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2.

the beginning of last week, and visited Galt, Guelph and Brantford
and all that beautiful countryside. We had a very interesting time
and I am more convinced than ever that that part of western Ontario
is the most wholesome economical unit in Canada. Then we went in
state to the Toronto races - happily in fine weather. The Torontonians
are a hospitable lot, but the grandees have the curious air of
undeveloped schoolboys - much more so, I think, than the similar
class in Montreal!

We had a wonderful weekend, in beautiful, in the Thousand
Isles. What a place! Gananoque is a delightful little town;
the most unspoilt place, I think, of its kind that I have seen in
Canada. Then I went to Montreal to pen the Belgian Exhibition,
and arrived here the day before yesterday. Quebec always gives me
the feel of the West Highlands. The smells in the air are quite
different from Ottawa. I was pretty seedy here last year, and it
is very pleasant to be living in the Citadel and feel well again.

Last night the Quebec Government entertained us at an official
dinner, and I met most of the Ministers. I had a long talk
with Duplessis. He is a most curious character, with the strong
spice of the bandit in him, and with something of Mitchell Hepburn
too. I am a little nervous about an alliance between these two
eminent men. He is a man of many dislikes, and has little good to
say about anybody, but in his diatribes there is always an odd
twinkle. Among British statesmen his chief admiration seems to
have been for Lord Balfour, but he has a considerable respect for
Baldwin. He is contemptuous of French Nationalism, but I think he
is the kind of man who is always on the look-out for something to