Prince Edward Prince Edward Island, the smallest province of the Dominion, is an island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, 145 miles long, with an extreme breadth of about 30 miles, separated from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia by Northumberland Strait, which varies from 9 to 30 miles in width. The curv ing coast on the north side of the island is broken by a deep bay with a narrow entrance, and terminates in long, narrow points. The south coast is very it r, presenting a suc cession of bays and in ets. The island has a uniform, gently undulating surface, everywhere fertile, and for the most part cleared of woods and brought under cultivation.
The oldest province, Quebec, for merly a French colony, is still largely inhabited by French-speaking people, although in the extreme south a group of counties, commonly known as the Eastern Townships, were settled almost exclusively by English-speaking colo nists. The province of Quebec is the largest in Canada. It now embraces the whole of the Labrador Peninsula except the strip of eastern coast which belongs to Newfoundland. Its western boundary is Hudson Bay, James Bay and a north and south line from near the southern extremity of James Bay to the head of Lake Timiskaming, an expansion of the upper Ottawa River. The southern boundary Is irregular, consisting of the Ottawa River nearly to its mouth, then the 45th parallel of latitude, and the rest of. the international boundary eastward as far as New Brunswick, and finally the Restigonche River and the Bay of Chaleur separating it from that province. The island of Anticosti and the Magdalen group in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence belong to Quebec. The whole of the valley of the Saint Lawrence River, from a short distance above Montreal, lies within its boundaries and constitutes, with • the Eastern townships, the chief agricultural district. The valleys of the principal affluents of the Saint Lawrence are also cultivated, and two new agricultural dis tricts, that watered by the upper Ottawa and the country about Lake Saint John, out of which flows the Saguenay River, are receiving a great influx of settlers. Except for the northern portion of the Labrador peninsula and the area in the extreme northwest of the province, which drains into James Bay, all the rivers empty into the Saint Lawrence River or Gulf. From the north come the Ottawa, the Saint Maurice and the Saguenay, and many others of less note farther east, while from the south the only ones of importance are the Richelieu, flowing from Lake Champlain, and the Saint Charles, emptying nearly opposite the city of Quebec. The general slope of the country is thus apparent. The southern edge of the Laurentian plateau, which runs not far from the Ottawa and Saint Lawrence rivers, comes quite down to the coast of the Gulf. South of the Saint Lawrence River the fertile lowlands are bounded by the ranges of the Appalachian system, which approach ever nearer to the river until, in the Gasps peninsula, they also reach the water's edge. Next to agn culture the chief industry of the province is lumbering. The immense extent of the forests on the Laurentian plateau provides a source of supply that is virtually inexhaustible, and the recent development of the manufacture of pulp wood has given new value to the smaller and softer trees such as the spruce. The mineral wealth of Quebec is at present undeveloped.
Recent geological investigations have proved the existence of copper, platinum and antimony in the southern part of the province. Asbestos of the best quality is found in the southeastern part and virtually constitutes the world's sole supply of the mineral. Mica is also mined.
Ontario.— The province adjoining Quebec on the west, Ontario, is the most populous and wealthy of Canada. It extends from the prov ince of Quebec to Lake of the Woods. It is
bounded by the province of Quebec from • its southeastern extremity on the Saint Lawrence River to James Bay in the north. Its north ern boundary is the waters of James Bay and Hudson Bay. On the west a wholly artificial boundary line separates it from the province of Manitoba, consisting of the boundary of the old province of Manitoba running due north from the Lake of the Woods, and then a line running northeast from the northeasterly corner of the old Manitoba to Hudson Bay where the 89th meridian of west longitude inter sects the shore of the Bay. The southern boundary is the international boundary formed by the chain of Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River. The whole of the province is thus to the north of the great waterway, but as both the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River in its upper course lie at the very south ern limit of the area which they drain, Ontario contains all the tributary rivers of the Saint Lawrence system as far down as the Ottawa River. These, however, are not as numerous as might be expected, for the height of land between the Hudson Bay and Lake Superior slopes runs very near to the lake. Almost all the northern part of the province, therefore, drains into James Bay and Hudson Bay by many rivers of fair size, of which the chief are the Severn, Albany and Moose rivers and their tributaries. The Nipigon, issuing from Lake Nipigon, flows south, exceptionally, into Lake Superior. In the extreme west a corner of the province belongs to the Lake Winnipeg drain age area There are no ranges of mountains in Ontario. The Laurentian plateau includes the northern half of the province, while the rest is part of the Saint Lawrence lowlands. The lowlands, and especially their western ex tremity, the peninsula between Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario, are the chief agricultural dis trict. The peninsula is favored with an ex cellent climate and soil, and its southern por tion is the principal fruit-growing district in Canada, the chief products being peaches, grapes, strawberries and apples. Hops, tobacco and flax are also cultivated successfully in this part of Ontario. The northern part of the province beyond Lakes Huron and Superior has recently begun to be opened up, and its agricultural possibilities are being developed with great rapidity. Lumbering has always been an important industry, but the available timber limits producing pine have begun to show signs of exhaustion. The increasing de mand for wood-pulp has however given new value to the great northern belt of forest, which is mainly spruce. Ottawa is the chief centre of the manufacture of lumber; its situation on the Ottawa, the great log-carrier of two prov inces, and the magnificent water-power of the Chaudiere Falls, utilized for operating the saw mills, give it advantages over all competitors. The mineral resources of Ontario have begun to be turned to account. In the western part of the Ontario peninsula petroleum wells have long been worked but the production is now diminished. The comparatively rare metal, corundum, occurs in southern Ontario. The province ranks third among the silver-produc ing countries of the world, owing to the recent discoveries in the Cobalt district. Copper is mined in increasing quantities in the Sudbury district, which is also rich in nickel. In produc tion of nickel Ontario now ranks easily first among countries. Iron is found in many dif ferent localities but the ore is principally mined in thema district; northeast of Lake Superior. The water-power of the rapids in the Saint Mary River connecting lakes Superior and Huron has been utilized, and great iron and steel manufactures have been established at the town of Sault Ste. Marie.