ETERNAL SUNSHINE 43 



seamed with copper. Readers of English books and 

 magazines are familiar with the little prominence given 

 to matters which stand for good and worthiness and the 

 stress laid on the seeming disadvantages of life in 

 tropical Australia. A favourite magazine may contain 

 a series of articles, sumptuously illustrated, conveying 

 information concerning country life in Canada. It is 

 impossible not to visualise the miles of wheat-fields, the 

 imposing elevators, the railways cutting across endless 

 prairies or winding among wonderful mountains, snow- 

 capped as a stage effect merely. The pictures of 

 chubby children and buxom girls and sturdy boys tell 

 of the healthfulness and invigorating qualities of the 

 climate. Is it not always spring or summer in Canada ? 

 Would not the man who whispered of snow and ice be 

 a renegade, a dastard, a rebel ? North Queenslanders 

 do not attempt to belittle the reputation of Canada as 

 a field for the activities of the surplus population of the 

 old country. We are of the same blood and breed, and 

 merely ask for a proper understanding of our own good 

 land. The comfort given to Canada is all in the 

 family, and an Empire which extends from pole to 

 pole must needs embrace differences of climate and 

 productions. 



Do not we all take upon our shoulders the burden of 

 Empire ? Here we bear our share stripped to the buff, 

 while Canada bustles under an equally honourable but 

 heavier load. Occasionally, no doubt, the most patriotic 

 son of our Lady of Snows would joy in the heat of 

 North Queensland noon; while the sweatful North 

 Queenslander may often pant for the superfluous ice of 

 his far-away cousin. 



The denizens of the different parts of the Empire 

 quite understand one another, and realise that to be 

 great the Empire must disregard temperatures as it 



