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RT, PvOSE-BELFORD'S CAN"ADiA]sr Monthly AND NATIONAL REYIEW. APRIL, 1882. THE ISLAND OF CAPE BRETON : * 50 cents. THE " LONG WHARF " OF THE DOMINION. BY JOHN GEORGE BOURIKOT, F.S.S., THE CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. fthe ," or [)ER," ce of LS to be IN choosing as the subject of my Paper an important island on the Atlantic coast of Canada, I feel that I am assisting to carry out the praiseworthy object the Geograph- ical Society has in view. The second article of the Constitution expressly informs me, a new member, that the society desires above all things : * To study and make known our country in relation to its productive forces ; especially to bring into notice its agri- <;ultural, forest, maritime, industrial and commercial resources, with a view to augment its riches and the well- being of its population.' A great so- ciety like that in London may appro- priately, as the parent and prototype of all similar associations elsewhere, follow the explorer into Arctic seas or * A Paper read before the Geographical Society of Quebec. tropical jungles, and search the wide globe for fresh accessions to the trea- sures of knowledge which have been amassed under its auspices. Ours necessarily must be a more humble task in the early days of this associa- tion ; but while it may be less ambi- tious, it cannot be said to be less use- ful, from a Canaaian point of view. A country like ours, embracing the greater part of a Continent, contain- ing resources s^ill in the infancy of their development, affords a fruitful field of research for the earnest stu- dent desirous ui furnishing his quota of geographical lore. Amid the bleak regions of Hudson's Bay, or the fast- nesses of the mountains that bar the road to the Pacific coast, there is yet much to attract the adventurous tra- veller and explorer. Even in the older sections of this wide Dominion, there are ' fresh woods and pastures new ' to «T0. 330 TEE ISLAND OF CAPE BRETON. be brought within the ken of those anxious to infoi'm thnnselves of the topographical features and natural resources of this country, now an ener- getic competitor for emigration from the Old World. Only fourteen years have passed away since the different provinces of British America formed themselves into a Confederation, and it cannot be said that all sections are even yet as well informed as they should be of the respective character- istics of each other. The name of the island of which I pro))Ose to give you a brief sketch to-night is quite fami- liar to your ears, and all of you re- member how important a part it has played in the early history of this Con- tinent ; but it is, nevertheless, quite safe to assert that its natural features are still comparatively unknown to the majority of persons residing in old Canada. Yet in the days of the French rigiine, the possession of Cape Breton was considered indispensable in the accomplishment of that grand scheme of French aggrandisement which em- braced the acquisition of this whole Continent. Louisbourg was for years a menace to England, and promised to be a place of as great importance in a commercial and national point of view as the ancient capital itself. But with the disappearance of French do- -ninion, the grass soon won possession of the dismantled walls of Louisbourg, and the fisherman's shallop became the only tenant of the noble harbour where the fleur-de-lys once floated from many a stately frigate in those memor- able days of last century, when an am- bitious town looked out on the broad Atlantic. From the day when Wolfe and Boscawen won the fortress, (]!ape Breton fell into obscurity, whilst Que- bec still continued to till no unim- portant place in the fulfilment of the destinies of Canada. There the tourist in search of the picturesque, or the his- torical student desirous of discovering memorials of the past, has always found attraction. Here statesmen have met in council and laid the foundations of the liberal system of representative government that we now enjoy. Here commerce has flour- ished, and the shipping of all nations has floated on the waters of the noble river which carries to the great ocean beyond the tribute of the West. But for Louisbourg there has only been, during a century and more, neglect and desolation. The history of Cape Breton has been one of placid rest, only disturbed by insignificant politi- cal contests which have not seriously ruffled the great body politic, or dis- turbed the social foundations of Bri- tish North America. As the Island of Vancouver in the west guards the approaches to the Pacific coast of the Dominion, so the Island of Cape Breton on the eastern shores stands like a sentinel at the en- trance of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Both these islands must necessarily, from the vantage ground they occupy, exercise an important influence on the commercial and national future of these dependencies of the Empire; but of the two, Cape Breton is vastly the more important in point of area, popu- lation, and capabilities. By reference to a map you will see that Cape Breton is an island of very inegular form, lying between the parallels of 45° 27' and 47° 3' north, and the meridians 59' 47' and 61° 32' west, and is bounded on the north-east and south-east by the At- lantic Ocean, on the south-west by St. George's Bay and the Gut of Canso, and on the north-west by the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Its total length from north to south is about one hundred and ten miles, and its total width, from east to west, eighty-seven miles. The Gut of Canso, or Fronsac, as it was first known, when Acadie was a French colony, separates the island from the peninsula of Nova Scotia, and is navigable for the largest class of vessels — its length being some fif- teen miles, and its average width about a mile. The island is naturally separated into two great divisions by the Braa THE ISLAND OF CAPE BRETON. 331 D'Or Lake, to which I shall make fuller reference further on. These two divisions arealso remarkable forcertain natural features which f^ive to each a distinctive character. The western division extends from Cape St. Law- rence to St. Peter's on the south, and is noteworthy for its ranges of hills and bold scenery. All the high lands in this division consist of syenite, gneiss, mica slate, and other metamor- ]»hic rocks of olil date, with the excep- tion of the southern end of the range lying between the Gut of Canso and the valley of the liiver of the Inhabit- ants. The valleys and low country generally between the hills, are made up of sandstone, shale, limestone and gypsum, of the lower carboniferous system. lieds of the carboniferous system occur between Margarie and Port Hood, and between the Gut of Canso and St. Peter's, but in the latter district they appear to be of small value. There are few harbours of importance on the coasts of this division — from Cape St. Lawrence in the north to the extreme end of this division on the south, Port Hood, Port Hawkesbury, and Arichat are navig- able on the western side ; on the north-east are St. Ann's and the great entrances of the Bras D'Or. The scenery around St. Ann's and Inganish is particularly grand, lofty precipices, rocky gorgeg and ravines meeting the eye in every direction. On parts of the coast, as far as Cape North, rocky precipices rise abruptly from the sea, to heights varying from six to twelve hundred feet. The eastern division, which is bound- ed by the Bras D'Or and the Atlantic Ocean, is remarkable for its valuable mines of coal and the fine harbours of Sydney and Louisbourg. It contains only two ranges of hills of consider- able elevation, consisting of syenite, granite, and raetamorphic rocks. The land on the coast nowhere reaches a greater elevation than three hundred feet, except at the head of Gabarus Bay. The low hills on the coast con- sist chiefly of metamorphosed Devon- ian and Upper Silurian rocks; the low country in the interior, as wo have said, are of sandstone, shale and limestone of the carboniferous system. Off" the Atlantic coast, on the south-east, lies the Island of Scatari, whose shores are strewn with the wrecks of vessels of every class. Its coast consists alternately of rocky headlands and sand or gravel beaches, guarded by reefs and inclosing ponds. Small fishing hamlets nestle in the coves, thronged during summer by fishermen from all the surrounding country ; but not more than eight or ten families s|)end the winter in this lonely spot, against which the waves of the Atlantic fret and foam without ceasing. Some of the bays, Gabarus especially, on the eastern division of Cape Breton, are conspicuous for sjjlen- did beaches of the finest sand, where the surf, as it rushes up tumultuously, presents occasionally a spectacle of great sublimity. The total area of Cape Breton is put down by the best authorities at 2,G.50,000 acres, exclu- sive of the Bras D'Or Lakes. It is estimated that about one-half of this area is fit for cultivation, the richest soil being found on the alluvial lands watered by the largest rivers. The varieties of trees common to such lati- tudes grow upon the island, but the spruce prevails, and the vegetation near the coast is for the most part stunted, and very little building tim- ber of value can now be cut. Apples, plums, pears, and other hardy fruits flourish well in favoured spots, and ordinary field crops are grown without difficulty. But it is from its coal de- posits that the island must always de- rive the chief part of its prosperity. The rocks of the carboniferous system cover about one half of the whole area of the island ; the other half, so far as known, consisting of igneous, metamorphic and Silurian rock. The Sydney coal field is the most extensive and valuable portion of the carboni- ferous area of the island. It extends (^ 332 THE ISLAND OF CAPE liRETON. from jNIirn Bay on tlic east to Cape Dauphin on the west, a distance of thirty-one miles. It is bounded on the north by the sea-coast, and on the south by the Millstone Grit formation. This tract of country occupies an area of about two liundred square miles, and is intersected or indented by seve- ral bays and harbours, where we see ex]io:^ed sections of the coal measures in the cliffs, which, with the exception o^ a few sand beaches, extend along the whole coast from Mira Bay to ' Cape Dauphin. The total thickness j of the Sydney coal measures is not yet ; ascertained to a certainty, but so care- ■ ful an observer as Mr. Brown, fur many years connected with the Min- ing Association, a gentleman of high scientific attainments and px-actical | knowledge, concludes in a work on the j subject that from Burnt Head, near Glace Bay, where the highest known bed occurs, down to the Millstone Grit, it is not much under 1,000 feet No section of the Dominion of Can- ada present;} more varied scenes of na- tural beauty, attaining true grandeur in many localities, than this island, with its imposing hills and precipices, its smiling valleys and rocky coasts, its noble harbours, where all the navies of the world may safely anchor, its calm rivers and oft storm-swept bays, whence the great ocean, in all its sub- limity, stretches without a break to the shores of other continents. The vast plateau, or table land, which extends from Margarie and St. Ann's to Cape St. Lawrence, the most northern ex- tremity of the island, is elevated in some places between 1,000 and 1,500 feet above the level of the sea, and is bounded by lofty cliffs and precipices, affording a magnificent panorama of land and water. There are numerous rivers running through the island : the Margarie, the Bedeque, the Wagama- tacook, the Inhabitants, Mabou, and the Denys, water the western division ; while the Sydney or Spanish River, the Mira, and the Grand River flow into the ocean through the eastern sec- tion. Of all these rivers, however, Si)ani8h River is by far the most im- portant, as it runs through a fertile district of the most important country, and discharges itself at last into Syd- ney harbour, which in expansiveness and safety has no superior, if indeed an equal, among the many magnifi- cent harbours of this Continent. Fresh water lakes are very numer- ous in the island, the largest being Ainslie Lake, which covers an area of twenty five square miles, and forms tiio source of the southern branch of the Margarie River. But the most re- markable natural feature of the island is what is commonly called the Bras D'Or Lake, which is in reality a Medi- terranean Sea in miniature. This lake, which is actually divided into two stretches of water, called the Great Bras D'Or and the Little Bras D'Or, is connected with the Atlantic Ocean by two straits, one of which admits the passage of the lai-gest ships. These lakes occupy an area of some 450 square miles in the heart of the island, and are fed by several rivers, besides abounding in picturesque islands. One of these, of considerable size, called after the Marquis de la Boularderie, is situ- ated at the entrance, and it is on either side o . this island that vessels now find their way from the east into the splen- did sheet of water which gives such unrivalled facilities for trade to the people of Cape Breton. The Bras D'Or Lakes occupy deep basins, excavated in soft carboniferous strata, encompassed by hills of syenite and other pre Silurian rocks, flanked here and there by newer sediments. They are connected with each other by Barra Strait, generally known to the people as the Grand Narrows, and find an outlet to the sea at St. Peter's, on the southern coast, by a fine ship canal, which has been at last completed to the satisfacxion of the people of the island, who commenced agitating for the work many yv>ars pre- vious to Confederation. The ma:cimum depth of the smaller lake is fifty-four, THK ISLAND OF CAPE BRETON. tliat of the larger forty-six fathoms ; tho extreme length of the Great Bras D'Ur Lake is forty-four miles ; its width from Portage Creek to Soldier Cove, twenty-one miles. For variety of beautifid sceneiy this inland sea cannot be surpassed in Bri- tish America. The stranger who wishes to follow the most attractive route through the island should pass through the Little Bras D'Or, which is very narrow in many places, and re- sembles a beautiful river. It is full of tho most delightful surprises, for you I ■ think yourself ])erfectly land-locked, when suddenly you come to a little ojjening and find yourself, in less than a minute, shooting into a large bay. The banks are wooded to the very water's edge, whilst shady roads wind down, in most perplexing fashion, to some rude wharf, where you will al- ways find moored a fisherman's boat or coasting schooner. Fine farms are to be seen on every side, and now and then you catch a glimpse of a tall white spire. We pass within reach of wooded islets and anon shoot out into the Great Bras D'Or itself, where the land at last becomes quite indistinct. Far to the northward we catch glimp- ses of the highlands which terminate in the promontories of Capes North and St. Lawrence. It is not the height and grandeur of the hills, nor the wide expanse of water, that gives to these lakes and their surroundings their pe- culiar charm, but the countless combi- nations of land and water, which af- ford new scenes of beiuty at every turn. Variety is everywhere found in the irregular shore ; in the bold, rocky head-lands which roll back the lazy waves ; and in the long, graceful outlinesof the sand and shingle beaches up which they sparkle, until they break into white quivering lines of surf upon the shore. There the restless motion of the Atlantic, and the thunder of the waves that encircle the island, are unknown ; and in the sheltered bays, on a calm day, the whole surface is alive with bright-coloured medusae and jelly fishes of every size, expanding and contracting their umbrella-shaped discs as tiioy move in search of food on the warm, tranquil water. Cod and mackerel, herring, skate and hali- but are caught on the banks and shoals ; oysters of excellent (juality are found in the bay sand pond.s ; and in the brooks which flow into them on every side, salmon, trout, smelt and gaspereaux aboiuid. For some years a steamer called at Whyoocomagh or at West Bay, at the head of the lakes, and the tourist found his way over land to the Strait of Canso or the Gulf Shore, whence he was conveyed to Pictou. Now the opening of the St. Peter's Canal, and the comj)letion of a railway to tho Strait, oi)posite Port Hawkesbury,will largely add to the facilities for travel through the island. But the visitor who de.sires to see something of the most picturesque section of Cape Breton, should go to Whycocomagh, and ilrive to the sea-coast at Port Hood. He will, in all i)robability, have to be satis- fied with a very primitive vehicle, but he will soon forget the absence of easy springs and soft cushions in view of the exquisite scenery that meets the eye wherever it wanders. Those who have travelled over Scotland cannot fail to notice the striking resemblance that the scenery of this part of Cape Breton bears to that of the Highlands. Indeed, the country is chiefly inhabit- ed by the Scotch who, as a rule in this district, are a well-to-do class. Some of the best farms in the Province are here to be seen, proving conclu- sively the fine agricultural capabilities of this section of the island. As we pass along the mountain side we over- look a beautiful valley, where one of the branches of the Mabou River pur- sues its devious way, looking like a silver thread thrown upon a carpet of the deepest green. Every now and then we pass groups of beautiful elms, rising amid the wide expanse of mea- dows. No portion of the landscape is tamo or monotonous, but all is remark- 33 i THE ISLAND OF CAPE BRETON. al»ly (livorsified. The eye can linger in exquisite sylvan nooks, or lose it- self amid the lulls that rise away be- yond until they di8ai)i)(!ar in the pur- ple distance — You should have seen that long liill riinge, With ^'!ipH of hrightnesH riven, llow.thron^'h eacli \n\,m and lioUow.Htreamed 'l"he purpling light of litiiven. There are only two towns of im- portance on the island. Arichat is Iniilt on the small island of Madame, on the southern coast of Cape Breton, and contains several important fishing establishments owned by Acadian or Jersey merchants. It is the chief town of the County of Richmond, and the majority of the population are French Catholics,who have established a convent, where a good education can be obtained. Sydney is the important town of the island, and is situated on the harbour to which reference has previously been made. The only dis- advantage that attaches to this re- markably fine port is the fact that it is frequently ice-bound during the winter months. The mines of the Alining Association of London are at the entrance of the harbour, and are connected by rail with the place of shipment which is, in local parlance, known as ' the Bar ' — quite an enter- prising place, with some fine shops and churches. Six miles further up the river is the capital of the island, the old town of Sydney, which is built on a peninsula. For many years Syd- ney led a very sluggish existence. In former times Cape Breton was a sepa- rate colony, and Sydney had a resident Governor and all the paraphernalia of a seat of government. Society was in a constant state of excitement on ac- count of the squabbles between the ctlicials, who on more than one ooca- sion called out and shot each other in the most approved style of the older communities of Europe. A company of regular troops was stationed there for many years, but the old bar- racks are now the only evidence that remains of those gay days when Her Majesty's forces rnlivcned the mono- tony of the ancient town. ^Vith the disappearance of the troops, and the decay of trade, Sydney for years be- came one of the dullest jjlaces in British America. Some tenor eleven years ago, however, additional life was given to the town by the expenditure of considerable capital in building rail- ways, piers and other works necessary for the accommodation of the coal trade, which suddenly assumed consider- able importance. Sydney is situated in the centre of the finest carboniferous district of British America. English, American and Canadian companies have mines in operation at Cow Bay, Glace Bay, Lingan and North Sydney, and had we reciprocity in coal with the United otates, and new ave- nues of trade opened up, a great com- mercial impulse would necessarily be given to the old town, which appears to be again comparatively at a stand still. Louisbourg, which is some twenty- four miles from Sydney, by the old carriage road that crosses the beau- tiful Mira River about halfway, will be always ons of the first places vis- ited by the tourist. When I last stood on the site of the old town, some time ago, the scene was one of per- fect desolation. The old town was built on a tongue of land near the en- trance of the harbour, and from the formidable character of its fortifica- tions was justly considered the Dun- kirk of America. The natural advan- tages of the port of Louisbourg, im- mediately on the Atlantic coast, very soon attracted the attention of the French in those days when they en- tertained ambitious designs with re- ference to this Continent. As an entrepot for vessels sailing between France and Canada, and for the large fleet annually engaged in the New- foundland fisheries, the town was al- ways considered of great importance by French statesmen. Louisburg was first taken by Warren and Pepperell, the latter a merchant of New Eng- 1^ ..li.^ THE ISLAND OF CAPE BRETON. 335 liind, who was the first American colo- nist to receive the honour of a baro- netcy in recognition of liis eminent services.* Tlie success of tlie colonial troops natuially attracted a great deal of attention throughout England and •was achieved ve.y opportunely for the Mother Country. At the time the Colonists were gathering laurels at Louisbourg the British trooi)8 were being beaten on the Continent of Eu- rope. ' We are making a bonfire for CapeBretonand thunderingforOenoa,' wrote that old gossip, Horace Walpole, 'while our army is running away in Flanders.' By the treaty of Aix-la- Cbapelle, Cape Breton fell once more into the hands of the French, who im- mediately renewed the fortifications ef Louisbourg. At the time the negoti- ations for this treaty were going on, the French Court instructed its envoy to take every care that Cape Breton was restordtl to France, so important was its j)osition in connection with the trade of Canada and Louisiana. Peace between France and England was not of long duration in those times, and among the great events of the war that ensued was the capture of Louisbourg. Great were the rejoicings when the news reached England. The captured standards were borne in triumph through the streets of London and de- posited in St. Paul's amidst the roar of •cannon and the beating of kettle drums. From that day to this. Cape Breton has been almost entirely for- gotten by the statesmen and people of England. Fifty years after the fall of Louisbourg, Lord Bathurst actually ordered all American prisoners to be removed from Halifax to Louisboui-g, as a placQ of safety. He was entirely ignorant of the fact that soon after the capture of the town, its fortifications were razed to the ground, and a good deal of the stone, as well as all the *The colonel commanding the C!onnecticut regiment, at that time Speaker of the Provin- cial House, was Andrew Burr, whose direct descendant is Mr. J. B. Plumb, Member for Niagara. implements of iron, were carried to Halifax. As the visitor now walks over the site, ho can form a very accurate idea, if lie has a maj) with him, of the character of the fortifications, and the large space occupied by the town. The form of the battfiries is easily traced, although covered witli sod, and a number of relics, in the shape of shells and cannon balls, can be dug up by any enterprising explorer. The Covernor-Oeneral, during his visit of the past sunnner, among other things, came across an old sword which he has recently presented to the CJeologi- cal INIuseum just o})ened at Ottawa. The country surrounding the har- bour is extremely barren and uninter- esting, from the absence of fine trees and the lofty hills which predominate in the north-western section of ♦he island. As one wanders over the grassy mounds that alone illustrate the historic past, one is overcome by the intense loneliness that pervades the surroundings. Instead of spacious stone mansions, we see only a few fishermen's huts. A collier or fishing boat, or wind-bound coaster, floats in the spacious harboiir, where the fleets of the two great maritime nations of Europe once rode at anchor. The old grave-yard of the French is a feeding ])lace for the sheep of the settlers. The ruined casemates, the piles of stones, the bullets that lie at our feet, are the sole memorials of the days when France and England contended for the possession of a town which was an ever-j)resent menace to New Eng- land. As we stand on this famous historic spot — We hear the jar Of beaten drums, and thunders that break forth From cannon, where the billow sends Up to the sij,'ht long files of armed men, That hurry to the charge through flame and smoke. The harbour, which is two miles in length and half a mile in width, with a depth of from three to six fathoms, communicate;; with the open ocean by a 33G THE ISLAND OF CAPE BRETON. channel only half a mile in length and one-third of a mile in width, with a ilepth of from six to ten fathoms. A ves- sel arriving on the coast with a favour- able wind can reach safe anchorage in a few minutes after passing the light- house. This easiness of access in sum- mer and winter without any interven- ing bay or roadstead, was probably one of the principal reasons why Louis- bourg was chosen in preference to other harbours, like St. Ann's or Syd- ney. Vessels can ride at anchor with safety in all parts of the harbour when the rocky coast outside and the islands at the entrance, not more than half a mile distant, are exposed to the un- broken fury of the wav es, and enveloped in immense sheets of surging foam. It is certainly strange that Louisbourg, notwithstanding its great advantages as a port, should have remained so many years in obscurity when com- merce is always searching out the most available entrepots for traffic between the Old and New World. Since the re- vival in the coal trade of Cape Breton, a railway has been constructed between Sydney and Louisbourg, with the ob- ject of making the latter the winter port of the island. The consequence is that a few new buildings have been erected around the harbour, and prepa- rations made for considerable trallic in the futuie. Steamers engaged in the European trade must sooner or later make the old port a stopping place for coal and passengers. The distance of the ocean voyage from Louisbourg to Liverpool is 2,255 miles, or some 700 miles shorter than from New York to Liverpool — a great advantage in the winter season. The difference of time would be at least thirty hours in fa- vour of Louisbourg, if a steamer could connect with a continuous rail route to New York. It would also take be- tween seven and eight days to reach Quebec from London via Louisbourg.* At present there is a rail connection * Report of Cornmittee on Shortest Kcmte to Eurojie, House of CoinmonH J ournalH, 1873, Appendix o. from Quebec to the Strait of Canso, and the only line that has to be cou- sftructed is one from the Strait to . Louisbourg— -a distance of some eighty mi|es over a country which offers every facility for railway construction. The Strait of Canso must of course be crossed by means of a steam ferry, con- structed with a special view to carry cars and combat the heavy ice which bars the passage at certain times of the year. Looking then at the advantage- ous position of Louisbourg on the At- lantic, and its accessibility to the great coal mines of the island, it is easy to predict that the time is not far dis- tant when it must become the eastern terminus of the Dominion system of railways, and one of the most flourish- ing cities on this Continent. Wherever you go in Cape Breton you come upon traces of the French occupation. Many of the old names, are, however, becoming i«,pidly cor- rupted as time passes, and their origin is forgotten. One would hardly recog- nise in * Big Loran ' the title of the haughty house of Lorraine. The river Margarie, remarkable for its scenery and the finest Maritime JNIarguerite, salmon fishing in the Provinces, is properly the Mire has lost its accent and become Mira. Inganish was ori- ginally Niganiche, The beautiful Bras' D'Or still retains its euphoneous and appropriate name, and so does Boularderie Island, at the entrance of the lake. Port Toulouse is now known as St. Peter's — the terminus of the canal. The present name of the island is itself an evidence of French oc- cupation. Some of those adventurous Basque mariners and fishermen, who have been visiting the waters of the Gulf for centuries, first gave the n^xme of Cape Breton to the eastern point of the island, after * Cape Breton,' near Bayonne. Many interesting relics are now and then turned up by the plough in the old settlements. I remember seeing some years ago, a 6ne bell which was discovered at Inganish, and which IV THE ISLAND OF CAPE BRETON. mi bore, in accordance with the custom in F' ranee, tlie following iuscrijition : . ' Pour la J'aroisse de Nigaukhe jmj eti nominee JanneFrancoise par Johan- iiis Decaretle et ptir Francoisse Vrail j/cirahi et maraine — la fosse J/ret Je St. Malo ma fait An, 1729.' No one can travel for any length of time through tlie island without see- ing the evidence of its being behind other parts of British America in pros- perity, despite the mai." elements of wealth that exist in ' U and sur- rounding waters. As i. ..e the poor- T are by no means enterprising. Tne great majority are Scotc'i ))y des.mt, and many of them exhibit the thrift and industry of their race. Many of the younger men go olT yearly to the United States and those of them who return generally come Imck imbued with more progressive ideas. The descendants of the old French population are an indus- trious class, chiefly engaged in n\ari- time pursuits. A portion of the inhabit- ants consists of the descendants of American loyalists and the original English settlers who came into the country after the capture of Louisbourg and the foundation of Sydney. Agri- culture is largely followed by the people, and with some measure of suc- cess in the fertile lands watered by Spanish, Mire, Bedeque, Mabou and other rivers. On the sea coast the fisheries predominate, though all the [teople even there, more or less, till small farms. The collieries absorb a considei'able number of men in the county of Cai)e Breton, wliich is the most prosperous and pojmlous section of the island. A good many persons are engaged in the coasting trade, es- pecially at Sydney and Arichat, tliough ship-building has never been pursued to any extent — Sydney in this respect offering no comparison with the great ship-owning towns of Yarmouth and Hantsport in Nova Scotia proper. The island is divided into four political divisions — Capo Breton, Kichmond, Inverness and Victoria, which return five members to the House of Com- mons, besides giving three senators to the Upper House of Parliament. The total population of the island may be estimated at ninety thousand souls, and as an illustration of its trade. I may add that last year the number of vessels that entered inwards at the ports of Arichat and Sydney alone was nearly 1000 — the great majority entering at the lat- ter port for supplies of coal and com- prising many steamers and craft of large tonnage. There are al)Out five hundred In- dians on the island, all belonging to the Micmac tribe, which has continued to dwell in Nova Scotia since the days when De Monts and De Poutrencourt landed on the western shore of Acadie and founded Port Iloyal. The majority now live at Escasoni in very pictur- esque section of Cape Breton in the vicinity of the Bras D'Or Lake, where they have some fine farms and wor- ship in a large chajtel. No part of British America is richer in natural resources, and in all those elements necessary to create wealtli and prosi)erity, than this noble island ; but unfortunately its progress so far has been retarded by the want of ca- pital and the absence of speedy com- munication with the rest of the Conti- nent. The collieries are numerous, but the output of coal is still relatively in- significant — over oOO,000 tons a year — when we consider the wealth they could send forth were there a larger mai'ket open to this great source of national j)rosiierity. The island stands on the very threshold of the finest fishing grounds of the world. Quarries of marble, gypsum, limestone and other valuable stone abound, and oil is also known to exist in the Lake Ainslie district. The natural })ORition of the island is remarkably advantageous for trade of every kind. It stands at the gateway of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a si)lendid entrepot of commerce in times of peace, and an invaluable bul- S8S we: BE TO MEET AGAIN: wark of defence in the days of war. Whether we consider its geographical relations to the rest of Canada, or its prolific natural resoiirces, we cannot but come to ihe conclusion that the tide of pi osperity which is now flowing €0 steadily in the direction of all parts of this Continent cannot continue much longer to pass by its too long- neglected shores, but will sooner or later lift the island out of the isola- tion and obscurity which now over- shadow its progress, and enable it at last to take its proper position among the industrial communities of the Dominion. *WE'EE TO MEET AGAIN.' "TTrE'RE to meet again, this week or next, VV And T'ni sorely troubled, my dear ! To know Jiow we'll meet — for we parted — Well — somewhat like lovers last year. Since you have written no letter / could not, it was not my place ; I scarce know if by this I'm supplanted By a prettier figure and face. I, being a girl and more constant. Thought often of dropping a line To inquire of your health and enjoyments, And ask — where you usually di|»e : If, just as of old, on your Sundays You go to the Tompkins' to tea. And dine with ' Old Hector and Madame,' And talk of the dreadful ' N. P.' : I I ! Get up late in the mornings, etc., — Well, I thought I would write of these things ; But suoh resolutions, * dear Frederick,' Are borne on the flimsiest wings ! Miss Jones, your old love — what about her ? Did you mind her engagement with Brown ? I heard that the way she still flirted, Was the talk of your virtuous town. I wonder how I shall meet you, If you will be formal and stiff, Yon are very often, I've noticed, And then if you are — dear me ! — if — too long- sooner or the isola- ow over- ible it at )n among } of the A ■mm ~[