522 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



and slightly undulating expanse of generally 

 fertile country, with occasional step-like ridiri's 

 or rocky escarpments. The main hydrographi- 

 cal feature is the chain of lakes, with an area of 

 !.")(), 000 square miles, contributing to the great 

 river system of the St. Lawrence. (3) The 

 northern area, embracing nearly two-thirds of 

 the Dominion, with an average elevation of 1.000 

 feet above the level of the sea. preeminently a 

 region of waterways, and including the great 

 Laurentian mountain range. In this area are 

 found the other great river svstems, the Nelson 

 and the Mackenzie. From the western edge of 

 the Prairie to the Pacific coast is a distance of 

 400 miles, and within this area is contained the 

 Rocky Mountains and the Gold and Cascade 

 Ranges, whose summits are from 4,000 to 16.000 

 feet high, the country being on the whole densely 

 wooded. The climate in the eastern and cen- 

 tral portions of the Dominion presents greater 

 extremes of cold and heat than in corresponding 

 latitudes in Europe, but in the south-western 

 portion of the Prairie Region and the southern 

 portions of the Pacific slope the climate is milder. 

 Spring, summer, and autumn are of about seven 

 to eight months' duration, and the winter four 

 to five months. The country possesses great i 

 mineral wealth, and coal, gold, silver, copper, } 

 nickel, lead, petroleum, and asbestos are pro- 

 duced, while iron, phosphates, salt, graphite, 

 etc., occur; the total value of the minerals pro- 

 duced in 1906 was about $80,000,000. The soil 

 is generally fertile; all the products of the tem- 

 perate zone are cultivated. In 1881 there were 

 thirty-five cities and towns of 5,000 inhabitants 

 and upwards, having a total population of ) 

 660,040; in 1901 there were sixty-two of such 

 cities and towns, and their total population was 

 about 1,330,000. Montreal has a population of 

 267,730 (or with suburbs, over 350,000), and 

 Toronto, the capital of Ontairo, has over 272,000 

 inhabitants. Ottawa, the political capital, had, 

 in 1907, 69,756 inhabitants; Winnipeg, in 

 Manitoba, 90,234 ; Vancouver, in British Co- 

 lumbia, over 26,000; and the city of Dawson, the 

 "business center" of the Klondike gold region, 

 which was a barren waste in 1897, had, in 1901, 

 a population of 9,142. In facilities for com- 

 munication, Canada is unrivaled. The St. 

 Lawrence, with its lakes, puts great part of it 

 in connection at once with the most commercial 

 portion of the United States and with the open 

 ocean. The navigation of this great water- 

 system has been greatly assisted by numerous 

 and extensive canals, of which the Cornwall, 

 Rideau, and the Welland are the most impor- 

 tant. There is, besides, an immense and steadily 

 increasing net-work of railroads embracing 

 several trans-continental lines. The Victoria 

 Bridge, by which the Grand Trunk crosses the 

 St. Lawrence at Montreal, is one of the wonders 

 of the world. The completion of the Canadian 

 Pacific Railroad, in 1885, gave railroad com- 

 munication between or westward from Montreal, 

 its eastern terminus, to Vancouver, in British 

 Columbia, a distance of 2,893 miles, or from 

 Quebec, a distance of 3,039 miles. 



Canossa (ka-nos' so), a town northwest of 

 Bologna, in the courtyard of the castle of which 

 the Emperor Henry IV. stood three days in the 



cold, in January 1077, bareheaded and bare- 

 footed, waiting for Pope Gregory VII. to remove 

 from him the sentence of excommunication. 



Canton, a large commercial city and port 

 in the south of China, and capital of the mari- 

 time province of Kwang-tung, forms an irregular 

 square, and is divided by a wall into the North 

 and South, or Old and New City. The former 

 is inhabited by the Tartar population, the latter 

 by Chinese; and between the two communica- 

 tion is maintained by four gates in the separating 

 wall. Many of the streets are devoted to dis- 

 tinct trades; thus there is "Carpenter" Street, 

 "Apothecary" Street, etc. The Joss-houses, 

 Buddhist Temples, are said to be about 124 in 

 number. The largest of these, on Honam Is- 

 land, covers seven acres, and has 175 priests 

 attached. It is called "Hae Chwang Sze," or 

 "The Temple of the Ocean Banner." Another 

 famous structure is "The Temple of the Five 

 Hundred Gods," situated in the western suburbs. 

 Until 1843 all the legitimate foreign trade of 

 China centered at Canton, and its amount at one 

 time exceeded $100,000,000 annually; but 

 since other ports in the empire have been opened 

 to foreigners this amount has decreased by 

 nearly one half. Tea and silks are the staple 

 articles of export to Europe, etc., after which 

 come the precious metals, cassia, sugar, and 

 many minor articles; population, 1,800,000. 



Cape Colony, a British colony at the 

 southern extremity of Africa, washed on the west, 

 south, and east by the ocean. The colony 

 extends about 450 miles from north to south and 

 600 from east to west; the coast line is about 

 1,300 miles. The area is 276,000 square miles; 

 the population, 2,433,000. 



The colony is better adapted for pasturage 

 than for agriculture. All kinds of vegetables 

 and pot herbs, and all the fruits of temperate 

 climates thrive excellently, and fruits, dried and 

 preserved, are exported. The vine is cultivated, 

 and some excellent wines are made. 



Sheep-rearing is the most important industry, 

 and wool is the chief export (although surpassed 

 | in value by diamonds). Cattle-breeding is car- 

 ried on to some extent, especially along the coasts 

 and in the east and north districts. There are 

 ] no manufactures of any importance. 



The European inhabitants consist in part of 

 Knglish, Scottish, and Irish settlers and their de- 

 scendants, but the majority are of Dutch origin, 

 while there are also a considerable number of 

 j German origin. The colored people are chiefly 

 Hottentots, Kaffirs, Bechuanas, Basutos, Gri- 

 quas, Malays, and a mixed race, the offspring of 

 black women and white fathers. 



The constitution which was formed under the 

 acts passed in the years 1853, 1865, and 1872 

 vests the executive in the governor and an execu- 

 tive council composed of office-holders appointed 

 by the crown. The legislative power is in the 

 hands of a legislative council of twenty-three 

 members, elected for seven years, and a house or 

 assembly of ninety-five members, elected for a 

 term of five years. 



The Dutch, who had early fixed upon the Cape 

 as a watering-place for their ships, first colonized 

 it under Van Riebeek, in 1652. It was captured 

 by the British in 1795, restored at the peace of 



