Halifax, set on a steep and spatulate promontory beside one of the world's finest harbours, has become the focal point of the Maritimes, the region's financial, educational and transportation centre, whose metropolitan population of over 500,000 makes it seven times the size of its nearest rival, New Brunswick's Saint John. This pre-eminence has been achieved since World War II, but long before then Halifax was a naval town par excellence, its harbour defining the character and economy of a city which rarely seemed to look inland.

The British were the first to develop Halifax, founding a base here in 1749 to counter the French fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island. When New France was captured shortly afterwards, the town became a heavily fortified guarantor of the Royal Navy's domination of the North Atlantic, a role reinforced when the British lost control of New England. The needs of the garrison called the tune throughout the nineteenth century the waterfront was lined with brothels; martial law was in force till the 1850s; and most Haligonians, as the local citizenry are known, were at least partly employed in a service capacity.

In the twentieth century Halifax acted as a key supply and convoy harbour in both world wars, but since then its military importance has declined, even though the ships of the Canadian navy still dock here. Disfiguring office blocks reflect the city's new commercial successes, but interrupt the sweep of the town as it tumbles down to the harbour from the Citadel, the old British fortress that is the town's most significant sight. Nevertheless, Halifax retains a compact, bustling centre whose appealing and relaxing air is a far cry from the tense industriousness of many a metropolis.

Dartmouth
Humdrum Dartmouth, across the harbour from Halifax, is often ignored by visitors as it lacks the more obvious appeal of its neighbour. Nevertheless, it is the province's second largest town, with 70,000 inhabitants. Although it's primarily an industrial centre, the ferry ride over provides wide views of the harbour and downtown Halifax -- and there are a couple of minor attractions to further justify a sortie. The Dartmouth ferry leaves the Halifax waterfront from beside the Historic Properties at the foot of George Street (Monday to Saturday, 6.45 a.m. to 11.30 p.m., every 15 to 30 minutes, plus June to Septembter, Sunday, noon to 5.30 p.m., $1.65). The journey takes about ten minutes. The twin cities are also connected by two road bridges the MacDonald, running just to the north of both city centres, and the Mackay, part of the outer ring road. Metro Transit bus #1 uses the MacDonald.

Turn left outside Dartmouth ferry terminal and then take the first right for the five-minute stroll to the Quaker House, 57 Ochterloney St (June to August only; call for hours 464-2253; free), a small, grey-clapboard residence sitting three blocks up the hill from the dock. After the American War of Independence, several Quaker whaling families emigrated from Nantucket Island, off Cape Cod, to Dartmouth, but this is the only one of their houses to survive. The interior has been painstakingly restored to its late eighteenth-century appearance, its spartan fittings reflecting Quaker values. Among the exhibits are a two-hundred-year-old pair of shoes found under the floorboards during renovations in 1991, and the eye of a Greenland whale preserved in formalin -- though the staff won't show you this if they think you're squeamish. From here, it's another five-minute walk along -- and left at the end of -- King Street to a very short stretch of the Shubenacadie Canal, which once connected the Bay of Fundy to Dartmouth, a distance of 90 km. Begun in 1826, this monumental feat of engineering, linking a dozen existing lakes with new watercourses and locks, was completed in 1860, but the canal only made a profit for ten years before it was superseded by the railways -- and then left to rot.

To return to the Dartmouth ferry terminal, double back across the end of King Street and keep straight until you reach the park that leads round the harbourfront -- in all, a five-minute walk.