Summer Provinces by the Sea / A description of the Vacation Resources of Eastern Quebec and the Maritime Provinces of Canada, in the territory served by the Canadian Government Railways

by Intercolonial Railway; Prince Edward Island Railway

Joy glistens in each wild blue eye,

Turned to green earth and summer sky;

Each broad, seamed breast has cast aside

Its cumbering vest of shaggy hide;

Bared to the sun and soft warm air,

Streams back the Norseman’s yellow hair.”

Riviere Ste. Anne

The Vikings are believed to have had a fishing station at Gaspé in the tenth century, and it is almost certain that in the few following centuries Norman and Basque fishermen sailed up and down the waters of the St. Lawrence.

But early history, although interesting to those who would know something of the land in which they sojourn, is only a background for the natural beauty and other material features of the provinces. Beginning, therefore, with Quebec,—which although ocean-swept and geographically maritime, is not one of the Maritime Provinces,—and proceeding east, a brief survey is now made of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia inclusive of Cape Breton.