Lisgar Collegiate Institute - Vox Lycei Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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VOX LYCEI 33 I ,-.- T .Iris I ix v , Mx ,t iff? 'Q-I , mf V' S .'- ss :SX ll T JIU I X24 X , ,fs ff f as are K I ' ere ai A 3 iw : I? I fy I X X i t I 'fkx llfxfi I T S If F ., iggffleai My Q gi iii- 'IW 1 f sy ,J 'ff-A 'sg ! A Tl A nag' swafa, T -' -' - I Q' 1 1 I I : Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of educationg in the older, a part of experience. -Baron. lfwtlz a Member of the Staff in Bermuda My soul has long been filled with the wanderlust, and once in a while it peeps out and satisfres itself to the full. For many years have I watched the crowd at Easter time surging to Bermuda-that coral-built isle of the Atlantic -but time would not permit the venture, until Christmas '29 brought with it a few extra holidays and twenty-four hours after arrangements with the C. N. R. were completed, I was on my way. I went by Halifax in order to get the longer Ocean voyage, but many did not enjoy this part as it is the roughest part of the ocean I know of. If one reaches the island after 4 p.m. he remains anchored outside till morning, as the entrance to the harbour is a seven or eight mile winding channel, cut out of the coral reefs which lie beneath the watery surface. Bermuda takes its name from an old Spanish voyageur, -Iuan de Iiermudez. and consists of several hundreds of small islands connected in many cases by bridges. Hamilton is the chief town with a population of two thousand five hundred out of a total population of twenty thousand, one-third of which is white. I arrived on Christmas eve and what a surprise: no shrieking of motor horns: no rattling of tram-cars: just the pitter-pat of the horses' feet as they ambled along from dock to hotel. I have often heard of a green Christmas. but this was my first experience and what a difference! A swim in the morning, tennis in the afternoon. and a dance in the evening. It is like a moving picture without the talkies. In fact the whole life of the Colony to a Northerner. is almost one of monotonous quiet . All travel is done by bicy- cle. carriage, or boat. Little wonder there are no motors. They would scarcely get up speed before they would have to apply the brakes as the group is only twelve miles long and three or four wide. There are many interesting things to see but with only a week one must select. The Aquarium has a magnificent collection of hundreds of fish to be seen at close range. The 'sea gardens' form one of the chief sights where you

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34 VOX LYCEI sit in glass bottomed boats and peer through at the various colours of coral and fish twenty feet below. The dockyards. the home of the British North Atlantic fieet, is also worth while. The Islands form the top of an oceanic mountain of coral. and the roads, cut through this coral rock. wind between cedar trees, or hedges of red and white oleander, while most flowers grow in profusion everywhere. The roads are white, the buildings are white. in fact, nearly everything is white, as all such arc made of coral. The climate is semi-tropical: no frost. no snow. It rains easily and sud- denly, but in half an hour everything is dry again. The temperature varies from fifty degrees to seventy-five degrees seldom going below sixty degrees. At noon on Christmas day it was seventy degrees. One might continue to write for hours of the beauty and the quiet. of the colour and the restfulness of such a gem, but time and space do not permit. so let me conclude with 'when shall we meet again?' G. E. ELLIS. B..-X. lfwtlz a Lisgar Boy on a Cruise from Los Angeles to New York via the Panama Canal Among all sea trips offered the public, the Coast to Coast voyages of the Panama Pacific Line. from one side of the American Continent to the other, may be considered most unique. They are carried out by ocean liners, and are wonder cruises from 2.000 to 5.000 miles longer than the voyage to Europe-filled with scenes of unusual charm to engage the interest of the traveller. Leaving Los Angeles, the voyage is for the most part in placid seas and under cloudless skies. The ship's course is always near land. The high, blue mountain ranges of the Pacific coastline, the palm fringed strands of coral islands and keyes tropic peaks. tipped in clouds, old Spanish cities. and finally the sandy beaches of the eastern seaboard, follow one another in dissolving scenes of an entrancing panorama. On every voyage the ship pierces the serried spine of the Continental Divide at the Isthmus and also calls at gay and colourful Havana. For days. one steams in brilliant sunshine over sparking waters of cerulean blue: for nights one is under the spell of the star-gemmed splendour of southern heavens. or of tropic moonlight. :Xpproaching the Canal from the Gulf of Panama. one sees a coast of hazy- blue and lofty mountains, sometimes hung with light. fieecy clouds. The ship turns at the Canal entrance and goes alongside a fine, large government dock at Balbow. the city built by Americans as their official headquarters in the Canal Zone. One strong impression of the Canal settlement is their distinctively Ameri- can character. Not only has a native been made the hand-maiden of the engineers, but the old careless. irresponsible standards of living that have hitherto existed in the towns of the Isthmus have given place to the manners and customs of the North. Yet the old style of life on the Isthmus exists still in Old Panama, which adjoins Balboa, and is immensely interesting to the tourist. It is a bit of the Old XYorld set down beside the sparkling blue waters of the Pacific. In the ship's passage through the Canal. the First striking feature. after passing through Mirafiores Locks across Miraflores Lakes and raised 85 feet above sea level by the Pedro Miguel Locks. is of course Gaillard or Culebra Cut, with its towering rock sides-the very backbone of the continent. Next is the