4 FEBRUARY 1938, Page 21

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In her recent article

"What Canada Thinks of Britain" Miss (?) Sylvia Stevenson does what many of her predecessors have done, neglects altogether the Maritime Provinces, does not even mention them as a part of Canada. She evidently landed at Quebec, proceeded westward to British Columbia and fancied.she had seen the whole of Canada. Yet in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia she would have found one of the most interesting parts of Canada in scenery and inhabitants. Parts of Cape Breton are most suggestive of Scotland and peopled by descendants of High- landers. The Annapolis Valley, famous for its apples, has landscapes not unlike those of England.

In general the population is (apart from some French districts) made up largely of English, Scottish and Irish stock, with little mixture of foreign elements so noticeable in other parts of Canada. While connexion is close with the New England States Miss Stevenson would have found the people much more British in sympathies, sentiment and accent than in many other provinces. It used to be common to hear older people who had themselves never been in England refer to going across to the British Isles as "going home." It is unfornmate that Miss Stevenson did not complete her survey, for she might have learned much that would be of interest both_ to herself and readers of The Spectator.—! am, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick.