To appreciate all the beauties of the capital one must ride over its thirty miles of boulevards and park drives. The Rideau Canal flows through the heart of the city, giving a picturesque appearance to its business districts, and lending a delightful aspect to the streets and homes in the residential sections. There are block after block of attractive houses that have the canal at their front doors, and others with the canal in the rear. I noticed more than one canoe moored, so to speak, in a backyard. Indeed, the city seems entirely surrounded by water and parks. Besides the Rideau Canal, there is the river of the same name, with well-kept parks along its banks. The most commanding sites on the hillsides overlooking the rivers are occupied by fine public buildings and millionaires’ residences. There are numerous yacht and canoe clubs, while on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River, above the Chaudière Falls, are several golf courses. In their clubs the Canadians seem to be content to do things on a less elaborate scale than is common in the States, thus making it possible for men and women of moderate means to belong without feeling extravagant. In fact, though none know better than the Canadians how to entertain elaborately whenever they choose to do so, they live more simply than we, and spend more time in outdoor recreations. Imagine yourself at my side as I write these words, and look with me out of my hotel window. We are in the Château Laurier, a modern hotel built of light-coloured stone in the design of a French chateau. It was erected by the Grand Trunk Railroad, but now, like the railroad, is operated by the government. It faces Connaught Square, opposite the Union Station, with which it is connected by an underground passage. If we were to fall from our window, we should land on the bank of the Rideau Canal as it comes out from under Connaught Square. The canal divides Ottawa into two parts. East of the canal is Lower Town, where most of the French residents live. To the east also is Sandy Hill, a fine residential quarter. Just below us the canal descends through a ravine down to the level of the Ottawa River. Here there are six locks forming a water stairway. The canal connects the Ottawa River with Kingston, on Lake Ontario. It was constructed chiefly for military purposes. After the War of 1812, the Canadians felt that they needed an inland waterway between Montreal and the Lakes that would not be exposed to attack from the American side. For many years Ottawa bore the name of Bytown, after a military engineer, Colonel By, who built the canal.