Beautiful Canada [antikvár]

Canada. However we view this land, its sheer size is daunting to the imagination. Here is the world's second largest country, with such geographical diversity that it would be impossible for anyone - visitor or native Canadian - to claim to know it all. Through this vast landscape of immense richness we could travel for a lifetime and there would still remain something, somé new and extraordinarily beautiful aspect, that we had not seen, and this is undoubtedly part of its fascination. But Canada is more, much more, than merely vast, fascinating and somewhat mysterious. It is true to say that we each perceive beauty in different ways and at different times according to our mood. And, of course, we all have different ideas of what constitutes beauty. It may be that our ideál lies in the grandness of nature: the towering, snow-capped mountains, the vastness of the prairie, the mighty rivers, the almost limitless vistas of frozen landscape that the Arctic provides, or the power of the sea as it crashes against rocky cliffs. It may be, on the other hand, that we find perfection in the small wonders that nature provides: the delicate beauty of a wild flower as it grows by the banks of a gentle stream, or the fauna that finds its home deep in the heart of the forest or wood. Perhaps we find that the sight of a small cabin, nestled among the trees at the edge of a laké, epitomises for us the ideál of man living in harmony with his environment. It is probable that we find real beauty in all of these things and more, each according to his or her preferences, and it is certain that whatever we find beautiful in nature we will find in Canada. This is no idle statement. Canada, stretching as it does from the Atlantic Ocean in the east, out across the Maritime Provinces and the Laurentian Plateau to the prairie lands and the Great Western Plains and beyond, to the Rocky Mountains and further still to the fjord-indented coastline of the west coast, lapped by the waters of the Pacific Ocean, and from its bordér in the south, across vast distances north into the Arctic Circle, encompasses a truly incredible variety of landscape and a wide diversity of climate. It is little wonder, therefore, that it presents an ever-changing panorama. To the traveller who would see many of the splendours that it has to offer, Canada presents a dilemma. The increasing availability of modern methods of transport means that we can cover great distances in relatively short times, and that we can visit those places we particularly want to see and experience without undue difficulty. We know, however, that by doing so we will be merely selecting a tiny sample of the riches available, and will be missing so much that we merely pass through or over. Should we, on the other hand, decide to take our time and travel at a leisurely pace, enjoying the surroundings we find ourselves in, it will mean that we simply gain a fuller appreciation of one or two of those riches; there just isn't time to do more. It is at this point that the value of photography becomes apparent. Although it would be foolish to pretend that photography is a complete substitute for experiencing something at first hand it can, nevertheless, show us far more than we would ever be able to see for ourselves; it can recreate memories of places we have seen, and it can stimulate our interest in places we would hope one day to visit. It can show us the changing seasons and the differing moods of nature and, above all, it allows us to return, time and time again, to the places we love best. This is the real pleasure of the present volume; it allows us to spend as much time as we wish in each of the provinces, and it encourages us to share in the splendours of the truly magnificent country that is Canada.