the British provinces of the "Garden of British America." That this title
has been justly bestowed, none who have ever visited it in summer will
deny.

While Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the banks of the St. Lawrence are
brown, even where most fertile, this island is clothed in brilliant green.
I suppose that the most elevated land in it is less than 400 feet above
the level of the sea; there is not a rock in any part of it, and the
stones which may be very occasionally picked up in the recesses of the
forest cause much speculation in the minds of the curious and scientific.
The features of this country are as soft as the soil. The land is
everywhere gently undulating, and, while anything like a hill is unknown,
it has been difficult to find a piece of ground sufficiently level for a
cricket-field. The north shore is extremely pretty; it has small villages,
green clearings, fine harbours, with the trees growing down to the water's
edge, and shady streams.

The land is very suitable for agricultural purposes, as also for the
rearing of sheep; but the island is totally destitute of mineral wealth.
It is highly favoured in climate. The intense heat of a North American
summer is here tempered by a cool sea-breeze; fogs are almost unknown, and
the air is dry and bracing. Instances of longevity are very common; fever
and consumption are seldom met with, and the cholera has never visited its
shores. Wages are high, and employment abundant; land is cheap and
tolerably productive; but though a competence may always be obtained, I
never heard of any one becoming rich through agricultural pursuits.
Shipbuilding is the great trade of the island, and the most profitable
one. Everywhere, even twenty miles inland, and up among the woods, ships
may be seen in course of construction. These vessels are sold in England
and in the neighbouring colonies; but year by year, as its trade