The harbors of the Atlantic coast have two great drawbacks--ice and high tides. Some of the steamship lines make Portland, Me., their winter terminus. The Pacific coast harbors are not obstructed by ice. An attempt has been made in the direction of using Hudson Bay and Strait as a grain-route, but the difficulties of navigation are very great and the route is open only two months of the year. Practically all the foreign trade is carried on with Great Britain and the United States. The trade with each aggregates about one hundred and fifty million dollars yearly. The exports are lumber and wood-pulp, cheese and dairy products, wheat and flour, beef-cattle, hog products, fish, and gold-quartz. The chief imports are steel, wool, sugar, and cotton manufactures. Politically, Canada consists of a number of provinces, each with the usual corps of elective officers. A governor-general appointed by the Crown of Great Britain is the chief executive officer. =Nova Scotia.=--This province is prominent on account of its coal and iron, and also because of its geographic position. The iron and coal are utilized in steel smelteries and rolling-mills, glass-factories, sugar-refineries, and textile-mills. It is one of the few localities in the eastern part of the continent yielding gold. _Halifax_, the capital, has one of the best harbors of the Atlantic coast of North America; it is not often obstructed by ice, and is the chief winter port. Halifax is the principal British naval station of North America, and this fact adds much to its commercial activity. =Prince Edward Island.=--The industries of this province are mainly connected with the coast-fisheries. During the summer the island is visited by thousands of fishing-vessels for the purpose of preparing the catch for market. Fertilizer manufactured from the refuse is an incidental product. _Charlottetown_ is the capital. =New Brunswick.=--Fisheries and forest products are both resources of this province. Coal is mined at _Grand Lake_, and an excellent lime for export to the United States is made at _St. John_. Lumber, wood-pulp, wooden sailing-vessels, cotton textiles, and structural steel for ship-building are manufactured. A ship railway, seventeen miles long, across the isthmus that connects this province to Nova Scotia, is under construction. _St. John_, the capital, is the chief seat of trade. =Quebec.=--This province was once a possession of France, and in the greater part of it French customs are yet about as prevalent as they were a century ago; moreover, the French population is increasing rapidly. The English-speaking population lives mainly along the Vermont border. As a rule the English are the manufacturers and traders; the French people are the farmers.