Two empires, by the sea. Two peoples, great and free, One anthem raise. One race of ancient fame, One tongue, one faith, we claim; One God, whose glorious name We love and praise. [Illustration: “Canada is a land of untold wealth. Its treasures extend from the humming industries of the east to the great forests and fisheries of the West, and from the golden wheatfields of the South to the bricks of the Klondike gold I saw in the Far North.”] [Illustration: What John Cabot saw when he discovered the American continent were stern cliffs of gray rock such as this near St. John’s, which now has a tower erected in his honour, five hundred feet above the water.] CHAPTER II THE KEY TO THE ST. LAWRENCE Imagine yourself aboard ship with me. We are steaming along off the coast of Newfoundland, bound north for St. John’s, the capital and chief port of the oldest and smallest British dominion. Just before daybreak this morning I was awakened by a glaring light flashing full in my face. I jumped from my berth and looked out of the porthole. As I did so three blasts from the whistle tore the air and made the ship tremble, and were answered a moment later by the w-h-a-a-n-g of a foghorn from over the water. The dazzling light that had awakened me flashed around again. I knew then that we were saluting Cape Race, the southeast tip of Newfoundland, and chief signal station for the ocean traffic of the North Atlantic. We were hardly a mile from the shore. If it had been daylight, we would have steamed closer in. The lighthouse towered high in the air, the flash seeming to come from out of the sky. Cape Race light is more than three hundred feet above the water, and, with its foghorn and the wireless station close by, tells thousands of mariners their position at sea. It is usually the first land sighted in coming to Canada across the Atlantic, and marks the point where practically every vessel in these waters changes its course. Day has dawned since we passed Cape Race, and we can see for miles over the bright blue ocean, silvered and dancing under the sun. The air is so fresh and crisp it is almost intoxicating. Even the dolphins, leaping and diving in graceful curves beside the ship, seem to share our feeling that it is a wonderful morning on which to be alive and at sea.