Ottawa. It will be the second piece of noble architecture in
Canada, and as far as I know on the American continent. It is, I
believe, intended to be purely Norman, though I doubt whether the
received types of Norman architecture have not been departed from
in many of the windows. Be this as it may, the college is a manly,
noble structure, free from false decoration, and infinitely
creditable to those who projected it. I was informed by the head
of the college that it has been open only two years; and here also
I fancy that the colony has been much indebted to the taste of the
late Governor, Sir Edmund Head.

Toronto as a city is not generally attractive to a traveler. The
country around it is flat; and, though it stands on a lake, that
lake has no attributes of beauty. Large inland seas, such as are
these great Northern lakes of America, never have such attributes.
Picturesque mountains rise from narrow valleys, such as form the
beds of lakes in Switzerland, Scotland, and Northern Italy; but
from such broad waters as those of Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, and
Lake Michigan, the shores shelve very gradually, and have none of
the materials of lovely scenery.

The streets in Toronto are framed with wood, or rather planked, as
are those of Montreal and Quebec; but they are kept in better
order. I should say that the planks are first used at Toronto,
then sent down by the lake to Montreal, and when all but rotted out
there, are again floated off by the St. Lawrence to be used in the
thoroughfares of the old French capital. But if the streets of
Toronto are better than those of the other towns, the roads around
it are worse. I had the honor of meeting two distinguished members
of the Provincial Parliament at dinner some few miles out of town,