Canadian Scenery, Volume 2 (of 2)Willis, Nathaniel Parker
History
Canadian Scenery, Volume 2 (of 2)
Willis, Nathaniel Parker
Canada -- Description and travel; Canada -- History
are paved, others macadamized, and from the ascent and nature of the
soil are usually dry. The houses, however, are irregularly built, no
uniformity in the height and size being observed in their construction;
handsome buildings of three and four stories high being intermingled
with old and mean looking edifices. The new houses built of wood, being
large, neatly finished, and painted white, are more imposing in their
appearance than those of brick and stone. Amongst the public buildings,
the government house,—the residence of the governor of the province for
the time,—is a large gloomy-looking structure, built of freestone, and
situated at the southern extremity of the town. The Province Building,
which is admitted to be the most splendid edifice in North America,
stands within a square in the centre of the town. It is built of
freestone quarried in the province, and its plan combines elegance with
strength and utility; its length is 140 feet, its breadth 70, and its
elevation 45 feet. It contains the chambers of the Council, and
Legislative Assembly,—the Supreme Court, with its appendant offices;
also all the provincial offices,—the Halifax public library, &c. There
are two Episcopal churches; one (St. Paul’s) is a handsome edifice with
a tall spire; the other, the Rotunda church, at the north end of the
town, is distinguished by a dome which gives it a remarkable appearance.
Halifax also contains two Presbyterian, one Methodist, two Baptist, and
one Roman Catholic chapel; besides a Sandemanian meeting-house. The
court-house is a plain brick building. Dalhousie College, established in
1820, is a spacious and handsome structure, situate at the end of the
old military parade.
[Illustration: _View of the City of Halifax, Nova Scotia._
FROM DARTMOUTH.]
Viewed from the village of DARTMOUTH, on the opposite shore of the
harbour, the town of HALIFAX appears to singular advantage. The front of
the town is lined with ships, warehouses, and wharfs, amongst which
Cunnard’s wharf, with one of his fine steam-packets lying alongside,
forms a conspicuous object. Above these the spires of the different
churches and the neat tower of the methodist chapel are seen
intermingled with the houses that cover the side of the hill, upon whose
summit stands the citadel which commands the town and harbour. To the
left, in the distance, is the entrance of the harbour; and nearer to the
spectator, the numerous boats and vessels in motion upon the water, with
the busy little steam ferry boat plying constantly between Dartmouth and
Halifax, give life and animation to the picture.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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