Page:Abbot's Guide to Ottawa.djvu/43

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dining room. Government House is not usually open to visitors. A book is kept in the main hall, in which the names of callers may be inscribed; from this book invitation lists are made out. Rideau Cottage, the residence of the Military Secretary, lies immediately to the east.

RIDEAU HALL.

RIFLE RANGE.

The Rockcliffe Rifle Range, constructed by the Dominion Government in 1898, is unrivalled in America, and is only equalled perhaps by Bisley, England. Delightfully situated beside the Ottawa river, the ground is convenient to the city, from which it is reached by electric car. The ranges are from 100 yards to 1,000 yards, with 73 targets. A commodious pavilion for the use of officers, and a competitors building, are flanked by smaller buildings (familiarly designated "huts") erected by two local regiments, the Governor General's Foot Guards and 43rd Duke of Cornwall's Own Rifles. Here is held the annual meet of the Dominion Rifle Association, which, with its attendant functions, forms a feature in the summer life of the Capital.

ROCKCLIFFE PARK.

Lying high up and low down along the south bank of the Ottawa for more than a mile are 185 acres of one of the finest natural parks on the continent. Its picturesque winding avenues have left nature unchanged with its varied viws, both inland and river-wards. Looking through the trees and across the river the Laurentian range of mountains clothed with sombre verdure in the summer makes an impressive background for the little village on the opposite shore, seemingly almost at one's feet. The view at sunset through the trees and across the river is picturesque and beautiful, particularly in the fall of the year when the Laurentian hills appear clothed in the gorgeous colouring of the autumn tints, which harmonize so well with the glint of the sun where it touches the spire of the little church of Gatineau Point.

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