If thou would read a lesson that will keep
Thy heart from fainting, and thy soul from sleep,
Go to the woods and hills!—no tears
Dim the sweet look that Nature wears.”
Prince Edward Island was first named L’Isle St. Jean by Champlain when he visited it in the early years of the seventeenth century. Cabot is supposed to have called there some fifteen years earlier, but there is no definite record of such a visit.
The Island is very pleasantly placed in the southern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and has deep water on every side. It was formerly covered with dense forest growth, but this has nearly all been cut down, and the whole island is under cultivation and is very fertile. It presents a striking appearance on a near approach from the sea, because of its red soil and the abundance of sandstone. The air is delightful, and the climate somewhat milder than that of New Brunswick.
Prince Edward is the Rhode Island of Canada, for with a total population of not one-third of that of Toronto, and much less than a fifth of that of Boston, the little province is self-governing, and it has a governor, a legislature and its own premier and cabinet, etc.
This pleasant and sunny little isle is well provided with attractive names. Because of its delightful situation, its balmy air and prolific soil it is known far and wide as the “Garden of the Gulf.” Many of the Micmac Indians made it their home in the early times, and from them has come the beautiful name, musical as well as poetical, Abegweit or “Resting on the Wave.”
