Suretser, Moses Footer. THE MARITIME PROVINCES: A HANDBOOK FOR TRAVELLERS. A GUIDE TO THE CHIEF CITIES, COASTS, AND ISLANDS OF THE MARITIME PROV- Transport PREFACE. THE chief object of the Handbook to the Maritime Provinces is to supply the place of a guide in a land where professional guides cannot be found, and to assist the traveller in gaining the greatest possible amount of pleasure and information while passing through the most interesting portions of Eastern British America. The St. Lawrence Provinces have been hitherto casually treated in books which cover wider sections of country (the best of which have long been out of print), and the Atlantic Provinces have as yet received but little attention of this kind. The present guide-book is the first which has been devoted to their treatment in a combined form and according to the most approved principles of the European works of similar purpose and character. It also includes descriptions of the remote and interesting coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, which have never before been mentioned in works of this character. The Handbook is designed to enable travellers to visit any or all of the notable places in the Maritime Provinces, with economy of money, time, and temper, by giving lists of the hotels with their prices, descriptions of the various routes by land and water, and maps and plans of the principal cities. The letter-press contains epitomes of the histories of the cities and the ancient settlements along the coast, statements of the principal scenic attractions, descriptions of the art and architecture of the cities, and statistics of the chief industries of the included Provinces. The brilliant and picturesque records and traditions of the early French and Scottish colonies, and the heroic exploits of the Jesuit missionaries, have received special attention in connection with the localities made famous in those remote days; and the remarkable legends and mythology of the Micmac Indians are incorporated with the accounts of the places made classic by them. The naval and military operations of the wars which centred on Port Royal, Louisbourg, and Quebec have been condensed from the best authorities, and the mournful events which are commemorated in "Evangeline" are herein analyzed and recorded. The noble coast-scenery and the favorite summervoyages with which the northern seas abound have been described at length in these pages. The plan and structure of the book, its system of treatment and forms of abbreviation, have been derived from the European Handbooks of Karl Baedeker. The typography, binding, and system of city plans also resemble those of Baedeker, and hence the grand desiderata of compactness and portability, which have made his works the most popular in Europe, have also been attained in the present volume. Nearly all the facts concerning the routes, hotels, and scenic attractions have been framed or verified from the Editor's personal experience, after many months of almost incessant travelling for this express purpose. But infallibility is impossible in a work of this nature, especially amid the rapid changes which are ever going on in America, and hence the Editor would be grateful for any bona fide corrections or suggestions with which either travellers or residents may favor him. The maps and plans of cities have been prepared with the greatest care, and will doubtless prove of material service to all who may trust to their directions. They are based on the system of lettered and numbered squares, with figures corresponding to similar figures, attached to lists of the chief public buildings, hotels, churches, and notable objects. The hotels indicated by asterisks are those which are believed by the Editor to be the most comfortable and elegant. M. F. SWEETSER, Editor of Osgood's American Handbooks, 131 Franklin St., Boston. |