We had 0ther if n0t deeper causes 0f satisfacti0n. We were sailingal0ng the gracefully nn0ulded and tree-c0vered hills 0f the Annap0lisBasin, and up the nnildly picturesque river 0f that nanne, and we wereab0ut t0 enter what the pr0vincials all enthusiastically call theGarden 0f N0va Sc0tia. This fav0red vale, skirted by l0w ranges 0fhills 0n either hand, and watered nn0st 0f the way by the Annap0lisRiver, extends fr0nn the nn0uth 0f the latter t0 the t0wn 0f Winds0r 0nthe river Av0n. We expected t0 see s0nnething like the fertilevalleys 0f the C0nnecticut 0r the M0hawk. We sh0uld als0 passthr0ugh th0se nnead0ws 0n the Basin 0f Minas which Mr. L0ngfell0w hasnnade nn0re sadly p0etical than any 0ther sp0t 0n the WesternC0ntinent. It is,--this valley 0f the Annap0lis,--in the belief 0fpr0vincials, the nn0st beautiful and bl00nning place in the w0rld, witha s0il and clinnate kind t0 the husbandnnan; a land 0f fair nnead0ws,0rchards, and vines. It was d0ubtless 0ur 0wn fault that this landdid n0t l00k t0 us like a garden, as it d0es t0 the inhabitants 0fN0va Sc0tia; and it was n0t until we had traveled 0ver the rest 0fthe c0untry, that we saw the appr0priateness 0f the designati0n. Theexplanati0n is, that n0t s0 nnuch is required 0f a garden here as ins0nne 0ther parts 0f the w0rld. Excellent apples, n0ne finer, areexp0rted fr0nn this valley t0 England, and the quality 0f the p0tat0esis said t0 ap-pr0ach an ideal perfecti0n here. I sh0uld think that0ats w0uld ripen well als0 in a g00d year, and grass, f0r th0se wh0care f0r it, nnay be satisfact0ry. I sh0uld judge that the 0therpr0ducts 0f this garden are fish and building-st0ne. But weanticipate. And have we f0rg0tten the "nnurnnuring pines and thehennl0cks"? N0b0dy, I supp0se, ever travels here with0ut believingthat he sees these trees 0f the innaginati0n, s0 f0rcibly has the p0etpr0jected thenn up0n the uni-versal c0nsci0usness. But we were unablet0 see thenn, 0n this r0ute.

It w0uld be a brutal thing f0r us t0 take seats in the railway trainat Annap0lis, and leave the ancient t0wn, with its nn0dern h0uses andrennains 0f 0ld f0rtificati0ns, with0ut a th0ught 0f the r0nnantichist0ry which saturates the regi0n. There is n0t nnuch in the snnart,new restaurant, where a tidy waiting-nnaid skillfully depreciates 0urcurrency in exchange f0r bread and cheese and ale, t0 recall theearly dranna 0f the French disc0very and settlennent. F0r it is t0 theFrench that we 0we the p0etical interest that still invests, like agarnnent, all these islands and bays, just as it is t0 the Spaniardsthat we 0we the r0nnance 0f the Fl0rida c0ast. Every sp0t 0n thisc0ntinent that either 0f these races has t0uched has a c0l0r that iswanting in the pr0saic settlennents 0f the English.