  the  most  approved 
style,  the  latter  further  away  and  somewhat 
meagre.  On  our  last  night  in  the  open  sea  we 
had  the  Northern  lights,  the  beautiful  effects  of 
which  roused  us  all  to  enthusiasm. 

On  the  thirteenth,  four  days  after  leaving 
Liverpool,  we  got  our  first  glimpse  of  the  New 
World,  but  not  a  very  attractive  one.  Far 
away  to  the  North  stretched  the  gloomy  rock- 
bound  coast  of  Labrador,  the  abode  of  the 
Christianised  Eskimo,  and  the  temporary  home 
each  year  of  thousands  of  fishermen  whose  lot 
in  life  must  often  be  a  dangerous  and  dreary 
one.  For  many  years  in  case  of  sickness  or 
accident  it  was  almost  impossible  for  them  to 
get  any  sort  of  medical  assistance,  but  now, 
thanks  to  the  Deep  Sea  Mission,  there  are 
two  splendidly  equipped  hospitals  on  the 
coast.  But  it  will  probably  be  many  years 
before  the  tourist  attempts  to  roam  round 
Labrador,  though  I  am  told  that  some  way 
behind  those  forbidding  rocks  is  to  be  seen 
one  of  the  most  magnificent  waterfalls  in  the 
world. 

We  were  now  up  to,  and  passing,  the  rocky 


io        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

little  Belle  Isle,  once  known  to  the  early  navi- 
gators as  the  Isle  of  Demons,  from  the  weird 
and  mournful  sounds  which  were  supposed  to 
issue  from  it ;  later  and  less  superstitious  folk 
have  suggested  that  these  terrifying  noises  were 
caused  by  the  grinding  together  of  neighbour- 
ing icebergs. 

Up  to  now  we  had  made  a  faster  trip  than 
any  previous  one  on  this  route,  and  Captain 
Murray  was  naturally  anxious  to  lower  the 
record  between  Liverpool  and  Quebec  ;  but  it 
was  not  to  be,  for  on  entering  the  Straits  we 
encountered  a  sea-fog,  and  engines  were 
stopped  till  early  in  the  morning,  when  the 
sun  forced  his  way  through  and  all  was  clear 
again. 

The  north  coast  of  Newfoundland  has  a 
barren,  wind-swept  appearance,  and  very  few 
signs  of  life  are  to  be  seen,  beyond  a  light- 
house or  two,  and  here  and  there  a  fisherman's 
cottage.  The  whole  day  we  spent  in  the  great 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  revelling  in  a  blazing 
sun  and  glassy  sea,  passing  one  or  two 
schooners,  and  later,  the  Island  of  Anticosti 
(some  140  miles  by  about  20),  the  property  of 
M.  Menier  the  great  chocolate  king,  who  has 


THE  ATLANTIC  VOYAGE  n 

stocked  it  with  all  manner  of  game,  and  is  also 
making  a  success  of  its  fisheries  and  agri- 
culture. 

Early  next  morning  we  were  greeted  by  the 
first  sight  of  the  long-looked-for  St.  Lawrence, 
and  spent  the  whole  of  the  day  in  cruising 
along  its  southern  shore.  Well  may  Canadians 
be  proud  of  this  noble  gateway  to  their  king- 
dom, which,  carved  out  by  Nature's  hand  from 
the  primeval  rock,  pours  out  in  its  single 
channel  a  mass  of  water  drawn  from  an  area 
of  half  a  million  square  miles.  As  we  ascend, 
the  rugged  cliffs  and  distant  hills  covered  with 
spruce  and  pine,  gradually  give  way  to  a  less 
stern  type  of  country,  and  here  and  there  are 
dotted  about  the  little  farms  of  the  industrious 
"  habitants,"  descendants  of  the  day  when  the 
Tricolour  reigned  in  Lower  Canada.  Still  further 
up,  the  scattered  farms  give  place  to  neat  little 
villages,  for  all  the  world  like  Breton  hamlets, 
put  down  on  a  coast  half  Scotch  and  half 
Norwegian,  while  here  and  there  we  get  a 
glimpse  of  the  distant  Northern  bank,  still 
some  twenty  to  thirty  miles  away. 

At  Rimouski  we  come  in  touch  for  the  first 
time  with  the  Canadian  world,  for  after  passing 


12        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

the  bright  little  town,  engines  are  stopped, 
and  in  mid-stream  the  Empress  awaits  the 
arrival  of  a  stout  little  tug  which  brings  on 
board  our  pilot,  takes  the  mail,  and  with  it 
some  of  our  fellow  travellers  who  are  bound 
for  the  maritime  provinces. 


CHAPTER  II 
QUEBEC 

THE  last  day  aboard  every  one  was  up  early 
and  on  deck,  eager  to  catch  the  first  sight  of 
Quebec.  During  the  night  the  river  had 
narrowed  considerably,  both  banks  now  look- 
ing delightfully  attractive,  and  bearing  all  the 
outward  signs  of  a  prosperous  people.  The 
land  is  divided  into  long  strips,  some  broad, 
some  very  narrow,  and  all  at  right  angles  to 
the  stream.  This  is  the  manner  in  which  the 
St.  Lawrence  farmer  cuts  up  his  property 
among  his  numerous  progeny,  so  that  each 
child,  though  his  piece  may  be  of  length  with- 
out much  breadth,  still  has  his  strip  of  river 
frontage.  One  or  two  more  turns  of  the  river, 
a  distant  glimpse  of  Montmorency  Falls,  and 
then  at  last,  Quebec.  With  the  most  astound- 
ing suddenness  the  historic  rock  seems  to  rise 
up  from  the  water — at  first  grey  in  the  morning 
13 


i4        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

haze,  like  some  mysterious  sentinel  guarding 
the  still  sleeping  city.  Slowly  through  the 
rising  mist  stand  out  the  details  of  this  Queen 
among  the  New  World  cities.  Monumental 
buildings  and  stately  spires  crown  the  lower 
town  and  part  of  the  massive  rock,  while  far 
above  all,  towers  the  world-famed  fortress. 
Soon  we  are  alongside  the  wharf,  the  great 
liner  is  quickly  made  fast,  and  in  a  moment 
passengers  and  their  goods  are  pouring  over 
the  side.  Those  who  were  continuing  their 
journey  found  a  train  awaiting  them  and  are 
soon  "  all  aboard  "  ;  those  of  us  who  had  still 
to  see  Quebec  spent  some  time  wandering 
about  the  interior  of  the  long  tin  shed,  and  in 
the  hunt  for  baggage,  realised  that  tin  sheds  in 
an  August  sun  become  uncomfortably  warm. 

Before  long,  however,  the  hotel  porter  had 
marked  down  our  trunks,  and  taking  along  our 
grips  and  a  portly  roll  of  rugs  and  coats,  we 
drove  off  to  our  first  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
hotel.  Magnificent  in  situation,  attractive  in 
its  chateau  style,  fitted  up  with  perfect  taste 
and  containing  every  comfort,  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  a  finer  hotel  in  North  America 
than  the  Frontenac,  As  advised  before  leaving 


QUEBEC  15 

England,  we  found  it  very  full  (during  the 
summer  months  Quebec  is  crowded  with 
visitors  from  the  States),  and  were  glad  to  have 
made  arrangements  for  rooms  beforehand. 

As  it  was  still  an  early  hour,  there  was  time 
to  see  some  of  the  sights  of  Quebec  before 
luncheon  ;  so  out  we  went,  and  among  the 
various  vehicles  waiting,  discovered  the  caleche. 
This  quaint,  high,  two-wheeled  trap  we  found 
most  comfortable,  and  on  a  springy  double  seat 
enjoyed  the  scenery,  which  the  driver,  perched 
in  front  on  a  seat  of  smaller  size,  described. 

All  over  the  upper  town  our  voluble  French- 
man took  us,  pointing  out  cathedrals,  hospitals, 
the  imposing  Parliament  buildings  and  the 
great  University  of  Laval,  and  then  we  pro- 
ceeded to  climb  up  to  the  citadel.  At  the  gate 
we  were  met  by  a  young  French  Canadian 
soldier  who  took  us  round.  But  far  more 
interesting  even  than  anything  on  the  citadel 
was  the  superb  view  from  the  King's  bastion. 
All  Quebec  lay  spread  out  underneath  us,  with 
Levis  across  the  water,  a  mass  of  picturesque 
churches  and  convents,  whilst  dominating 
everything  the  noble  river  swept  across  a  land- 
scape as  fair  as  one  could  wish  to  see. 


16        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

From  the  upper  town  we  made  our  way  to 
the  lower,  down  one  or  two  more  than  stiff 
hills.  When  I  suggested  to  our  "  calechier " 
that  we  were  going  at  a  somewhat  smart  pace 
for  such  a  gradient,  he  replied  that  I  might  be 
sure  it  was  all  right,  for  "  it  didn't  pay  them  to 
fall,  for  something  always  breaks " ;  and  cer- 
tainly our  surefooted  little  horse  showed  no 
signs  of  doing  so.  Quebec's  lower  town  has 
no  imposing  buildings,  but  is  a  maze  of  quaint 
and  narrow  streets  like  those  in  so  many  of  the 
smaller  towns  of  France.  We  were  taken  to 
see  Notre  Dame  des  Victoires,  where  on  a 
tablet  by  the  door,  we  saw  inscribed  the  battles 
won  against  the  English,  a  tablet  which  the 
ultimate  victors  and  possessors  of  the  soil  can 
well  afford  to  leave. 

Here  dismissing  our  vehicle,  we  wandered 
about  for  some  time  along  the  wharves  and 
through  the  Champlain  market,  and  then  went 
up  to  our  hotel  in  an  elevator  which  brought 
us  almost  to  the  door.  Notwithstanding  the 
crowded  state  of  the  Frontenac,  luncheon  was 
well  and  quickly  served,  with  the  very  large 
variety  of  dishes  one  finds  in  the  hotels  of 
Canada  and  the  States. 


QUEBEC  17 

During  the  afternoon  I  made  my  first 
acquaintance  with  the  delightful  clubs  of 
Canada,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  at 
the  Garrison  two  or  three  members  to  whom 
I  had  letters  from  England.  The  wandering 
stranger  is  not  greeted  in  the  Canadian  clubs 
with  the  stony  stare  which  I'm  afraid 
is  often  his  lot  in  those  of  the  Old  Country, 
even  in  the  very  few  which  grant  the  privilege 
of  temporary  membership  to  visitors. 

In  the  afternoon  we  were  invited  to  go  and 
dine  at  Montmorency,  and  with  our  host  set 
off  for  the  primitive  little  station  of  the 
Quebec  Railway  Company.  We  were  soon 
speeding  across  country  at  a  very  merry 
pace,  through  a  district  ever  memorable  as 
the  scene  of  the  early  struggles  between 
Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  and  in  a  very  short 
time  were  at  the  Falls  Station,  where  we  spent 
half  an  hour  or  so  gazing  at  the  stupendous 
waterfall  which  rushes  crashing  over  the 
rocks — a  drop  of  270  feet.  Fine  as  it  was, 
it  was  finer  still,  we  were  told,  before  so 
much  of  the  water  was  taken  away  to  gener- 
ate the  city's  electric  supply.  From  the 
bottom  of  the  Falls  an  elevator  took  us  up 

B 


i8        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

to  a  path  near  the  Kent  House  Hotel,  where 
a  cool  lemon  squash  seemed  to  come  at  the 
right  time. 

After  this  light  refreshment,  a  very  pleasant 
walk  through  the  woods  brought  us  to  the 
Natural  Steps,  which  we  were  very  fortunate 
in  seeing,  for  next  week  they  would  no  longer 
be  among  the  sights  of  Quebec.  For  a  mile 
or  more  the  river  rushes  along  through  a  nar- 
row rocky  bed,  bound  in  by  smooth  steps  of 
stone,  which  are  in  turn  bordered  on  both 
sides  by  the  densest  of  woods,  and  form  a 
very  attractive  spot.  Unfortunately  for  the 
seeker  of  the  picturesque,  a  large  dam  has 
been  built  at  the  bottom  of  the  ravine,  and 
in  a  very  few  days  a  deep  reservoir  was  to 
cover  everything. 

On  the  way  to  the  little  inn  where  we  were 
to  dine,  we  crossed  the  river  by  a  bridge  above 
the  Falls,  and  looking  down  the  stream  could 
see  the  Montmorency  making  its  way  through 
the  plain  below  to  join  the  greater  river, 
though  in  the  twilight  it  was  impossible  to 
realise  that  this  broad,  smoothly-flowing 
stream,  the  whole  course  of  which  one  could 
apparently  follow,  was  hurled  into  the  plains 


QUEBEC  19 

below,  over  a  mighty  drop  of  almost  three 
hundred  feet. 

The  inn  of  M.  Bureau  proved  an  excellent 
retreat,  and  the  dishes  he  placed  before  us  left 
nothing  to  be  desired.  Before  returning  home 
we  attempted  to  walk  through  the  wood  in 
front  of  the  inn  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  Falls 
from  the  eastern  side,  but  a  void  created  by  a 
bridge  which  had  disappeared  turned  us  back. 
On  the  western  side  we  were  more  fortunate, 
and  after  wandering  along  a  winding  path  and 
down  two  or  three  flights  of  steps  we  came  out 
on  a  little  platform  and  found  ourselves  face 
to  face  with  the  great  white  wall  of  foam  and 
spray,  the  effect  in  the  dim  light  being  most 
imposing. 

Before  boarding  our  little  electric  train 
for  the  return  journey,  we  saw  the  lights  of 
distant  Quebec  shimmering  brightly  in  the 
distance. 

On  the  morning  following,  the  sunshine  was 
temporarily  eclipsed  and  a  fairly  heavy  rain 
falling.  This  proved  to  be  one  of  the  very 
few  wet  days — or  even  partly  wet  days — we 
experienced  during  our  stay  in  Canada,  for 
only  on  three  occasions  between  the  middie  of 


20        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

August  and  the  middle  of  October  did  the  rain 
trouble  us  at  all,  and  then  for  not  more  than  a 
very  few  hours  each  time.  However,  on  this 
occasion  it  came  down  long  enough  and  hard 
enough  to  stop  the  proposed  excursion  to  St. 
Anne  de  Beaupr£,  a  shrine  some  twenty  miles 
from  the  city,  visited  each  year  by  many  thou- 
sands of  the  faithful,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting 
every  kind  of  cure. 

In  place  of  Beaupr£,  our  pilgrimage  was 
to  be  to  a  charming  Canadian  home,  where 
we  lunched  and  spent  a  most  enjoyable 
afternoon  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Molson  Mac- 
pherson.  Mr.  Macphersop  is  President  of  the 
Molson  Bank,  and  we  soon  became  accustomed 
to  seeing  his  features  in  various  parts  of  the 
country  on  wandering  dollar  bills.  As  to  his 
merits  as  a  private  citizen,  we  heartily  agree 
with  the  theory  suggested  a  week  or  two  later 
in  Toronto,  that  both  he  and  his  charming  wife 
have  been  placed  by  a  benign  Providence  at  the 
gateway  of  the  Dominion,  so  that  the  visitor 
may  know,  and  at  once,  what  delightful  people 
Canadians  are. 

Apart  from  the  theory,  there  is  a  great  deal 
in  first  impressions,  and  to  not  a  few  Britishers 


QUEBEC  21 

the  hospitable  house  in  St.  Ursula  Street  has 
been  a  happy  introduction  to  the  Canadian 
home.  While  the  afternoon  was  young,  another 
stranger  arrived — a  learned-looking  individual 
from  the  Foreign  Office,  bearing  also  a  letter 
of  introduction.  He  had  come,  it  appeared,  by 
the  Dominion  Liner  we  had  passed  with  a  smile 
some  days  ago. 

The  weather  now  having  become  all  that 
was  desirable,  we  were  taken  for  a  drive  across 
the  Plains  of  Abraham,  and  out  into  the  country 
round  Quebec,  where  we  pulled  up  for  tea  at 
a  quaint  old  house  in  one  of  the  loveliest  gar- 
dens imaginable.  In  the  upper  part  the  most 
gorgeous  flowers  were  surrounded  by  every 
variety  of  foliage,  while  in  front  of  the  house 
stretched  lawns  of  a  vivid  green  which  even 
Ireland  might  envy.  The  owner,  who  was  the 
most  enthusiastic  of  gardeners,  after  showing 
us  her  flowers,  took  us  down  to  the  woods  from 
where,  through  the  trees,  we  could  occasionally 
get  a  glimpse  of  the  river  below.  For  some 
way  we  wandered  down  the  chine,  attracted 
not  only  by  its  beauty,  but  still  more  so  by 
the  fact  that  it  was  up  this  very  ravine  Wolfe's 
army  climbed  when,  after  stealing  down  the 


22        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

St.  Lawrence  in  their  boats,  they  surprised  the 
enemy  by  overcoming  a  hill  till  then  deemed 
impregnable,  and  won  the  decisive  battle  on 
the  Plains  of  Abraham. 

From  this  retreat,  where  history  and  beauty 
are  so  happily  blended,  we  drove  through  the 
gardens  of  Government  House  and  to  the 
country  home  of  our  host  of  yesterday,  much 
admiring  the  delightful  situation  and  sunny 
southern  aspect  of  these  and  other  houses  in 
the  neighbourhood;  after  which  our  horses' 
heads  were  turned  homewards  again. 

In  the  evening  we  spent  some  time  on  the 
broad  Dufferin  Terrace.  There  are  surely  few 
cities  in  the  world  with  a  finer  walk  than  this. 
By  day  the  view  is  wonderful,  but  by  night  the 
numberless  glittering  lights  at  Levis  and  around 
us,  the  mysterious  river  gliding  dimly  far  below, 
the  merry  strains  of  the  Garrison  Band,  and 
the  crowds  of  happy,  well-dressed  promenaders, 
combine  to  make  the  scene  one  very  hard  to 
equal.  We  ran  into  several  friends,  and  among 
them  an  eminent  and  entertaining  French 
Canadian  K.C.  who  had  been  one  of  our 
companions  on  the  voyage.  From  his  gay 
debonair  manner  and  youthful  appearance,  and 


QUEBEC  23 

from  the  report  that  he  had  also  been  seen  toy- 
ing with  a  feminine  ring,  we  had  pictured  a 
returning  fiance,  and  could  hardly  believe  it 
when  we  were  told  that  he  was  a  family  man, 
and  that  the  family  consisted  of  no  fewer  than 
ten.  It  is  hardly  ever  safe  to  guess  !  Among 
French  Canadians  a  happy  quiverful  is  the 
rule.  Both  men  and  women  marry  at  an  early 
age,  and  it  is  by  no  means  uncommon  to  come 
across  families  of  twenty  and  upwards. 


CHAPTER  III 
MONTREAL 

HAVING  spent  three  or  four  days  at  Quebec, 
we  left  for  Montreal,  and  had  our  first  run  on 
a  Canadian  train,  after  a  final  drive  down  the 
steep  hill  to  the  station  at  a  somewhat  alarm- 
ing speed,  four  of  us  in  a  trap,  and  an  assort- 
ment of  grips  and  coats,  which  totalled  a  fairly 
considerable  weight.  The  American  train  is 
quite  a  different  species  of  vehicle  from  the 
British  or  European  variety.  Which  is  the 
better  is  a  matter  of  opinion,  for  undoubtedly 
both  have  their  strong  points  as  well  as  their 
weak. 

Being  new  to  the  land,  we  took  a  drawing- 
room,  of  which  there  is  usually  one  at  the  end 
of  each  coach.  But  we  soon  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  for  short  trips  by  day,  it  was  not 
the  most  ideal  spot  for  the  traveller  who 
wishes  to  see  the  country,  for,  although  the 
24 


MONTREAL  25 

windows  on  one  side  are  delightfully  large,  the 
other  usually  contains  either  one  of  stained  glass 
or  merely  a  wooden  partition.  There  is  therefore 
always  the  feeling  that  half  the  scenery  and,  as 
one  is  apt  to  imagine,  the  finest  part  is  con- 
tinually being  missed.  However,  by  night  the 
drawing-room  is  a  great  boon  and  well  worth 
the  few  extra  dollars  demanded  for  it.  The 
additional  space  for  odds  and  ends,  the  com- 
fort in  dressing,  and  general  privacy,  are  a 
delight  after  sleeping  in  "  layers  "  and  dressing 
in  a  somewhat  huddled-up  position  behind  a 
curtain.  As  the  number  of  drawing-rooms 
on  each  train  is  very  limited,  one  should 
endeavour  to  fix  the  dates  of  the  journeys 
— particularly  the  longer  ones — in  good  time. 

We  found  our  first  run  on  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  very  delightful.  The  scenery 
was  quite  attractive,  and  the  woods  seemed  to 
contain  every  variety  of  forest  tree.  As  it  was 
Sunday  the  "  habitants "  were  in  their  gayest 
and  smartest  clothes,  and  for  the  most  part 
sunning  themselves  on  their  own,  or  their 
neighbour's,  doorsteps,  the  number  of  children 
attached  to  almost  every  gathering  being  truly 
remarkable. 


26        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

After  covering  170  miles  in  good  time,  we 
pulled  up  at  the  very  edge  of  Montreal,  among 
a  few  scattered  wooden  shanties  which  looked 
as  if  they  had  been  dumped  down  among  the 
fields  in  the  most  casual  way  and  at  every 
odd  angle.  But  we  were  soon  running  past 
houses  of  a  different  kind,  and  entered  the 
great  city  as  the  setting  sun  poured  the 
loveliest  rays  of  colour  across  the  heights  of 
Mount  Royal. 

From  the  Place  Viger  Station,  which  is  right 
in  the  heart  of  the  French  quarter,  we  had  a 
somewhat  long  drive  to  the  hotel,  eventually 
getting  there  in  time  for  dinner.  The  Windsor 
Hotel,  our  headquarters  for  the  next  week  or 
so,  an  imposing-looking  building,  is  finely 
situated  in  Dominion  Square.  That,  as  far  as 
our  experience  went,  sums  up  most  of  its  strong 
points ;  in  many  other  respects  it  is  not  quite 
up  to  the  standard  one  would  expect  to  find  in 
this  splendid  city,  where  the  art  of  comfort  is 
so  thoroughly  understood. 

After  dinner  I  strolled  up  to  the  Mount  Royal 
Club,  where  I  found  my  name  down,  and  spent 
some  time  looking  at  the  English  papers,  as  well 
as  the  interesting  building  itself.  The  Club  was 


MONTREAL  27 

designed  by  the  late  Stanford  White  and  is  in 
exquisitely  simple  taste  with  beautiful  lofty 
rooms;  when  the  August  sun  proved  rather 
too  warm,  one  could  not  wish  for  a  more 
delightful  retreat. 

The  first  drive  taken  by  the  visitor  to  Mon- 
treal is  generally  to  the  top  of  the  mountain, 
and  we  followed  the  usual  rule.  Cabs  we  found 
to  be  comfortable,  cheap,  and  numerous ;  in 
fact  it  is  as  easy  to  pick  up  a  carriage  here  as  a 
hansom  in  London.  We  drove  along  first 
through  one  or  two  of  the  principal  streets  in  the 
residential  quarter,  and  were  very  much  struck 
by  the  beauty  and  variety  of  the  houses.  In  a 
wealthy  city  of  this  size  one  naturally  expects 
to  see  many  splendid  homes,  but  these  were 
far  finer  than  anything  we  had  imagined. 
Hardly  two  of  them  are  alike — so  different  from 
the  greater  part  of  fashionable  London  where 
there  are  rows  of  houses  so  similar  that  a 
dweller  in  one  could  with  the  greatest  ease 
wander  blindfold  over  any  other  in  his  square 
or  street. 

From  Sherbrooke  Street  (one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful) road  after  road  runs  at  right  angles  up  the 
slopes  of  the  mountain  (never  call  Mount  Royal 


28        CANADA :  THERE  AND  BACK 

a  hill !)  lined  on  both  sides  with  stately  dwellings, 
each  surrounded  with  the  gayest  of  flowers  and 
cool  shady  trees.  Up  one  of  these  roads  we 
went,  and  then  by  an  easy  gradient  began  to 
climb  the  serpentine  road  which  runs  up  through 
the  park  itself.  Passing  a  signpost  or  two  (with 
directions  in  both  English  and  French)  we 
came  first  to  the  Ranger's  house,  and  pulled  up 
for  a  few  minutes  to  admire  the  Union  Jack  in 
flowered  form,  and  many  other  vivid  masses — a 
feast  of  floral  colouring. 

Through  forest  trees  and  park-like  slopes,  we 
reached  our  goal,  and  drove  to  the  edge  of  the 
lookout  terrace.  The  view  one  sees  is  worth 
driving  up  many  mountains  to  enjoy.  A  beau- 
tiful slope  of  trees,  of  every  shade  of  green, 
rolls  away  from  the  terrace  to  the  majestic  city 
far  below ;  through  a  thin  haze  of  gently  drift- 
ing smoke  stand  out  the  domes  and  spires  of 
countless  churches,  with  the  outlines  of  giant 
buildings  devoted  to  every  form  of  religion, 
science,  commerce  and  art.  Along  the  city's 
furthest  edge  sweeps  by  the  vast  St.  Lawrence, 
here  spanned  by  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway 
bridge,  an  engineering  triumph  two  miles  in 
length.  The  river  beneath  us  was  the  deepest 


MONTREAL  29 

blue,  and  we  were  able  to  follow  it  till  it  disap- 
peared on  the  skyline,  a  streak  of  palest  grey. 

After  feasting  on  this  loveliness  for  some  time, 
we  made  for  more  material  things,  chiefly 
centred  round  a  pleasant  little  luncheon  party 
at  the  Mount  Royal  Club. 

In  the  afternoon  I  spent  a  few  hours  with  a 
fellow  countryman  in  the  business  section  of 
the  city,  and  was  much  struck  by  the  general 
aspect  of  bustling  prosperity,  the  splendid 
offices,  warehouses,  and  shops,  and  the  entire 
absence  of  any  wandering  paupers.  This  latter 
feature  is  one  which  probably  strikes  the  visitor 
from  the  old  country  more  forcibly  than  any 
other.  A  land  with  no  slums,  no  unemployed, 
no  workhouses,  ever-increasing  trade,  popula- 
tion, and  general  prosperity,  cannot  have  very 
much  the  matter  with  it.  One  enormous  dry 
goods  warehouse — that  of  Messrs.  Greenshields 
— we  went  into  and  were  taken  round,  and  later 
returned  with  one  of  the  directors  to  the  St. 
James's  Club,  where  we  were  introduced  to  a 
very  genial  gathering.  The  St.  James's  is  with- 
out doubt  the  popular  club  of  Montreal,  and 
every  day  after  business  hours — there  are  very 
few  all-day  club  loafers  in  Canada — one  is  sure 


30        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

to  meet  a  large  number  of  interesting  and;  as 
the  Yankees  say,  "  lovely  "  men. 

On  returning  to  the  hotel  after  wrestling  with 
an  interviewer,  I  found  a  letter  from  Lord 
Strathcona  asking  us  to  dine  with  him.  We 
drove  to  Dorchester  Street  and  were  delighted 
to  find  the  grand  old  man  of  Canada  looking 
even  better  than  when  we  saw  him  last  in 
London.  Despite  his  87  years  of  age,  he  thinks 
nothing  of  a  flying  trip  across  the  Atlantic,  and 
had  come  over  a  few  weeks  ago,  accompanied 
by  his  daughter,  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Howard.  He 
appears  to  work  here  just  as  hard  as  he  does  in 
England,  his  pet  project  at  the  present  moment 
being  the  "  All  Red  Line."  Besides  one  or  two 
visiting  Aberdonians,  we  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  Mr.  Chipman  of  Winnipeg  who  guides 
the  destinies  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company, 
and  Mr.  Robert  Meighen,  a  leader  of  the  Cana- 
dian Milling  Industry.  1157  Dorchester  Street 
is  a  beautiful  house,  and  when  dinner  was  over, 
our  host  showed  us  various  treasures  of  art 
from  different  parts  of  the  world. 

Although  we  found  it  delightfully  pleasant, 
August  is  supposed  to  be  a  warm  month  in 
Montreal,  and  a  great  many  people  spend  it 


MONTREAL  31 

away ;  some  at  St.  Andrew's  on  the  New 
Brunswick  coast  (which,  from  all  accounts, 
must  be  quite  an  attractive  spot),  others  in  the 
Laurentian  Mountains,  but  far  more  at  their 
country  homes  in  the  many  lovely  districts 
round  the  city.  Of  these  one  of  the  most 
popular  of  all  is  Dorval,  situated  on  a  broad 
part  of  the  St.  Lawrence  called  Lake  St.  Louis, 
with  an  excellent  service  of  trains  from  and  to 
the  city  and  within  easy  motoring  distance  ;  it 
also  possesses  one  of  those  pleasant  features  of 
Canadian  life,  a  country  club. 

We  were  delighted  to  accept  an  invitation  to 
luncheon  at  the  "  Forest  and  Stream "  (could 
any  club  have  a  more  refreshing  name  ?),  and 
on  the  brightest  and  crispest  of  mornings 
started  off  with  our  hosts.  After  a  very  short 
run  we  reached  Dorval  Station,  and  then  a 
drive,  well  inside  a  mile,  brought  us  to  the 
most  delicious  little  promontory,  in  the  middle 
of  which  stood  the  club  house.  On  each  side 
the  lake  shore  was  dotted  with  pleasant  country 
homes,  gay  with  flowers,  and  with  beautiful 
well-kept  lawns  running  down  to  the  water's 
edge.  All  the  houses  appeared  to  be  of  wood, 
and  there  were  types  of  many  different  styles. 


32        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

In  one  point,  however,  they  were  alike ;  each 
possessed,  and  was  often  entirely  surrounded 
by,  a  lofty  broad  verandah  fitted  up  with  most 
reposeful  swinging  chairs  and  hammocks, 
whilst  large  doors  of  wire  gauze  let  in  the 
breeze  and  kept  out  the  flies.  All  these  joys 
and  many  others  we  found  in  the  club,  and 
after  luncheon  made  our  way  on  to  the  shady 
lawn  and  watched  a  series  of  big  craft  and 
small  manoeuvring  about  on  the  lake,  among 
them  being  several  smart  little  sailing-boats 
from  the  Yacht  Club  close  by.  We  finished 
the  afternoon  by  returning  home  via  the  Rapids 
of  Lachine,  which  we  were  told  the  visitor  to 
Montreal  positively  had  to  do.  The  drive  from 
the  "  Forest  and  Stream  "  along  the  lakeside  to 
Lachine  was  a  very  pleasant  one,  and  the  trip 
in  the  boat  from  Lachine  is  quite  of  the  excit- 
ing order.  She  was  a  good-sized  double-deck 
steamer  and  an  old  hand  at  the  trip,  and  we 
were  soon  in  the  rapids.  A  short  run  through 
smooth  water,  a  dive  under  the  Canadian- 
Pacific  Railway  bridge,  and  the  boat  assumed 
all  kinds  of  angles  with  the  rapidly  rushing 
water  foaming  all  round.  To  add  to  the  effect, 
we  could  see  here  and  there  ominous  black 


MONTREAL  33 

rocks  as  we  swung  quickly  by.  The  thrill  is 
soon  over,  but  it  is  great  fun  while  it  lasts  and 
perfectly  safe. 

The  sun  was  just  setting  with  a  deep  crimson 
glow  behind  the  city's  spires  as  we  glided 
quickly  to  our  wharf,  and  a  jehu  of  the  Mon- 
treal Hackmen's  Union  soon  ran  us  up  hotel- 
wards,  and  in  time  to  get  out  to  dine  with  a 
bachelor  at  the  St.  James's,  one  of  the  "  salt  of 
the  earth  "  kind,  whom  no  one  thinks  of  calling 
by  the  name  he  was  christened  by,  for  whom 
every  one  we  met  in  Montreal  had  many  good 
words,  and  who  would  be  well  worthy  of  a 
couple  of  stars  in  a  Baedeker  Handbook.  I 
met  an  unexpected  friend  at  the  St.  James's 
among  the  waiters,  one  who  used  to  look  after 
me — and  very  well  too — in  a  London  club.  I 
suppose  the  cry,  "  Young  man,  go  West ! " 
came  his  way  also ;  anyhow,  he  seemed  to  be 
prospering  and  told  me  that  he  in  no  way 
regretted  the  change. 

I  was  out  early  the  next  morning  and  made 
my  way  to  the  Montreal  Athletic  Association 
for  a  swim.  This  athletic  association,  of 
which  I  enjoyed  temporary  membership,  is  by 
no  means  the  least  attractive  institution  in 


34        CANADA:  THERE  AND  BACK 

Montreal  on  a  bright  summer  morning.  The 
building  is  a  first-rate  one,  very  get-at-able, 
and  the  swimming-tank  excellent.  Beside  this 
central  meeting-place,  the  association  possesses 
splendid  grounds  within  a  short  distance  of 
the  centre  of  the  city,  and  is  the  ruling  body  of 
outdoor  amateur  sports. 

During  the  morning  I  made  my  way  to  the 
vast,  fortress-like  building  in  Windsor  Street, 
the  headquarters  of  the  world's  greatest  rail- 
way system,  and  after  admiring  the  great  lofty 
waiting-room,  with  its  fine  columns  of  polished 
granite,  went  up  by  the  elevator  to  a  floor 
where  the  chief  executive  officers  are  to  be 
found.  A  very  few  seconds  sufficed  to  prove 
to  one  that  business  moves  somewhat  more 
than  quickly  round  the  brains  of  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway,  and  notwithstanding  the  plea- 
sant telephonic  invitation  I  had  received  earlier 
in  the  day,  there  was  the  feeling  of  the  intrud- 
ing tourist  as  I  sent  in  my  card.  Mr.  W.  R. 
Baker,  whose  official  title  is  Secretary  of  the 
Road,  but  who,  as  "  Diplomat  of  the  Line," 
takes  in  hand  the  many  visiting  princes  and 
potentates,  proved  that  he  could  be  equally 
delightful  to  humbler  mortals  too.  The  next 


MONTREAL  35 

half -hour  slipped  by  at  a  very  rapid  rate  while 
we  discussed  a  variety  of  subjects,  and  I 
picked  up  many  useful  hints  for  our  trip  across 
the  continent. 

I  then  had  the  pleasure  of  again  meeting 
Sir  Thomas  Shaughnessy,  whom  I  had  met  in 
England  a  year  before.  The  President  of  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway  is  a  vigorous,  strik- 
ing personality,  and  it  requires  no  expert 
phrenologist  to  find  the  signs  of  energy, 
determination  and  force  in  his  fine,  expres- 
sive face.  Here  is  a  man  whose  name  is 
known  from  London  to  Hong  Kong  as  the 
active  head  of  the  world's  greatest  line,  the 
chief  in  his  own  country  of  an  army  of  80,000 
employees,  and  of  a  company  whose  territory 
is  greater  than  that  of  many  a  potentate.  Sir 
Thomas  is  a  brilliant  administrator  and  a  firm 
believer  in  discipline  ;  if  one  word  will  do  he 
never  wastes  time  with  two,  and  can  run 
through  a  series  of  sentences  at  an  amazingly 
rapid  rate.  Behind  all  these  qualities,  in  his 
clear  keen  eyes  the  humour  of  the  Irish  race 
constantly  shines.  In  his  office  a  wise  man 
wastes  no  time  with  the  President,  but  comes 
to  the  point,  and  gets  through  his  business 


36        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

with  the  least  possible  delay.  In  private  life, 
as  we  soon  had  an  opportunity  of  finding,  a 
more  delightful  companion  and  interesting 
raconteur  it  would  be  impossible  to  meet. 

This  was  a  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  day,  for 
we  then  went  along  to  the  Mount  Royal  Club, 
where  we  had  a  most  enjoyable  luncheon  with 
Mr.  A.  L.  Creelman,  the  line's  chief  solicitor,  and 
a  party  of  friends.  Mr.  Creelman,  however,  was 
no  new  acquaintance  but  a  friend  of  almost 
two  weeks'  standing  !  We  had  crossed  to- 
gether on  the  Empress,  where  I  early  waylaid 
him  with  a  letter  of  introduction.  Like  many 
men  who  have  risen  to  the  front  in  Canada,  he 
was  born  in  the  Maritime  provinces,  at  a  small 
town  in  New  Brunswick.  Bonar  Law  came 
from  the  same  small  place,  and  Mr.  Creelman's 
earliest  recollection  was  being  taken  to  the 
latter's  christening,  and  asking  his  mother, 
why  Bonar  ?  He  told  me  the  answer,  but  I've 
forgotten  it. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  houses  in  Montreal 
is  that  of  Mr.  Robert  Meighen,  which  he  took 
over  from  his  brother-in-law,  Lord  Mount- 
Stephen.  We  spent  a  very  pleasant  hour  or 
two  with  him  hearing  about  earlier  days  in 


MONTREAL  37 

Canada,  and  were  shown  a  little  room  where 
many  anxious  consultations  took  place  during 
the  construction  of  the  railway,  and  where 
history  was  made,  when  far-off  British 
Columbia  was  linked  to  her  sister  provinces 
with  a  band  of  steel.  A  distinctive  feature 
about  the  house  is  a  very  fine  conservatory 
and  aviary,  an  attractive  spot  in  winter-time. 
In  these  sunny  days  it  is  empty,  the  plants 
revelling  in  their  summer  outing,  and  the 
birds  away  for  a  "  rest  cure." 

A  second  visit  we  paid  to  the  "  Forest  and 
Stream,"  this  time  in  the  evening,  and  it  is 
hard  to  say  whether  the  little  point  is  more 
alluring  in  the  brightness  of  the  midday  sun 
or  when  the  August  moon  steals  across  the 
waters  of  the  lake.  Dinner  over  at  the  club, 
we  all  went  across  to  our  host's  bungalow  and 
listened  to  some  delightful  music,  finally  bring- 
ing the  evening  to  a  close  with  a  midnight 
motor  run  back  to  Montreal. 

Early  next  morning  a  very  bright  young 
man  from  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  called 
to  see  us  and  went  to  endless  trouble  in  ex- 
plaining the  points  of  different  routes  and  the 
best  places  to  stop  over.  The  itinerary  was 


38        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

eventually  drawn  up,  the  dates  for  the  "  draw- 
ing-rooms," which  we  should  want  on  the 
westward  trip  arranged,  and  a  promise  given 
to  write  to  the  various  mountain  hotels,  which 
at  this  time  of  the  year  are  apt  to  be  very 
full 

We  then  went  off  for  a  drive  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  town,  looking  at  one  or  two  of  the 
many  churches  and  big  public  buildings,  and 
continuing  far  beyond  the  Place  Viger  into  the 
outskirts  of  the  French  quarter  ;  we  imagined 
them  to  be  outskirts,  but  were  probably  some 
way  from  the  city's  boundaries,  for  one  or  two 
of  the  roads  running  in  this  direction  appeared 
to  go  on  to  interminable  lengths  with  no  trace 
of  houses  decreasing  in  number.  From  the 
architecture,  general  aspect,  and  appearance 
of  the  people,  we  were  obviously  in  the  Gallic 
quarter,  and  were  again  interested  in  the 
healthy  appearance  and  general  air  of  alertness 
of  the  people,  and  particularly  the  bright,  clean 
and  neatly  dressed  children  ;  and  yet  we  were 
in  the  workers'  quarters,  and  Montreal  is  second 
to  none  in  size  amongst  the  great  manufactur- 
ing centres  of  Canada. 

On  returning,  we  drove  to  the  Place  d'Armes, 


MONTREAL  39 

and  walked  across  to  the  Bank  of  Montreal 
where  we  happened  to  meet  Lord  Strathcona, 
who  took  us  in  to  see  the  building  of  which  the 
people  of  the  city  are  justly  proud.  We  were 
fortunate  in  meeting  Mr.  E.  S.  Clouston,  the 
Vice-President  and  General  Manager,  who 
pointed  out  to  us  the  beauties  of  the  interior, 
the  great  dome,  the  lofty  columns  of  darkest 
green,  and  the  roof  so  richly  decorated  with 
gold  that  a  distinguished  visiting  banker  sug- 
gested that  it  was  surely  part  of  the  reserve 
fund !  Below,  we  saw  wonderful  mechanical 
everything-resisting  doors  of  gigantic  weight, 
and  toyed  about  with  untold  millions  of  dollars. 
A  bank  like  this  makes  one  feel  outrageously 
poor ! 

Before  leaving  Montreal  I  put  in  another 
morning  on  the  beloved  mountain,  exploring  it 
this  time  on  horseback.  There  was  a  certain 
amount  of  difficulty  in  discovering  a  horse,  for 
the  day  being  Sunday,  many  hardworking 
citizens  had  thought  of  my  scheme  and  thought 
of  it  first.  Eventually  a  friendly  cabman  dived 
down  into  some  far-off  mews  and  reappeared 
leading  a  curious-looking  beast  which  went 
better  than  he  looked.  Half  way  up  the  mount 


40        CANADA :  THERE  AND  BACK 

is  a  first-rate  circular  track  and  not,  a  la 
Hyde  Park,  trimmed  with  mounted  police  to 
keep  the  pace  down  to  a  rocking-horse  canter. 
I  soon  saw  why  it  had  been  so  difficult  to  find 
any  sort  of  a  horse,  for  the  track  was  gay  with 
people  hunting  exercise  and  morning  air  on 
every  variety  of  the  noble  beast. 

After  a  good  turn  round,  Rameses  and  I—- 
that was  his  name — wandered  up  to  the  summit, 
trotted  across  to  the  lookout,  where  I  once 
again  took  in  the  glorious  view,  and  then  saun- 
tered along  through  many  delicious  by-paths 
which  might  have  been  on  some  distant  forest 
trail  instead  of  the  edge  of  a  city's  park. 
Small  wonder  Montrealers  swear  by  their 
mountain. 

From  sylvan  retreats  we  passed  to  civilisation 
and  a  cemetery,  via  a  five-cent  toll,  and  then 
away  into  a  bright  and  attractive  country,  where 
I  passed  many  French  Canadians  going  out  in 
large— very  large— family  parties,  and  all  in 
their  Sunday  best. 

At  a  junction  of  several  roads,  where  passing 
electric  cars  shot  still  further  into  rural  soli- 
tudes, sat  a  typical  old  French  lady  with  a  little 
six-foot-square  shop  behind  her,  and  doing  a 


MONTREAL  41 

roaring  business  in  ginger-beer,  apples,  and 
other  delicacies — they  were  excellent  apples. 

My  way  home  was  on  a  lower  road,  by  the 
side  of  which  were  several  huge  institutions  of 
the  school  and  asylum  order,  and  again,  many 
French  Canadian  contingents  making  for  the 
country.  Eventually,  after  a  most  enjoyable 
morning,  on  which  first  appearances  had  been 
deceptive,  I  said  adieu  to  the  gallant  Rameses. 

On  our  last  day  in  Montreal  we  lunched  and, 
for  the  second  time,  spent  several  hours  with 
one  of  the  most  interesting  of  Canadians,  Sir 
William  van  Home.  This  many-sided  man 
was  born  a  citizen  of  the  great  neighbouring 
Republic,  and  began  life  at  the  bottom  of  the 
railway  ladder.  But  natural  aptitude,  energy, 
and  determination  soon  put  the  lower  rungs 
out  of  sight,  and  he  made  a  name  for  himself 
in  the  railway  world,  when  the  early  pioneers 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  invited  him 
across  the  border  to  grapple  with  the  problems 
that  lay  before  them.  How  Van  Home  dealt 
with  those  problems,  completed  the  great 
system,  and  became  its  President,  are  now 
matters  of  history.  If  he  hadn't  built  a  mighty 
road  across  the  continent,  he  would  have  done 


42        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

something  else  equally  great.  Even  as  it  is,  he 
seems  to  have  found  time  to  crowd  into  his  life 
all  kinds  of  interests,  and  hardly  conveys  the 
idea  that  he  is  finished  yet. 

At  his  beautiful  house  in  Sherbrooke  Street  is 
a  most  valuable  and  varied  collection  of  old 
Masters,  and  a  more  entertaining  guide  there 
couldn't  be.  We  wandered  round  amongst  the 
Corots,  Lawrences,  and  Constables  listening  to 
our  host,  and  more  or  less  oblivious  to  the  fact 
that  the  butler  duly  appeared  at  certain  intervals 
to  venture  the  suggestion  that  luncheon  was 
served.  A  large  studio  upstairs  was  crowded 
with  paintings,  and  these  we  found  had  been 
painted  by  our  host  himself  during  odd 
moments  (mostly  all  night  sittings)  of  his  busy 
life ;  some  were  themselves  vivid  effects  of 
night  scenes,  and  others  beautiful  bits  of  his 
island  retreat  off  the  coast  of  New  Brunswick. 
Another  collection,  attractive  even  to  the  unin- 
structed,  was  a  marvellous  assortment  of  old 
Japanese  tea  jars  of  every  form  and  shade,  the 
colours  of  some  being  beautiful.  Sir  William 
explained  to  us  their  different  points,  history, 
and  inscriptions,  and  then  showed  us  a  cata- 
logue he  had  written,  with  a  reproduction  of 


MONTREAL  43 

each  jar  exquisitely  painted  in  water-colours, 
together  with  a  miniature  reduction  of  each  for 
reference  purposes,  a  perfectly  microscopic 
work.  A  month  or  two  ago  Prince  Fushimi 
was  in  this  room,  and  with  true  Japanese 
modesty  professed  an  absence  of  knowledge  of 
his  country's  lost  art,  but  it  was  noticed  that 
it  was  only  the  most  precious  gems  of  the  col- 
lection he  picked  up  to  look  at.  From  tea  jars 
we  drifted  to  Eastern  rugs,  and  thence  to 
mediaeval  ships,  with  interludes  on  farming, 
paper-making,  cattle-breeding,  and  so  on,  all 
additional  pursuits  of  this  many-sided  man. 

Our  few  remaining  hours  in  the  city  we  put 
in  saying  au  revoir  to  some  of  the  delightful 
friends  we  had  met  during  our  all  too  short 
ten  days,  and  then  went  along  to  a  merry 
farewell  dinner  at  the  St.  James's  Club. 


CHAPTER  IV 
TORONTO 

OUR  Toronto  train  left  the  Windsor  Station, 
so  the  departure  drive  was  shorter  than  the 
arrival.  When  we  got  there,  we  saw  three 
long  trains  drawn  up  in  a  row,  each  with  its 
destination  writ  large.  The  names  of  the  towns 
on  the  three  white  boards  brought  vividly  to 
one's  mind  the  vast  distances  the  iron  horse 
can  wander  on  this  continent.  No.  i  was 
down  for  Ottawa,  North  Bay,  Sault  Ste. 
Marie,  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis,  and  all  North- 
West  States.  No.  2  started  soon  after  for 
Fort  William,  Winnipeg,  Calgary,  and  Van- 
couver. Whilst  No.  3,  after  its  one-night 
journey  to  Toronto,  pushed  forward  to  London, 
Detroit,  Chicago,  and  the  West.  Before  any 
one  of  these  could  get  to  its  destination,  there 
must  be  quite  a  succession  of  followers  chasing 
it  day  after -day  along  the  same  line.  The 
44 


«S  2 

«  u  S 


g-s-g 

BJ« 


TORONTO  45 

thought  gave  one  a  fine  expansive  feeling, 
though  there  are  certain  advantages  in  living 
in  a  country  so  compact  that  even  a  single 
day's  straight  run  is  neither  practicable  nor 
necessary. 

Our  drawing-room  we  found  quite  comfort- 
able, and  took  no  further  interest  in  worldly 
affairs  till  we  discovered  a  pleasant  rolling 
country  and  a  good  bright  sun  about  breakfast 
time  next  morning.  There  were,  however, 
but  few  minutes  to  study  the  scenery,  for 
running  on  time,  we  rattled  through  the  out- 
skirts of  the  Queen  City  and  pulled  up  in  the 
Union  Station. 

Unlike  Montreal,  which  is  as  well  served  as 
any  city  in  the  world,  Toronto  has  few  cabs, 
and  outside  the  station  the  King  Edward  'bus 
was  the  only  vehicle  which  "  blocked  the 
way."  Into  it  we  jumped  and  with  "grips" 
and  light  tackle  on  the  roof,  bumped  along 
over  a  somewhat  uneven  road  to  the  hotel. 

We  found  the  King  Edward  very  full,  and 
there  were  quite  sixty  to  seventy  people 
" queued"  out  in  the  hall  waiting  to  register,  the 
extra  rush  being  caused  by  the  approaching 
National  Exhibition  which  was  to  be  opened  in 


46        CANADA:  THERE  AND  BACK 

a  couple  of  days,  although  at  this  time  of  the 
year  the  hotel  is  said  to  be  usually  pretty  full. 
An  excellent  breakfast  occupied  the  next  half- 
hour,  after  which  we  found  the  registering 
battle  over,  and  the  very  affable  Manager  (who 
turned  out  afterwards  to  be  a  mine  of  informa- 
tion on  matters  Torontonian),  allotted  us 
delightful  rooms  with  a  splendid  view  over  the 
lake  and  part  of  the  city.  Looking  out  on  this 
area  of  water  gave  one  the  impression  of  a 
sea  view  rather  than  a  lake,  especially  as  a 
fairish  breeze  had  worked  up  a  lot  of  "  white 
horses." 

The  general  aspect  of  Toronto  is  essentially 
American,  with  its  long  right-angled  streets 
and  occasional  sky-scrapers,  together  with  an 
endless  succession  of  street  cars  bustling  and 
clanging  in  every  direction.  This  service  is  a 
splendid  one,  and  somewhat  atones  for  the 
absence  of  cabs.  Of  the  many  handsome 
streets,  Yonge  is  facile  princeps  as  to  length, 
for  after  dividing  the  city  into  two  parts,  it 
dives  off  into  the  country  for  about  thirty  or 
forty  miles.  On  more  than  one  occasion  we 
heard  of  the  young  man  who  strolled  out  of  the 
Hotel  to  look  up  a  man  "  on  Yonge,"  and  found 


TORONTO  47 

his  number  after  a  saunter  of  some  nineteen 
miles.  But  in  one  respect  at  any  rate  Mon- 
treal and  Toronto  are  alike  in  that  one  finds 
no  difference  in  their  thoroughly  genuine 
hospitality — and  although  the  first  appearance 
of  the  latter  city  strikes  one  as  so  forcibly 
American,  a  very  short  stay  brings  out  the  fact 
that  the  citizens  are  the  old  British  stock  (with 
perhaps  a  little  ginger  added),  and  form  an 
enthusiastically  loyal  centre  of  the  Empire. 
I  have  never  heard  "  God  save  the  King  "  sung 
as  we  heard  it  in  Toronto. 

Before  we  had  filled  in  many  minutes  taking 
in  the  view  from  our  window  and  wondering 
which  section  of  the  city  to  go  and  look  at 
first,  we  were  discovered  by  one  or  two  friends 
and  were  soon  enjoying  Tdronto  from  a  less 
exalted  height  than  Floor  Five. 

I  made  my  first  acquaintance  with  Clubland 
at  luncheon,  being  taken  off  to  the  National 
by  Mr.  W.  K.  George.  Notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  he  was  President  of  the  Canadian 
National  Exhibition  (to  open  in  two  days), 
and  probably  at  that  moment  about  the  busiest 
man  in  Ontario,  he  and  Mrs.  George  found  all 
sorts  of  time  to  take  in  and  be  more  than  kind 


48        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

to  two  wanderers,  and  many  delightful  expe- 
ditions we  made  with  them. 

The  first  one  we  enjoyed  that  same  after- 
noon— a  very  merry  trip  on  the  lake,  on  board 
the  5.3;.  Cleopatra,  a  trim  i6-knotter  belonging 
to    Colonel     Gooderham.      At    about    three 
o'clock  we  were  aboard   and   soon   steaming 
across  the   splendid  harbour  which   extends 
right  out  in  front  of  the  city,  covering  an  area 
of  over  three  miles.     Between   the  harbour 
and  the   lake  is  a  good-sized   island   of    the 
sandbank  kind,  where  in  summer  all  sorts  of 
amusements  for  the  people  are  to  be  found 
in    full    swing.     On    our    way    through    the 
channel,   we    passed   a   many   horse-powered 
automatic  fog-horn   which  was  in  full  blast, 
saddening  the  air  with  a  particularly  dreary 
wail.    As  the  day  was  a  glorious  one  with  no 
suggestion  of  fog,  we  came  to  the  conclusion  it 
must  be  rehearsing. 

From  the  water  one  gets  a  very  good  idea  of 
the  size  of  the  city  which  skirts  the  lake  for 
about  six  or  eight  miles. 

Leaving  the  harbour,  the  Cleopatra  turned 
her  nose  to  the  sunrise,  and  was  soon  skimming 
through  the  "  white  horses  "  at  a  rattling  pace 


TORONTO  49 

in  the  teeth  of  a  blustering  breeze.  This  same 
breeze  had  cut  short  the  successful  career  of  a 
dinghy  race  which  was  then  by  way  of  being 
half  over ;  several  of  the  competitors  had 
already  finished  at  more  than  that  angle,  and 
were  bearing  a  very  wrecky  appearance. 
Needless  to  say,  in  each  case  the  passengers 
had  left. 

Beyond  the  outskirts  of  the  city  we  saw  the 
lofty  Scarborough  cliffs.  Hardly  so  rugged  as 
their  Yorkshire  namesake,  they  were  more  like 
those  of  the  Hampshire  coast,  and  were  most 
attractively  wooded.  From  Scarborough  cliffs 
we  took  a  westward  run,  and  were  shown  all 
the  interesting  points  along  the  shore,  till  we 
were  again  facing  the  open  country  on 
Toronto's  other  side,  after  which  we  turned 
for  home  and  harbour. 

The  evening  we  spent  in  an  atmosphere  of 
solid  Imperialism,  dining  with  one  of  the  most 
energetic  and  deservedly  popular  public  men 
of  Toronto,  Colonel  George  T.  Denison,  now 
the  city's  chief  magistrate.  Colonel  Denison 
comes  from  a  family  of  soldiers  which  has  put 
in  some  splendid  workfor  the  Union  Jack  since 
the  day  of  the  United  Empire  Loyalists,  and 


50        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

since  Ontario  was  Ontario,  a  Denison  has, 
I  believe,  always  been  the  Lt.-Governor's 
A.D.C.  There  is  no  more  stirring  story  in 
history  than  that  of  the  early  days  of  the 
United  Empire  Loyalists,  who,  in  their  alle- 
giance to  the  old  flag,  suffered  every  kind  of 
hardship  and  privation,  and  finally  carved  out 
for  themselves  a  home  in  the  forests  of  Canada. 
Our  host  seemed  so  youthfully  brisk  and  alert 
that  it  was  somewhat  difficult  to  realise  that  ten 
years  ago  he  was  retired  on  the  age  limit  from 
the  command  of  the  Governor-General's  Body- 
guard. He  is  an  enthusiastic  Tariff  reformer, 
and  was  in  touch  with  Mr.  Chamberlain  long 
before  the  active  campaign  started  in  England. 
As  an  administrator  of  the  law,  I  heard  from 
many  more  than  one  of  his  admiring  fellow 
citizens  that  there  isn't  a  finer,  sounder  magis- 
trate in  the  Dominion,  and  he  deals  out  law 
without  wasting  a  minute.  Before  we  left,  he 
gave  me  an  interesting  little  book  of  his, 
"Soldiering  in  Canada,"  which  I  read  later 
with  the  greatest  interest ;  but  with  greater 
interest  I  remember  his  vivid  accounts  of 
Canada's  past,  and  enthusiastic  prophecies  of 
the  Dominion's  future.  For  any  member  of 


TORONTO  51 

the  species  of  pessimistic  Briton,  an  hour  with 
Colonel  Denison  would  act  like  an  electric 
tonic. 

We  had  arrived  in  Toronto  on  Saturday,  and 
gathered  our  first  impression  of  the  city  on  a 
busy  working  day.  How  different  everything 
was  the  next  morning — all  the  hustle  and  bustle 
gone,  the  shops  shut,  the  streets  almost  de- 
serted, and  the  only  sounds  which  filled  the  air 
coming  from  innumerable  peals  of  bells.  There 
was  no  feeling  of  a  foreign  land  here,  but 
rather  the  recollection  of  a  Sunday  morning  at 
Oxford. 

I  went  into  the  service  at  St.  James's  Cathe- 
dral, and  there  again  it  was  hard  to  realise  that 
one  was  some  thousands  of  miles  from  West- 
minster, the  general  atmosphere,  the  service, 
the  people,  even  the  old  worn  Union  Jack  over 
the  pulpit,  seemed  so  like  England.  But  there 
was  one  difference,  for  when  the  familiar  hymns 
rolled  out  on  the  splendid  organ,  the  congre- 
gation didn't  leave  all  the  singing  to  the  choir, 
as  is  so  often  done  in  the  Old  Country,  but 
joined  in  with  the  most  thorough  and  effective 
heartiness.  After  the  service  we  drove  out  to 
lunch  to  Rosedale,  which  is  most  deservedly 


52        CANADA :  THERE  AND  BACK 

one  of  the  favourite  residential  quarters.  In 
every  direction  are  wide,  shady  roads  and 
beautiful  green  lawns  on  which  the  fine,  well- 
built  houses  display  pretty  nearly  every  kind  of 
architecture.  The  Canadian  does  not  appear 
to  believe  in  the  type  of  house  turned  out  by 
the  dozen,  the  result  being  that  he  generally 
has  something  considerably  different  to  the 
man  next  door.  Another  noticeable  point  is  in 
the  absence,  for  the  most  part,  of  an  aggressive 
fence  or  stone  wall  round  his  property.  At 
home  custom  has  it  that  this  is  indispensable 
to  keep  out  intruders,  but  the  Canadian  seems 
to  get  on  quite  well  without  these  feudal  relics, 
and  no  one  seems  to  take  advantage  of  their 
absence  to  wander  about  through  his  neigh- 
bour's flower-beds.  The  effect  of  these  same 
flower-beds  and  well-kept  lawns  running  right 
down  to  the  footpath  is  quite  delightful. 

At  last,  after  a  most  attractive  drive,  we 
pulled  up  at  the  house  of  Mr.  E.  B.  Osier,  with 
whom  we  lunched  and  afterwards  spent  a  very 
pleasant  hour  or  two  in  the  shade  of  his  woods, 
a  pleasant  retreat  from  the  August  sun.  Mr. 
Osier,  who  has  many  interests  in  Canada,  is  a 
Director  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  and 


TORONTO  53 

a  member  of  a  family  who  have  a  habit  of 
achieving  distinction ;  one  of  his  brothers  is 
well-known  in  England  as  the  Regius  Professor 
of  Medicine  at  Oxford. 

Leaving  about  four  o'clock,  we  drove  away 
to  look  up  some  friends  at  the  west  side  of  the 
city.  As  Rosedale  lies  right  away  on  the  east, 
during  the  drive  we  were  able  to  appreciate 
that  this  city  is  no  mean  one  :  that  it  is  really 
something  of  a  journey  from  east  to  west,  and 
that  its  260,000  people  are  not  unnecessarily 
overcrowded. 

On  our  way  we  pulled  up  and  strolled  round 
the  many  imposing  buildings  of  the  University, 
the  general  effect  of  which  is  magnificent,  and 
a  worthy  centre  of  the  thorough  system  of 
education  of  which  Ontario  is  so  justly  proud. 
A  little  later  we  were  looking  down  on  the 
University  (and  incidentally  most  other  things) 
from  the  top  of  the  Alexandra,  a  fairly  high 
pile  of  flats,  from  which  point  we  could  see  the 
somewhat  sombre  buildings  of  the  Provincial 
Parliament,  slumland,  where  the  Italians  live — 
and  where,  by-the-bye,  they're  better  off  than 
they  are  in  Soho — "  Sleepy  Hollow,"  the  oldest 
house,  and  many  another  object  of  interest 


54        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

dotted    about    between    Toronto's    countless 
trees. 

The  day  appointed  for  the  National  Expo- 
sition's opening  brought  along  innumerable 
people,  and  during  the  morning  the  streets 
were  full  of  visitors  not  only  from  all  parts  of 
the  Province,  but  from  other  parts  of  Canada 
and  the  United  States.  The  Canadian  National 
Exhibition  is  not  of  the  "  here  to-day  and  gone 
to-morrow"  kind,  but  is  a  regular  annual 
fixture,  usually  held  about  the  end  of  August 
and  lasting  a  fortnight.  It  is  now  in  its 
thirtieth  year,  and  from  small  beginnings  has 
grown  until  its  reputation  is  wider  even  than 
a  national  one.  Every  form  of  industry  is 
illustrated,  and  visitors  crowd  in  from  all  over 
the  continent. 

At  twelve  o'clock  we  drifted  along  with  the 
multitude,  and  at  length,  through  lanes  of 
flags,  found  our  way  to  the  central  buildings 
and  committee  rooms.  Like  many  other  ex- 
cellent functions  in  Anglo-Saxondom,  the  pro- 
ceedings were  to  start  with  a  lunch,  to  which 
President  George  had  kindly  invited  me.  The 
attendance  was  male,  the  gathering  cheery,  and 
the  room  quite  full.  My  companions  were  the 


TORONTO  55 

Speaker  and  Sir  Daniel  Morris,  and  were  both 
entertaining  neighbours.  Sir  Daniel,  who  was 
making  Toronto  his  headquarters  during  the 
time  of  the  Exhibition,  is  a  representative  of 
the  West  Indies,  and  knows  all  there  is  to 
know  about  agriculture.  The  Governor-General 
arrived  to  the  minute,  was  very  warmly  wel- 
comed, and  was  followed  by  the  Lt.-Governor 
of  Ontario — Sir  Mortimer  Clarke. 

Lunch  over,  we  wandered  off  in  procession 
to  a  large  circular  hall,  where  we  found  the 
ladies  and  a  big  crowd,  and  where  the  business 
of  the  day  began.  Lord  Grey,  who  made  a 
first-rate  speech,  crisp,  eloquent,  and  to  the 
point,  received  a  volley  of  hearty  Anglo-Saxon 
cheers,  pressed  a  button,  which  put  in  motion 
everything  electric,  and  the  Exhibition  of  1907 
was  opened.  We  then  walked  along  in  pro- 
cession to  the  grand  stand,  where  His  Excel- 
lency asked  us  to  join  him  in  the  vice-regal 
box,  and  for  the  next  hour  or  so  we  watched 
a  quite  diverting  variety  show  in  the  huge 
arena. 

After  a  short  talk  with  Lord  Grey,  one  can 
easily  understand  why  he  is  so  extremely 
popular  throughout  the  Dominion,  a  fact 


56        CANADA :  THERE  AND  BACK 

which  was  impressed  upon  us  many  times 
between  Quebec  and  Victoria.  The  Governor- 
Generalship  of  Canada  is  no  easy  post,  and 
the  free  and  independent  members  of  our 
sister  nation  have  an  equally  free  and  inde- 
pendent method  of  saying  exactly  what  they 
think  concerning  each  occupant  of  that  exalted 
position.  I  am  bound  to  say  I  had  my  ideas 
changed  as  to  the  merits  of  one  or  two  of  the 
present  Governor-General's  predecessors  ;  in 
this  particular  what  we  hear  in  England  does 
not  always  coincide  with  the  opinion  on  the 
spot.  Abundance  of  tact,  energy,  ability,  and 
an  easy  and  pleasant  democratic  manner  are 
unfortunately  not  always  found  in  combination, 
and  when  the  time  comes  for  Earl  Grey  to 
leave,  the  gap  will  be  no  easy  one  to  fill. 

To  the  Canadian  this  annual  Exhibition  is 
of  great  interest  and  keenly  looked  forward  to, 
but  to  the  travelling  Briton  it  is,  if  possible, 
even  more  interesting,  and  every  tourist  should 
endeavour  to  be  in  Toronto  when  it  is  being 
held,  for  it  gives~one  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
in  the  shortest  time  and  most  pleasant  way,  the 
extraordinary  growth  of  Canadian  industries. 
All  the  exhibits  are  home  made,  appear  to 


TORONTO  57 

cover  every  field,  and  show  numberless  ex- 
amples of  first  rate  workmanship.  To  the 
many,  and  I  confess  to  having  once  been  one, 
who  have  vaguely  looked  upon  the  country  as 
almost  wholly  a  series  of  great  agricultural 
centres,  a  stroll  round  these  Exhibition  build- 
ings comes  as  a  somewhat  vivid  surprise. 
Each  visitor  I  met  I  found  astonished  at  the 
manner  in  which  some  particular  product  was 
turned  out,  my  own  principal  surprises  being 
biscuits  and  pianos.  The  former  in  truly 
wonderful  variety,  and  the  latter  exquisite 
examples  of  taste  and  finish,  and  by  no  means 
the  work  of  one  single  firm.  When  a  country 
begins  to  excel  in  turning  out  such  compara- 
tive luxuries  as  pianos,  one  is  probably  right 
in  concluding  that  she  has  succeeded  in  put- 
ting on  the  market  the  greater  part  of  life's 
ordinary  necessities. 

We  made  several  visits  to  the  Exhibition, 
learning  something  new  each  time,  as  well  as 
seeing  all  kinds  of  gatherings  of  Canadians, 
for  the  powers  that  be  have  an  excellent  way 
of  attracting  the  many  varied  interests  by 
dedicating  certain  days  to  different  classes — 
one  day  being  the  manufacturers'  day  ;  another 


58        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

the  Pressmen's  day ;  a  third  the  children's  day, 
and  so  on.  The  last  was  a  very  pretty  sight, 
when  young  Ontario  in  its  brightest,  whitest 
dresses  and  its  smartest  suits  turned  up  in  its 
thousands  and  enjoyed  everything  hugely. 

The  largely  attended  luncheon  is  also  a  re- 
curring factor,  and  on  two  or  three  occasions, 
as  Mr.  George's  guest,  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  representative  men  of  different  indus- 
tries and  professions.  At  these  luncheons  there 
was  a  constant  stream  of  oratory,  and  we  were 
all  liable  at  a  moment's  notice  to  find  ourselves 
addressing  the  gatherings.  Here  one  soon 
found  that  the  average  Canadian,  like  our 
American  cousin,  has  a  far  readier  tongue 
than  the  average  home-made  Britisher. 

The  Pressmen's  luncheon  was  an  interesting 
gathering,  and  each  man  when  called  on  made 
us  as  good  a  speech  as  if  he  had  been  reading 
out  a  carefully  written  "  leader."  Ontario 
possesses,  so  I  was  informed,  no  less  than  700 
newspapers,  so  that  literature  is  by  no  means 
one  of  the  smaller  industries.  Toronto  itself 
offers  an  amazing  variety  of  papers  for  a  city 
of  upwards  of  300,000,  The  Globe,  the  World, 
the  News,  the  Star,  and  the  Mail  and  Empire 


TORONTO  59 

are  among  the  daily  productions,  with  weekly 
papers  galore,  one  of  the  most  attractive  of  the 
latter  being  the  Saturday  Night,  the  "Front 
Page  "  of  which  I  found  so  entertaining  that  I 
immediately  became  an  annual  subscriber. 

On  the  evening  of  the  Exhibition's  opening, 
Sir  Mortimer  Clarke,  who  is  Lt.-Governor  of 
the  Province,  gave  a  dinner  in  His  Excel- 
lency's honour  at  Government  House,  which 
is  a  charming  old  building  in  a  delightful 
garden.  There  I  had  an  opportunity  of  study- 
ing Toronto's  Elders — for  there  were  only 
about  two  or  three  strangers  out  of  about 
twenty-five  guests. 

Here,  as  at  many  another  gathering,  I  could 
not  help  being  forcibly  struck  by  the  strong 
keen  type  of  face  which  marks  the  successful 
Canadian — he  always  gives  one  an  idea  of 
latent  force,  restrained  energy  and  lots  of  it ; 
a  man  who  is  good  to  tackle  anything  from 
an  intricate  commercial  proposition  to  hacking 
out  a  home  in  a  British  Columbian  forest. 

Government  House  is  situated  on  King 
Street,  not  far  from  the  heart  of  the  city,  and 
one  would  imagine  that  the  Civic  Authorities 
would  see  to  it  that  the  main  road  in  the 


60        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

immediate  neighbourhood  left  nothing  to  be 
desired.  But  that  is  not  the  case,  and  a  single 
drive  along  it,  particularly  at  night,  soon 
teaches  the  passenger  to  hold  on  to  the  car- 
riage seat  amazingly  tight.  Into  so  many  holes 
did  we  flop  driving  back  to  the  Hotel  that  I 
sauntered  along  the  next  morning  to  study  the 
route  by  daylight.  The  holes  were  there  all 
right,  and  we  had  fortunately  avoided  several. 
I  didn't  discover  which  authority  ruled  the 
road ;  perhaps  several  do,  and  each  hopes 
something  from  another !  However,  the  con- 
dition in  the  city  is  as  heaven  when  compared 
to  that  of  the  suburban  highways,  some  of 
which  are  marvels  of  undulation,  and  'tis  a 
brave  car  which  exceeds  the  speed  limit  on 
them.  Now  several  fascinating  spots  lie  out 
(and  some  miles  out)  over  these  fearsome 
roads,  and  to  one  in  particular — the  Hunt 
Club — we  paid  several  visits,  and  I  am  bound 
to  say  if  the  road  had  been  twice  as  bad,  it 
was  well  worth  the  bumping.  Besides,  apart 
from  the  pleasant  feeling  of  independence, 
there  is  no  need  to  bump  by  motor,  for  a  street 
car  (with  one  change)  runs  one  on  rails  right 
up  to  the  gates,  leaving  only  a  short  walk 


TORONTO  61 

through  pleasant  park-like  grounds  to  the  Club 
House. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  more 
beautiful  situation  than  this  attractive  club 
enjoys.  Perched  up  high  on  towering  cliffs, 
one  can  sit  on  the  broad  verandah,  and 
glancing  across  the  well-kept  lawns,  look  out 
over  the  vast  expanse  of  the  glittering  lake 
below ;  on  every  side  are  pleasant  walks  and 
shady  trees,  and  when  one  has  strolled  enough, 
those  in  authority  within  the  hospitable  walls, 
know  well  how  to  look  after  the  varied  wishes 
of  the  inner  man. 

During  the  summer  months  polo  reigns 
supreme,  and  on  our  first  visit  we  were  lucky 
enough  to  see  an  interesting  game  against 
Montreal.  There  is  naturally  considerable 
rivalry  between  these  two  great  cities,  and  a 
large  crowd  of  fair  Torontonians  came  up  to 
the  beautiful  ground  to  cheer  on  the  home 
team.  The  polo  was  first-rate,  the  crowd  full 
of  enthusiasm,  and  the  dresses  (though  as  a 
non-expert  I  can  only  hazard  a  guess)  the  last 
word  in  smartness. 

For  dinner  a  series  of  merry  parties  filled 
every  table,  several  staying  after  the  Polo, 


62        CANADA :  THERE  AND  BACK 

whilst  others  drove  out  from  the  city.  Among 
the  latter  was  the  Governor-General,  who  with 
his  staff  was  returning  later  the  same  night  to 
Quebec. 

During  the  evening  we  learnt  that  all  visitors 
should  make  the  acquaintance  of  a  spot  called 
Scarbro'  Beach,  so  about  9.30  several  of  us 
found  our  way  into  cars  and  motored  down  to 
see  the  sights.  Scarbro'  Beach  is  something 
of  a  mixture  of  Earl's  Court  with  a  touch  of 
Blackpool,  and  goes  in  for  giving  plenty  for 
the  money.  Wonderfully  lighted  (for  elec- 
tricity is  cheap  in  Toronto),  there  appears 
to  be  no  sort  of  amusement  missing,  and  we 
wandered  round  for  an  hour  or  two  looking 
at  somersaulting  autos,  wobbling  staircases, 
dizzy  dashing  flip-flaps,  and  having  a  turn  at 
shooting  galleries  as  well  as  other  trials  of 
skill.  If  the  crowd  we  saw  that  night  is  any 
criterion,  I  guess  Scarbro'  Beach  pays. 

At  another  visit  to  the  Hunt  Club,  we  came 
in  for  a  well  attended  gymkhana,  where 
everybody  made  most  sporting  attempts  at 
everything.  We  rattled  out  in  a  60  h.p. 
Duryea  under  the  guidance  of  an  interesting 
Railroad  pioneer,  Mr.  Dan  Mann,  one  of  the 


TORONTO  63 

powers  behind  the  Canadian  Northern.  He 
has  a  delightful  property  of  about  fifty  to  sixty 
acres  running  alongside  the  Hunt  Club,  and  a 
splendid  house  which  is  now  being  furnished 
by  the  long  arm  of  Waring,  who  are  certainly 
turning  out  a  model  of  complete  comfort. 
Over  a  cigar  after  lunch,  I  learnt  many  fasci- 
nating points  of  Railroad  romance  told  in  a 
quiet  impressive  way  by  one  who  apparently 
knew  his  subject  from  A.  to  Z. 

Besides  the  Hunt  Club,  there  are  two  first- 
rate  Golf  Clubs  just  outside  Toronto,  one  of 
which — Lambton — I  made  the  acquaintance 
of.  Mr.  George  called  for  us  one  morning 
and  we  motored  out  there  picking  up  the 
Club's  President,  Mr.  Austin,  on  the  way. 
For  some  time  we  ran  along  the  edge  of  the 
Lake,  which  on  this  occasion  looked  for  all 
the  world  like  a  stormy  sea.  Then  turning 
off,  we  drove  over  an  excellent  road  through 
High  Park — a  wooded  spot,  just  made  for 
picnics.  On  the  other  side  of  the  Park,  the 
road  rapidly  degenerated,  as  if  the  effort  for  a 
mile  or  two  had  been  too  much  for  it.  How- 
ever, we  hadn't  very  far  to  pick  our  way,  and 
soon  pulled  up  near  the  first  Tee. 


64        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

With  the  exception  of  those  Clubs  at  home 
which  have  annexed  some  old  country  house, 
fallen  from  its  former  estate,  I  have  not  yet 
come  across  a  course  with  a  more  imposing 
Club  House  than  Lambton.  The  winter  dining- 
room,  the  summer  ditto,  the  great  Baronial-like 
hall,  in  soft  soothing  colours,  decorated  with 
mighty  heads,  and  filled  with  vast  seductive 
chairs,  are  something  like  a  Golfer's  rest,  and 
from  the  number  of  visitors  they  appear  to  be 
duly  appreciated. 

I  had  a  round  with  "  President"  Austin,  and 
found  the  course  a  thoroughly  sporting  one  ; 
over-sporting  sometimes,  for  a  particularly  curly 
stream  has  a  recurring  knack  of  getting  in  the 
way.  I  finished  by  holing  a  30  feet  putt  in 
the  presence  of  a  "gallery,"  unaware  of  my 
many  previous  flounders  in  the  stream.  After 
which  comforting  fluke  we  went  in,  and  the  tea 
tasted  good. 

Just  above  the  Club  House,  I  found  a  lengthy 
series  of  big  arc  lamps  swinging  in  a  wood, 
whilst  underneath  and  squirming  in  and  out 
between  the  trees,  was  a  well-rolled  circular 
lawn.  Here  was  an  unheard-of  luxury  ;  an 
after  dinner  putting-green  under  the  lights  of 


TORONTO  65 

many  a  thousand  candle  power  ;  and  so  the 
Toronto  player  may  wander  out  at  dead  of 
night,  switch  on  the  lights  and  find  out,  why  he 
really  missed  that  short  two-footer.  What  a 
useful  thing  is  a  neighbouring  Niagara  !  On 
our  way  home  we  paid  a  visit  to  Upper  Canada 
College,  and,  although  an  hour  or  so  late  for 
the  annual  prize-giving,  we  spent  some  time 
looking  round  the  large  substantial  buildings, 
and  watching  young  Canada  walk  about  with 
its  parents  and — perhaps — other  people's  sisters. 
This  college  is  often  called  the  Eton  of  Canada, 
and  is  run  very  much  on  the  lines  of  one  of 
our  public  schools.  The  headmaster  is  a 
Cambridge  man,  and  about  half  the  masters 
are  Canadian,  and  half  English.  In  the  matter 
of  education  from  Kindergarten  to  University, 
the  "  Queen  City  "  seems  to  leave  very  little  to 
chance. 


CHAPTER  V 
A  DASH  FOR  NIAGARA 

BEFORE  leaving  for  the  West,  we  made  our 
pilgrimage  to  that  wonder  of  Nature,  which  no 
tourist  would  dream  of  passing  by.  From 
Toronto  the  way  to  Niagara  is  either  round  by 
rail  some  eighty  odd  miles,  or  about  half  that 
distance  straight  across  Ontario.  Called  early, 
and  finding  the  morning  fine,  we  drove  down 
to  the  wharf,  and  boarded  the  steamer  Cayuga, 
a  fine  boat  fitted  up  in  a  sort  of  new  art  style  ; 
as  soon  as  she  was  underweigh  an  excellent 
breakfast  was  served,  after  which  we  sat  in  the 
sunshine  and  watched  Toronto  fade  out  of 
sight  behind  the  glassy  surface  of  the  lake.  In 
about  1 1  hours  we  steamed  into  Niagara  River, 
with  Niagara-on-the-Lake  our  first  stopping 
place,  and  after  that  a  run  of  a  few  miles  be- 
tween wooded  banks  to  Queenstown,  where 
we  left  our  new  art  boat  for  an  electric  car. 


A  DASH  FOR  NIAGARA  67 

Up  went  the  car  in  curly  stages  along  the 
side  of  Queenstown  Heights,  the  summit  of 
which  is  crowned  by  a  statue  to  General  Brock, 
a  Canadian  hero  of  1812,  who  led  his  men  to 
victory,  but  paid  for  it  with  his  own  life. 
Along  the  top  of  the  hill  we  ran,  catching  a 
glimpse  nowand  then  of  thewhirlpoolandrapids 
far  below,  and  finally  pulled  up  at  our  destina- 
tion. We  walked  across  to  the  Clifton  Hotel 
and  deposited  our  "grips,"  which  we  had 
brought  in  case  we  decided  to  stay  the  night ; 
the  hotel  looked  so  comfortable  and  the  day  so 
bright  that  we  at  once  decided,  and  then 
strolled  out  to  see  what  we  could. 

The  Niagara  cab  drivers  used  to  enjoy  some- 
what the  same  reputation  as  that  which  is  now 
the  well  earned  possession  of  the  Donkey  Boys 
and  Guides  at  the  Pyramids ;  perhaps  the 
biggest  things  of  nature  arid  man  incite  the 
native  mind  to  fees  in  proportion.  Anyway, 
Mena  now  seems  to  be  well  ahead  in  the  ex- 
tortion race,  for  after  a  short  argumentative 
chat  of  a  minute  or  so,  we  engaged  a  trap  and 
a  couple  of  good  horses  at  quite  a  reasonable 
rate. 

If  one  has  the  time,  I  have  no  doubt  the 


68        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

best  way  to  explore  the  many  points  of  interest 
at  Niagara  is  on  foot,  but  to  see  as  much  as 
possible  in  one  day,  the  better  plan  is  to  drive, 
for  there  many  things  to  look  at  which  are 
scattered  over  a  pretty  considerable  area. 

We  sat  for  nearly  an  hour  by  the  Horseshoe 
Fall,  just  simply  looking  at  it.  Perhaps  a 
committee  of  Homer,  Shakespeare,  and  Dante 
might  between  them  get  up  some  sort  of 
description  which  could  convey  a  vague  idea 
of  this  roll  of  a  thousand  thunderstorms ; 
the  ordinary  mortal  can  just  stand  beside 
the  drifting  spray,  and  realise  he  is  but  a 
microbe. 

On  the  American  side  there  is  quite  a  large 
town  which  goes  in  for  sightseer-catering  and 
general  manufacture,  the  latter  continuing  to 
increase  as  more  power  is  available.  These 
factories  don't  help  to  improve  the  surrounding 
scenery,  and  even  Prospect  Park  has  a  fenced 
in,  keep-on-the-path,  artificial  look  which  jars 
a  little  at  the  side  of  the  mighty  waters.  What 
a  spot  it  must  have  been  three  hundred  years 
ago,  before  the  days  of  power  houses  and 
notice  boards ! 

Before  leaving  the  American  side  our  driver 


A  DASH  FOR  NIAGARA  69 

was  terribly  anxious  that  we  should  go  over  a 
vast  model  factory  dedicated  to  shredded 
wheat,  where  the  employees  revel  in  a  marble 
bath  and  the  visitor  is  escorted  round  without 
a  charge — the  latter  a  rare  attraction  in  these 
parts  ;  but  we  refrained,  and  adjourned  to  the 
Clifton  House  for  lunch.  Here  we  met  two 
of  our  Empress'  fellow  travellers,  members  of 
the  English  rifle-team,  who  had  come  over  to 
shoot  against  Canada.  We  were  now  to  see 
the  Falls  from  another  point  of  view,  and  were 
taken  off  to  a  little  building  near  Table  Rock, 
where  we  were  decorated  with  oil-skins,  marched 
into  an  elevator,  and  dropped  down  into  a 
spot  something  like  the  tombs  of  the  Apis  Bulls 
at  Sakhara,  only  here  the  atmosphere  was 
searchingly  damp.  Along  the  slippery  rock 
we  crawled,  and  eventually  looked  out  through 
many  holes  into  a  pandemonium  of  raging 
roaring  waters  ;  that  was  the  back  of  Niagara. 
A  rest  cure  followed  in  the  peaceful  drive 
through  quiet  woods  above  the  Canadian  bank 
until  we  came  to  another  elevator — this  time  in 
the  open — which  took  us  down  to  the  whirlpool 
rapids.  Here  we  watched  this  harassed  river 
hurling  itself  through  a  gorge  so  narrow  that 


70        CANADA :  THERE  AND  BACK 

its  waters  were  forced  up  into  white-crested 
waves  like  those  of  a  storm  at  sea.  And  this 
was  the  course  a  mortal  tried  to  swim  ! 

After  this  lengthy  conducted  tour  we  left 
our  Jehu,  and  finding  a  quiet  path  a  short  dis- 
tance below  the  Hotel,  strolled  down  it  to  the 
edge  of  the  river.  There  we  met  the  Maid  of 
the  Mist;  we  hadn't  thought  about  her  at  all, 
but,  having  experienced  all  the  other  thrilling 
sensations,  it  seemed  a  pity  not  to  patronise 
the  little  steamer,  so  on  we  went,  and  off 
steamed  the  Maid.  The  view  from  the  water's 
edge  is  certainly  wonderful  and  the  tarpaulins 
keep  off  most  of  the  spray.  However,  the 
Maid  bobbed  a  bit  too  gaily  under  the  great 
Horse-shoe,  and  I  got  in  the  way  of  something 
more  penetrating  than  spray  and  finished  the 
trip  wondrous  damp. 

We  got  by  far  our  most  impressive  vision  of 
the  Falls  by  night.  The  moon  rose  about  ten 
o'clock,  and  we  walked  along  through  the  Park 
to  Table  Rock.  Except  for  the  dull  eternal 
roar,  everything  was  still.  There  was  not  a 
soul  about,  not  a  breath  of  wind,  and  the  pale 
light  of  the  half-grown  moon  just  struck  the 
line  where  the  river  bends  over  thick  and 


s£ 

—    O 


2.S 


A  DASH  FOR  NIAGARA  71 

heavy  like  an  arc  of  liquid  steel.  Niagara 
must  be  wonderful  under  all  conditions,  but 
by  night  it  is  overwhelming. 

Before  we  left  the  next  day  we  saw  it  under 
still  another  aspect ;  the  bright  sun  and  blue 
sky  had  vanished,  and  in  their  place  we  had 
thin  drizzling  rain  and  dark  grey  clouds.  This 
colour-scheme  suited  the  Falls  admirably  and 
seemed  more  in  keeping  with  them  than 
summer  sunshine. 

The  change  in  the  weather  induced  us  to 
give  up  the  Lake  trip  and  to  return  by  train. 
We  didn't  gain  much  in  the  matter  of  time,  for 
the  train  was  late,  but  we  did  get  an  oppor- 
tunity for  a  hasty  glance  at  the  "  Garden  of 
Canada."  On  this  little  peninsula  are  grown 
the  most  delicious  apples,  peaches,  pears,  and 
plums,  many  of  which  now  find  their  way  (via 
cold  storage)  to  the  English  market.  It  is  not 
many  years  since  Canada  started  the  exporting 
of  fruit,  but  now  that  trade  is  a  large  and  ever- 
increasing  one,  and  vast  orchards  have  sprung 
up  in  many  sections  of  the  country.  The 
Government,  with  characteristic  energy,  is 
doing  all  it  can  to  assist,  and  every  sort  of 
scientific  test  is  being  carried  out  on  the  many 


72        CANADA :  THERE  AND  BACK 

experimental  farms.  Leaving  the  fruit  for  a 
few  minutes,  we  ran  through  the  busy  manu- 
facturing city  of  Hamilton,  and  then  taking  an 
easterly  turn,  made  our  way  through  further 
orchards  to  Toronto,  along  the  north  shore  of 
the  Lake. 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  GREAT  LAKES 

JUST  as  we  had  left  Montreal  with  the  greatest 
regret,  so  we  turned  westward  from  Toronto. 
Our  ten  days'  stay  had  gone  far  too  quickly 
and  been  much  too  short,  to  see  all  one  would 
have  liked  in  the  Queen  City  of  Ontario. 
When  we  left  Montreal  we  decided  that  there 
could  be  no  other  spot  in  the  Dominion  so 
attractive,  but  after  a  week  or  so  at  Toronto 
one  was  forced  to  think  again,  and  the  impar- 
tial visitor  would  probably  find  it  extremely 
difficult  to  decide  which  was  the  more  pleasant 
place,  when  each  has  so  many  alluring  claims. 
Whatever  I  may  forget  about  Toronto,  I  shall 
always  remember  it  as  a  vision  of  Union  Jacks, 
and  unbounded  infectious  loyalty  to  the 
Empire,  the  very  spot  to  go  to  for  a  tonic 
when  the  Little  Englander  and  the  Socialist  at 
home  become  too  drearily  oppressive. 
73 


74        CANADA :  THERE  AND  BACK 

From  Toronto  there  is  a  choice  of  ways  to 
the  West,  the  all  rail  for  those  in  a  hurry,  the 
'  Lake  Route  '  for  the  rest.  As  we  were  particu- 
larly anxious  to  see  something  of  the  great 
Lakes,  and  didn't  at  all  mind  putting  in  the  few 
extra  hours  en  route  to  Fort  William,  we  took 
no  time  to  decide,  and  at  the  hour  appointed 
went  down  to  find  our  train  for  Owen  Sound. 
Everybody  seemed  to  be  going  West,  for  there 
was  a  huge  crowd  at  the  station  and  piled  up 
tons  of  baggage.  Amongst  the  passengers  were 
a  pair  of  shy  bridal  couples  in  aggressively  new 
clothes  ;  each  pair  had  its  contingent  of  bois- 
terous friends  to  cheer  it  off. 

The  run  to  Owen  Sound  is  only  about 
120  miles,  through  a  pleasant  undulating 
country  dotted  with  several  lakes.  We  pulled 
up  alongside  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
steamer  Manitoba  and  were  soon  fixed  up  on 
board.  The  Manitoba,  long  and  thin,  towers 
above  the  water,  and  has  a  large  and  lofty 
saloon  and  innumerable  cabins.  There  was  a 
full  complement  on  board,  and  on  occasions 
the  saloon  somewhat  resembled  a  creche,  so 
numerous  were  the  children,  many  of  whom 
were  returning  after  the  holidays,  some  (from 


THE  GREAT  LAKES  75 

the  labels  on  their  grips)  to  a  spot  called  Kalla- 
mazoo,  and  some  to  Canadian  towns. 

Before  the  sun  went  down  our  "  floating 
palace  "  was  well  out  into  Georgian  Bay.  It 
was  a  perfect  evening  and  we  spent  most  of 
our  time  on  the  curiously  shaped  upper  deck. 
Various  craft  of  weird  shape  slipped  past  us  in 
the  dark,  some  carrying  ore,  and  others  laden 
with  grain;  there  is  something  quite  distinctive 
about  the  look  of  the  '  whalebacks  '  with  their 
long  semi-submarine  bodies  and  the  humpy 
little  deck  over  the  screw  ;  they  have  mammoth 
appetites  for  grain.  The  next  morning  we  were 
running  along  beside  the  Grand  Manitoulin  and 
a  series  of  smaller  isles,  on  several  of  which 
were  neat  little  summer  chalets  where  the  over- 
worked American  can  put  in  a  needed  rest  cure. 
As  we  drew  nearer  the  famous  "  Soo  "  Canal, 
the  procession  of  whalebacks  so  increased  that 
before  we  reached  the  Western  shores  of  Huron 
they  were  coming  past  in  perfect  droves.  Among 
the  many  topics  of  conversation  we  had  listened 
to  during  the  morning  two  favourites  were  con- 
stantly cropping  up,  the  first  being  that  twice 
as  much  traffic  gets  through  the  five  million 
dollar  "  Soo  "  as  through  Surz,  secondly  we 


76        CANADA :  THERE  AND  BACK 

were  assured  that  England  could  be  dropped 
and  drowned  in  Lake  Superior.  Point  No.  I 
is  I  believe,  quite  correct ;  as  for  No.  2,  though 
England  is  no  vast  country  and  Superior  is  the 
greatest  thing  in  Lakes,  there  would  be  quite  a 
lot  of  the  mother  country  overlapping  on  every 
side. 

After  a  very  pretty  run  through  St.  Mary's 
River  (which  joins  together  Huron  and 
Superior)  we  reached  the  famous  canal  and 
were  pulled  up  outside  the  lock  between  the 
two  towns  of  Sault-Ste-Marie.  On  one  side 
we  saw  the  Union  Jack,  and  on  the  other  "  Old 
Glory."  The  towns  are  both  prosperous,  and 
commercially  important,  but  to  the  casual  tran- 
sient observer  not  thrillingly  attractive.  The 
jaws  of  the  giant  lock  slowly  opened  ;  in  we 
dropped  ;  and  in  a  very  short  time  were  lifted 
up  to  the  higher  level,  let  out,  and  away  to  the 
waters  of  Whitefish  Bay. 

On  board  the  Manitoba  we  had  every  sort  of 
traveller,  commercial  and  otherwise.  One 
bright  young  fellow  of  the  former  class  was  full 
of  information.  He  had  been  brought  up  in 
the  furniture  trade  in  Toronto,  but  finding  that 
in  the  settled  Eastern  city  the  dollars  did  not 


THE  GREAT  LAKES  77 

roll  up  quite  so  fast  as  he  liked,  did  the  usual 
thing  and  quick  marched  to  the  West.  He  was 
now  employed  in  persuading  the  people  of 
Edmonton  to  invest  in  high  class  furniture, 
told  me  business  was  booming,  and  for  a  young 
man  with  push  Edmonton  was  just  IT.  Like  so 
many  of  the  citizens  of  the  West,  he  seemed  to 
know  the  figure  at  which  every  foot  of  Real 
Estate  in  his  city  had  changed  hands  during 
the  past  six  months.  Another  passenger  was 
an  interesting  Australian  parson  who  was  on 
his  way  home  after  a  visit  to  England,  where 
he  had  been  going  into  the  question  of  getting 
out  to  Australia  a  supply  of  good  class  English 
workmen.  He  certainly  had  a  way  of  making 
everything  *  down  under '  appear  more  than 
rosy,  and  was  a  great  believer  in  the  future  of 
his  native  Commonwealth.  The  day  being 
Sunday,  he  conducted  a  service  in  the  saloon  ; 
the  attendance  was  large,  but  the  wails  of  weary 
infants  mixed  up  sadly  with  the  hymns. 

The  temperature  on  Superior  was  noticeably 
lower  than  on  Lake  Huron,  indeed  it  is  a 
fearsome  spot  for  the  man  overboard,  for  the 
water  is  so  terribly  cold  that  the  strongest 
swimmer  has  a  very  remote  chance  of  keeping 


78        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

afloat  till  he  is  picked  up.  For  hours  we  pushed 
along  out  of  sight  of  land,  but  the  air  was  so 
still  and  the  surface  so  smooth,  it  was  difficult 
to  realise  how  the  same  trip  can  be  made  through 
the  most  appalling  gales. 

During  the  day  we  paid  a  visit  to  the  baggage 
master  to  find  that  one  of  our  trunks  was  missing, 
and  that  of  course  the  one  in  which  was  an 
assortment  of  kit  for  the  mountains,  in  fact  the 
only  one  we  really  wanted;  but  we  lived  in 
hopes  of  meeting  it  at  Winnipeg.  Another 
somewhat  tragic  discovery  was  a  gaping  hole 
in  a  light  compressed  cane  trunk  :  quite  the 
wrong  kind  of  luggage  for  Canada  or  the  States. 
This  was  caused  by  a  solid  steel  box,  which 
from  its  weight  might  have  been  filled  with 
samples  of  armour  plate,  having  been  bounced 
on  to  its  fragile  companion.  The  baggage 
master  duly  sympathised,  and  kindly  gave  us  a 
note  to  his  colleague  at  Winnipeg  who,  he  said, 
would  soon  u  fix  us." 

Another  night  on  an  even  keel,  and  in  the 
morning  the  first  glimpse  of  Thunder  Cape,  a 
huge  mass  of  rock  standing  out  black  against 
the  sky.  We  were  now  close  to  the  land  and 
entering  Thunder  Bay  were  soon  at  Port 


THE  GREAT  LAKES  79 

Arthur,  where  we  dropped  some  of  our  pas- 
sengers and  baggage,  and  spent  about  half  an 
hour  on  deck  taking  in  the  prosperous  looking 
town  on  the  hill.  Another  two  or  three  miles, 
during  which  we  passed  the  biggest  grain 
elevator  on  earth,  and  our  journey  through  the 
great  Lakes  was  at  an  end. 


CHAPTER  VII 
ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

As  the  West  bound  train  was  not  due  for  some 
six  or  eight  hours  we  got  a  certain  amount  of 
exercise  at  Fort  William,  having  first  left  our 
hand  luggage  at  a  hotel  ^bearing  the  somewhat 
overwhelming  name  of  Kaministikwia.  I  am 
fully  persuaded  that  Fort  William  is  to  be  one 
of  the  greatest  cities  on  earth,  and  that  through 
the  jaws  of  its  mighty  elevators  will  pass  the 
grain  for  half  Europe  ;  but  at  present  it  has  a 
decidedly  "  one  horse  "  appearance,  and  seems 
to  cry  hard  for  a  wash  and  brush  up.  On  each 
side  of  its  wide  streets  are  dotted  at  uneven 
intervals  tin  and  wooden  buildings  of  every 
shape  and  size.  First  we  saw  a  properous  look- 
ing store,  its  windows  filled  with  an  assortment 
of  goods  from  straw  hats  to  tomatoes,  with  a 
bunch  of  busy  fly-papers  festooned  behind. 
Then  would  come  a  primitive  log  hut,  with  a 
80 


\ 


ON  THE  PRAIRIE  81 

surburban  like  villa  next  door,  the  two  divided 
by  a  patch  of  virgin  prairie  marked  "  to  let " — 
or  words  to  that  effect.  Above  the  lot  is  a 
forest  of  rough  unfinished  poles,  leading  about 
tons  of  telegraph  wires. 

There  was  very  little  work  being  done  as  the 
day  was  devoted  to  some  sort  of  Labour  cele- 
bration, and  the  street  cars  bound  for  Port 
Arthur  were  so  tightly  packed  that  passengers 
on  the  middle  seats  appeared  to  be  having  a 
bad  time  of  it.  Wandering  round  the  outskirts, 
we  met  a  few  of  the  inhabitants,  and  had  a 
chat  with  a  middle-aged  woman  who  was 
standing  at  the  door  of  a  little  house  which 
looked  like  a  cigar-box  painted  green.  She 
was  a  native  of  Gloucestershire,  had  been  out 
about  six  months,  and  was  very  home-sick  ; 
but  her  husband,  she  said,  liked  the  place 
immensely  and  had  found  good  work  and 
wages.  Several  times  we  ran  into  emigrants 
putting  in  their  first  few  months  and  for  the 
most  part  somewhat  doleful,  but  of  those  we 
met  who  had  been  in  the  new  land  over  12 
months  I'm  bound  to  say  the  invariable 
answer  was,  that  nothing  would  induce  them 
to  go  back  again.  The  newcomer  from  the 

r 


82        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

suburbs  of  London,  or  even  the  small  pro- 
vincial towns,  naturally  finds  the  new  life 
somewhat  strange  and  is  apt  at  the  beginning 
to  brood  over  the  quondam  joys  he  thinks  he 
has  lost ;  the  happy  hours  passed  with  cronies 
at  the  brightly  lighted  bars  of  the  Rose  and 
Crown,  the  odd  evenings  at  his  local  music 
hall,  and  the  thrills  of  a  First  League  Football 
match.  He  entirely  forgets  the  day  when 
work  was  short,  and  the  hopeless  prospects  he 
had  of  getting  on  in  the  world.  As  time  runs 
on,  he  makes  new  friends,  finds  fresh  interests, 
and  before  many  months  have  passed  would 
not  go  back  to  the  old  conditions  for  any 
consideration. 

Having  made  a  complete  circular  tour  of  the 
half-grown  city,  which  in  a  very  few  years  will 
probably  become  one  of  the  most  important  in 
the  Empire,  we  returned  to  our  hotel  with  the 
weird  name,  where  we  dined,  being  waited 
upon  by  a  haughty  young  damsel,  who,  very 
obviously,  was  bored  to  distraction  with  her 
present  role  in  life.  Dinner  over,  we  sat  on 
the  steps  of  the  Kaministikwia  waiting  for  the 
West  bound  train,  and  at  about  7.30,  at  the 
sign  of  a  distant  puff  of  smoke  and  the  sound 


ON  THE  PRAIRIE  83 

of  an  increasing  rattle,  walked  across  to  the 
platform,  and  were  soon  "all  aboard"  and 
tucked  away  in  our  pleasant  drawing-room. 

The  next  morning  we  were  rushing  along 
through  a  region  for  the  most  part  rugged  and 
rocky,  with  here  and  there  attractive  woods 
and  a  glimpse  of  distant  lakes.  A  little 
further  on  flat  grassy  country  began  to  mix 
itself  up  with  the  rocks  and  the  ever  increasing 
patches  of  ripened  corn  :  at  length  shortly 
before  noon  we  pulled  up  in  the  lofty  station 
of  the  great  Boom  City. 

As  summer  was  rapidly  melting  into  autumn 
we  were  advised  to  get  along  to  the  mountains 
as  soon  as  possible,  and  so  had  decided  to  run 
through  Winnipeg  and  put  in  a  few  days  there 
on  our  return  by  the  Crow's  Nest  route.  So 
we  stopped  over  for  one  train  only,  and  in  the 
interim  the  obliging  baggage  master  had  our 
wounded  trunk  promptly  and  neatly  repaired, 
and  was  more  than  patient  in  helping  us  to 
track  down  the  one  which  was  missing,  and 
which  we  wanted  to  make  a  certainty  of  having 
at  Banff  as  soon  as  we  got  there.  It  was  dis- 
covered in  the  evening  in  the  midst  of  a  bag- 
gage car  which  had  arrived  from  Toronto 


84        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

direct,  and  we  managed  to  get  it  scooped  out 
and  shot  into  No.  96  (our  moving  home  for 
the  next  two  days)  a  minute  or  so  before  she 
pulled  out.  This  was  the  only  occasion  on 
which  any  piece  of  luggage  was  delayed  a 
single  train,  and  considering  how  closely  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway  has  to  follow  up  the 
ever  growing  traffic,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
overwhelming  westward  rush  about  harvest 
time,  the  prompt  manner  in  which  these 
mountains  of  trunks  are  handled  is  quite 
wonderful. 

When  the  next  sun  rose  we  were  really  out 
on  -the  rolling  prairie,  forging  ahead  along  a 
line  as  straight  as  an  arrow,  with  interminable 
fields  of  grain  on  every  side.  Sometimes  the 
land  was  flat  to  the  sky  line  ;  at  other  times  it 
rolled  away  in  great  undulating  waves  ;  while 
everywhere  there  was  a  look  of  healthy  activity 
and  prosperity.  At  short  and  irregular  inter- 
vals we  heard  the  rattle  of  the  binders,  and 
saw  the  many  Massey  Harris  reaping-machines 
eating  their  way  through  the  sea  of  grain,  the 
loose  limbed  sunburnt  farmers  here  there  and 
everywhere  piling  into  this  busy  season  some 
of  their  most  strenuous  days  of  the  year.  It 


ON  THE  PRAIRIE  85 

was  hard  to  imagine  that  barely  a  generation 
ago  all  these  millions  of  acres  of  Europe's 
food  were  wild  open  country,  with  vast  herds 
of  buffalo. 

We  found  on  the  map  that  we  had  left 
Manitoba  and  were  careering  through  the 
province  of  Saskatchewan  (a  section  of 
Canada  about  the  size  of  France),  and  in 
due  course  reached  its  capital,  Regina.  Here 
we  had  about  two  hours  exercise  owing  to 
some  slight  breakdown  blocking  the  line 
ahead,  but  as  were  always  expecting  to  hear 
the  whistle  we  dare  not  wander  many  hundred 
yards  away.  After  the  comparatively  treeless 
state  of  the  prairie  we  welcomed  the  sight  of  a 
few  at  Regina.  The  station  also  rejoiced  in 
quite  a  pretty  garden,  with  the  country's 
motto  "The  Maple  Leaf  for  ever"  worked 
into  a  flower  bed.  In  1900  the  population  of 
Regina  was  about  2000  ;  it  is  now  something 
like  10,000,  and  expects  to  grow.  It  has  one  or 
two  very  fine  stores,  which  supply  not  only 
the  immediate  neighbourhood  but  all  the  huge 
province.  We  wandered  into  one  of  the  stores, 
where  the  boss  of  the  establishment  reeled  off 
to  us  some  of  the  wonders  and  possibilities 


86        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

of  his  city,  and  informed  us  that  there  were 
no  wheat  fields  like  the  wheat  fields  near 
Regina.  We  also  saw  some  of  the  North- 
West  Mounted  Police,  that  splendid  body  of 
men,  who  for  many  years  have  done  so  much 
to  insist  on  a  respect  for  the  law  in  the  North- 
West  Territories,  and  whose  headquarters  were 
just  outside  the  city. 

Away  again,  and  always  more  wheat  and 
more  prairie.  The  mighty  area  is  stupendous, 
but  as  one  goes  on  hour  after  hour  till  the 
hours  turn  into  days  an  overwhelming  feeling 
of  sameness  comes  on,  and  the  idea  inces- 
santly crops  up  that  life  on  these  rolling 
plains  would  be  terribly  monotonous  to  one 
who  had  been  brought  up  in  any  other  kind 
of  land.  That  this  is  not  really  the  case  I 
heard  over  and  over  again  from  those  who 
had  gone  to  the  great  wheat  belt  from  say 
England,  or  Eastern  Canada.  Not  only  was 
the  slightest  feeling  of  monotony  vehemently 
denied,  but  one  learned  incidentally  that  after 
the  free  open  life  of  the  plains  no  other  part  of 
the  world  was  worth  living  in.  So  much  for 
making  guesses  from  a  train  ! 

At  any  station  where  we  stopped  for  more 


I  j  11tUt, 
It  tf4r- 


33 

H 


il 


a 


ON  THE  PRAIRIE  87 

than  a  minute  or  two  was  a  general  exodus  for 
"  constitutionals,"  and  before  the  end  of  the 
day  one  seemed  to  be  on  speaking  terms  with 
everybody  on  board.  There  is  no  rigid  Ger- 
man formality  about  getting  in  and  out  of 
trains  in  Canada  ;  out  you  jump  and  take  your 
walk,  and  if  you're  left  behind,  it's  your  own 
fault.  In  each  car  the  roomy  smoking  rooms 
were  merry  meeting-places,  and  many  an 
experience  is  exchanged,  many  a  valuable 
hint  picked  up  from  one's  fellow  travellers. 
There's  no  waste  of  time  in  launching  into 
a  conversation,  and  should  the  new  comer 
happen  to  be  from  any  other  land,  he  is  soon 
made  to  feel,  quietly  and  quite  politely,  that 
the  land  he  is  now  in  is  way  up  on  top  of 
everything,  and  that  never  mind  who  hap- 
pened to  own  last  century,  this  one  is 
Canada's. 

The  Canadian  is  a  glorious  refreshing  opti- 
mist and  always  ready  to  back  his  province 
or  his  city  against  that  of  any  other  rival  from 
any  other  part  of  the  Dominion.  Time  after 
time  I  listened  to  the  most  entertaining  argu- 
ments between  champions  of  places  which,  to 
my  shame,  I  had  never  even  heard  of  ;  and  the 


88        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

way  in  which  each  one  was  up  in  his  local 
details  was  surprising.  If  A  was  1500  ahead  of 
B  on  population,  why  B  had  come  1700  since 
the  census,  and  anyway  B  had  180  more  build- 
ings and  a  couple  more  churches.  Whatever 
it  was — policemen,  telephones,  factories,  or 
miles  of  side-walk,  each  point  was  down  to  a 
decimal.  One  couldn't  help  wondering  how 
long  a  Liverpudlian  could  keep  going  on  the 
same  line  of  argument  if  tackled  by  a  man  from 
Manchester. 

That  evening  we  were  treated  to  a  most  won- 
derful prairie  sunset,  and  for  almost  an  hour 
we  watched  the  blood-red  sky  from  the  win- 
dows of  the  dining  car.  Through  the  night 
we  kept  on  running  West,  and  early  next 
morning  were  just  outside  Calgary  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Alberta.  At  last  we  were  nearing  the 
end  of  the  plains.  In  front  of  us  the  hills 
began,  and  far  ahead  stood  out  the  jagged 
peaks  of  the  Rockies. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  PROVINCE  OF  ALBERTA 

CALGARY,  from  the  very  fleeting  glance  we  had 
of  it,  looked  a  bright  attractive  little  town,  the 
number  of  stone  buildings  giving  it  a  more 
solid  and  permanent  appearance  in  comparison 
with  some  of  the  more  flimsy  towns  we  had  left. 
We  were  now  right  in  the  "  Boom "  country, 
in  the  thick  of  the  hustlers'  heaven,  where 
every  one  is  an  optimist  screwed  up  to  the  top 
note.  Time  after  time  one  had  found  pam- 
phlets on  the  train  (they  are  scattered  broad- 
cast everywhere)  just  mentioning  a  few  points 
about  incomparable  Alberta.  After  reading 
some  of  them  through  the  only  logical  conclu- 
sion possible  was  that  it  was  a  gross  waste  of 
time  and  almost  a  crime  to  live  anywhere  else. 
But  it's  the  proper  kind  of  spirit,  the  kind  that 
helps  the  Albertan  to  "  get  there,"  and  as  he 
will  tell  you  in  the  racy  vernacular,  "  Yes,  siree, 


9o        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

right  on  both  feet,  and  don't  you  forget  it." 
If  we  had  had  time  we  should  very  much  have 
liked  a  few  days  in  this  district  with  a  run  up 
to  Edmonton,  a  couple  of  hundred  miles  North, 
where  the  boom  is  on  the  boil  and  the  citizen 
turns  in  each  night  to  dream  of  appreciation 
in  his  Real  Estate. 

The  vast  region  round  Calgary  is  one  great 
elevated  plateau  some  3000  feet  high,  and  is 
one  of  the  finest  centres  in  the  world  for  stock 
raising,  besides  turning  out  some  millions  of 
bushels  of  wheat.  Although  at  a  much  higher 
level  the  winters  are  milder  than  those  of 
Manitoba  and  the  more  Easterly  provinces, 
owing  to  the  soft  warm  wind  known  as  the 
Chinook,  which  drifts  across  the  snow-clad 
mountains  from  the  land  of  the  Chinook 
Indians,  and  runs  up  the  temperature  of  for- 
tunate Alberta.  After  leaving  Calgary  we  at 
once  began  to  rise,  twisting  and  turning  about 
among  the  foot  hills,  the  scenery  improving 
every  mile.  Two  or  three  days  spent  crossing 
the  prairie  were  a  fine  prelude  to  the  apprecia- 
tions of  the  foothills,  though  the  Rockies 
needed  no  such  overture.  We  were  now  at 
the  entrance  to  this  glorious  range,  though  we 


THE  PROVINCE  OF  ALBERTA       91 

seemed  to  be  running  straight  into  an  impass- 
able group  of  piled  up  mountains.  Another 
turn,  however,  and  the  "Gap"  was  open  before 
us,  leaving  just  room  for  the  line  and  the 
tumbling  Bow  River  to  squeeze  their  way 
between  the  mighty  rocks.  Up,  slowly  up, 
with  great  bare  rugged  rocks  of  every  shape 
towering  up  to  10,000  feet,  and  below  us,  some- 
times on  one  side  sometimes  on  the  other,  the 
many  coloured  Bow. 

There  are  magnificent  mountains  in  many 
parts  of  the  world,  and  some  far  higher 
than  the  giants  of  Alberta  and  B.C.,  but 
the  first  sight  of  the  Rockies  impressed  me 
more  than  any  other  range  I  have  yet  seen. 
The  great  naked  peaks  torn  into  every  fan- 
tastic form,  and  sparsely  scattered  with  the 
burnt  and  blackened  firs  have  a  vivid  indivi- 
duality of  their  own  and  are  like  nothing  else 
on  earth  ;  while  around  are  just  a  few  out  of 
hundreds  of  square  miles  of  this  sea  of  moun- 
tains, with  its  thousands  of  peaks  yet  to  be 
climbed  by  mortal  man. 

We  had  come  along  some  thirteen  hundred 
miles  since  leaving  the  Lakes,  and  the  name  of 
Banff  looked  comforting  as  we  rolled  into  the 


92        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

station  shortly  before  noon.  Here  we  were  met 
by  the  Banff  Springs  bus,  and,  together  with 
several  train  companions  (who  by  this  time 
seemed  like  old  friends),  drove  over  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  of  quite  good  road  to  the  hotel. 
Whatever  may  be  one's  opinions  about  the 
Rockies  there  can't  be  two  about  the  Banff 
Springs  Hotel,  which  is  right  up  to  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  top  standard,  and  as  fine  a 
specimen  of  a  mountain  hotel  as  a  tourist  is 
likely  to  meet.  Our  rooms  were  everything  we 
could  wish,  and  a  wallow  in  a  real  large  bath 
felt  pretty  good  after  two  or  three  days  of  train. 
This  was  followed  by  a  luncheon  which  couldn't 
be  beaten  in  the  Place  Vendome,  and  served 
in  a  room  with  a  view  across  a  wondrous  pano- 
rama of  mountain,  forest,  and  stream.  The 
man  who  chose  the  site  for  this  hotel  had  the 
right  sort  of  nose  for  location. 

In  the  afternoon  we  hired  a  "  Rig,"  the  light 
spider-like  local  four-wheeler,  and  had  a  de- 
lightful drive  in  the  Park  ;  none  of  your  railed 
in,  don't-get-out-of-a-canter  kind  of  parks,  but 
a  geographical  expression  of  over  5000  square 
miles.  Here  we  saw  the  famous  herd  of 
buffalo  no  longer  roaming  on  the  boundless 


THE  PROVINCE  OF  ALBERTA       93 

prairie,  but  dotted  out  in  a  fenced  enclosure 
and  solemnly  gazing  at  the  wandering  visitor 
who  invariably  takes  a  photograph  of  them. 
We  met  an  elk  too,  but  he  apparently  didn't 
like  us  at  all,  for  he  went  off  snuffling  with 
disgust. 

On  our  return  we  found  our  way  into  the 
sulphur  swimming  tank  just  below  the  hotel 
and  thoroughly  enjoyed  a  swim  in  the  warm 
water.  Those  hot  springs  bubble  up  all  over 
this  district,  and  are  said  to  rapidly  get  the 
better  of  rheumatism  and  various  other  com- 
plaints. In  the  evening  there  was  a  decided 
touch  of  cool  in  the  air,  and  a  general  gather- 
ing round  the  great  pine  logs  which  crackled 
in  the  old  fashioned  open  hearth  of  the  large 
and  lofty  hall,  whilst  an  excellent  orchestra 
played  the  latest  waltz. 

There  are  excursions  galore  from  Banff,  and 
many  a  day  can  be  spent  exploring  in  every 
direction.  The  "trails"  are  legion  and  kept 
in  good  order  by  the  Dominion  Government. 
One  of  the  most  favourite  ways  of  getting 
about  is  on  horseback,  and  there  seems  to  be 
no  scarcity  of  hacks ;  side-saddles  are  not  the 
thing,  for  all  ladies  ride  astride.  One  delight- 


94        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

ful  ride  we  had  along  the  valley  of  the  Bow 
right  underneath  the  mountains.  The  air  was 
crisp,  the  horses  fit,  and  the  springy  turf  a  joy 
to  gallop  over.  On  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
Bow  we  saw  the  "  Hoodoos"  standing  out  like 
sandy  ghosts,  a  series  of  curiously  shaped 
stalagmitic  remains  from  the  river's  crumbling 
banks.  We  also  saw  some  "Association" 
goal-posts  in  the  middle  of  the  flower  covered 
meadow,  showing  that  the  thrills  of  football 
had  reached  even  these  heights. 

Another  day  I  rode  up  to  the  top  of  Sulphur 
Mountain  with  an  Englishman  (the  only  other 
Britisher  in  the  hotel,  and  he  had  forsaken 
his  native  land  for  B.C's  magnet  charms).  It 
would  have  done  us  more  good  to  have  walked, 
but  there  was  a  hot  sun  and  an  absence  of 
breeze,  and  we  were  rather  over  festooned  with 
Rucksacks  (full  of  lunch)  and  Thermos  Bottles. 
A  first-rate  zigzag  path  ran  up  the  mountain, 
driving  its  way  through  the  densest  of  firs  till 
we  eventually  reached  the  topmost  clump. 
Here  we  tied  up  the  nags,  lightened  the  Ruck- 
sacks and  blessed  the  fellow  who  invented  the 
Thermos  bottle.  At  the  very  top  of  the  moun- 
tain on  a  craggy  little  pinnacle  is  a  small 


THE  PROVINCE  OF  ALBERTA       95 

observatory  to  which  we  scrambled  up,  and 
for  half  an  hour  sat  and  took  in  the  marvellous 
all-round  view.  The  horses  had  come  up  well, 
but  the  procession  down  was  a  little  slow  as 
they  resolutely  refused  to  take  any  slipping 
risks.  Having  decided  that  walking  would  be 
quicker  we  jumped  off  and  drove  the  animals 
along  down  the  multi-twisting  path.  All  went 
well  for  many  a  turn  till  suddenly  we  came  to 
a  black  robed  object  sitting  near  a  tree  ;  it  was 
merely  a  somewhat  tired  priest  taking  a  rest, 
but  unfortunately  he  chose  that  particular 
second  for  a  move  ;  up  went  our  horses'  heads, 
and  with  a  swish  of  their  tails  they  turned  off 
right-handed  into  the  woods.  My  companion 
suggested  to  me  that  this  walking  scheme  had 
been  my  idea,  which  I  had  sadly  to  admit,  as 
well  as  recognise  that  I  was  the  slimmer  and 
younger  of  the  party,  and  that  from  every 
point  of  view  it  was  up  to  me  to  chase  the 
beasts.  Till  then  I  had  always  considered 
squash  racquets  the  warmest  game  there  was  ! 
Half  an  hour  later  we  got  on  those  blessed 
horses  again,  and  didn't  dismount  till  we 
reached  the  hotel  door. 

A  climb  almost  every  one  makes  is  up  Tunnel 


96        CANADA:  THERE  AND  BACK 

Mountain,  a  short  and  easy  expedition,  but 
with  a  view  at  the  top  that  is  not  easy  to  forget. 
I  walked  up  there  one  afternoon  with  two 
friends  of  the  train,  one  a  New  South  Waler 
and  the  other  from  Toronto.  The  Toronto 
man  had  never  seen  mountains  before,  and  his 
unrestrained  enthusiasm  was  nearly  as  fine  as 
the  scenery.  For  a  long  time  we  sat  on  the 
mountain  top  and  let  the  exquisite  scenery 
slowly  soak  in.  From  the  distant  west,  the 
Bow  River,  like  a  pale  green  snake,  wound  its 
way  through  the  fertile  plain,  surrounded  on 
three  sides  by  a  great  barrier  of  mountain, 
while  immediately  beneath  us  lay  the  little 
town  of  Banff.  On  the  Eastern  side  we  stood 
on  the  edge  of  a  precipice  and  looked  down 
into  the  meadows  where  the  buffalo  roam  far 
below.  Far  down  the  valley  we  could  trace 
the  thin  steel  streak  over  which  an  East  bound 
train  was  gliding  to  the  Prairie,  and  again  the 
outlook  finished  in  a  mass  of  gorgeous  coloured 
snow  clad  peaks.  We  tried  a  short  cut  home, 
but  it  took  three  quarters  of  an  hour  longer. 

A  glorious  drive  is  to  a  lake  with  the  alluring 
name  of  Minnewanka  about  nine  miles  away. 
One  brilliant  morning  we  got  our  rig  and 


THE  PROVINCE  OF  ALBERTA       97 

rattled  off — blessing  the  land  which  got  such 
continued  samples  of  heavenly  weather — and 
were  soon  through  the  little  town  and  between 
our  friends  the  shaggy  buffalo  and  the  angry 
elk.  Then  the  road  took  us  round  the  base  of 
the  lofty  Cascade  mountain,  on  which  we 
noticed  some  of  the  undergrowth  just  begin- 
ning to  turn  to  autumn  tints.  Every  inch  of 
the  way  was  fine  and  even  a  large  anthracite 
colliery  (which  like  most  other  things  in  the 
neighbourhood  appeared  to  belong  to  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway)  isn't  at  all  unpic- 
turesque.  By  the  time  we  had  got  to  Devil's 
Creek  we  had  run  out  of  every  sort  of  adjective, 
but  we  pulled  up  on  the  little  wooden  bridge 
and  just  thought  of  a  few  long  German  ones. 
The  reverie  was  a  bit  disturbed  by  the  arrival 
of  another  rig  which  made  the  bridge  creak. 
It  was  probably  quite  safe,  but  there  was  a 
very  boiling  river  underneath,  and  so,  not 
hunting  for  any  risks,  we  passed  on.  An 
intense  blue  line  between  the  firs  was  our  first 
glimpse  of  Minnewanka,  and  as  we  drew 
gradually  nearer  the  intensity  increased. 

We  drove  down  to  the  edge  of  the  water, 
and  then  on  lunch  intent,  and  with  the  help  of 


98        CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

a  sign-post,  discovered  the  chalet  we  were 
looking  for.  The  good  lady  of  the  house  came 
out  to  meet  us,  and  didn't  waste  any  time 
finding  food  for  the  hungry.  Just  after  we 
had  commenced  to  tackle  some  excellent  soup 
two  other  young  people  appeared  with  a  note 
to  us  from  the  manager  of  the  Banff  Hotel, 
and  so  the  party  became  four.  They  were  a 
delightful  couple  from  Winnipeg,  and  (though 
they  skilfully  kept  it  dark  and  we  showed  no 
brilliancy  in  discovering  the  fact)  were  on 
their  honeymoon. 

There  is  a  steamer  on  Minnewanka  called 
the  Lady  of  the  Lake.  She  is  fifteen  years  old, 
and  is  frequently  enlarged.  We  had  between 
us  a  note  to  the  skipper,  and  found  him  with 
the  Lady  on  the  lake.  He  was  an  affable  in- 
dividual, and  was  busily  engaged  stoking  the 
wood  fire  and  getting  up  steam.  We  were  the 
only  passengers,  the  Lady's  screeches  for  more 
being  merely  answered  by  echoes  from  the 
hills.  So  we  settled  down  in  the  saloon  (the 
entrance  being  through  a  window),  and  were 
soon  speeding  through  scenery  very  much  like 
some  of  the  Fjords  of  Norway. 

Having  run  down  to  the  opposite  end  (about 


il 


II 

Q  Q. 


THE  PROVINCE  OF  ALBERTA       99 

ten  or  a  dozen  miles)  our  little  boat  was  tied 
up  to  a  trunk  and  we  scrambled  about  over 
the  rocks  and  through  the  trees,  many  of  the 
latter,  unfortunately,  just  charred  remains  of 
forest  fires.  During  the  last  blaze  our  skipper 
was  a  heavy  loser,  tons  of  fuel  for  the  launch, 
which  had  been  piled  up  into  convenient  heaps, 
having  been  consumed  by  the  flames  which 
licked  up  the  mountain  side.  Scattered  about 
in  every  direction  were  any  number  of  raspberry 
bushes  just  covered  with  fruit ;  we  attacked 
them  vigorously,  and  took  back  as  many  as  we 
could  carry.  They  were  delicious  raspberries, 
but  had  the  invariable  failing  of  their  kind  in 
the  matter  of  oozing  juice,  and  somewhat 
changed  the  colour  of  the  bridegroom's  new 
straw  hat.  After  a  most  thoroughly  enjoyable 
day  we  pulled  up  at  our  hotel  again  about  an 
hour  after  sundown. 

Banff  is  a  pretty  hard  place  to  leave,  and  one 
could  very  well  spend  a  fortnight  there  explor- 
ing its  many  attractions.  Our  next  run  was  a 
short  one  (just  to  Laggan — one  of  the  names 
dear  to  the  north  country  Scot),  and  we  went 
along  by  the  evening  train,  leaving  about 
1 1  P.M.  and  pulling  into  Laggan  shortly  after 


ioo      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

midnight.  Only  one  other  passenger  got  out, 
and  together  we  walked  through  the  station 
and  found  a  trap  waiting  for  us.  The  air  was 
uncommonly  keen,  and  the  stars,  though 
aggressively  twinkling  and  crowded  together, 
seemed  to  make  the  general  darkness  darker 
still. 

Leaving  our  heavy  luggage  in  the  depot,  we 
packed  ourselves  into  the  trap  under  all  the 
rugs  and  coats  available,  and  set  out  for  the 
chalet.  It  was  collar  work  most  of  the  way,  the 
road  winding  up  at  the  side  of  a  river.  We 
could  see  nothing,  however,  except  the  ghostly 
outlines  of  the  white  painted  stones  on  the 
precipice-side  of  the  road,  which  continually 
warned  us  to  keep  on  the  inside  of  the  track. 
We  reached  the  chalet  at  about  1.30  A.M., 
somewhat  cold  and  very  hungry.  A  roaring 
fire  in  the  hall  thawed  out  one  complaint,  and 
a  few  crackers  and  a  pot  of  cheese  worked 
wonders  with  the  other.  As  it  had  been  pitch 
dark  when  we  arrived  at  the  Chalet  (which,  by- 
the-bye,  is  a  large  and  comfortable  hotel),  we 
had  no  idea  how  it  was  situated.  Never  shall 
I  forget  the  view  the  next  morning  from  the 
balcony  of  my  room.  This  perfect  masterpiece 


THE  PROVINCE  OF  ALBERTA     101 

of  Nature  must  surely  be  the  loveliest  lake  in 
the  world  ;  one  cannot  imagine  a  single  im- 
provement in  any  of  the  features  of  mountain, 
forest  and  glacier  which  go  to  make  up  the 
whole  indescribable  scene,  and  the  marvellous 
and  ever  changing  colour  is  a  sight  to  be 
remembered. 

There  are  of  course  numerous  excursions 
from  Laggan.  That  which  the  majority  of 
tourists  take  first  is  to  the  Lakes  in  the  Clouds, 
quite  an  easy  walk  or  ride  straight  up  the 
mountain  side  from  the  Chalet.  Feeling  ener- 
getic, we  walked,  and  followed  the  good 
but  steepish  trail  between  the  straight  tall 
trees.  The  air  was  still  and  the  sun  was 
warm,  but  the  firs  were  so  close  together  that 
we  were  nearly  all  the  time  in  their  shade. 
Mirror  Lake  we  found  first,  a  pale  green  pool 
buried  in  the  pines  ;  then  a  steep  climb  up- 
wards, with  several  rests  on  the  way,  during 
one  of  which  we  were  overtaken  by  a  party 
of  three  Americans — Poppa,  Mommer,  and 
daughter,  with  a  guide  in  attendance.  They 
were  on  stiff  little  ponies,  and  were  having 
trouble  with  Mommer's ;  she  was,  I  think,  the 
stoutest  lady  I  have  ever  seen  riding  anything, 


102      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

and  told  us  what  trouble  she  had  in  getting  on  ; 
since  then  the  trouble  had  been  apparently 
transferred  to  the  unhappy  pony. 

Right  in  the  clouds  is  Lake  Agnes,  a  delicious 
little  sheet  of  water  tucked  away  just  under  the 
snow  in  a  circular  natural  basin.  From  the 
edge  of  this  lake  one  could  look  down  upon 
the  others,  far  below  among  the  woods,  and 
trace  out  the  now  diminutive  Chalet  beside  the 
every  coloured  Louise.  The  last  bit  of  the 
climb  was  fairly  steep,  with  here  and  there  a 
series  of  steps,  and  "  Mommer's  "  pony  for  a  time 
enjoyed  relief  ;  but  it  took  a  lot  of  persuasion 
and  our  united  effort  to  effect  the  movement. 

We  got  back  to  the  chalet  again  about  three 
quite  ready  for  luncheon,  which  was  brought 
along  by  quiet-moving  Chinamen  arrayed  in 
snowy  white  with  gay  red  facings.  After  that 
we  basked  in  the  sun  on  the  broad  verandah, 
and  chatted  with  some  Philadelphians,  who 
were  also  seeing  the  Rockies  for  the  first  time. 
We  then  joined  forces  with  them,  and  spent 
two  or  three  hours  rowing  about  on  the  lake, 
which  we  found  a  good  deal  larger  than  it 
appeared  to  be  from  the  hotel.  The  view  from 
the  far  end  was  very  attractive,  and  for  some 


THE   TRAIL  TO   THE  LAKES   IN   THE   CLOUDS 

These  lakes,  which  are  at  Laggan,  in  Alberta   consist  of  three  separate  sheets  of 
water  on  the  side  of  Mount  Wnyte 


THE  PROVINCE  OF  ALBERTA     103 

time  we  wandered  about  among  the  rocks  till 
all  that  was  left  of  the  setting  sun  were  streaks 
of  palest  pink  across  the  mountain  tops. 

The  night  was  a  perfect  one,  and  we  looked 
forward  to  seeing  Field  in  ideal  weather  the 
next  day  ;  but  it  was  a  white  world  we  woke  up 
in,  with  snow  still  falling  heavily,  and  curiously 
enough  at  the  same  time  we  were  treated  to  a 
most  theatrical  thunder-storm.  The  effect  was 
quite  weird,  brilliant  flashes  behind  the  falling 
flakes,  and  heavy  rolls  of  stage-like  thunder 
clattering  round  the  mountains  above  Louise. 
Under  such  meteorological  surroundings  we 
drove  down  to  the  station,  but  being  com- 
fortably covered  with  tarpaulins  quite  enjoyed 
the  drive.  We  needn't  have  been  in  quite  such 
a  hurry  to  leave  the  warm,  home-like  Chalet,  for 
as  the  snow  had  delayed  the  train  for  an  hour 
or  two,  we  had  ample  time  to  cool  our  heels 
on  the  platform  at  Laggan.  We  were  a  waiting 
party  of  twenty  or  thirty,  the  effect  of  the  sudden 
change  having  decided  a  good  many  visitors 
to  look  at  the  next  resort.  At  about  11.30  we 
greeted  the  train,  a  picturesque  study  in  black 
and  white,  the  huge  powerful  engines  being  the 
only  dark  patch  in  a  snowy  background.  There 


104      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

is  no  brilliant  paintwork  or  highly-polished  brass 
about  these  monsters  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway,  but  no  sort  of  weather  seems  to  prevent 
them  forging  ahead  over  the  stiffest  mountain 
passes  or  across  endless  tracks  of  the  plains. 

The  run  between  Laggan  and  Field  is  under 
twenty  miles,  but  in  that  short  distance  is 
crowded  together  a  variety  of  magnificent 
scenery  almost  bewildering  in  its  rugged 
grandeur,  and  as  we  saw  it,  under  a  thick  white 
mantle  of  snow,  it  was  if  possible  more  im- 
pressive. We  started  off  in  the  Province  of 
Alberta,  but  soon  left  it  after  crossing  the 
summit  of  the  Rockies  and  passing  the  "  Great 
Divide."  The  latter  name  sounded  most  im- 
posing, and  many  of  us  new  to  the  line  spent 
a  chilly  time  hanging  on  to  the  steps,  with  our 
necks  craned  out  and  snow  in  our  eyes,  taking 
no  chances  of  missing  it.  At  last  it  came,  a 
slender  stream  branching  off  in  two  directions, 
a  large  label  in  wood  informing  the  world  what 
it  was.  There  wasn't  much  to  look  at,  but  from 
small  beginnings  those  little  streams  increase 
in  volume  and  finish  far  apart — one  in  the 
waters  of  Hudson  Bay,  and  the  other  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean. 


THE  PROVINCE  OF  ALBERTA      105 

When  we  got  to  Field  it  was  still  snowing, 
and  so  we  reluctantly  decided  to  forego  the 
glories  of  the  Yoho  Valley  and  push  along  to 
Glacier,  eighty  miles  further  on.  The  train 
stopped  at  Field  for  about  forty  minutes,  and 
we  all  made  a  rapid  rush  for  lunch  at  the  station 
hotel,  and  in  the  few  spare  moments  at  the 
finish  gave  buns  to  two  energetic  black  bears 
which  were  attached  to  the  establishment ;  then, 
returning,  took  up  our  favourite  position  with 
a  couple  of  campstools  on  the  platform  of  the 
last  car,  and  continued  the  journey  down  the 
glorious  valley  of  the  Kicking  Horse.  Back- 
wards and  forwards  went  the  train  across  this 
gorge  with  the  restless  name  as  we  cautiously 
descended,  brakes  all  on,  down  the  amazing 
gradient.  The  pace  was  often  a  four  mile  an 
hour  crawl,  delightful  for  those  who  wanted 
to  take  in  all  they  could  of  the  scenery.  At  last 
we  reached  the  valley,  the  Rocky  Mountains 
were  left  behind,  and  the  first  of  our  climbing 
stages  over. 


CHAPTER  IX 
BRITISH  COLUMBIA 

BEFORE  this  trip  to  British  Columbia  my 
ideas  of  this  great  Canadian  backbone  were 
ignorantly  vague.  I  imagined  (and  since 
returning  have  found  some  equally  uninformed 
friends)  that  somewhere  on  the  far  side  of 
Alberta  a  great  range  of  mountains  rose  out  of 
the  plains,  and  after  piercing  the  sky  at  dizzy 
heights  slowly  descended  on  the  western  side 
to  a  normal  level  again,  these  lowlands  running 
along  to  the  coast  of  British  Columbia.  I  had 
no  idea  that  the  Rockies  were  merely  one  of 
four  distinct  ranges,  and  that  after  laboriously 
climbing  them  one  had  still  to  surmount  the 
Selkirks,  the  Gold,  and  the  Cascade  (or  Coast) 
mountains.  And  so,  after  a  very  short  breather, 
we  began  again  to  battle  up  another  mighty 
pile.  By  this  time  the  snow  had  stopped  and 
for  some  time  we  were  able  to  see  every  detail 
106 


BRITISH  COLUMBIA  107 

across  the  vast  yawning  valleys  ;  bat  this  didn't 
last  for  very  long,  for  we  spent  quite  a  time 
running  through  necessary,  but  most  annoying, 
snow-sheds  which  effectually  block  the  view. 
We  were  just  out  in  the  open  long  enough  each 
time  to  begin  to  realise  what  we  were  missing. 

At  length  after  a  climb  of  about  2000  feet  we 
reached  Selkirk  summit,  and  descending  by 
means  of  many  wonderful  twists  and  twirls 
pulled  into  Glacier  about  five  o'clock,  after  a 
really  thrilling  day's  run.  The  evening  was 
fine,  the  surroundings  looked  gorgeous,  and 
Glacier  House  so  enticing  that  we  decided  at 
once  to  get  out  and  stay  ;  and  before  ten  minutes 
had  passed  had  handed  over  our  baggage  checks, 
secured  excellent  rooms,  and  were  on  the  trail  to 
the  great  Illecilliwaet  glacier,  the  huge  snout  of 
which  appeared  to  be  only  a  few  hundred  yards 
away.  We  walked  for  about  a  mile  through 
woods  which  might  have  figured  in  a  Grimms' 
Fairy  Tale,  and  finally  came  out  in  an  open 
patch  where  we  climbed  on  to  a  mighty  boulder 
and  had  a  nearer  look  at  this  great  river  of  ice. 
While  we  were  debating  whether  to  go  on,  an 
Australian  and  his  daughter  came  down  the  hill 
and  told  us  we  were  still  some  way  off :  so  we 


io8      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

decided  in  favour  of  dinner  to-night  and  glacier 
to-morrow.  There  was  a  very  merry  party  at 
Glacier  House  and  we  spent  quite  a  cheery 
evening.  As  at  Banff,  almost  all  the  visitors 
were  Canadian  or  American,  and  at  Glacier  we 
were  the  only  Britishers.  One  is  glad  to  learn, 
however,  that  more  and  more  English  people 
are  going  over  every  year  to  see  the  wonders  of 
the  Dominion  :  it  is  a  habit  which  ought  to  be 
energetically  encouraged. 

Many  of  the  great  hotels  of  Canada  we  were 
surprised  to  find  managed,  and  extremely  well 
managed,  by  our  fellow  countrymen.  I  don't 
see  any  particular  reason  why  this  should  be 
out  of  John  Bull's  line,  but  that  is  apparently 
the  rooted  idea  "  at  home,"  at  any  rate  so  far  as 
the  "plums"  of  the  profession  are  concerned. 
The  manager  of  Glacier  House,  Mr.  Flindt,  has 
been  in  the  service  of  the  Canadian  Pacific 
Railway  for  years,  and  there  was  nothing  in  the 
way  of  comfort  for  the  dusty  traveller  which  he 
and  Mrs.  Flindt  seemed  to  forget. 

We  didn't  succeed  in  getting  our  walk  to  the 
Illecillewaet  the  next  morning,  for  the  snow, 
still  on  the  Westward  move,  had  overtaken  us 
and  was  sweeping  down  fairly  fast.  We  also 


rm4Ktfii& 
1*% 


THE   ASULKAN  GLACIER   IN   THE  SELKIRKS 

This  glacier  leads  to  the  Asulkan  Pass  (7,716  ft.) 


BRITISH  COLUMBIA  109 

learnt  that  our  train  (No.  97)  due  at  2.40  was 
laboriously  pushing  its  way  through  these  diffi- 
culties some  nine  hours  late,  and  so  we  settled 
down  for  the  day.  Luckily  the  snow  stopped 
just  before  lunch,  and  immediately  that  was 
over  a  party  of  eight  of  us  started  away  for  the 
climb  to  the  Asulkan  Glacier.  We  were  a  cos- 
mopolitan crowd  of  mountaineers — our  Aus- 
tralian friend  and  his  small  daughter,  a  South 
African,  a  Scot  from  Toronto,  two  men  from 
Georgia,  Mr.  " Manager"  Flindt  and  myself. 
The  little  Australian  girl  was  a  thoroughgoing 
sportswoman,  and  tackled  the  somewhat  stiff 
snowcovered  trail  in  the  only  shoes  she  had 
with  her,  which  were  of  the  very  thin  order. 
She  said  she  had  never  been  in  snow  and  this 
was  her  only  chance.  The  shoes  were  killed 
off  all  right,  but  she  got  up  to  the  glacier. 

The  trail  took  us  up  a  good  steep  four  and  a 
half  mile  climb,  but  it  was  well  worth  it,  and 
the  view  from  the  glacier  when  we  reached  it 
was  great.  On  the  way  down  we  came  across 
two  large  porcupines,  and  one  of  the  old 
gentlemen  from  Georgia  made  strenuous 
efforts  to  photograph  them.  His  knowledge 
of  the  art  was  scrappy,  but  he  possessed  a 


no      CANADA:  THERE  AND  BACK 

Kodak,  and  regardless  of  the  fact  that  it  was 
nearly  dusk  had  bright  hopes  of  a  snapshot. 
The  porcupine  made  off,  and  promptly  swung 
his  tail  round  each  time  the  American  executed 
a  rapid  flank  movement.  We  watched  this 
for  some  time  with  much  amusement,  till 
finally  the  ardent  Kodaker  levelled  on  his 
victim,  took  a  step  back  for  a  bit  more  fore- 
ground, and  almost  shot  out  of  sight  into  a 
swamp.  He  appeared  again  dripping  and 
disconsolate  having  cheered  us  up  a  lot ;  but 
he  didn't  see  the  humour  till  dinner-time. 

During  the  evening  we  made  several  journeys 
out  to  the  little  office  on  the  line  to  learn  the 
train's  whereabouts  and  secure  a  drawing- 
room.  We  heard  that  she  was  coming  along 
all  right,  and  expected  shortly  after  midnight, 
and  also  that  there  was  about  a  foot  of  snow 
at  Banff.  In  September  one  is,  of  course, 
always  liable  to  a  fall  like  this,  though  it  usually 
soon  clears  up  and  fine  weather  succeeds,  but 
in  the  meantime  the  descending  trains  are  apt 
to  be  pretty  full ;  and  so  when  the  lights  of 
No.  97  duly  appeared  far  above  us  in  the 
mountains  we  were  out  on  the  platform  to 
watch  her  slowly  looming  nearer,  and  on  her 


BRITISH  COLUMBIA  in 

arrival  more  than  pleased  to  find  that  we  were 
comfortably  fixed  up  in  a  more  than  usually 
appreciated  drawing-room. 

Unfortunately  during  the  night  we  passed 
through  and  missed  a  lot  of  beautiful  scenery, 
but  we  got  almost  as  much  as  we  could  take 
in  the  next  day.  In  fact  the  last  part  of  the 
run  is  perhaps  the  finest  bit  of  the  whole 
journey.  From  a  series  of  pleasant  placid 
lakes  we  ran  through  a  sort  of  Dante's  Inferno, 
awesome  clefts  in  the  mountains  through 
which  mighty  rivers  rush  boiling  down,  and  all 
the  time  the  train  is  crossing  and  recrossing 
from  one  narrow  ledge  to  another.  The 
grand  canon  of  the  Fraser  is  worth  going  all 
the  way  across  Canada  to  see. 


CHAPTER  X 
VANCOUVER 

THE  approach  to  Vancouver  was  quite  beau- 
tiful. The  country  had  lost  its  rugged  gran- 
deur, and  was  now  a  peaceful  land  of  forest  and 
lake,  with  the  broad  Fraser  flowing  leisurely 
along,  and  lighted  up  with  a  most  exquisite 
sunset.  At  last  we  reached  the  terminus  of  the 
line,  pulling  into  " Sunset  City"  at  about  nine 
o'clock.  We  had  been  travelling,  off  and  on, 
for  such  a  distance  that  it  was  almost  hard  to 
realise  that  the  buffers  facing  the  engine  were 
really  hanging  out  over  the  finish  of  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway's  many  thousand 
miles  of  track.  We  were  soon  out  of  the 
massive  fortress-like  station,  and  driving  up  the 
main  street  to  Hotel  Vancouver  where  we 
put  in  the  next  week. 

Western  Canada  is  full  of  wonderful  cities, 
but  none  more  so  than  this  restlessly  progres- 

112 


VANCOUVER  113 

sive  port.  From  600  people  in  '86  it  has  jumped 
to  70,000,  and  is  still  full  steam  ahead.  It  seems 
to  have  both  eyes  on  the  day  after  to-morrow 
and  the  great  business  buildings  with  which  its 
streets  are  lined  give  one  more  the  impression 
of  a  town  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  than  its 
present  population.  Every  one  talks  and  thinks 
in  superlatives,  and  there  isn't  a  citizen  who  is 
not  certain  that  before  many  years  have  elapsed 
Vancouver  will  be  the  largest  city  in  the 
Dominion.  There  is  an  extraordinary  business 
buzz  going  on  all  the  time.  Timber  proposi- 
tions, mines,  fruit  farms,  salmon-canning,  bank- 
ing, and  coal  are  every  minute  topics,  and  even 
the  tourist  can  hardly  avoid  a  minor  speculation 
in  Real  Estate,  the  agents  for  which  are  legion. 
Among  many  enviable  possessions  there  is  one 
natural  attraction  which  few,  if  any,  cities  can 
rival,  and  which  is  without  doubt  the  pride  of 
Vancouver ;  that  is  the  beautiful  Stanley  Park. 
We  made  all  sorts  of  trips  round  this  wonderful 
little  peninsula,  motoring  round  by  day  and 
again  under  the  pale  light  of  a  full  moon  ;  but 
the  best  way  to  appreciate  its  beauties  is  not  in 
a  straight  run  round  its  nine  miles  of  excellent 
track,  but  by  slowly  wandering  about  through 


H4      CANADA:  THERE  AND  BACK 

its  endless  quiet  paths,  and  gradually  exploring 
the  thousand  acres  of  this  British  Columbia  in 
parvo.  It  was  always  a  delight  to  sit  out  on 
Prospect  Point  and  watch  the  eddies  of  the 
turning  tide  swinging  through  the  narrows,  to 
see  vessels  from  every  land  coming  through  the 
harbour  which  might  hold  the  navies  of  the 
world,  and  from  there  to  drift  into  the  shade  of 
the  forest  between  the  great  towering  Douglas 
firs,  the  giants  of  their  kind. 

We  arrived  in  Vancouver  on  the  day  of  the 
so  called  Chinese  Riots,  but  were  quite  un- 
aware of  it.  As  is  so  often  the  case,  we  found 
out  afterwards  that  they  had  caused  far  more 
commotion  in  other  parts  of  the  earth  than 
they  had  on  the  spot.  The  following  day  I 
met  Mr.  Chamberlain,  the  energetic  chief  of 
the  police,  from  whom  I  learnt  what  had  hap- 
pened, and  who  kindly  sent  one  of  his  men  to 
take  me  round  Chinatown ;  beyond  a  few 
broken  panes  of  glass,  there  seemed  to  have 
been  very  little  damage  done.  Both  Japtown 
and  Chinatown  are  some  way  from  the  heart 
of  the  city,  and  each  is  quite  a  separate  com- 
munity. The  rioters,  very  much  of  a  hooligan 
crowd,  filled  with  a  desire  to  down  the  hated 


VANCOUVER  115 

celestial,  marched  first  upon  the  latter  and 
vented  their  rage  on  the  windows,  peaceful 
John  Chinaman  offering  no  resistance.  This 
destruction  accomplished,  a  start  was  then 
made  for  Japtown.  Mr.  Jap,  however,  is  made 
of  different  stuff.  Having  got  wind  of  what 
was  happening,  he  arrayed  himself  with  broken 
bottles,  table  cutlery,  or  anything  that  hurt, 
and  came  out  to  meet  the  foe.  This  he  did  so 
thoroughly  that  I  was  informed,  the  roughs,  re- 
turned to  Vancouver  considerably  quicker  than 
they  had  left  it.  Apart  from  battered  windows, 
the  Chinese  quarter  was  full  of  interest,  a  very 
slice  of  the  Orient  dumped  down  on  alien  soil. 
The  labour  question  is,  of  course,  the  ques- 
tion in  British  Columbia,  and  appears  to  bristle 
with  difficulties.  The  working  man  at  present 
rules  the  roost,  and  he  knows  it,  and  the  poli- 
tician has  to  think  of  the  next  election  very 
carefully  before  he  says  anything.  I  had  many 
chats  with  working  men,  and,  as  far  as  I  could 
make  out,  they  didn't  want  any  additional 
labour  descending  on  the  market  in  Chinese 
form  or  otherwise.  They  offer  no  welcome  to 
British  workmen,  or  even  their  fellow  country- 
men from  the  Eastern  Provinces — a  first  rate 


u6      CANADA:  THERE  AND  BACK 

dog-in-the-manger  attitude.  There  may,  how- 
ever, be  points  on  their  side  which  a  casual 
visitor  wouldn't  observe. 

Another  topic,  not  so  widely  discussed  in  the 
streets,  but  ever  recurring  in  the  family  circle, 
is  the  great  problem  of  procuring  and  retaining 
domestic  servants.  They  are,  indeed,  rare  in 
this  land,  and  when  found  the  wages  they  com- 
mand would  cause  a  flutter  in  the  heart  of  the 
London  "general."  And  it  is  apparently  not 
very  much  use  bringing  one  or  two  over,  for 
the  demand  for  wives  in  that  station  of  life  is  so 
keen  that  their  stay  is  usually  short.  One 
lady  we  met  who  had  paid  the  passage  of  a 
girl  from  Scotland  and  her  railway  fare  from 
Quebec.  She  had  arrived  on  a  Monday,  was 
married  on  Tuesday,  and  was  looking  for  a 
servant  herself  on  the  Wednesday.  Now  what- 
ever John  Chinaman's  faults  may  be  in  other 
respects,  he  makes  a  most  perfect  servant,  and 
might  amply  fill  the  want ;  but  the  legislation 
has  made  his  initial  cost  somewhat  high  by 
putting  on  a  $500  poll-tax,  a  somewhat  for- 
midable obstacle  to  the  man  with  the  slender 
purse.  A  single  Chinaman  will  get  through 
work  which  would  occupy  the  time  of  several 


VANCOUVER  117 

servants  in  England,  and  through  it  all  appears 
perpetually  cheerful.  On  one  occasion  we 
were  lunching  with  a  small  party  of  eight  or 
nine  in  a  pretty  little  house  overlooking  the 
harbour.  The  luncheon  was  excellently  cooked 
and  rapidly  served  without  the  slightest  hitch 
or  delay.  One  Chinaman  had  done  it  all,  and 
this  after  making  the  beds,  doing  the  market- 
ing and  attending  to  other  domestic  work. 
He  seems  quite  content  to  remain  a  faithful 
servant,  and  unlike  the  Jap  has  no  desire  to 
be  constantly  improving  his  position  or  poking 
his  nose  into  his  adopted  country's  politics. 

I  found  the  Club  a  pleasant  haven  of  rest, 
and  the  members  just  as  kind  and  hospitable 
as  they  could  be.  Soon  after  our  arrival  I  met 
our  friends  of  the  English  Rifle  Team  again, 
now  joined  by  the  Canadian  contingent,  and 
took  part  in  a  send-off  luncheon  to  them  before 
they  left  for  Australia.  We  went  down  to  the 
harbour  to  see  them  off  on  the  Aurangi,  and 
then  inspected  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
boat,  which  was  about  to  sail  for  Japan  ;  the 
large  white  yacht-like  Empress  looked  most 
inviting,  and  was  a  strong  inducement  to  con- 
tinue the  trip  westward.  We  did  continue  it, 


n8      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

but  only  in  a  small  boat  as  far  as  the  narrows, 
where  we  industriously  fished  for  salmon. 
There  were  dozens  of  them  about,  but  unfor- 
tunately the  water  was  so  clear  that  they 
refused  to  be  tempted. 

On  returning  I  met  Mr.  Walter  Nicholl,  the 
proprietor  of  the  Vancouver  Province,  who 
took  me  off  to  look  at  the  last  word  in 
machinery  then  being  installed  for  his  paper. 
I  should  imagine  that  no  enterprise  in  the  city 
is  moving  any  faster  than  this  live  progressive 
paper,  which  has  the  latest  of  the  lightning 
presses  pouring  out  the  news  of  the  hour.  On 
this  particular  day  they  were  responsible  for  a 
weighty  production  of  about  120  pages  pro- 
claiming in  no  uncertain  manner  the  resources 
of  the  Land  of  Opportunity. 

Somewhat  eclipsed  by  its  famous  neighbour, 
but  nevertheless  of  a  most  go-ahead  type  is 
the  City  of  New  Westminster  which  dates  back 
to  the  distant  period  of  the  fifties  and  rejoices 
in  the  name  of  the  Royal  City.  We  drove 
there  one  day  with  a  couple  of  Vancouver 
friends  in  a  fairly  high-powered  car  which 
bumped  about  a  bit  over  the  uneven  roads,  but 
the  scenery  en  route  was  very  fine,  and  particu- 


A   BIT   OF    NEW   WESTMINSTER 

New  Westminster  is  at  the  mouth  of  the  Fraser,  and  is  the  head-quarters  of  tt 
canning  industry 


VANCOUVER  119 

larly  so  when  we  ran  along  the  banks  of  the 
Fraser.  Westminster  Bridge  we  found  a  good 
deal  larger  than  its  ancient  namesake,  and 
spanning  a  river  broader  than  old  Father 
Thames.  A  centre  of  the  lumbering  industry, 
and  a  growing  manufacturing  town,  New 
Westminster  is  best  known  to  the  world  as  the 
headquarters  of  the  great  canning  trade,  where 
the  countless  millions  of  salmon  which  yearly 
come  .up  the  river,  are  packed  and  kept  in 
cold  storage  to  be  shipped  in  due  course  to 
European  markets.  There  are  some  thirty  or 
forty  of  these  canneries,  and  the  trade  is  one 
of  the  greatest  of  the  Pacific  province. 

On  the  way  back  I  sat  by  the  driver  and 
learnt  that  he  was  a  Cornishman  who  had 
emigrated  as  a  boy  about  a  dozen  years  ago. 
He  was  the  son  of  a  village  blacksmith,  and 
found  that  as  his  father's  assistant  he  was  not 
in  receipt  of  a  particularly  thrilling  income, 
and  so  he  made  for  Canada  and  worked  his 
way  West.  After  a  strenuous  year  or  so  he 
picked  up  one  or  two  cheap  bicycles,  let  them 
out  on  hire,  and  gradually  extended  his  busi- 
ness, so  that  when  motors  came  along  he  was 
able  to  be  among  the  first  in  the  field  to 


120      CANADA :  THERE  AND  BACK 

supply  the  want.  He  now  owns  the  excellent 
garage  we  had  started  from  and  other  property, 
has  a  good  income,  has  dealt  profitably  in  real 
estate,  and  is  thinking  of  taking  a  car  across 
for  a  trip  round  Europe.  His  father  is  still  a 
Cornish  blacksmith.  We  met  a  good  many  of 
these  young  men  who  had  succeeded,  several 
in  a  very  short  space  of  time,  and  needless  to 
say  each  one  was  a  fervent  advocate  of  the 
openings  in  the  "  land  of  opportunity." 


CHAPTER  XI 
VICTORIA 

AFTER  an  instructive  week  in  hustling  Van- 
couver we  set  off  one  afternoon  about  one 
o'clock  for  British  Columbia's  capital.  The 
distance  of  eighty  miles  is  quickly  accom- 
plished by  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway's 
three-funnelled  flyer  Princess  Victoria,  which 
forges  along  at  about  twenty  knots.  The  trip 
is  a  very  pretty  one.  Crossing  first  the  Gulf 
of  Georgia  the  boat  threads  her  way  through 
numerous  islands  which  are  thickly  wooded, 
and  here  and  there  studded  with  little  houses 
(the  homes  of  those  who  like  to  live  apart 
from  the  world)  and  then  out  again  into  the 
more  open  water  of  the  Straits  of  San  Juan  de 
Fuca.  Here  we  witnessed  a  hard  fought  fight 
between  a  whale  and  a  thrasher,  the  whale 
apparently  getting  much  the  worst  of  it  and 
churning  up  the  water  in  his  efforts  to  escape. 

121 


122      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

Right  over  the  water  we  could  see  the  snow 
capped  mountains  of  the  State  of  Washington, 
and  far  ahead  the  deep  blue  of  the  Pacific. 
Finally,  after  one  more  turn  round  a  rocky 
promontory,  we  swept  into  the  well  protected 
harbour. 

There  is  an  air  of  leisurely  peace  about 
Victoria,  a  kind  of  half-pay-officer  Bath  or 
Cheltenham  feeling,  and  a  vivid  contrast  to  its 
pushful  restless  neighbour  on  the  mainland. 
Vancouver  perhaps  looks  upon  the  capital  as  a 
trifle  passe,  while  no  doubt  Victoria  considers 
the  younger  city  somewhat  of  an  aggressive 
upstart.  The  former  certainly  possesses  many 
fine  handsome  buildings,  beautiful  houses  and 
well  laid  out  gardens,  and  after  a  series  of  boom 
cities  the  atmosphere  of  quietude  is  not  an 
unpleasant  change.  We  arrived  unfortunately 
just  before  the  opening  of  the  new  Empress 
Hotel,  which  will  assuredly  fill  a  long-felt  want. 
I  am  sure  they  did  their  best  for  us,  but  it  was 
desperately  uncomfortable  at  the  little  spot 
where  we  stayed.  There  was,  however,  a 
delightful  oasis  quite  near  in  the  shape  of  the 
Union  Club,  a  very  favourite  meeting  spot, 
where  in  addition  to  the  usual  attractive  fea- 


VICTORIA  123 

tures,  exercise  was  offered  in  the  form  of  squash 
racquets. 

Our  first  expedition  from  Victoria  was  with 
Colonel  Grant  and  one  or  two  officers  of  the 
garrison  in  the  Engineers'  launch.  We  steamed 
across  to  the  barracks,  quite  a  considerable  pile 
of  buildings  with  accommodation  for  800  men, 
situated  on  a  little  point  between  West  and 
Rose  Bay.  When  the  Imperial  forces  were 
stationed  here  in  the  nineties  there  was  a  full 
complement  of  Royal  Engineers  and  Royal 
Marine  Artillery,  since  then,  as  in  other  parts 
of  the  Dominion,  Imperial  have  been  replaced 
by  Canadian  troops,  and  the  number  of  men 
now  amounts  only  to  about  eighty.  We  learnt 
that  it  was  extremely  difficult  to  get  recruits  in 
British  Columbia  for  the  ordinary  wages  are  so 
high  that  the  temptation  to  remain  a  civilian  is 
too  strong. 

From  the  barracks  we  had  a  delightful  run 
along  the  coast,  putting  in  to  the  magnificent 
land-locked  harbour  of  Esquimalt,  until  a  year 
or  two  ago  the  headquarters  of  our  Pacific 
Squadron.  It  has  since  been  handed  over  to 
the  Canadian  Government,  and  now  has  a  rather 
dreary  dismantled  appearance.  More  than 


124      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

once  one  heard  the  hope  expressed  that  the 
white  ensign  might  again  be  seen  there  at  no 
distant  date.  The  little  village  of  Esquimalt  is 
very  prettily  situated,  though  it  was  probably  a 
merrier  spot  before  the  departure  of  the  British 
tar.  Having  lunched  with  our  hosts  in  a 
charming  little  house  overlooking  the  Straits, 
we  returned  by  car  to  the  city,  and  put  in  the 
rest  of  the  afternoon  with  some  friends  in 
Oak  Bay,  where  we  discovered  a  delightful 
little  hotel  which  we  much  wished  we  had 
known  of  before. 

Like  Vancouver,  Victoria  has  its  Chinatown 
and  we  were  very  fortunate  in  being  taken  there 
(as  well  as  to  other  interesting  spots)  by  a 
philosopher  and  friend  who  knew  his  city  like 
a  book.  The  Chinese  schools  were  entertaining, 
though  how  the  learned  looking  teacher  knew 
what  was  happening  was  not  easy  to  understand. 
A  young  lady  in  trousers  was  standing  up  before 
him  apparently  repeating  her  lessons,  while  the 
remainder  of  the  class  were  reading  their  books 
and  shouting  what  they  read.  To  an  occidental 
this  would  have  been  a  little  distracting,  but  it 
didn't  seem  to  worry  the  professor  at  all.  We 
went  into  two  or  three  Joss  Houses,  where 


VICTORIA  125 

Canon  Beanlands  pointed  out  to  us  the  mean- 
ing of  their  curious  looking  contents.  They 
were  for  the  most  part  ornately  gorgeous,  though 
in  one  instance  the  oriental  splendour  was 
somewhat  marred  by  the  presence  of  a  most 
common  chandelier.  We  also  visited  a  pros- 
perous Chinese  merchant  and  made  several 
purchases  ;  the  old  gentleman  gave  us  delicious 
tea  and  made  many  quaint  remarks. 

From  Chinatown  we  drove  to  the  museum 
where  they  have  a  fine  collection  of  Indian 
"  Totem  "  Poles,  a  great  number  of  birds,  and 
many  excellent  models  of  fish,  and  then 
returned  with  our  guide  to  see  his  cathedral 
and  to  lunch.  The  cathedral  is  at  present  a 
wooden  one,  but  a  scheme  for  a  fine  stone 
building  has  been  prepared,  though  at  present 
it  only  exists  on  paper.  In  the  afternoon  we 
had  a  most  enjoyable  motor  run  round  Beacon 
Hill,  and  inland  to  Cordova  Bay  through  ta 
beautiful  valley  country  over  roads  lined  with 
English  oaks,  maple  and  pine. 

Of  the  many  interesting  people  we  met  in 
British  Columbia  none  was  more  so  than  the 
very  "live"  and  active  Premier,  Mr.  Richard 
McBride,  As  a  casual  visitor  it  was  not  for  me 


126      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

to  attempt  to  master  the  intricacies  of  party 
politics  on  the  Pacific  slope,  but,  whatever  the 
programme  of  the  Government  now  in  power 
may  be,  they  have  at  their  head  a  man  who,  I 
should  imagine,  would  see  it  through  or  know 
the  reason  why.  After  lunching  one  day  with 
Mr.  McBride  and  several  of  his  ministers  at  the 
Union  Club,  we  went  along  to  look  over  the 
Parliament  Buildings  of  which  the  city  is  justly 
and  hugely  proud.  The  architect  was  a  young 
Bradford  man  and  the  result  of  his  work  is 
certainly  very  pleasing ;  also  for  the  amount 
expended  the  capital  got  its  full  money's  worth, 
which  in  such  matters  is  not  always  an  invari- 
able rule. 

Victoria  is  a  pleasing  spot  to  loiter  in,  and 
many  excursions  can  be  made  both  by  land  and 
water,  and  for  those  who  can  put  in  a  longer 
stay  at  the  proper  seasons  there  is  close  at  hand 
every  variety  of  shooting  and  fishing.  We 
returned  to  Vancouver  by  the  same  flying 
Princess,  again  enjoying  the  run  through  the 
numerous  islands,  and  after  spending  one  more 
night  there,  were  up  with  the  lark  and  on  the 
station  platform  about  7  A.M.  the  next  day 
ready  to  begin  our  long  trip  eastward. 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE  JOURNEY  EAST  FOR  HOME 

HAVING  cpme  by  the  lakes  and  through  the 
mountains  direct  we  intended  to  return  by  the 
lower  loop  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
through  the  Crows  Nest  Pass,  and  then  by  the 
main  line  north  of  the  lakes  to  Ottawa,  in  this 
way  going  through  as  much  new  country  as 
possible.  The  weather  was  still  up  to  the 
brilliant  sample  we  had  had  in  British 
Columbia,  though  at  that  early  hour  there 
was  a  coolish  white  mist  hanging  over  the 
lowlands,  which  the  sun  very  soon  dis- 
persed. Having  checked  our  heavy  baggage 
to  Winnipeg  direct,  we  got  up  into  the 
observation  car  and  started  off  to  the  minute. 
Although  we  retraced  our  tracks  all  that 
day  the  scenery  taken  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion seemed  altogether  different,  while  the 
autumn  colouring  during  our  short  stay  on 
127 


128      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

the  coast  had  assumed  even  more  brilliant 
tints. 

At  a  gorgeous  spot  bearing  the  unpoetic 
name  of  Spuzzum  we  saw  quite  a  horde  of 
Indians,  for  the  most  part  a  dreary  and  tired 
looking  gang.  One  she-Indian  was  carrying 
a  baby  which  was  fastened  down  onto  a  stiff 
apparatus  of  wood  and  bundled  up  on  her 
back  like  a  knapsack,  but,  notwithstanding, 
appeared  to  be  quite  contented.  Four  dear 
old  Californian  ladies  who  were  in  our 
carriage  pursued  it  closely  with  Kodaks  and 
got  in  a  good  series  of  clicks. 

At  North  Bend  we  had  a  little  time,  and 
again  admired  the  pretty  garden  with  the 
flowers  and  fountain,  and  the  grass  of  Irish 
green.  The  little  hotel  there  would  be  a  delight- 
ful place  to  break  the  journey,  and  see,  more 
leisurely  than  is  possible  from  the  train,  the 
wonders  of  the  Fraser  Canon.  On  we  went 
by  the  Thompson  and  the  waters  of  the  Shuswap 
Lake,  and  through  the  little  station  of  Craigel- 
lachie,  where  twenty-three  years  ago  Lord 
Stralhcona  drove  in  the  last  spike  of  the  line 
(so  linking  up  British  Columbia  with  the 
Prairies  and  the  East),  and  shortly  after  dusk 


THE  JOURNEY  EAST  FOR  HOME   129 

our  train  pulled  into  Revelstoke,  where  we 
left  it  for  a  night  at  the  little  hotel. 

During  the  next  two  or  three  days  we 
travelled  along  through  new  and  delightful 
country  by  both  rail  and  lake.  Leaving 
Revelstoke  early  in  the  morning  we  had  a 
short  run  of  about  thirty  miles  through  a 
pleasant  wooded  country  to  Arrowhead  where 
we  found  the  s.s.  Rossland  waiting  for  us. 

Our  train  ran  right  down  to  the  siding  until 
her  hind  wheels  were  in  the  water  and  we  were 
just  opposite  the  boat.  The  Rossland  was  of 
the  stern  wheeler  type,  roomy  and  comfort- 
able, and  we  were  quite  a  happy  party  on 
board.  Why  the  lakes  take  the  name  of 
Arrow,  which  is  proverbially  straight,  is  not 
apparent,  for  they  are  a  pair  of  remarkably 
twisty  sheets  of  water  joined  together  in  the 
middle  by  a  twenty-mile  stretch  of  river.  Every 
inch  of  the  journey  is  beautiful,  between  thickly 
wooded  hills  backed  by  the  snow-capped  peaks 
of  the  Gold  range.  Little  hamlets  at  which 
we  called,  dot  the  shores,  and  in  some  cases  a 
single  house  seems  to  be  the  only  reason  for  a 
stop.  The  method  of  disembarking  was  very 
simple ;  a  gangway  slid  out  and  a  couple  of 

i 


130      CANADA :  THERE  AND  BACK 

extensions,  shooting  forward,  landed  on  the 
shingle.  Down  these  the  departing  made  their 
way,  and  once  or  twice  when  the  last  extension 
was  a  foot  or  two  short  found  it  necessary, 
amidst  applause,  to  execute  a  short  water 
jump.  One  very  bright  little  spot  we  passed, 
called  Halcyon  Springs,  possessed  a  trim  and 
neat  hotel  which  looked  as  if  it  would  make 
an  ideal  rest  house  for  a  short  stay.  After 
dinner  we  sat  between  the  two  big  searchlights 
which,  as  we  steamed  along,  lighted  up  the 
banks  in  an  extraordinary  manner. 

At  length,  late  in  the  evening,  we  got  into 
Robson,  where  we  boarded  a  train  for  the 
next  short  run.  This  was  about  30  miles 
along  the  banks  of  the  Kootenay  River,  and 
on  the  way  we  got  a  glimpse  by  moonlight  of 
the  foaming  falls,  before  reaching  Nelson. 
Here  we  again  took  to  a  boat,  on  which  we 
were  allotted  cool  and  airy  cabins.  The  night 
was  quite  perfect,  and  before  turning  in  we  sat 
on  deck  for  half  an  hour  looking  at  the  little 
city  of  Nelson  which  in  its  picturesque  situa- 
tion looked  quite  entrancing  under  the  clear 
moonlight.  As  the  run  to  Kootenay  landing 
was  such  a  short  one  our  gallant  ship  was  not 


PASSENGERS  DISEMBARKING  ON   THE   ARROW   LAKE 

The  lake  is  on  the  lower  loop  of  C.  H.R.,  between  Revelstoke  and  the 
Crow's  Nest  Pass 


THE  JOURNEY  EAST  FOR  HOME   131 

fitted  up  with  a  supply  of  baths,  but  with  the 
assistance  of  the  obliging  skipper  I  found  on 
the  baggage  deck  what  might  have  been  a 
"shower,"  and  after  removing  a  handcart,  a 
few  boxes  and  some  ice,  enjoyed  a  first  rate 
bath.  Almost  before  we  had  finished  break- 
fast, at  which  we  were  served  with  the  most 
delicious  local  fruit,  the  run  was  over,  and  we 
drew  up  alongside  the  Landing  leaving  with 
regret  the  last  of  the  lakes. 

During  that  day's  journey  one  saw  and 
appreciated  Canada  in  the  making.  Up  and 
up  we  went  through  a  country  of  the  grandest 
description  lit  with  all  the  glorious  tints  of  a 
Canadian  autumn,  passing  along  through  one 
little  "city"  after  another  in  every  stage  of 
formation  ;  and  this  line  of  ever-increasing 
prosperity  was  nine  years  ago  but  an  Indian 
Trail.  There  were  several  "old-timers"  on 
the  train,  men  who  had  been  out  in  British 
Columbia  for  twenty  years,  one  or  two  of 
whom  had  not  been  along  the  line  since  the 
old  days  of  nine  or  ten  years  ago,  and  every 
mite  or  two  brought  out  some  reminiscence 
of  pioneer  days.  In  these  early  times  life 
must  have  been  very  lonely  in  the  solitary 


132      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

shacks,  and  the  fair  sex  were  for  the  most  part 
conspicuously  absent.  One  old-timer  pointed 
out  a  little  clearing  where  a  friend  of  his  had 
lived  and  for  many  years  attempted  to  ensnare 
a  bride.  At  last  a  prospective  wife  replied  to 
his  advertisement,  and  after  a  lengthy  journey 
reached  his  little  patch.  He  had  unfortunately 
forgotten  to  mention  that  his  age  was  seventy, 
which  coupled  with  the  feelings  of  being  off 
the  map,  persuaded  the  lady  after  a  week's 
experiment  that  single  bliss  elsewhere  was 
preferable.  Now,  however,  all  is  bustle  and 
activity,  and  real  estate  is  bouncing  up. 

As  the  daylight  slowly  faded  the  scenery 
became  even  finer,  and  the  line  before  reaching 
the  pass  twisted  about  in  the  most  marvellous 
loops.  In  the  dusk  we  passed  mile  after  mile 
of  coke  ovens,  and  sites  for  towns  in  the  pro- 
cess of  clearing,  where  large  bonfires  scattered 
around  lit  up  what  had  lately  been  forest  land. 
After  dinner  we  sat  outside  the  car  to  see  what 
we  could  of  the  remains  of  the  great  slide  at 
Frank  which  occurred  in  1903.  Although  we 
had  only  the  light  of  the  moon  one  could 
easily  realise  something  of  the  magnitude  of 
the  catastrophe.  Early  one  morning  almost 


THE  JOURNEY  EAST  FOR  HOME   133 

the  entire  front  of  a  mountain  4000  feet  high 
had  broken  away  and  fallen  with  a  crash  into 
the  valley  covering  an  area  of  a  couple  of 
miles  and  burying  half  the  little  town.  We 
could  see  the  great  gaping  void  in  the  moun- 
tain side,  and  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  lay 
huge  pale  coloured  rocks  and  debris.  The 
roar  of  that  fall  must  have  been  colossal,  and 
small  wonder  that  the  survivors  of  Frank  on 
that  evental  morn  never  ceased  running  until 
they  reached  the  next  town. 

Early  the  next  day  we  were  again  on  the 
main  line  at  Dunmore  Junction  with  our  old 
friend  No.  96  running  in  on  time,  and  ready  to 
take  us  along.  Twenty-four  hours  of  the  prairie 
and  at  about  the  same  hour  the  next  day  we 
pulled  up  in  the  lofty  station  of  Winnipeg. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
WINNIPEG 

THE  first  impression  of  Canada's  great  half- 
way house  is  that  the  very  most  has  been  made 
out  of  a  situation  which  does  not  owe  too  much 
to  the  lavish  hand  of  Nature.  Although  it  is 
placed  on  a  flat  open  plain,  between  two  sluggish 
unattractive  rivers,  with  an  entire  absence  of 
hills,  and  at  one  time  marked  scarcity  of  trees, 
the  vast,  prosperous  City  cannot  fail  to  favour- 
ably impress  the  visitor,  for  the  atmosphere  is 
bright  and  clear,  the  principal  streets  extraor- 
dinarily wide,  and  the  large  Municipal  and 
business  buildings  both  imposing  and  hand- 
some, while  in  addition  there  is  an  air  of  "go" 
and  cosmopolitanism  which  is  unequalled  in 
any  other  spot  in  the  Dominion.  Even  in  and 
around  the  station  itself  one  seemed  to  hear 
the  languages  and  see  the  representatives  of 
half  the  Nations  of  Europe.  The  emigrants 


WINNIPEG  135 

from  every  land  assemble  at  Winnipeg,  whence 
they  are  distributed  throughout  the  whole  of 
the  wide  North-West.  From  the  same  North- 
West  comes  train  after  train  laden  with  wheat, 
which,  passing  through  this  busy  centre,  finds 
its  way  to  feed  the  hungry  millions  across  the 
Atlantic.  The  traffic  each  way  therefore  is 
enormous,  and  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway 
yards,  even  with  their  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  of  track,  are  being  constantly  enlarged. 
The  population  of  one  hundred  in  the  early 
seventies  has  now  reached  a  thousand  times 
that  number,  and  is  increasing  every  year  in 
leaps  and  bounds. 

Leaving  the  Station  we  made  our  way 
to  the  palatial  hotel  which  the  Railway 
Company  has  built,  and  from  our  rooms, 
high  up  on  the  sixth  floor,  enjoyed  a 
splendid  view  over  all  the  North  and  West 
of  the  city.  The  Royal  Alexandra,  where 
again  we  found  an  Englishman  in  command, 
is  one  of  the  finest  Hotels  in  Canada,  and 
fitted  up  in  delightful  taste.  The  dining- 
room  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  I  have  ever 
been  in,  and  every  detail,  down  to  finger- 
bowls,  is  worked  out  on  artistic  lines,  while  a 


136      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

band  of  German  Manitobans  discourses  first 
rate  music. 

The  Alexandra  stands  at  the  side  of  Main 
Street  which  must  surely  be  one  of  the  widest 
business  thoroughfares  in  existence.  It  is 
splendidly  paved  and  contains  many  important 
buildings,  conspicuous  among  them  being  the 
Union  Bank,  a  large  square  sky-scraper  to  the 
top  of  which  one  is  taken  in  an  elevator,  for 
the  purpose  of  seeing  from  the  roof  the  prin- 
cipal landmarks  of  the  City.  But  the  buildings 
are  not  all  large  and  impressive  and  the  most 
tumble-down  little  shanties  are  to  be  seen 
dotted  about  among  their  imposing  neighbours. 
We  noticed  particularly  one  sumptuous  Bank 
with  snow  white  classic  pillars  on  a  background 
of  delicate  green,  standing  between  two  most 
forlorn  little  wooden  stores,  one  of  which  was 
of  the  most  aggressive  "  Reckitt "  blue.  At 
the  far  end  of  Main  Street  are  the  Hudson 
Bay  Stores,  the  headquarters  of  the  historic 
and  picturesque  company,  which  for  two 
hundred  years  held  sway  over  a  country  about 
the  size  of  Europe. 

There  is  another  huge  Departmental  Store 
owned  by  Messrs.  Eaton,  which  stand^/etrhas 


WINNIPEG  137 

the  mammoth  of  Portage  Avenue.  This 
colossal  building  looks  as  if  it  could  supply  the 
needs  of  many  cities  the  size  of  Winnipeg,  and 
doubtless  it  sends  out  goods  to  every  part  of 
the  Prairie  and  the  far  North-West.  We 
went  in  there  one  afternoon  and  found  a  sale 
in  full  swing,  with  a  vast  crowd  of  fair  and 
excited  purchasers  ferreting  through  every- 
thing. Many  had  apparently  come  in  from  a 
distance  and  were  laying  up  a  store  for  months 
to  come.  Batons  keep  goods  to  suit  every 
taste,  and  it  was  interesting  to  watch  some  of 
the  selections.  One  dear  old  lady,  for  instance, 
was  taking  back  some  of  the  gayest  lamp- 
shades, oleographs  and  multi-coloured  tea 
cups  I  have  ever  seen  ;  apparently  warmth  was 
preferred  to  new  art  in  her  far  off  homestead. 
Among  the  world  of  women  buying,  almost 
every  type  of  race  could  be  seen,  and  the 
proprietors  seemed  to  know  exactly  the  most 
attractive  bait  for  each.  The  moss  grown 
motto  of  "  what  was  good  enough  for  my 
grandfather "  and  the  "  take  it  or  leave  it " 
theory,  one  comes  across  far  too  frequently  in 
business  at  home,  does  not  hold  good  in  the 
newer  country,  where  the  seller  is  always  ready 


138      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

to  put  in  any  amount  of  ingenuity  and  thought, 
to  work  out  the  purchaser's  requirements. 

Winnipeg  is  a  City  with  plenty  of  elbow- 
room  and  covers  a  large  area.  Its  streets  are 
wide,  particularly  Main,  Portage  Avenue,  and 
Broadway,  and  for  the  most  part  well  paved. 
But  this  was  not  always  the  case,  for  not  many 
years  ago,  to  cross  the  principal  thoroughfares 
after  a  fall  of  rain  meant  annexing  no  small 
quantity  of  the  native  soil.  A  favourite  story 
relates  how  once  upon  a  time  a  man  sent  his 
boy  into  the  middle  of  Main  Street  to  pick  up 
a  hat.  Under  the  hat  the  boy  discovered  a 
man  sitting  on  a  load  of  hay,  with  a  team  of 
horses  in  front  of  him ;  but  the  true  Winni- 
pegger  is  proud  even  of  his  mud,  and  tells  you 
that  there  is  no  mud  like  it,  a  statement  the 
average  visitor  is  quite  ready  to  believe. 
During  our  short  stay  in  the  City  the  weather 
was  fine,  so  that  any  mud  stories  we  had  to 
take  on  trust. 

Like  Toronto  and  Montreal,  Winnipeg  has 
its  Country  Club  some  few  miles  outside  the 
city.  We  were  taken  out  there  our  first  after- 
noon, after  a  drive  round  the^sutrurbs  to  see 
residential  Winnipeg.  The  houses  which  are 


f 


ll 


WINNIPEG  139 

usually  of  wood,  seem  to  have  been  built  for 
the  most  part  for  comfort  rather  than  architec- 
tural effect,  ithough  here  and  there  one  sees 
something  ornate  in  brick  or  stone.  The 
gardens,  however,  are  very  pretty,  and  during 
the  city's  short  career  trees  have  been  planted 
in  every  direction  and  have  grown  up  fast. 
After  a  run  of  a  few  miles  across  a  prairie  road, 
where  for  a  great  part  of  the  way  there  was  a 
choice  of  three  tracks,  we  came  to  the  gate  of 
the  club,  which  has  large  grounds  alongside 
the  river,  a  good  golf  course,  and  an  excellent 
Club  house.  A  touch  of  frost  and  a  keen  wind 
had  made  the  run  a  coldish  one  so  that  hot 
tea  and  toast  were  agreeably  welcome,  as  well 
as  a  roaring  fire  in  one  of  the  rooms.  We  had 
a  fine  run  back  with  the  wind  behind  us,  and 
arrived  in  time  for  dinner  and  a  good  enter- 
tainment at  the  new  Walker  Theatre. 

Winnipeg  is  well  served  with  newspapers, 
and  in  the  Free  Press  has  one  of  the  strongest 
and  most  up-to-date  journals  in  the  country. 
I  spent  a  very  pleasant  hour  one  morning  in 
the  office  and  then  went  off  with  the  Editor  to 
lunch  at  the  Manitoba  Club,  at  which  com- 
fortable retreat  we  found  many  of  the  City's 


i4P      CANADA :  THERE  AND  BACK 

well-known  men  congregated ;  some  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  and  learnt  instructive 
details  of  others. 

A  new,  prosperous,  and  progressive  region 
brings  to  the  front  a  fine  strong  species  of 
citizen,  and  during  our  too  brief  stay  in  the 
Manitoban  Capital  we  could  not  help  being 
struck  by  the  many  interesting  personalties  we 
met.  As  elsewhere,  we  found  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  chief  at  Winnipeg  a  splendid 
type  of  Canadian.  Mr.  William  Whyte,  now 
a  Vice  President  of  the  line,  has  for  many 
years  directed  its  operations  from  the  Prairie 
City,  and  is  both  physically  and  mentally  a 
giant  among  the  captains  of  industry. 

At  his  sons'  home  in  the  outskirts  of  the  City 
we  had  the  privilege  of  meeting  the  grand  old 
man  of  Canadian  politics,  Sir  Charles  Tupper. 
Born  in  the  early  twenties,  he  has  held  in  turn 
nearly  every  important  post  in  the  Cabinet, 
twice  High  Commissioner  in^Lonfton,  and, 
finally,  Prime  Minister  of  the  Dominion.  In 
spite  of  his  eighty-seven  years,  Sir  Charles  has 
a  mind  as  bright,  quick,  and  clear  as  a  man 
half  his  age,  and  his  advancing  years  seem  in 
no  way  to  have  damped  his  unwavering 


WINNIPEG  141 

optimism.  It  was  rather  like  talking  to  History 
to  listen  to  one  who  was  well  in  front  of  the 
fighting  line,  relating  reminiscences  of  over 
half  a  century  ago.  On  topics  of  a  later  date, 
such  as  the  All  Red  Line,  his  opinions  were 
equally  precise  and  definite.  He  is  no  believer 
in  any  danger  from  the  thousands  of  Americans 
now  pouring  into  the  North-West,  asserting 
that  after  six  months  residence  they  prefer  the 
benefits  of  British  Institutions.  He  has  strong 
ideas  against  the  exporting  of  another  ounce 
of  wood  pulp,  holding  that  if  the  Americans 
have  to  have  it  they  should  be  made  to  erect 
paper  mills  in  the  Dominion  and  employ 
Canadian  labour,  as  they  were  being  forced  to 
do  in  so  many  other  directions.  An  hour  or 
two  with  Sir  Charles  passed  very  quickly,  for 
to  listen  to  a  man  who  has  done  things,  and 
who  within  three  years  of  ninety  can  talk  of 
his  country's  growth  with  the  energy  and 
vigour  of  a  youth,  is  not  an  every-day  ex- 
perience. 

At  Government  House  we  enjoyed  the  hos- 
pitality of  Sir  Daniel  and  Lady  McMillan 
and  found  in  the  genial  Lt.-Governor  a 
delightful  example  of  that  old  polished  school 


142      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

which  is  unfortunately  not  met  with  every- 
where nowadays.  Sir  Daniel  saw  considerable 
service  in  the  field  in  the  Red  River  Expe- 
dition, the  Fenian  Raid,  and  the  North- Western 
Rebellion,  and  took  his  part  in  the  politics  of 
the  Province  before  being  appointed  Lt.- 
Governor  over  an  area  about  the  size  of 
England  and  Scotland. 

Sir  Daniel's  son-in-law,  Major  Evans,  who 
was  also  dining  the  same  evening,  is  a  most 
interesting  companion.  He  was  through  the 
early  Yukon  days  when  Dawson  was  on  the 
fringe  of  humanity,  and  soldiering  in  the  far 
North-West  was  hardly  a  Church  parade  affair. 
Of  the  many  little  side-lights  on  Yukon  life  one 
short  story  had  a  touch  of  real  Imperialism 
which  appealed  to  me.  He  told  us  how  an 
officer  and  his  sergeant^liad  rowed  against 
time  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles~lip^stream, 
through  intense  cold  and  drifting  ice  floes,  to 
join  their  little  detachment,  for  the  purpose  of 
being  present  to  fire  a  good  salute  on  May  24, 
and  prove  to  the  foreigners  at  Dawson  that  even 
out  on  the  very  edge  of  the  Empire  Greater 
Britain  knew  how  on  that  day  to  honour  the 
birthday  of  the  old  Empress  Queen. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
OTTAWA 

WE  left  Winnipeg  one  evening  about  6.30 
direct  for  Ottawa,  which  we  expected  to  reach 
at  3  P.M.  the  day  but  one  after.  Early  the  next 
morning  we  found  ourselves  opposite  our  old 
friend  Fort  William  and  once  more  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Ontario.  From  this  point  we  skirted 
the  northern  bank  of  Superior  for  about  a 
couple  of  hundred  miles,  enjoying  the  most 
delightful  scenery,  sometimes  following  the 
many  turns  of  the  shore,  at  others  diving  inland 
for  a  mile  or  two,  but  for  the  greater  part  of 
the  time  the  dark  blue  waters  of  the  Lake 
were  in  sight,  and  its  enormous  expanse  seemed 
never  ending. 

After  breakfast  on  the  first  morning  I  ad- 
journed to  the   smokeroom,  where   I   found 
happily  engaged  in  an  animated  conversation 
two  Archbishops,  a  French  Canadian  lawyer, 
143 


144      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

and  a  stout  Commercial  Traveller  from  Chicago. 
The  leaders  of  the  Church  were  both  from 
Winnipeg,  one  being  Archbishop  Langevin,  the 
head  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  the  other 
the  Protestant  Archbishop  of  Rupertsland,  who 
was  taking  a  flying  journey  to  Montreal  and 
back  to  officiate  at  the  marriage  of  an  old 
friend's  daughter.  They  were  both  most  in- 
teresting and  instructive  companions,  and  had 
grown  up  with  the  great  Dominion.  Arch- 
bishop Matheson,  who  was  born  at  Winnipeg 
(then  the  small  Fort  Garry),  told  me  that  it 
had  been  the  birthplace  of  his  Mother  as  well, 
right  back  in  the  early  days  of  the  Selkirk 
settlers,  so  that  his  family  connection  with  the 
district  dated  from  the  very  eve  of  British 
occupation  there.  Witfi^Archbishop  Langevin 
was  his  Secretary,  Father  La  Casse,  whose  life 
of  toil  as  a  Missionary  in  the  wilds  of  Labrador 
and  among  the  Indians  of  the  North-West  had 
apparently  in  no  way  affected  a  most  breezily 
cheery  manner  and  an  unending  fund  of 
anecdote. 

Another  night  came  and  went.  Still  we  were 
forging  ahead  in  the  same  Ontario.  It  was  a 
discovery  which  again  impressed  one  with  the 


OTTAWA  145 

amazing  size  of  this  great  country,  when  one 
realised  that  all  this  time  we  had  been  rushing 
along  through  one  Province  only,  and  we  were 
still  far  from  the  Eastern  borders  ;  and  yet 
Ontario,  though  about  equal  in  size  to  France 
and  Germany,  is  not  the  largest  Province  in 
Canada. 

We  were  now  in  a  land  of  big  stones  and 
trees,  a  wild  rugged  district  with  few  houses 
and  scant  signs  of  humanity.  The  famous 
Autumn  colouring  was  in  its  prime,  and  every 
tint  immortalised  by  Turner  seemed  to  be 
splashed  about  among  the  sun-lit  trees.  The 
country's  emblem,  the  maple  leaf,  was  a  blood 
red  blaze  and  every  tree  of  the  forest  emulated 
the  rival  favourite  in  a  wondrous  range  of 
shades. 

Shortly  before  noon  the  region  through 
which  we  were  travelling  began  to  assume  a 
more  settled  and  cultivated  appearance,  and 
in  rapid  succession  we  passed  a  series  of 
bustling  little  towns,  the  greater  number  of 
which  appeared  to  be  engaged  in  the  lumber 
trade. 

From  this  point  to  Ottawa  a  constant  succes- 
sion of  saw-mills  were  to  be  seen,  and  in  many 

K 


146      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

places  the  surface  of  the  broad  river,  along  the 
banks  of  which  we  ran,  was  almost  completely 
hidden  by  an  enormous  quantity  of  floating 
logs,  which  were  waiting  their  turn  to  pass 
through  the  many  mills  below. 

Finally,  at  about  three  o'clock,  the  towers  of 
the  Capital  appeared  in  the  distance,  and  in  a 
very  short  time  we  had  come  to  a  standstill  in 
the  Union  Station. 

But  our  run  of  forty-five  hours  was  not  quite 
complete,  and  from  the  Union  to  our  destina- 
tion, the  Central  Station,  we  swept  in  almost 
a  circle  round  the  City,  enjoying  in  the  process 
admirable  views  of  its  many  points  of  interest 
and  the  great  River ^rj^wfaich  it  stands. 

We  had  now  almost  reached  our  last  day  on 
Canadian  soil,  the  week  or  so  we  had  intended 
to  spend  in  Ottawa,  together  with  the  same 
time  at  Winnipeg,  having  been  reduced  to  less 
than  half  owing  to  the  difficulty  in  tearing 
ourselves  away  from  the  alluring  mountains  ; 
the  distant  West  is  so  attractive  that  it  is 
dangerous  for  the  visitor  to  leave  anything  for 
the  return  journey,  if  he  is  at  all  tied  to  time. 

As  soon  as  we  had  arranged  the  matter  of 
rooms  at  our  hotel — which,  by-the-bye,  was 


OTTAWA  147 

hardly  up  to  the  standard  one  would  expect  in 
a  Capital — we  went  out  and  spent  an  hour  or 
two  walking  round  the  magnificent  Govern- 
ment buildings. 

Crowning  a  lofty  hill  which  overlooks  the 
broad  waters  of  the  Ottawa,  this  beautiful 
Gothic  pile  is  indeed  a  worthy  meeting-place 
for  the  makers  of  the  nation's  laws,  the 
glorious  site  and  noble  architecture  afford- 
ing a  combination  which  is  certainly  un- 
excelled by  any  of  the  Capitals  of  the  Old 
World. 

Ottawa  is  now  no  longer  the  centre  of  a 
struggling  dependent  colony,  but  of  a  strong 
virile  people,  which  has  demanded  and  obtained 
a  place  in  the  concert  of  the  Powers. 

During  the  few  days  we  were  in  the  City  we 
heard  a  good  deal  about  two  important  events 
which  were  about  to  take  place,  and  which  in 
future  years  will  be  put  down  as  red  letter  days 
in  the  country's  history. 

The  first  was  to  be  the  triumphant  home- 
coming of  Mr.  Fielding,  the  Minister  of 
Finance,  and  his  colleague,  M.  Brodeur,  after 
having  completed  the  commercial  treaty  be- 
tween Canada  and  France,  the  first  direct 


148      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

negotiation  which  has  been  carried  through 
between  the  Dominion  and  a  Foreign  Power. 

These  two  popular  Ministers  were  expected 
to  reach  Quebec  in  two  days  time,  and  great 
preparations  were  in  hand  to  worthily  welcome 
them. 

The  second  was  the  impending  departure  of 
another  member  of  the  Cabinet,  M.  Lemieux, 
for  Japan,  there  to  discuss  with  the  powers- 
that-be,  and  if  possible  to  satisfactorily  settle, 
the  burning  question  of  Oriental  immigration 
on  the  Pacific  Coast. 

So  one  felt  oneself  to  be  an  onlooker  in  the 
Capital  at  the  time  when  Canada  was  taking 
her  duly  appointed^place  as  a  sister  nation  at 
the  side  of  the  Old  Country. 

We  spent  our  last  morning  in  a  delightful 
drive  through  and  round  the  city,  the  Misses 
Fielding,  with  whom  we  had  the  pleasure  of 
going,  pointing  out  to  us  endless  points  of 
interest. 

We  were  taken  first  through  the  Parliament 
buildings  (having  the  day  before  seen  the 
exterior  only),  and  duly  admired  the  simple 
and  businesslike  appearance  of  the  House  of 
Commons  and  the  Senate. 


OTTAWA  149 

Some  of  the  portraits  in  the  corridors  were 
not  quite  so  admirable,  one  in  particular,  of  a 
past  Governor-General,  who  in  real  life  is  of  a 
singularly  mild  and  amiable  disposition,  being 
portrayed  with  the  expression  and  general  ap- 
pearance of  a  fierce  matador.  From  the  two 
Chambers  we  went  to  the  Library,  where  Mr. 
Griffin,  who  is  the  joint  Librarian  with  Mr.  A.  D. 
De  Celles,  kindly  took  us  round. 

The  interior  of  this  beautiful  building  is  as 
fine  as  the  exterior,  and  is  apparently  as  con- 
venient as  it  is  good  to  look  upon. 

At  the  side  of  the  Library  are  Public  Reading 
rooms,  where  most  of  the  world's  leading 
papers  may  be  found. 

After  enjoying  the  view  from  the  Lover's 
Walk,  we  drove  away  through  the  heart  of  the 
city  to  the  Driveway  along  the  side  of  the 
Rideau  Canal,  passing  more  than  one  new  park 
which  the  authorities  were  laying  out,  in  their 
determination  to  beautify  the  Capital  in  every 
possible  way.  From  the  Driveway  we  con- 
tinued until  we  reached  the  Government 
Experimental  Farm,  a  peaceful  spot,  where 
carefully  labelled  trees  and  every  product  of 
the  soil  go  through  exhaustive  tests,  and  where 


150      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

the  Director  and  his  staff  keep  in  close  touch 
with  farmers  all  over  the  Dominion. 

From  the  farm,  which  stands  on  hilly  ground, 
the  view  of  the  distant  city  is  very  fine,  a  cluster 
of  roofs  and  graceful  turrets  crowned  by  the 
Parliament's  central  tower. 

On  our  way  back  we  stopped  for  a  short 
time  on  Chaudiere  Bridge,  and  looked  at  the 
fifty  foot  falls  down  which  the  Ottawa  tumbles 
over  ridges  of  jagged  rock.  Man  has  made 
use  of  some  of  this  volume  of  horse  power,  but 
the  resulting  mills  have  somewhat  marred  the 
simplicity  of  4he  scene/ 

Before  returning  to  the  hotel  we  drove 
through  residential  Ottawa,  and  saw  the  homes 
of  many  of  the  law  makers. 

With  one  of  them,  M.  Lemieux,  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  lunching  almost  immediately  after- 
wards at  the  Rideau  Club.  The  Hon.  Rodolphe 
Lemieux,  appointed  Solicitor-General  in  1904, 
and  now  Postmaster-General,  is  a  good  type  of 
the  able  French  Canadian,  to  whom  the  pursuit 
of  law  or  politics  seems  to  come  like  second 
nature  ;  with  him  were  two  or  three  French 
Canadian  friends,  and  a  Judge  from  Cape 
Colony.  I  was  much  interested  to  learn  from 


I! 


SI 


-I 


OTTAWA  151 

the  Postmaster-General  that  since  the  postage 
on  British  periodicals  had  been  reduced,  there 
had  been  a  considerable  increase  in  their  circu- 
lation in  Canada  ;  it  is  very  important  that 
news  and  comments  relating  to  the  happenings 
in  Great  Britain  should  be  sent  across  direct, 
instead  of  filtering  through  other  and  perhaps 
unfavourable  sources. 

We  put  in  the  afternoon  at  Rideau  Hall, 
where  we  watched  a  team  of  the  M.C.C.,  which 
had  been  touring  in  the  States,  play  an  eleven 
of  Canada.  Cricket  is  of  course,  in  no  sense 
a  national  game  in  the  Dominion,  Lacrosse 
being  the  first  favourite  with  baseball  some 
little  way  behind,  still  there  was  quite  a  con- 
siderable gathering  there  to  see  the  fun. 

The  Governor-General's  residence  is  a  roomy 
comfortable  house,  but  does  not  boast  any 
particular  architectural  merit.  It  has  the  ap- 
pearance of  having  been  constantly  altered 
and  enlarged  to  suit  the  ever  growing  require- 
ments. The  grounds,  however,  are  very  pretty 
and  heavily  wooded. 

We  had  the  pleasure  once  more  of  meeting 
his  Excellency,  who  had  been  over  for  a 
couple  of  days  on  business  and  was  leaving 


152      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

again  for  Quebec.  We  were  unable  to  wait 
for  the  finish  of  the  cricket  match,  and  after  a 
general  foregathering  in  the  tea  tent  said  good- 
bye to  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Hanbury  Williams, 
and  drove  back  to  the  hotel.  An  hour  after 
we  were  in  the  train,  and  from  our  carriage  took 
a  last  look  at  the  clustered  towers  of  fair 
Ottawa,  which  stood  out  bold  and  clear  in  the 
rays  of  the  setting  sun. 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE    ENVOI 

THE  average  visitor  probably  goes  to  Canada 
with  the  idea  that  he  is  to  spend  some  time  on 
a  great  railway  system,  but  until  he  has  been 
or  seen  for  himself  he  can  in  no  way  appre- 
ciate what  those  magic  initials,  C.P.R,,  really 
mean. 

However,  after  he  has  spent  a  week  or  two 
in  the  country,  having  arrived  in  a  Canadian 
Pacific  Railway  Liner,  and  has  travelled  far  on 
luxurious  trains,  crossed  the  mighty  Lakes,  put 
up  at  palatial  hotels  with  the  three  same  letters 
ever  before  his  eyes,  he  realises  at  length  that 
he  is  paying  his  dollars  to  a  system  which  is 
indeed  something  out  of  the  ordinary,  and 
without  the  faintest  suggestion  of  exaggeration, 
one  of  the  modern  wonders  of  the  world. 

Canada  is  proud  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Rail- 
way, and  well  she  may  be  !  In  these  days  of 


154      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

increasing  prosperity,  one  is  apt  to  forget  the 
enormous  difficulties  which  those  master  minds 
who  conceived  this  great  enterprise  had  to 
contend  against — little  more  than  twenty  years 
ago.  At  that  time  the  population  of  the  country 
was  just  over  four  millions,  for  the  most  part 
scattered  about  the  Eastern  side ;  while  right 
away  cm  the  Pacific  slope  was  a  small  con- 
tingent of  settlers  numbering  in  all  not  more 
than  four  thousand. 

It  was  a  project  of  splendid  audacity  to  drive 
a  line  through  an  almost  unknown  wilderness, 
across  the  limitless  prairie,  and  over  four 
mighty  mountain  ranges,  to  link  up  to  the 
newly  formed  Federation  this  handful  of  men 
in  British  Columbia's  forests. 

But  it  was  done,  and  the  line  completed  five 
years  before  the  time  specified  in  the  contract. 
The  history  of  this  railway's  making  reads  like 
a  romance,  and  the  way  in  which  it  was  carried 
out  reflects  the  very  greatest  credit  on  those 
responsible. 

In  a  recent  number  of  a  railway  magazine, 
published  in  New  York,  I  came  across  many 
interesting  facts  and  figures  of  those  early  days, 
wherein  the  writer  says  : 


THE  ENVOI  155 

"  In  one  particular  the  building  of  the  Cana- 
dian Pacific  was  very  different  from  the  begin- 
ning of  any  other  road  in  the  wilderness.  There 
was  no  rowdyism,  no  drunkenness,  no 
gambling,  no  daily  murder.  As  one  of  the 
delighted  American  sub-contractors  enthusias- 
tically expressed  it,  this  was  due,  "  not  to  rough 
usage  and  old-fashioned  Western  lynch  law, 
but  to  law  made  by  the  Queen  and  lived  up  to 
and  enforced  by  her  people.  No  liquor  is 
allowed  in  the  country,  and  under  no  pretext 
can  any  be  smuggled  in.  There  are  none  of 
the  roughs  and  rowdies  hanging  around  the 
camp  so  common  on  the  other  side  of  the  line. 
When  a  man  breaks  the  law  here,  justice  is 
dealt  out  to  him  a  heap  quicker,  and  in  larger 
chunks  than  he  has  been  accustomed  to  in  the 
States,  and  he  has  a  small  show  when  his  guilt 
is  once  fastened  home.  All  trains  are  examined 
and  every  arrival  is  known.  If  a  man's  reasons 
for  being  in  camp  are  not  satisfactory,  his 
stay  is  very  brief.  I  tell  you  there  is  a  way 
to  do  it,  and  they  are  doing  it  right  from  the 
scratch." 

As  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  was  built 
so  it  has  since  been  run,  and  there  is  not  a 


156      CANADA  :  THERE  AND  BACK 

detail,  however  small,  which  escapes  the  watch- 
ful eye  in  the  headquarters  of  Montreal. 

Concerning  those  chiefly  responsible,  the 
palm  must  certainly  be  awarded  to  that  hard- 
workipf^fugal  nation  north  of  the  Tweed  ; 
SJraihcona,  Mount-Stephen,  Angus,  McNicoll, 
,  Drummond,  and  Whyte  are  a  few 


1  among  many  of  those  who  made  possible  the 
carrying  out  of  this  vast  enterprise  ;  and  as  it 
was  twenty  years  ago  so  to-day  it  will  be  found 
that  the  men  to  whom  most  credit  is  due  are, 
with  a  few  brilliant  exceptions,  men  of  the 
Scottish  race  ;  happy  is  the  prospective  tourist 
who  owns  a  name  commencing  with  Mac,  and 
even  the  South  Country  Briton  must  return 
home  with  his  admiration  increased  for  his 
indomitable  Northern  partner. 

In  a  short  trip  of  two  or  three  months  it  is, 
of  course,  impossible  to  see  more  than  the 
fringe  of  this  magnificent  country  ;  there  were 
many  sections,  including  the  whole  of  the 
Maritime  Provinces  we  were  forced  to  leave 
out,  but  having  once  tasted  the  delights  of 
travel  in  the  Dominion  the  visitor  from  the 
older  lands  will  invariably  wish  to  return  and 
on  each  successive  visit  learn  more  and  more 


THE  ENVOI  157 

of  the   panorama  of   men  and  scenery  this 
wonderful  country  affords. 

At  no  time  in  her  history  has  Canada  offered 
to  men  of  the  British  race  so  many  enthralling 
points  of  interest  to  study  and  appreciate.  Let 
every  Englishman  who  can,  seize  the  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  for  himself  this  virile  sister- 
nation  and  in  accepting  the  hand  of  welcome 
so  freely  offered  individually  help  in  strengthen- 
ing the  mutual  understanding,  sympathy,  and 
respect  without  which  our  Imperial  heritage 
must  surely  fail. 


Brittain,    (Sir)  Harry 
5019  Ernest 

B75  Canada 


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