”Jim flalwwl ”

ABEGVVEIT was the picturesque name given by its original inhabitants, the Micmac Indians, to Prince Edward Island.

And an apt description it was for this tiny gem set like a jewel in the blue waters of the tranquil Gulf of St. Lawrence. In the language of the red man Abegweit means “cradled on the wave”. And that’s exactly

what the Island is —— 2,184 square miles of rich red soil covered by a blanket of grass,

bountiful crops, and evergreen trees.

The first tourist was Jacques Cartier. It was he who discovered this fair little Isle back in 1534, just 42 years after Columbus discovered

America.

Even that far back in history, the charm of Prince Edward Island was readily discernable to the visitor. So impressed was Cartier with Canada’s Garden Province that his chronicles contained the following description of the Island “All the land is low and plaine, and the fairest that may pos— sibly be seene, full of goodly medowes and trees.” Cartier took possession of the Island for the King of France.

In 1745 the small Island colony was captured by the British. Three years later, it was back in the hands of the French but the Treaty of Paris in 1763 gave the British permanent ownership of the Tiny Isle.

Birthplace of Canada

One year later, attracted by the fisheries potential of the colony, the British sent Captain Samuel Holland, the King’s Surveyor, to do a com- plete survey of the Island. This was the first part of the British North American territory to be surveyed.

Prince Edward Island is the Birthplace of the Dominion of Canada. The Cradle of Confederation is in the Provincial Building in Charlotte— town. Here in 1864, the Fathers of Confederation met and laid the ground- work for the union of all British North America into one vast Dominion stretching from the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific.

Today the Confederation Chamber is an historic shrine.

This tiny Island, population 97,000, is one of the finest agricultural areas in Canada. It is familiarly known as the Million Acre Farm. Its silver foxes won for it world renown; its potatoes command a premium on the world markets; its hogs are being used for foundation stock across

Canada and in the United States; its Malpeque oysters are universally known for their fine flavor.

.The Capital city is Charlottetown which this year celebrates the 100th anniversary of its incorporation. The choice of the capital was made by Captain Samuel Holland because, he reasoned, “as this side of the Island

cannot have a fishery it may probably be thought expedient to indulge it with some particular privileges.” '

To Charlottetown, on the occasion of its Centennial, congratulations

are extended by THE GOVERNMENT OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.