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 1 
 
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 he 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA 
 
 C0NSI»EUE1> 
 
 AS A FIELD FOR EMIGRATION. 
 
 BY P. S. HAMILTON 
 
 Uiirriatcr-at-Law (llalitUx, Xova-sScotia). 
 
 
 * -^ 
 
 PUBLISHEi: Y AUTHORITY OF THE PROVINCIAL ^ 
 Pj JAM-5NT OF NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 f^ 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN WEALE, 59, HIGH HOLBORN; 
 
 AND ,_,\^ . 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: ST. MARY THE GREAT. ^^M/^^ 
 
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 ■ 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA 
 
 CONSIDBRBO 
 
 AS A FIELD FOR EMIGRATION. 
 
 BY P. S. HAMILTON, 
 
 JBarrlst«r-at-Law (Halifax, Nova-Scotia). 
 
 PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE PROVINCIAL 
 PARLIAMENT OF NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN WEALE, 59, HIGH HOLBORN; 
 
 AND 
 
 CAMBRIDGE : ST. MARY THE GREAT. 
 1858. 
 
LONOOM : 
 MADBtfRY ASD EVANS. PHINTBIW WUITKFRIAna. 
 
 ','4 
 
 4 
 
4 
 
 I 
 
 It 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 » 
 
 CONSIDERED ECONOMICALLY. 
 
 Chap. I. Natural Features '^*? 
 
 • • • . . 
 
 1. Geographical Position and Conformation . . 5 
 
 2. Geological Structure I3 
 
 II. Products and Resources ji* 
 
 1. Agricultural ji^ 
 
 2. Forests „„ 
 
 3. Minerals ^, 
 
 41 
 
 4. Fisheries g^ 
 
 III. Climate . «- 
 
 06 
 
 IV. Manufacturks . -ft 
 v. Commerce. ....... ^o 
 
 CONSIDERED SOCIALLY. 
 
 Chap. I. Political Institutions .... >7q 
 
 1. Executive and Legislative Bodies . . . 76 
 
 2. Judicial ^^ 
 
 II. Educational kq 
 
 III. Population and Religious Denominations . , 82 
 
 IV. Postal Affairs, Roads, Canals, <bc. . . . 84 
 
 1. Post-Office g^ 
 
 2. Common Roads •••... 85 
 
 3. Railroads . _ . . 86 
 
 4. Canals g^ 
 
 5. Electric Telegraphs gg 
 
 Conclusion go 
 
Tho Map of Nova-Scotia which accompanios this work is copied, by 
 permission of the Proprietors, from tho Map appended to Dawson's 
 " Hand-Book of the Geography and Natural History of Novn-Scotia." 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA 
 
 CONSIDERED AS A FIELD FOR EMIGRATION. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 At a very early period in the history of Nova-Scotia, an 
 impression got abroad concerning the general character of 
 the country which has been highly prejudicial to its 
 interests, and must have been, at the time that impression 
 originated, unjust to its real merits. That impression 
 generally was to the effect that Nova-Scotia was an un- 
 attractive and valueless country, having rugged and 
 inhospitable coasts, a thin and unproductive soil, and a 
 cold, damp, and foggy climate ; but on the shores of which 
 a tolerably productive fishery existed, and was carried on 
 to a limited extent for the purpose of supplying the West 
 India market. This opinion seems to have become 
 stereotyped, and, with little variation or addition, has 
 been . embodied in nearly every work published in the 
 United Kingdom, in which a corner has been afforded for 
 a description of Nova-Scotia. As but a small number of 
 the emigrating class feel disposed to confine themselves 
 exclusively to the occupation of fishermen, among those of 
 that class who have sought a home on the shores of 
 America, during a century past, but a very small pro- 
 
 B 
 
mf^mmmmm 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 portion have thought it advisable to take more than a 
 passing glance at Nova-Scotia. 
 
 When an erroneous opinion once becomes widely dis- 
 seminated, as in this case, it is extremely difficult to 
 confute it ; for the truth itself, when it is heard, is likely 
 to be judged by the standard of the opinion previously 
 entertained. Such seems to have been the fact in the case 
 of Nova-Scotia ; for, although a few writers have of late 
 years endeavoured to do justice to the country, still the 
 position which it holds in public estimation, as compared 
 with the other states and provinces of North America, 
 falls far short of that which it merits. There is another 
 cause for this, besides the one already alluded to. The 
 United States, by means and owing to circumstances 
 which it is unnecessary here to particularise, have been 
 brought prominently before European eyes, and have 
 been maintained in that position ever since the American 
 Revolution. The Legislatures of both Canada and New 
 Brunswick have, for many years past, made gi'eat exertions 
 to bring their respective provinces to the favourable notice 
 of the public on the other side of the Atlantic, and to 
 attract a tide of emigration to their shores. In both of 
 those provinces extensive geographical surveys have been 
 made at the public expense, for the purpose of ascertain- 
 ing the agricultural capabilities and mineral resources of 
 the country, and the reports thereupon widely circulated. 
 Elaborate reports upon other partially developed resources 
 have been, in like manner, prepared and circulated ;• and, 
 generally speaking, every opportunity has been taken 
 advantage of to disseminate information as to the vast 
 wealth and numberless attractions of those two fine pro- 
 vinces. In each of them, too, a Government Emigration 
 Agent has been appointed, whose occupation it is not 
 only to guide emigrants in their effort to make an advan- 
 
 ^' 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 d 
 
 tageous settlement in the province, but to facilitate immi- 
 gration, and to spread abroad, to the utmost of their 
 power, every information likely to be useful to the 
 emigrating classes. In Nova-Scotia the case has been 
 quite different. No public surveys have been made ; no 
 emigration agent has ever been appointed by the Govern- 
 ment ; nor has the local Legislature ever expended any 
 funds, or taken any important steps towards conveying 
 information abroad concerning it. It may be added with 
 regard to Canada, and, in a minor degree, with regard to 
 New Brunswick also, that the fact of their having of late 
 years been engaged in the construction, on a pretty ex- 
 tensive scale, of canals, railways, and other public works, 
 for which it has been necessary to procure English 
 capital, has had no inconsiderable effect in bringing them 
 into more general notice ; for those who invest their 
 money in such undertakings naturally inquire into the 
 character and capabilities of the country where it is in- 
 vested. Until since the commencement of 1855, Nova- 
 Scotia may be said never to have been known in the 
 English money-market. Even the small province of 
 Prince Edward Island is comparatively well known by the 
 British public ; and, singularly enough, is by many per- 
 sons believed to hold out inducements to the emigrant 
 infinitely superior to those of the neighbouring provinces. 
 This can be sufficiently accounted for from the fact that 
 nearly the whole of that island was for a long time, and 
 much of it still is, owned by parties residing in the United 
 Kingdom. 
 
 But what in other provinces has been done, in a great 
 measure, at the public expense, has been attempted in 
 Nova-Scotia by private and unaided individuals. Several 
 gentlemen, natives of the province, have, with a vast 
 amount of labour, and with but very slight prospect of 
 
 B 2 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 pecuniary reward, unraveled the thread of its history, 
 explored its hidden resources, observed the country in all 
 its aspects, and have published the results of their re- 
 searches ; but the circulation of these works has been 
 pretty nearly confined to Nova-Scotia itself. At all events, 
 it is believed that little is known concerning them on the^ 
 European side of the Atlantic. The writer of these re- 
 marks believes that the publication of a work, embracing, 
 in a succinct form, such information concerning the 
 province of Nova-Scotia as is most likely to be desired by 
 an intending emigrant, would be of great service both to 
 that province and to the emigrating class of the United 
 Kingdom. With this belief he has prepared the following 
 pages, hoping that where a work comprised in so brief a 
 form is found insufficient to satisfy the reader's curiosity, 
 it may at least lead him to pursue his investigations 
 further in the more elaborate and voluminous works which 
 have been published on the same subject. 
 
 To those who desire to obtain further information con- 
 cerning Nova-Scotia, the author would particularly recom- 
 mend a perusal of Haliburton's ' Historical and Statistical 
 Account of Nova-Scotia,' a work however which, as the 
 country has much improved, and as the local knowledge 
 concerning it has greatly increased since 1829, the date of 
 the publication of that work, now requires many emenda- 
 tions and additions ; Gesner's * Industrial Resources of 
 Nova-Scotia,' Dawson's ' Handbook of the Geography and 
 Natural History of Nova-Scotia,' and Dawson's ' Acadian 
 Geology.' Much valuable knowledge upon the same head 
 may also be derived from Montgomery Martin's ' British 
 Colonies.' 
 
 ^\. 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 & 
 
 CONSIDERED ECONOMICALLY. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 NATURAL FEATURES. 
 
 <\. 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION AND CONFORMATION. 
 
 The geographical position of Nova-Scotia presents ad- 
 vantages, in a commercial point of view, which can 
 scarcely fail to arrest the attention of any ordinary 
 observer, upon glancing at a map of North America. The 
 province consists of a peninsula, called Nova-Scotia Proper, 
 connected with the remainder of the continent by an 
 isthmus of about twelve miles in width between tide 
 waters ; and of the island of Cape Breton, separated from 
 the peninsula by the Strait of Canso, an outlet of tho 
 Gulf of St. Lawrence. It lies between North latitude 
 43° 25' and 47" 10', and between West longitude 50" 40' 
 and 66" 25'. The whole province forms an irregular parallel- 
 ogram, extending in a north-east and south-west direction, 
 and is rather more than 350 miles in length, and from 50 
 to 100 in breadth. Its area is nearly 18,600 square 
 miles, or about 12,000,000 acres ; and of this area Cape 
 Breton forms about 2,000,000 acres. .^.; a ; . . 
 
 The whole province is projected out in a south-easterly 
 direction into the Atlantic, and beyond the other neigh- 
 bouring portions of the continent, to an extent equal to its 
 
6 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 greatest breadth. It extends about 200 miles farther 
 east than any other portion of the North American con- 
 tinent, except the inhospitable coast of Labrador ; and 
 about 100 miles farther south than any other part of 
 the British dominions along the eastern coast of NorUi 
 America. It consequently lies in the direct course 
 of vessels running between the British Islands or the 
 North of Europe, on one side of the Atlantic, and all 
 of those parts which lie between the head of the Bay 
 of Fundy and Cape Cod, on the other. From these 
 facts it is obvious that, so far as mere geographical 
 position is concerned, Nova-Scotia must possess great and 
 peculiar commercial advantages. That position seems 
 naturally to tend to two prominent and very important 
 results, calculated to make the country a permanently 
 prosperous one. One of these is, that Nova-Scotia will 
 become the great highway for travel between Europe and 
 the continent of North America, lying north and west of 
 that province. The other result is, that from the position 
 which Nova-Scotia occupies relative to the neighbouring 
 provinces of Canada, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward 
 Island, it will become the channel through which a very 
 considerable portion of their foreign trade will be carried 
 on, at all seasons of the year, but more particularly in 
 winter, when all the ports of those provinces, with the 
 exception of two or three, in the western part of New 
 Brunswick, are blocked up with ice and quite inaccessible. 
 We shall presently see tjiat other causes are unmistakeably 
 tending to the same result. 
 
 Nova-Scotia is bounded on the north, for the greater part 
 of its extent on that side, by the Gulf of St. Lawrence 
 and by Northumberland Strait, a channel from ten to 
 thirty miles in breadth, separated by Prince Edward 
 Island from the principal portion of that gulf ; on the 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 « 
 
 .4 
 
 east, south, n,nd south-west, by the Atlantic Ocean ; on the 
 north-west, the Bay of Fundy forms the boundary between 
 it and New Brunswick, with the exception of the isthmus, 
 already mentioned, between the head of the northern 
 branch of the bay and Northumberland Strait. The 
 province is, in every sense of the word, a well watered 
 country : its rivers are numerous ; but owing to the 
 comparatively small extent and peninsular form of the 
 country, are necessarily small The Bay of Fundy, which 
 is about fifty miles in width at all its mouths, after ex- 
 tending a hundred miles inland, is divided into two 
 branches. The northern, called Chiegnecto Bay, con- 
 tinues to be the boundary between Nova-Scotia and New 
 Brunswick, and receives at its head the waters of the 
 Macan, Napan, Hibert, and La Planche Rivers, which 
 drain the western part of Cumberland County ; the 
 southern of these branches, called at its mouth Minas 
 Channel, rapidly narrows to a width of six miles, and 
 then suddenly expands into the capacious and beautiful 
 Minas Basin, an expanse of water, about forty miles in 
 length and nearly twenty in width : its eastern and 
 narrowed prolongation being called Cobequid Bay. This 
 southern termination of the Bay of Fundy extends into the 
 very head of the country. Twenty rivers empty their 
 waters into Minas Basin, which, with three or four ex- 
 ceptions, are navigable for the ordinary coasting vessels of 
 the country, and for distances of from two to twenty 
 miles. The principal of these are the Shubenacadie, the 
 largest river in the province, and the Avon, from both of 
 which an extensive trade is carried on. The only other 
 river of importance emptying into the Bay of Fundy, from 
 the Nova-Scotia side, is the Annapolis. When near its 
 mouth, this river expands into a beautiful sheet of water, 
 known as Annapolis Basin, affording anchorage for ships 
 
9 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 of the largest size ; and its waters obtain egress into the 
 bay through a narrow and deep channel. 
 
 The other principal rivers in the province are River 
 Philip, Wallace, French, Waugh, John, West, Middle, East, 
 Barney's, and Antigonish Rivers, emptying into the Gulf 
 of St. Lawrence ; the St. Mary's, Musquodoboit, Gold, La 
 Have, Port Medway, Liverpool, Jordan, Roseway, Clyde, 
 Tusket, and Sissiboo Rivers, emptying into the Atlantic 
 Ocean ; and the Mire, Inhabitants, and Margaree, in the 
 Island of Cape Breton. The most important of these, as 
 to length and navigable capacity, are the East, St. Mary's, 
 La Have, and Liverpool Rivers. Nearly all of those 
 named are navigable for a short distance from their 
 mouths. 
 
 An extraordinary and most important natural feature 
 of Nova-Scotia consists in the number and excellence of its 
 harbours. It is probable that no other country in the 
 world is so favoured in this case in proportion to its ex- 
 tent ; and its coast line embraces a distance of not less 
 than 1000 miles, exclusive of the interior waters of Cape 
 Breton. On the coast of the Bay of Fundy indeed, from 
 Annapolis basin to the mouth of Minas Channel, there is 
 no natural harbour on the Nova-Scotian coast. To remedy 
 this deficiency a number of artificial harbours have been 
 formed by means of piers, or breakwaters, which are 
 being extended, from time to time, to suit the require- 
 ments of local traffic. Within the Minas Basin, the 
 harbours strictly so called are, for the most part, of such 
 a character, owing to the tides, that vessels ground at 
 low water. These tides have become widely celebrated 
 for their great rise and fall, and for the rapidity of their 
 current. An immense body of water enters the Bay of 
 Fundy at the flood, setting upwards at the rate of from 
 two to five miles an hour. This velocity gradually increases 
 
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NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
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 until the tide reaches tlie narrow entrances of Chiegnccto 
 Bay and Minas Basin, when, in the strait leading to the 
 latter, it attains a rate of ten miles an hour. The first of 
 the flood, as it approaches the narrower and shallower 
 terminations of Chiegnecto Bay and Minas Basin, forms 
 what is called a bore — a foaming column of water with a 
 perpendicular front of from two to six feet in height, 
 according as it is formed by a spring, or neap tide — which 
 stretches across the channel from shore to shore and rolls 
 onward with a tremendous rapidity and a loud rushing 
 noise, threatening to overwhelm all before it. Few of the 
 phenomena of nature are better calculated for — 
 
 " Charming the eye with dread," 
 
 than this aspect of the coming tide. Although it is some- 
 times a cause of unalloyed terror to inexperienced navi- 
 gators, on seeing it for the first time, yet accidents 
 resulting from it are extremely rare, and the navigation of 
 those estuaries and rivers most remarkable for the strength 
 of their tides, are not considered at all dangerous by 
 persons acquainted with them. 
 
 At the confluence of Chiegnecto and Minas Channels, 
 the spring-tide usually rises about fifty feet ; and at the 
 mouth of Shubenacadie River, and near the head of 
 Cobequid Bay, it attains a height of seventy-five feet at 
 spring-tides. The retreating tide lays bare, about the 
 termination of these two arms of the Bay of Fundy, 
 many thousand acres of hard, red sand-flats with broad 
 margins of deep, soft mud immediately adjoining the 
 drier land. ,, 
 
 The most northern harbour on the Gulf of St. Lawrence 
 is that of Pugwash, where the largest merchant ships may 
 enter a secure basin and lie afloat within a few yards of 
 the shore. It may be observed here that the coast of the 
 
 ■# 
 
10 
 
 NOVA-BOOTIA. 
 
 gulf, unlike that of the Bay of Fundy, is but little afiected 
 by the tides. These, as we have already seen, rise in the 
 bay to a height of from fifty to seventy-five feet ; whilst 
 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, owing to its narrow entrances, 
 they do not usually exceed eight or ten feet. Wallace 
 Bay forms a good harbour for large ships near its mouth, 
 and small vessels may proceed several miles up the river. 
 The same may be said of Tatamagouche Bay. Pictou 
 harbour is safe and capacious, and furnishes accommoda- 
 tion for the largest merchant ships. It is formed by the 
 confluence of the East, Middle, and West Rivers, the first 
 and the last of which are navigable for several miles. 
 Merigomish furnishes the only good natural harbour 
 between Pictou and Cape St. George ; but Arisaig pier 
 has been erected at considerable expense for the pro- 
 tection of coasters. Between Cape St. George and the 
 Strait of Canso, we find the harbours of Antigonish, 
 Pomket, Tracadie, and Au Bouche, of which Pomket is 
 capable of accommodating ships of any class, the others 
 only available for small vessels. 
 
 But it is on its Atlantic coast that Nova-Scotia becomes 
 more particularly remarkable for its numerous and capa- 
 cious harbours. First in importance among these is 
 Halifax Harbour, or rather Chebucto Bay, which em- 
 braces Halifax Harbour, and also the north-west arm and 
 Bedford Basin. It is celebrated as one of the best 
 harbours in America, or even in the world, being easy 
 of access for ships of every class, very capacious, and 
 affording protection from every wind. Immediately 
 above the city of Halifax, the bay, having narrowed 
 considerably, suddenly expands into Bedford Basin, a 
 sheet of water embracing an area of from eight to ten 
 square miles, completely shut in from the sea, affording 
 good anchorage throughout its whole extent, with from 
 
N0VA-8C0TIA. 
 
 11 
 
 ' 
 
 four to thirty fathoms of water, and protected by sur- 
 rounding hills from every wind. The north-west arm, 
 a narrow inlet which bounds the city of Halifax in the 
 rear, ip navigable throughout, and, for a distance of three 
 miles,- affords safe anchorage In from ton to twenty 
 fathoms of water. 
 
 Westward of Halifax the coast is indented by two 
 deep bays, known as Margaret's Bay and Mahone Jiay, 
 and which are very similar in their general characters. 
 Each of them is studded with a number of islands having 
 deep water and good anchorage between, and, with its 
 numerous coves and indentations, forms in fact a varied 
 and continued harbour many miles in extent, and afford- 
 ing, in most parts, ample room and protection for first 
 class ships. At the head of Margaret's Bay is a harbour 
 where a large fleet might ride out a hurricane with 
 perfect safety.* 
 
 Besides those already described, the following harbours 
 lying between the mouth of the Bay of Fundy and the Strait 
 of Oanso, a distance of a little more than 300 miles, are 
 sufficiently easy of access, capacious, and secure for first 
 class ships, viz. : Westport, Pubnico, Shelburne, Port 
 Monton, Lunenburg, Owl's Head, Ship, Spry, Sheet, 
 Beaver, Marie Joseph, Liscomb, Country, Whitehaven, 
 Canso, and Crow Harbours. In addition to these, there 
 are, within the same extent of coast, forty other harbours 
 of inferior capacity, the most of which are, however, 
 available for ships of five hundred tons. Among those 
 of the better class, Shelburne, Ship, and Country Harbours, 
 and Whitehaven, are pre-eminently excellent, f 
 
 The island of Cape Breton is scarcely, if at all, behind 
 Nova-Scotia Proper in the number and capacity of its 
 harbours. Among those of the first class, Port Hood, 
 
 * Blunt's American Coum Pilot. f Ibid. 
 
12 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 St. Anne's, Great Bias d'Or, Sydney, Louisburg, and 
 Arichat, are more particularly deserving of mention. 
 Tlie most singular geographical peculiarity of this island 
 is the existence of a salt-water lake, or small inland sea, 
 called the Bras d'Or Lake, which occupies the central 
 portion of the island, and nearly divides it into two. 
 This lake is entered from the east by two channels 
 separated by Boulardarie Island, and known as the Great 
 and Little Bras d'Or. After extending inland for a 
 distance of about thirty miles these two channels unite, 
 and expand into a basin called Le Petit Bras d'Or. From 
 this, the tide flows southwardly through the Straits of 
 Barra into the main body of water known variously as Le 
 Grand Bras d'Or, the Big Bras d'Or, the Bras d'Or Lake^ 
 or simply the Bras d'Or. The greatest length of this 
 lake is about forty, and its greatest breadth twenty miles ; 
 and its whole area, along with that of the channels lead- 
 ing to it, and the various inlets which branch off from 
 them, may be fairly estimated at 500 square miles. 
 This body of water is navigable throughout, its greatest 
 depth being rather more than sixty fathoms ; and the 
 Great Bras d'Or Channel, the lake itself, and most of 
 the bays and inlets leading from it, are navigable for 
 vessels of the largest class. 
 
 The Strait of Canso, which separates Cape Breton from 
 Nova-Scoti/i Proper, extends in length eighteen miles, its 
 breadth varying from half a mile to a mile and a half, 
 with from fourteen to thirty fathoms of water ; and com- 
 prises several harbours with good anchorage. This strait 
 is the great marine highway for vessels running between 
 the Gulf of St. Lawrence and all of the American coast 
 lying west of its southern termination. It is also the 
 most frequented channel of communication between 
 Europe and the gulf coasts of Nova-Scotia and New 
 
 ., 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 13 
 
 Brunswick ; whilst ships bound up the river St. Lawrence 
 from the eastern side of the Atlantic, often prefer it to 
 the more dangerous route north of Cape Breton. 
 
 <, 
 
 GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE. 
 
 The rocks which immediately underlie the soil of Nova- 
 Scotia belong, for the most part, to the older systems. 
 Speaking in general terms as to the relative positions of 
 these systems, as they appear upon the surface in Nova 
 Scotia, it may be observed, that the older and less destruc- 
 tible rocks occupy the line of the Atlantic coast, and form 
 a protection to the newer formations which lie in the inte- 
 rior and northern parts of the province. This x\tlantic 
 coast is formed, for the most part, of the older metamorphic 
 rocks, consisting of gneiss, quartzite, and clay slate, in its 
 original form as such, and now in its highly metamorphosed 
 varieties of mica, talcose, chloritic, and hornblendic slates. 
 It is traversed and perforated by great dikes and masses 
 of granite, which occupy a very considerable portion of 
 the surface of this district. The rocks of this class occupy, 
 ■with the exception, probably, of the carboniferous system, 
 a larger area of the surface of Nova-Scotia than those of 
 any other system. As already observed, it forms the 
 whole Atlantic coast of Nova-Scotia Proper. It attains a 
 width, at its northern extremity, of about fifty miles ; but 
 gradually narrows as we follow it eastward, until it almost 
 comes to a point at its termination about Cape Canso. 
 The lands in this district are, for the most part, of incon- 
 siderable elevation. Its greatest eminences are a bold, 
 isolated-looking promontory, of 500 feet in height, between 
 Margaret's and Mahone Bays, called Aspotogoen, a well- 
 Jcnown landmark to ships approaching the coast, and 
 Ardoise Hill, immediately in the rear of that promontory. 
 
14 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 and near Windsor, which attains a somewliat greater 
 elevation. 
 
 The next group of rocks, in ascending order, which the 
 geological structure of Nova-Scotia presents, has been 
 but partially explored as yet ; but it is collectively classed 
 by geologists as of the Devonian and Upper Silurian for- 
 mations. Associated with the rocks of these formations 
 are found immense masses and ridges, composed of syenite, 
 porphyry, greenstone, compact felspar, and other igneous 
 rocks. This group of rocks forms a number of detached 
 ridges in various parts of Nova-Scotia. One of these, in 
 the Avestern part of the province, extends along the 
 northern margin of the older metamorphic rocks, from the 
 most western coast, at the mouth of St. Mary's Bay, along 
 the southern side of the Annapolis River, to the immediate 
 vicinity of Minas Basin. It also composes the Cobequid 
 hills, which separate the Minas Channel and Basin from 
 Chiegnecto Bay. This ridge extends from Cape Chiegnecto, 
 the point of bifurcation of the Bay of Fundy, eastwardly, 
 through Northern Colchester and Southern Cumberland, 
 to the western borders of Pictou County. The most 
 elevated lands in the province are found in this ridge, but 
 no parts of it exceed a height of 1200 feet. Another 
 range of hills, of like formation, extends from the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Stewiacke River, about the southern bor- 
 ders of Colchester County, eastward, across the southern 
 part of PictOu County, when it separates into two branches, 
 one of which extends northwardly to Cape George, in the 
 Gulf of St. Lawrence, whilst the other continues nearly 
 due east to Cape Porcupine, on the Strait of Canso. The 
 rocks of this group also occupy a large portion of the 
 island of Cape Breton, but there they are much broken 
 up, and, as to geographical position, of a more detached 
 and fragmentary character than upon the main land. 
 
 4 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 15 
 
 a 
 
 They form a band along the south-eastern coast, from St. 
 Peter's to Scattari Island ; and all that portion of Victoria 
 and Inverness Counties which lies north of St. Anne's, 
 although but imperfectly known, is believed to belong to 
 the same group. A number of isolated, and not exten- 
 sive ridges, in the north-western part of the island, and 
 between the various arms and inlets of the Bras d'Or, also 
 belong to these formations. 
 
 All that part of Nova-Scotia lying north of the older 
 metamorphic district, lirst described, and east of the 
 western extremity of Minas Basin, which is not occupied 
 by the elevated ridges of the Devonian and Silurian for- 
 mations, belongs, with some inconsiderable exceptions, to 
 be noticed presently, to the carboniferous system. This 
 district, the rocks of Avhich are found to rest immediately 
 upon those of the Devonian and Silurian formations, just 
 mentioned, occupies a large area, comprising a small strip 
 of the eastern part of the King's County, the northern 
 and middle portions of Hants, the middle of Colchester, 
 extending on both sides of Cobequid Bay and Minas 
 Basin, all the northern and middle part of Cumberland 
 and Pictou, a triangular portion of Sydney County, bounded 
 on the north-east by St. George's Bay, a narrow strip, 
 extending east and west through Guysborough County, 
 and the principal part of the island of Cape Breton, more 
 particularly of the south-western, middle, and eastern 
 sections. This district has been comparatively well ex- 
 plored by several eminent geologists, and its limits are 
 pretty accurately defined. At several localities, it affords 
 excellent opportunities to the geologist of examining the 
 character and relative position of the various carboniferous 
 rocks where transverse sections of them are exposed on 
 the sea coasts and river banks. The shores of Cumber- 
 land Bay, at a place called the Joggins, have become 
 
16 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 especially celebrated in the scientific world for the almost 
 unparalleled facilities in this way which they afford. 
 
 Immediately above the carboniferous rocks, and lying 
 uncomfortably upon them, is the new red sandstone. The 
 rocks of this formation are of but very limited extent in 
 Nova-Scotia. They are supposed to be contemporary in 
 their origin with the Permian formation of European 
 geologists. They form a narrow and well defined strip, 
 extending through the northern parts of the coun- 
 ties of Digby, Annapolis, and King's, from the head 
 of St. Mary's Bay to Minas Basin, and comprising the 
 valley of the Annapolis River. Here it is associated 
 with the trap, which forms a lofty ridge, known as the 
 North Mountain, extending from the western point of 
 Brier Island, along the shore of the Bay of Fundy, to Cape 
 Blomidon, on Minas Basin, and is interrupted only by the 
 navigable channels known as Grand Passage (Westport), 
 Petit Passage, and Annapolis Gut. A new red sandstone 
 again makes its appearance in a narrow strip' along the 
 north shore, at the head, and in a few headlands on the 
 south shore, of Cobequid Bay. It is in this quarter that 
 its contact with the carboniferous rocks can be most easily 
 observed. At Five Islands, near the western termination 
 of the new red sandstone in this direction, it is again 
 found associated with trap, which here, and at several 
 other bold headlands on the north side of Minas Channel, 
 seems to be part of the same foi'mation as the North 
 Mountain, already mentioned. 
 
 Notwithstanding the statements to the contrary in 
 several published — but not very recently published — 
 sketches of the geology of Nova-Scotia, there seem to be 
 no stratified rocks in that province of a more recent for- 
 mation than the new red sandstone just mentioned. ^^ 
 
 * For the geological facts contained in this section the antlior is 
 
 ' 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 1? 
 
 As already observed, none of the lands of Nova-Scotia 
 attain a greater elevation than 1200 feet ; consequently, 
 the natural scenery never assumes that quality of grandeur 
 which is peculiar to mountainous regions. The highest 
 lands are formed by the syenitic and porphyritic ridges 
 associated with the later metamorphic formations, and by 
 the trap rocks which skirt the shores of Bay of Fundy. 
 The remainder of the province is of moderate elevation, 
 and gently undulating in its surface. The natural scenery 
 of most parts of the province, with the exception of some 
 districts of the Atlantic coast, may be classed as decidedly 
 picturesque ; whilst in several places, as, for instance, 
 around the Bras d'Or, on the Strait of Canso, the more 
 western shores of Minas Basin and Channel, and those of 
 Digby Neck, Long, and Briar Islands, it approaches the 
 grand in character. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ' 
 
 PRODUCTS AND RESOURCES. 
 
 — ♦ — 
 
 AGRICULTURAL CAPABILITIES. 
 
 As is to be expected in a country presenting so great a 
 variety of rock formations in its geological substratum, 
 the soils of Nova-Scotia vary much in quality. The least 
 valuable portions of the province, in an agricultural point 
 of view, are those which lie along the Atlantic coast ; and 
 which, as was seen by the geological sketch above, contain 
 its oldest rocks. In some parts of this district, for several 
 
 indebted mainly to the recently published and excellent work of 
 J. W. Dawson, Esq., of Pictou, now President of McGill CoUego, 
 Montreal, entitled "Acadian Geology." 
 
 
 
18 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 miles in extent, fields of solid granite, quartzite, or mica 
 slate, may be seen quite exposed upon the surface, or 
 covered only by mosses, lichens, and diminutive shrubs. 
 Owing to their exposed situation, and to the powerful 
 action of rain, frost, and heat, in rapid succession, upon 
 their surfaces, the rocks in this district are being decomposed 
 gradually, but with a rapidity unknown in most other 
 parts of the world. Owing to this cause we find, inter- 
 spersed through this rocky country, tracts of good soil, 
 usually small as to individual extent, but amounting to a 
 large area in the aggregate. The bad reputation which it 
 has obtained has prevented most persons from inquiring 
 into the agricultural capabilities of this district ; and it is 
 not improbable that it contains nxore good laud than is 
 generally believed. But it is also not improbable that 
 such causes will continue to operate against its occupation 
 by agriculturists, until most of the good lands are occupied 
 in those sections of the province more favoured by 
 nature. 
 
 There are tracts of excellent land along the margin of 
 many of the rivers which traverse this district. On 
 receding from the shore, the soil greatly improves, owing 
 probably to the greater prevalence of clay slate in the under- 
 lying rocks ; and in the northern districts of all those 
 counties which front upon the Atlantic, it is of a good 
 quality and amply repays the labours of the farmer. 
 The county of Hdifax^ with the exception of the beautiful 
 and fertile valley along the upper part of the Musquo- 
 doboit River, belongs to the granitic district ; and it con- 
 tains a greater proportion of rocky and unproductive soil 
 than any other county in the province. This fact alone 
 has been highly prejudicial to the interests of the colony, 
 for many persons who have made a transitory visit to the 
 capital of the province, and who have seen the inhospitable 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 10 
 
 nature of the country which siurouncls it, have allowed 
 themselves to carry away the impression that the whole 
 province partook of the same character, and have conveyed 
 tliat impression to numbers of others who had no means of 
 judging for themselves. 
 
 The soil of Lunenburg, which lies next to Halifax 
 County on the west, although generally stony, is for the 
 most part of a good quality ; and many flourishing agri- 
 cultural settlements are scattered over the county. This 
 is the third county in the province in population, according 
 to the census of 1851 ; and out of 3630 adult males in 
 the county at that time, 3018 were farmers. Halifax 
 market is mostly supplied with vegetables from this 
 county ; which, with its numerous rivers, bays, and 
 harbours, possesses abundant facilities for transportation. 
 The scenery of Mahone Bay, with its almost innumerable 
 wooded islands, is widely celebrated for its picturesque 
 beauty, and is perhaps unsurpassed in that respect by any 
 spot on the American coast. 
 
 In Queen's County the land, for some distance back from 
 the shore, is principally of an unproductive character ; 
 but it improves very much as it recedes into the interior. 
 In the northern part of the county there are large and 
 rapidly extending agricultural settlements. 
 
 In SJielburne County, the comparatively barren shore- 
 band seems to widen and extend somewhat farther back 
 than in Queen's County ; but here too there are tracts of 
 valuable laud in the rear of the county. The population 
 however is, as yet, almost confined to the vicinity of the 
 shore, and is engaged more in the fisheries than in agricul- 
 tural pursuits, there being a smaller number of farmers in 
 this county than in any other in the province. 
 
 The soil of Yarmouth County is of the same general 
 character as that which we find in Lunenburg, and in the 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 northern parts of Queen's and Shelburno Counties. The 
 upland soil is pretty nearly of a uniform quality 
 throughout this county ; and, owing to the higher average 
 temperature of the climate compared with that of most 
 other agricultural districts of the province, is capable, 
 under good cultivation, of yielding highly remunerative 
 returns to the husbandman." This county exceeds all the 
 others along the southern coast in the extent of the dyked 
 marsh lands, which lie along the shores of its many 
 harbours and inlets. Tliis marsh is, however, insignificant 
 in quantity and inferior in quality when compared with 
 that of counties which lie along the Bay of Fundy and 
 its tributaries. 
 
 The whob of this Atlantic coast district — including the 
 southern half of the county of Guysborough, which is 
 very similar in every respect to Halifax County — presents 
 many attractions for the farmer, although not usually 
 represented as a valuable agricultural district. The land 
 of good quality in this district is frequently stony and 
 somewhat difficult to clear up and put under cultivation 
 in the first instance ; but when once it has been brought 
 to that stage, it is more easy and less expensive to keep 
 it in good condition than many of the more highly 
 extolled soils of the interior counties, owing to the more 
 porous substrata of the latter. Lime, the ingredient 
 which it most requires, can be procured from beds found 
 at the head of Mahone Bay and Margaret's Bay, and ou 
 
 * The following paragraph from the " Yarmouth Herald " of October 
 18th, 1855, may give some idea of the capabilities of ordinary npland 
 soil in this county when well tilled : — 
 
 "Produce of an acre. — Mr. Leonard Dennis, of Carleton, in this 
 township, iias raised the present season, from one acre of ground, the 
 following crop: — 6 tons j)umpkins, 14,000 ears of corn, 3^ bushels 
 shelled beans, 4 bushels do. peas, ] bur liels do. com, 5 bushels carrots, 
 5 bushels turnips. Mr. Dennis has redised from the produce of this 
 acre upwards of £80." 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 21 
 
 both shores of the Strait of Canso, and conveyed by water 
 to any part of the coast at an expense which, if the traffic 
 became a regular one, would make its use highly remunera- 
 tive to the farmer. When the Shubenacadie canal, now 
 in course of construction, is completed, still grea^ 
 facilities will be afforded the shore counties in this way ; 
 and lime to any extent, and at but trifling cost, can be 
 procured from the inexhaustible beds on the Shuben- 
 acadie River and its tributaries. Another great advantage 
 which the agricultural district of the Atlantic coast 
 possesses, is its facilities, by means of superior water 
 communication for transporting its products to the best 
 markets, cheaply, easily, and at all seasons of the year. 
 Mention has already been made of its rivers and harbours. 
 It may not be amiss here to add, that this district is pro- 
 fusely dotted with small lakes. The most of these 
 indeed, although they present great charms to the lover of 
 pretty scenery, have few attractions in an economical 
 point of view ; but others are of material service as high- 
 ways through the interior of the country. The largest of 
 these is Lake Rossignol, in Queen's County, a beautiful 
 sheet of water some twenty miles in length by four in 
 breadth, and, like most other Nova-Scotian lakes, profusely 
 studded with g'-een bower-like islets. The whole Atlantic 
 coast district of Nova-Scotia compares favourably with 
 extensive sections of the eastern United States, which, by 
 cultivation, have acquired a high reputation as agricultural 
 countries. 
 
 On pursuing our investigations into the northern section 
 of the province, we find land, for the most part, very 
 different from that in the shore counties. Commencing 
 with Digby, we find that this difference is, as yet, not very 
 perceptible. The rocks which underlie t):c soil of the 
 greater part of this county, although not the same as 
 
.1.) 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 those of Yarnioutli, arc yet very similar ; ami the soil 
 itself, of all that part of the county which lies south-east 
 of St. Mary's Bay, bears a like similarity to that of Yar- 
 mouth. The small portions of the county which remain, 
 are of a different kind of soil, which is, for the most part, 
 highly fertile when once brought under cultivation. 
 
 Annapolis and King's Counties are so very similar in their 
 character, that they mry be considered together. They 
 are, with scarcely any exception, higlrly fertile throughout 
 their whole extent ; but aflbrd many varieties of soil cor- 
 responding to the rock formations which underlie them. 
 Fronting on the bay shore, the ridge of highlands already 
 mentioned as the North Mountain, stretches along the 
 whole north-western limit of the two counties. The soil 
 upon these hills, composed of disintegrated trap, possesses 
 all the elements of fertility ; and accordingly this land, 
 wherever it has been stripped of the luxuriant forests 
 which grow upon it, yields the farmer a rich reward for 
 his labours. Next to this, and about equal to it in extent, 
 lies another broad strip of light and mellow but very fertile 
 soil, based upon the new ^red sandstone formation. This 
 forms the rich and beautiful valley which is drained towards 
 the west by the AnHapolis River and its branches ; and 
 towards the east .by the Cornwallis, Canard, Habitant, and 
 Pereau — the oldest settled and most highly cultivated 
 region in Nova-Scotia. Lying next to this again, and form- 
 ing the soiith-eastern portion of the two counties, is an 
 extensive tract of which the soil, based upon the clay slate 
 with occasional ridges of igneous rocks, is very similar to 
 that of northern Queen's County. A great portion of 
 this tract is still covered with luxuriant forest ; but the 
 land, although in some few localities too broken and rocky 
 for cultivation, wherever cleared, has proved itself to 
 be of good quahty. In both of these counties, but more 
 
 ui_ 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 particularly in King's County, tlicie are large ir,. . the 
 marine alluvium known as marsh, the most valuable il> »])- 
 tion of soil in the province. The Grand I'r^s in Hi- i>ii, 
 fonns the largest unbroken expanse of marsh in Kova- 
 Scotia. The light, loamy soil of the great valley, already 
 mentioned, which stretches across these two counties, seems 
 particularly adapted to the growth of root crops, great 
 quantities of which, especially of potatoes, are there culti- 
 vated. In King's County alone, 574,092 bushels of pota- 
 toes were raised in 1851 ; and the crop has considerably 
 increased with each succeeding year since then. Large 
 quantities of fruit — apples, plums, and pears — are also 
 raised in these counties, for home consumption and for 
 exportation to New Brunswick and the United States. It 
 does not appear, however, that they have any peculiar 
 natural adaptability in this way ; for in most parts of the 
 province, fruits of the kinds mentioned can, with ordinary 
 care and attention, be raised in profusion. 
 
 The whole of Hants County, with the exception of some 
 inconsiderable tracts in the south-eastern part, possesses a 
 good soil. Owing to this county's lying mostly in the 
 carboniferous district, there is less variety in the nature of 
 its soils than in those of the last two described. It stands 
 high as an agricultural county, and much of its cultivated 
 lands is proved to be in the highest degree fertile. Windsor 
 is among the oldest settlements of the province ; and much 
 of the land in that vicinity is in a very high state of cul- 
 tivation. This county also contains much excellent marsh 
 land along the numerous rivers which intersect it. The 
 Hahfax and Windsor railway, now in course of construc- 
 tion, will open up a considerable tract of land in the 
 southern part of Hants, now covered with forest ; besides 
 greatly adding to the value of the soil in other parts of 
 the county. 
 
u 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 Colchester, another largo agricultural county, possesses 
 a greater variety of soil than Hants ; but this variety 
 exists in its constituents rather than in its quality. There 
 is a broad carboniferous valley, forming the central portion 
 of the county, with Jeep, loamy, or gravelly uplands, and 
 extensive alluvial tracts of marsh and intervale. The 
 northern part of the county is occupied by the chain of 
 tho Cobequid Hills, already described as of the later meta- 
 morphic formation ; whilst some spurs from a similar chain 
 extend into tho south-eastern part. These hills, when 
 stripped of the dense, hardwood forests with which the 
 new settler finds them clothed, are found to possess a soil 
 of the highest fertility, and, with the exception of occa- 
 sional spots of stony ground, easy of cultivation. Some 
 of the most flourishing, exclusively agricultural settlements 
 in the province are to be found on these hills. Colchester 
 contains a greater extent of intervale than any other 
 county of the province. This term intervale, it may be 
 necessary to observe, is applied to the expanses of flat, 
 alluvial soil, formed by the deposits of brooks and rivers 
 before they reach tide waters. Where the sea tides have 
 been mainly instrumental in depositing the alluvial soil, it 
 is called marsh. The name meadow is applied, in Nova- 
 Scotia, only to a more recent deposit of fresh watci' allu- 
 vium, forming flats of wet soil, in its natural state destitute 
 of trees, but covered with a long coarse grass. In every 
 instance that has come under the author's personal obser- 
 vation, and, he believes, in all cases, these meadows havo 
 been formed by beaver dams ; and they are the only ves- 
 tiges now remaining in Nova-Scotia of an animal that 
 once existed there in great numbers. The soil of the 
 intervale just mentioned is a very fertile clayey loam ; 
 and it is by many farmers preferred to the usually more 
 expensive marsh land. That portion of Colchester which 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 25 
 
 lies north of tho Cobcvjuid Hills, is similar in soil to that 
 part of Cumberland which adjoins it. 
 
 Cumberland, in its southern part, embraces a large por- 
 tion of those elevated lands known as the Cobequid Hills, 
 tho general character of which, in an agricultural point of 
 view, has already been briefly described. It need only bo 
 added, that towards the western termination of this range, 
 where it is embrace «! on both sides by the xsounty of Cum- 
 berland, the land becomes more stony than in some of its 
 more eastern sections. The central portion of this county 
 is composed of lands of fair average quality, becoming 
 generally more light and sandy as we travel northwards. 
 Around the head of Cumberland Basin, and along the 
 rivers Hebert, Maccan, Napan, and La Planche, which 
 empty into it, are extensive tracts of fine marsh, of which 
 valuable description of land, Cumberland contains nearly 
 as much as any other three counties in the province ; but 
 whether from natural inferiority of soil, or less skilful 
 cultivation, the Cumberland marshes are not quite so pro- 
 ductive as some of those which border upon the basin of 
 Minas and its tributary streaius. The eastern part of the 
 county of Cumberland, bordering upon Northumberland 
 Strait, consists for the luost part of a deep loamy soil, 
 probably unsurpassed in fertility by any upland soil in the 
 province. 
 
 Pidou and Sydney Counties are so very similar in 
 their agricultural capabilities that they may be considered 
 together. In no considerable portions of these two fine 
 counties, is the soil of an inferior description. In those 
 portions of them geologically described as the carbonife- 
 rous sections, the uplands afford a good soil of nearly 
 uniform quality, whilst tne intervales, which are extensive, 
 are similar to land of the same description in other parts 
 of the province. The highlands which, as already shown 
 
26 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 H!i 
 
 "I! 
 
 
 in our geological description, intersect these two counties, 
 furnish soil of n?ore varied quality. In some few localities 
 it is so stony or rocky, as to be extremely difficult, if not 
 even impossible of cultivation ; but for the most j^art the 
 soil of these highlands is of first-rate quality, and is con- 
 sidered the best land in that section of the country. 
 Pictou is, for Nova-Scotia, a thickly settled country ; 
 and, from the quantities of the most valuable agricultural 
 products which it has of late years produced, may be 
 regarded as, at the present time, the first agricultural 
 county in the province. Sydney also, in proportion to its 
 extent, occupies a high rank in this respect. 
 
 The southern half of Giiyshorough Comity has already 
 been described as very similar to Halifax County. Its 
 northern part contains much excellent soil ; although in 
 some places the land is too strong to be profitably cul- 
 tivated. There are some fine tracts of alluvial soil along 
 the rivers of this county ; and it contains several 
 flourishing agricultural settlements, particularly on the 
 Manchester River and the upper banks of the St. Mary's. 
 
 The Island of Cape Breton has, in the quality of its 
 soil, as in many other advantages which it possesses, been 
 highly favoured by nature. The north-western half 
 of the island, comprising the principal portions of Inverness 
 and Victoria Counties, is generally much more elevated 
 than the remainder, which, particularly on the Atlantic 
 coast, is flat, or but slightly undulating. At some locali- 
 ties on this south-eastern coast, forming parts of Cape 
 Breton and Richmond Counties, the land is barren and 
 rocky. Some parts of the imperfectly explored highlands 
 in the northern sections of Inverness and Victoria, are 
 said to be of the same chrracter. But these may be con- 
 sidered as exceptional spots, small in extent when 
 compared with the large tracts of good land comprised in 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 S7 
 
 this island. The whole interior, with all the shores of the 
 great Bras d'Or Lake and the many inlets which branch 
 from it, is composed of excellent soil ; and the middle and 
 southern portions of Inverness form a large, uninterrupted 
 extent of land highly fertile, and of nearly uniform 
 quality. This county, although its settlements are mostly 
 of very recent origin, is already one of the first agricul- 
 tural counties of the province. The soil throughout the 
 island generally is of a description very similar to that 
 of Pictou and Sydney Counties ; and like those two 
 counties, Cape Breton, with the exception of some small 
 tracts in Inverness, contains no marsh land. 
 
 .•>• 
 
 The agricultural products which are, or may be 
 profitably cultivated in Nova-Scotia, are the same as 
 those of Great Britain, Canada, and the Northern States 
 of America. As may be inferred from what has already 
 been said, it has greater diversity of soil and of other 
 conditions favourable to the growth of any particular 
 kind of crop than most countries of the same extent. 
 Something may be said, then, of the special adaptability of 
 certain sections of the province to the growth of certain 
 kinds of crops. Still, classifications of this kind are to be 
 made with caution for two reasons ; first, because the 
 country being really small, those diversities are absolutely 
 not very great ; and secondly, because the agricultural 
 capabilities of very few sections of the province — perhaps 
 of none — have been thoroughly tested. As a general 
 rule, the lands have been tilled in too slovenly and 
 improvident a manner. The cheapness of the land itself 
 has been one great and perhaps the principal cause 
 of this. The course too often pursued has been something 
 like the following. The farmer, on first " clearing up " 
 
28 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 liis " new land," has found it to yield an abundant crop 
 of whatever grain or vegetable he has chosen to plant 
 upon it, for several years in succession, without any other 
 expense than merely that of putting the seed in the 
 ground and gathering the crop when it has ripened. 
 When the land, in consequence of this treatment, has 
 begun to fail, instead of skilfully tilling and properly 
 manuring what is already under cultivation, he has 
 preferred clearing up more, and depending a few years 
 longer upon its natural fertility. A constant repetition of 
 this process is, of course, found inconvenient, or even 
 impossible, after a time ; but the effects of this habit, as 
 well as the habit itself in a great measure, are long 
 apparent. The farmer trusts still to what remaining 
 virtue the soil may naturally possess, and to the chance of 
 favourable seasons, rather than to skilful tilHng and the 
 application of scientific knowledge to his pursuit. Then, 
 finding that one species of crop fails him, instead of 
 endeavouring to bring the land back to a condition to 
 bear that particular species abundantly, he gives it up, in 
 a great measure, as no longer practicable of cultivation, 
 and gives his attention to the growing of other crops which 
 the land will still produce. Or he spreads his labours 
 and his means over a large extent of ground, vainly 
 endeavouring to realise that profit from the qiianiity of 
 land cultivated which he might, but does not, derive from 
 its good quality. It is true, that of late years Nova- 
 Scotian agriculturists have begun to see their error in this 
 respect ; and, in many parts of the country, a more 
 improved and scientific method of farming is commencing ; 
 but still the old error prevails to too great an extent, and 
 has been sufficient to injure the reputation of some 
 naturally valuable tracts of land. For instance, many 
 fine farms in the interior are reputed to be incapable of 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 20 
 
 producing wheat — a species of grain which grows abun- 
 dantly upon " new lands " in all the interior counties — 
 when it is obvious that an impr jved cultivation is all that 
 is required to insure good crops of that grain. Another 
 result of the cheapness of land has been that land of a 
 comparatively inferior description, or supposed to be so, 
 has been, in most instances, condemned without a fair 
 trial and decreed far below its merit. From these few 
 observations it will be seen, that when we judge of the 
 capabilities of any section of the country to produce a 
 particular crop from what it has already produced, 
 our judgment must be liberal in favour of those capabili- 
 ties. The accompanying table, taken from the census 
 returns of 1851, showing the quantity of live stock, the 
 amount of the various agricultural and dairy products, of 
 each county, will enable the reader to form some idea of 
 the relative capabilities of those counties. It is necessary 
 to make some remarks with reference to that table. The 
 total amount of various products shown by it is not to be 
 considered as a statement of the annual amount of those 
 products, at the present time (1857). Great progress has 
 been made in all the agricultural settlements of the 
 province since the census of 1851 was taken, in the 
 amount of produce raised, and in all that relates to 
 agricultural pursuits. In order to account for the pro- 
 portionably small quantity of wheat raised, as appears by 
 that table, it is necessary to observe that, for several 
 years previous to 1851, the wheat crop of the province 
 had been almost totally destroyed by a species of worm, 
 popularly known as the " weevil," to the periodical visits 
 of which all the wheat-growing countries of North 
 America are subject ; and the little wheat that was sown 
 that 3-ear was sown more by way of experiment than 
 with any decided hope of a profitable return. 
 
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NtYA-SCOTIA. 
 
 81 
 
 Wheat crops do not succeed well upon the Atlantic 
 coast, owiiig mainly, it is believed, to the prevalence of 
 fog in that part of the country during some stages of its 
 growth ; but it grows and produces well in most parts of 
 the interior where the land has not been exhausted from 
 over-cropping. If any parts of that interior are entitled 
 to a preference witli a view to raising this valuable crop, 
 they are the eastern section of Cumberland, the highlands 
 of Colchester, the counties of Pictou, Sydney, and Inver- 
 ness. Oats, barley, rye, and buckwheat may be raised in 
 abundance and at comparatively trifling cost in all 
 cultivable parts of the province. Indian corn, which is 
 so very profitable to the farmer where it does grow well, 
 can be cultivated with success in all parts of the interior ; 
 but the light warm soil and sheltered situation of the 
 lands in the valley of Annapolis and King's Counties 
 renders them particularly favourable for its growth. 
 Potatoes and root crops of every description succeed well 
 everywhere. The potatoes of Nova-Scotia are very highly 
 esteemed in the United States markets, to which large 
 quantities of them have been exported of late years. 
 They are produced in the greatest abundance in the 
 dry alluvial valleys of Arnapolis, King's, Hants, and 
 Colchester. 
 
 As a grazing country, Nova-Scotia, considering its extent, 
 probably stands unrivalled among the provinces and states 
 of the eastern part of North America. Rearing live stock 
 and keeping a dairy has long been considered a parti- 
 cularly profitable business in every part of the province, 
 notwithstanding that until late years little pains have 
 been taken to introduce the most approved and profitable 
 breeds of cattle into the country. All the interior coun- 
 ties, from Annapolis to Inverness inclusive, together with 
 many parts of those on the Atlantic coast, are admirably 
 
33 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 suited to this purpose ; and King's County, Hants, Col- 
 chester, and Cumberland, may be named as pre-eminently 
 so, owing to the extent of their marshes and intervales, 
 which, with but little cultivation, yield almost inexhaustible 
 supplies of fodder. Among the agricultural products not 
 named in the census returns referred to, especial mention 
 may be made oi flax and liemj). The latter of these has 
 never been cultivated, so far as the author can learn, 
 except by way of experiment. Flax has been raised, in 
 some parts of the province, with a view to profit ; but 
 only to the extent of supplying material for some incon- 
 siderable domestic manufactures. Both flax and hemp 
 of excellent quality can be grown without difficulty in 
 most parts of Nova- Scotia ; and if cultivated to any extent, 
 would yield a handso.ne profit to the grower. Hops, 
 likewise, grow luxuriantly, especially in the deeper soils 
 of the interior ; but farmers have never thought of culti- 
 vating them except for domestic purposes. A good 
 opportunity exists of cultivating them with profit. As 
 already intimated, the apple, plum, pear, and cherry, in 
 all their varieties, flourish well in all parts of the province. 
 Fine peaches and grapes are grown in the open air in 
 some parts, but have not been cultivated to any extent. 
 
 GRANTED AND UNGEANTED LANDS — CULTIVATED AND 
 
 WILD LANDS. 
 
 It is frequently said, that all the best lands in Nova- 
 Scotia have been already granted by the Crown ; but this 
 assertion requires some explanation. The early settlers 
 did unquestionably obtain grants of all, or nearly all, the 
 marsh and intervale, which are generally considered to 
 form the best class of lands ; but that class forms but a 
 small proportion of the aggregate of good lands in the 
 
 h 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 3;i 
 
 province. The uplands^ of which grants were usually 
 obtained by the earlier settlers, lie, for the most part, 
 along the margins of harbours and rivers, and in the 
 immediate vicinity of those more extensive marshes and 
 intervales, along with which they were usually granted, 
 and which were the principal object of the grantee in 
 obtaining the grant. It happens that the uplands so 
 situated are not the beso of that class in the province. 
 Indeed they are, generally speaking, rather the reverse, 
 the better qualities of upland being usually found far back 
 upon the more elevated ridges of the interior. Notwith- 
 standing that parties who have, for many years past, 
 taken out grants, have made their own choice of lands, it 
 is questionable if even yet the proportion which good 
 upland bears to that which is inferior among ungranted 
 lands, is not as great as among those which are already 
 granted. The accompanying table shows the extent and 
 supposed quality of ungranted lands in most of the coun- 
 ties of the province in the year 1854, arranged in three 
 classes. It is taken from maps and tabular statements 
 prepared in the Crown Land OflSce, about the commence- 
 ment of that year, and laid before the House of 
 Assembly. 
 
 During the years 1854 and 185.5, over 100,000 acres 
 were granted, the principal part of which were of the 
 description classed in the foregoing table as lands covered 
 with valuable timber. In 1856, 74,470 acres were 
 granted, being mostly of the class capable of profitable 
 cultivation. It is extremely doubtful if so large a propor- 
 tion of the ungranted lands should be classed " barren," 
 as are so classed in this table. When the primeval forest 
 has been destroyed by fire, the land for many years after- 
 wards wears such an aspect that it has been usual to 
 condemn it as barren, where oftentimes it is of a totally 
 
84 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 No returns. 
 No returns, 
 
 i 
 
 BetuTus from part only. 
 
 No returns. [ 
 No returns. 
 
 • 
 
 * 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 558,000 
 277,600 
 
 200,000 
 
 144,800 
 380,000 
 130,000 
 166,000 
 
 288,000 
 
 120,000 
 
 12,250 
 
 304,000 
 
 180,000 
 
 453,000 
 
 Ungranted Lands 
 commonly termed 
 "barren lands." 
 
 160,000 
 92,533 
 
 87,500 
 
 44,000 
 
 120,000 
 
 65,000 
 
 74,000 
 
 58,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 189,000 
 
 45,000 
 
 35,000 
 
 
 Ungranted Lands 
 
 not capable of 
 
 profitable culti- 
 
 Tation, but 
 
 covered with 
 
 valuable timber. 
 
 TjfCO © ©© ©©©©©© © © 
 (NCO © ©© ©©©©©© © © 
 
 CMIO |»o 1©© lin©©©!-.© 1© 1© 
 
 Tj((N '±^ '«c© 'Q0»n©©->*O5 'no 'o 
 ma 00 »0"<* ti«(m»oco c^ •* ri 
 
 
 Ungranted Lands 
 capable of profit- 
 able cultiyation. 
 
 ««C0 © ©©©©©©O©© © © 
 Jt-CO © ©©©©©©©HO© © © 
 i^ifS 1© |000©»0©©©lO© © 1© 
 
 co(M ' ta 'Tj<©»ocoto©©«o © 'c<i 
 «*o> <N Ti((Ncon(cooo-^ 00 a © 
 
 
 Total Area in 
 Acres. 
 
 r4n 
 
 ©©©C0©©©©©0©©©©©©©© 
 «0':OOCO«0©<N©xt*<M«0©©0©0©© 
 -HlOC0iH©001>.©QC.HeO©-*i-t©©©© 
 
 ©<;<i-JoO'^rJ'T}<©©i-iiioio©ooi-. »Oijoo> 
 
 trt'^»0»000<NCOuO'«*<tH-*OCqTji©C^O 
 
 ^;oio«ocoioi>.«o«ox>.o»«oeoi»ooo'^ 
 
 
 •8 
 
 
 
 Halifax . 
 
 Lvmenbur <h 
 
 Queen's 
 
 Shelbume 
 
 Yannouth 
 
 Digby 
 
 Annapolis 
 
 King's 
 
 Hants . 
 
 Colchester , 
 
 Cumberland . 
 
 Pictou 
 
 Sydney . 
 
 Guysborough 
 
 Inverness 
 
 Bichmond . 
 
 Cape Breton . 
 
 Victoria . . . 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 85 
 
 different character. Large tracts of this description 
 among the granted lands, which had lain under the usual 
 imputation for many years, have, owing to a growing 
 scarcity of reputed good land in some parts of the interio° 
 been experimented upon of late years ; and have, to the 
 surpiise of those cultivating them, proved to be of excel- 
 lent quality. It is at least ;..3sible that the same result 
 might follow like experiments upon other large tracts of 
 reputed barren land in the province. 
 
 Down to the close of 1856, the whole extent of lands 
 granted within Nova-Scotia was 5,61G,704 acres; un. 
 granted, 5,442,012 acres. From the fact of so laicrg a 
 proportion having been granted, it does not follow thai an 
 equal proportion is under cultivation, actually occupied 
 or even withdrawn from the market. The "improved 
 lands," in 1851, amounted to only 839,322 acres, distri- 
 buted as follows : — 
 
 Halifax County 
 
 Lunenburg 
 
 Queen's 
 
 Shelburne 
 
 Yarmouth 
 
 I>igby 
 
 Annapolis 
 
 King's 
 
 Hants 
 
 Cumberland 
 
 Colchester 
 
 Pictou . 
 
 Sydney . 
 
 Guysborough . 
 
 Inverness . 
 
 Richmond 
 
 Cape Breton 
 
 Victoria 
 
 •} 
 
 23,866 acres. 
 . 29,396 
 . 13,950 
 . 36,494 
 . 32,295 
 . 17,325 
 . 47,305 
 . 73,656 
 . 65,454 
 . 101,067 
 . 7], 670 
 • 103,582 
 . 69,370 
 . 11,520 
 . 82,264 
 
 16,581 
 
 63,527 
 
 Total, 839,322 acres. 
 
 A great deal of wilderness land, owned by private indi- 
 viduals, and originally purchased from the Crown on 
 
 o 2 
 
30 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 speculation, or for tho sake of the timber growing upon 
 it, is now in the market. Much of this is of excellent 
 quality. 
 
 Tho upset price of Crown lands, at the present time 
 and for several years past, has been fixed at 1*. 9d. 
 sterling per acre. Wild land can be purchased from 
 private individuals at prices ranging from that of Crown 
 lands up to 205. sterling an acre, according to the quality 
 aid situation. Of cultivated lands, when offered for sale, 
 tl e average price of marsh, of which Nova-Scotia contains 
 some 40,000 acres, is from £16 to £20 sterling. The 
 prices of other improved lands vary so much, that no 
 approximation to their average can be furnished that 
 would be of any practical value. 
 
 FORESTS. 
 
 Were Nova-Scotia situated in any part of the world 
 except British America, it would be considered a country 
 of extraordinary value, considered with reference merely 
 to the products of its forests. But it is surpassed in that 
 respect by the neighbouring provinces of New Brunswick 
 and Canada. Nova-Scotia produces, with one or two 
 exceptions, the same kinds of timber as those provinces ; 
 it is of as good a quality ; and is produced as abundantly 
 in proportion to the extent of its forests. It is owing to 
 the comparatively small extent of those forests that Nova- 
 Scotia is inferior, as a timber producing country, to New 
 Brunswick and Canada. Still the products of the forest 
 form by far the most important item of Nova-Scotian 
 exports at the present time, with the exception of fish. 
 These products are exported in the shape of hewn timber, 
 — deals, boards, and scantling ; spars, knees, and other 
 ship timber ; hoops, staves, laths, shingles, and firewood. 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 87 
 
 The greatest quantities of these products arc shipped 
 from Cumberland and Queen's Counties ; but all parts of 
 the province participate largely in the trade ; and there 
 is no county in it, and no considerable section of a county, 
 in which " lumbering " is not profitably pursued. The 
 manufacture of charcoal and potash might be made pro- 
 fitable employments in many parts of tlie province ; yet 
 but little attention is given to the manufacture of the 
 former, whilst the latter is not attempted at all. 
 
 Among the most valuable kinds of timber, the white 
 and red pine {Pinus strobus and P. resinosa) occupy a 
 prominent place. They are exported to some extent as 
 squared timber ; but are for the most part brought into 
 market sawed into boards, plank, shingles, and scantling, 
 or made into spars. The hemlock (P. Canadensis) is the 
 most abundant of any of the Coniferce; it grows to a 
 great size, and is extensively manufactured into deals, 
 laths, scanthng, boards for the coarser kinds of work, 
 railway sleepers, wharf logs, piles, and a great variety of 
 other purposes. The black, red, and white spruce {P. 
 nigra, P. rubra, and P. alba), are for the most part sawed 
 into deals, a great number of which are yearly shipped 
 from the province. The fir (P. balsaminia) is not em- 
 ployed for many purposes except for fence rails ; but, 
 owing to its great abundance, the fences in all the more 
 recently settled parts of the country are composed almost 
 exclusively of that material. The cedar, which is found 
 so largely among the forest products of Canada, New 
 Brunswick, and the Northern States, may be said not to 
 exist in Nova-Scotia. But in its place the Nova-Scotians 
 have in great abundance the celebrated larch, or hacmatac 
 (P. pendula), called also juniper, and sometimes tamarac. 
 Owing to its extraordinary durability and strength, this 
 wood is in great demand for every purpose where such 
 
N0VA-8C0TIA. 
 
 h « 
 
 qualities are particularly desired. It is especially sought 
 after as ship timber, to which it is better adapted than 
 any other wood found in the country. 
 
 Among the hard woods, the rock maple (Acer sacchn- 
 rinum) is probably entitled to the first rank for the 
 quality of its timber. It is very hard and strong. A 
 peculiar twist or cvirl in the grain of some of its trees, 
 causes the beautiful variety known as bird's-eye maple 
 and curly maple. This is highly prized by the cabinet- 
 maker ; and when properly dressed and stained, is 
 unsurpassed in beauty by any other species of wood. 
 The black cherry-tree {Cerasus serotina) is also much 
 sought after by furniture manufacturers ; but is not 
 sufficiently plentiful to be an important article of export. 
 The rare beauty and durability of this wood, which resem- 
 bles mahogany, and the medicinal properties of its bark, 
 which is every year taking a higher rank in the American 
 Pharmacopoeia, renders it well worthy of cultivation. The 
 white ash {Fraa;inus acuminata) is among the most 
 valuable of the hard-wood trees of Nova- Scotia, being 
 very flexible, durable, tough, straight-grained, and free 
 from knots ; but, from being so much sought after, it 
 is growing rare. For many purposes to which it was 
 formerly employed in domestic manufactui-es, the elm 
 {Ulmus Americana) is now substituted. This wood is 
 quite as easily bent to any required form as the ash, and 
 fully more tough, but is not so straight-grained and easily 
 worked. The elm is a stately, beautiful tree, and is the 
 favourite of the Nova-Scotian forest for ornamental pur- 
 poses. The wood of the oak (Quercus rubra), although 
 considered inferior to the English oak, is of an excellent 
 quality. It enters largely into the wooden manufactures 
 of the country, but is not exported to any extent, owing 
 to its comparative scarcity. The yellow and black birch 
 
 " 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 M 
 
 {Detula exceha and B. lenia) stand next to the maple in 
 the extent to which they are exported. The wood of 
 both kinds is strong, close-grained, and durable ; and it 
 is extensively used in ship-building, and for a variety of 
 other purposes. The black birch is a beautiful, reddish- 
 coloured, veined wood, not unlike mahogany, and is much 
 used in the manufacture of furniture. The white and red 
 beech (Fayiis sj/lvatica and F.ferruginen) afford a strong, 
 close-grained, heavy wood, which is capable of being 
 applied to a great variety of useful purposes, but is not 
 much used in Nova-Scotia except for fuel. In some parts 
 of the province, where the country for miles in extent is 
 covered with this beautiful tree, large droves of hogs aro 
 driven out into the woods in the autumn, to fatten for 
 two or three months upon beech-nuts as they drop from 
 the tree. 
 
 The hard woods, in which are classed, rather incon- 
 sistently, all trees which do not belong to the Coniferce 
 order, are composed mostly of the maples, of which there 
 are five species ; the birches, comprising four different 
 kinds ; and the beeches, named above. Great quantities of 
 these woods are cut for fuel, both for home consumption 
 and for exportation. The following table shows the value 
 of products of the forest exported from Nova-Scotia, 
 in an unmanufactured state, during the year 1854 : — 
 
 Lumber (sawed) 
 Shingles 
 
 Staves and hoops 
 Spars and knees 
 Timber (soft wood) 
 „ (hard wood) 
 Wood (for fuel) . 
 
 £135,696 
 6,713 
 
 20,348 
 9,662 
 9,213 
 5,728 
 
 30,577 
 
 £246,737 
 
 In 1855 and 1856, there was a falling off in this export. 
 
40 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 In the latter year, the aggregate value of the above articles 
 exported was £145,592. 
 
 In speaking of the products of the forest, mention is 
 made of scarcely any except those which form important 
 articles of export. To enumerate all of those products 
 which are important in an economical point of view, or 
 which may be a source of foreign trade hereafter, would 
 swell this branch of our subject beyond its due propor- 
 tions. Several species of timber have been already men- 
 tioned as highly valuable for ship-building purposes. The 
 great abundance of such timber in Nova-Scotia, the unusual 
 extent of its sea coast, with its numerous harbours and 
 navigable rivers, surrounded even yet, in many places, by 
 the primeval forest, and having, in every case, good 
 timber near at hand ; the nearness of the country, com- 
 pared with other parts of the American continent, to the 
 sources whence other articles employed in the construction 
 of ships must be obtained, and to the principal shipping 
 markets of the world ; are all advantages which render 
 Nova-Scotia admirably, and almost peculiarly, suited for 
 carrying on ship-building on an extensive and profitable 
 scale. The growth of this branch of industry, and the 
 extent to which it is now carried on, will appear in r.i 
 subsequent part of this work. 
 
 It may not be unimportant to mention that many of the 
 native trees make excellent hedges, although not much 
 cultivated by the Nova-Scotians for that purpose. They, 
 for the most part, prefer the hastily constructed wooden 
 fence ; although, when kept up for a number of years, it 
 is really much more expensive and much less efficient than 
 a hedge would be for the same length of time. The wild 
 hawthorn (CratcBgus punctata), the beech and elm already 
 mentioned, the balsam poplar {Populus balsamifera), and 
 the black willow (Salia; nigra)^ make good hedges, and 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 41 
 
 are easily cultivated. Hedges are made of the latter two 
 merely by forming fences of the branches and saplings, 
 inserting an end of each in the ground : these take root, 
 and, in a year or two, form a thick hedge. But the 
 greatest favourite for this purpose is the spruce. It may 
 be cultivated in this way at not more than a fourth of the 
 expense which attends the cultivation of the thorn hedges 
 in England ; and, growing rapidly, it becomes, in a few 
 years' time, a substantial, dense, and almost impenetrable 
 hedge. Being an evergreen, it has the additional advan- 
 tage of affording a protection against the cold blasts of 
 winter, where that is found necessar3\ 
 
 MINERALS. 
 
 Nova-Scotia has been endowed by nature with mineral 
 wealth in a very extraordinary degree. This much can be 
 safely averred, from the facts already clearly substantiated ; 
 although considering that, with reference to its mineral 
 resources, it is still but imperfectly explored, it is not at 
 all improbable that those resources may be much greater 
 than is now supposed. Comparatively little has been 
 done as yet to extract substantial wealth from those 
 resources ; because, in a new country like Nova-Scotia, 
 where the amount of available capital is so small in pro- 
 portion to the number of ways in which it may be pro- 
 fitably invested, it is usually difiicult to obtain such lai'ge 
 appropriations as are necessary to carry on mining opera- 
 tions to any extent ; but the time must come when the 
 minerals of Nova-Scotia will add enormously to its avail- 
 able wealth. 
 
 In this brief sketch of those minerals, we will glance 
 successively at the substances useful as fuel^ building ma- 
 terials^ and mineral manures ; (yres, and metallic substances, 
 
4ft 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 and precious stones. Whilst enumerating the articles 
 under each of these heads, and indicating the localities 
 in which found, we will puss through the geological dis- 
 tricts in the same order which we have already done 
 in the section upon the geological structure of the 
 province. 
 
 Granite^ as may he inferred from what has already 
 been stated in this work, is found in great abundance, and 
 of excellent quality, in many places on the Atlantic coast. 
 The quarries which have been worked to the greatest 
 extent are at Shelburne and Halifax. There is no mate- 
 rial difference in the quality or appearance of the granites 
 found at these two places. Great natural facilities exist 
 at both for quarrying and shipping the stone. From the 
 " Queen's Quarries," at the latter place, large quantities* 
 have been taken for the construction of the forti- 
 fications of Halifax, for which purpose it is highly 
 esteemed. Granite has been to some extent exported 
 from Shelburne to the United States and neighbouring 
 provinces. There are large quantities of excellent 
 granite readily accessible for shipment at Barrington, 
 near the mouth of Musquidoboit River, in the vicinity 
 of Cape Canso, and at various other places on the 
 Atlantic coast. The slates of the older metamorphic 
 district afford, at a great number of localities, good 
 material for the rougher kind of walls, and materials 
 which may be quarried and fitted for building at very 
 slight expense. 
 
 The Devonian and Silurian district is rich in building 
 materials. Sienite and 'porphyry of good and beautiful 
 qualities are found in great abundance in many places on 
 the Cobequid Hills, on part of the shores of the Bras d'Or 
 Lake, and various other places in the island of Cape Breton, 
 and in the range of hills which skirt the Annapolis Valley 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 43 
 
 ' 
 
 on the south.* Slate, of excellent quality, is found at 
 New Canaan, near Kentville, along the range of hills lying 
 between the Stewiacke and Musquidoboit Rivers, in the 
 southern part of Pictou County, and at various other points. 
 Quarries have been opened at New Canaan and in the 
 vicinity of the Stewiacke, for the purpose of procuring 
 roofing slates ; but, although the slates were found to be 
 of a good quality, the cost of transportation, owing to the 
 inland position of the quarries, was so great, that they 
 could not be profitably woiked in a country where roofing 
 materials of wood were so cheap. This difficulty will pro- 
 bably soon be obviated, as railroads, now in course of con- 
 struction, will run in the immediate vicinity of these quar- 
 ries. Sulphate of harytes is found in the hills immediately 
 north of the Stewiacke, at Five Islands, on the north shore 
 of Minas Basin, and at some other localities. At Five 
 Islands it exists in great abundance, and both there and 
 at Stewiacke it has been quarried and exported to some 
 extent to ^x\ "^"^nited States and Great Britain, where it is 
 mixed with v ite lead as a paint. Mineral 'paints in great 
 variety are procured from the iron ochres of the Cobequid 
 Hills, of which more hereafter One description, known as 
 artificial slate^ is rapidly growing into repute throughout 
 North America. When mixed with oil, and laid on over 
 wood, it possesses the rare and invaluable quality of ren- 
 dering it impervious to damp and proof against fire. 
 
 First among the numerous valuable mineral deposits of 
 the Nova-Scotia carboniferous district we may consider 
 coal. It is probable that Nova-Scotia, in proportion to its 
 extent, stands unrivalled in the productive capabilities of 
 its coal-fields. The most western of these valuable depo- 
 sits, so far as ascertained, exists at the Joggins, on the 
 
 * Dawson's " Acadian Geology ; " Gesner's " Industrial Resources of 
 Nova- Scotia." 
 
4i 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 shore of Cumberland Basin. In this coal-field, there are 
 seventy-six beds of coal, with an aggregate thickness of 
 41 feet. Of the seams which may be profitably worked, 
 there are six, comprising together a thickness of 18 ft. 
 6 in.* Only two of these seams are worked as yet ; for 
 which purpose two shafts have been opened within half 
 a mile of the shore where the coal is shipped. 
 
 About twenty miles south-east of the Joggins, at Spring- 
 Hill, on the northern skirts of the Cobequid Hills, we find 
 another great coa'. deposit, which geologists declare to be 
 quite a different fisld from the one just described. This 
 being in an inland position, has not yet been opened, or 
 even thoroughly explored. Its coal has been proved, 
 however, to be of excellent quality ; and it comprises 
 many valuable beds, one of which is twelve feet in thick- 
 ness, f From Spring Hill to Parrsboro', a good shipping 
 place, being a distance of twenty miles, a rather extraor- 
 dinary natural valley extends through the Cobequid Hills, 
 along which a nearly level line of railway could be con- 
 structed at far below the usual cost of such works. Such 
 a work must- be simultaneous with the opening of the 
 Spring Hill coal mine. Another coal-field can be traced 
 along the southern side of the Cobequid Hills throughout 
 their whole extent, from Cape Chiegnecto to the borders 
 of Pictou County. This field is not yet mined at any 
 point, nor has its real extent and value been yet ascer- 
 tained by any close examination.! Another coal-field 
 exists on the southern side of the Minas Basin, extending: 
 quite across Hants and the southern part of Colchester 
 Counties. Several small seams appear at or near the 
 surface along the banks of the Kennetcook, Shubenacadie, 
 
 ' 
 
 * Dawson's *' Acadian Geology." 
 
 t Ibid., and Gesner's " Industrial Resources of Nova-Scotia." 
 
 X Dawson's "Acadian Geology." 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 45 
 
 
 \ 
 
 and Stewiacke, and of small streams emptying into them. 
 The strata of this district is not well disclosed by any 
 natural sections ; and as no general geological survey has 
 been made of it, geologists best acquainted with that j. art 
 of the country believe it quite within the bounds of pro- 
 bability, that such a survey would reveal extensive and 
 valuable coal deposits.'" 
 
 The next great coal-field that we find, travelling east- 
 wardly, is that of Pictou. The principal beds of good coal 
 in this field are of the respective thicknesses of 24, 12, 
 and 6 feet. The first of these has been worked for many 
 years at what are known as the " Albion Mines." The 
 coal is raised from the shafts by means of steam-engines, 
 and is conveyed by railway, a distance of six miles, to the 
 place of shipment at Pictou Harbour. 
 
 Beds of coal occur at Little River, and at Caribou Cove, 
 near River Inhabitants, in Richmond County. At the 
 former place, the coal, which is of a good quality, is found 
 in a seam about four feet thick, two-and-a-half miles from 
 the shore. At Caribou Cove, the coal, which is of not so 
 good a quality, appears on the shore in a vein upwards of 
 eleven feet in thickness. Good coal also occurs at various 
 places in the vicinity of Port Hood, in Inverness County. 
 None of the deposits mentioned in this paragraph have 
 been worked to any extent.f 
 
 A very valuable coal-field exists on the north side of 
 Sydney harbour in Cape Breton County. It comprises 
 thirty-four different seams ; but of these only four, having 
 an aggregate thickness of twenty feet, are of sufficient 
 extent to be worked.^ A mine has been opened at this 
 place ; and the coal is conveyed by railroad about three 
 miles to " Sydney Bar," whence large quantities of it are 
 exported. Excellent coal and in great abundance, is 
 
 * Gesner ; Dawson. t Dawson. % Ibid. 
 
46 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 found at many other places in this vicinity. A coal-field 
 extends quite across Boulardarie Island from one of the 
 seams of which, four feet thick, on the Little Bras d'Or, 
 some coal has been raised. Several valuable beds appear 
 also at Bridgport, one of which onl}^ nine feet in thick- 
 ness, has been openod. Good coal also occurs at Cow 
 Bay, and at various other points on or near the sea- 
 shore, in that vicinity.* The coal-fields of Cape Breton 
 County would appear to be almost inexhaustible, and 
 nature affords every facility for working them to advan- 
 tage. The mines at the Joggins, Pictou, Sydney, and 
 Bridgport, are worked by the " General Mining Associa- 
 tion." The following statement shows the quantities of 
 coal raised and exported from these mines respectively 
 in 1856. 
 
 Albion mines 
 
 Total Quantity 
 
 raised. 
 
 Newcastle chalds. 
 
 Quantity ex- 
 ported. 
 Newcastle chalds. 
 
 44,637 
 
 39,801 
 
 Sydney . . . . 
 
 36,247 
 
 19,705 
 
 Joggins .... 
 
 2,889 
 
 2,535 
 
 Bridgport, or Tiingan . . 
 
 3,324 
 
 2,577 
 
 Point Aconi (Boulardarie 
 
 71 
 
 10 
 
 Island) 
 
 Total . 
 
 
 
 87,168 
 
 64,628 
 
 From 1827 to 1853 inclusive, 1,042,621 Newcastle 
 chaldrons were raised from the mines of the whole pro- 
 vice. Of this quantity, 497,183 chaldrons w^ere taken 
 from the " Albion Mines" of Pictou ; 479,041 chaldrons 
 
 * Gesner. 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 47 
 
 from the Sydney mines ; and the remainder from those 
 of the Joggins, Bras d'Or, and Bridgport."' The extensive 
 coal deposits of Nova-Scotia can scarcely be too highly 
 estimated, when considered in connection with the fact, 
 that no coal-fields of any considerable value exist in the 
 eastern states, Canada, New Brunswick, Prince Edward's 
 Island, or — so far as yet known — in Newfoundland. 
 
 Reddish, grey, and brown Freestones are found in 
 abundance in the carboniferous district. Freestone of 
 good quality for buildings is procurable at Horton, 
 Falmouth, Windsor, Shubenacadie, Londonderry, Wallace, 
 Pictou, Guysborough, Port Hood, Margaree, Whykoko- 
 magh, and various other parts of Cape Breton. In most, 
 if not in all of these, it may be quarried and shipped with 
 facility. Excellent quarries are also to be found in many 
 places in the interior. Hitherto the greatest quantities of 
 freestone have been taken from the quarries of Wallace 
 and Pictou. The best and most expensive public build- 
 ings in the province are composed of Wallace-stone ; 
 whilst that of Pictou has been, of late years, exten- 
 sively exported to the United States, where it is highly 
 prized. Sandstone suitable for millstones and grindstones 
 is procured at Pictou and the eastern part of Cumber- 
 land ; but Minudie and other localities in the vicinity of 
 the Joggins already referred to are the most celebrated 
 for this material. Grindstones are there quarried and 
 hewn out directly upon the shore of the Cumberland 
 Basin, the great rise and fall of tide enabling those en- 
 gaged in the business to load their vessels with the 
 stones upon the spot where they have been both quarried 
 and dressed. Large quantities of these grindstones are 
 made and exported ; and they bear a high reputation in 
 all parts of North America. A medal of the London 
 
 * Journals of the House of Assembly, 1854. Appendix, No. 38. 
 
• ll 
 
 48 
 
 NOVa-SCOTIA. 
 
 Industrial Exhibition of 1851 was awarded to one of 
 the Joggins grindstones. 
 
 Lime and gypsum are found in enormous quantities in 
 Northern Hants and Southern Colchester. The quarrying 
 and shipping of gypsum to the United States, from 
 Shubenacadie and the neighbourhood of Windsor, form 
 quite an active and flourishing tiade. The quantity 
 quarried in 1851 was 78,903 tons.* It is constantly in- 
 creasing, and may increase almost indefinitely, for the 
 supply seems inexhaustible. Large deposits of both are 
 also found scattered across the central portion of the 
 county of Cumberland, forming a band extending east 
 and west. Lime is quarried at Cape John, Merigomish, 
 and at the west and east rivers of Pictou ; gypsum is also 
 procurable at the latter locality.f Both lihie and gypsum 
 are found in large quantities at Antigonish, and through- 
 out the adjoining country ; and there are valuable beds 
 of limestone in the vicinity of Guysborough. The island 
 of Cape Breton contains enormous quantities of both 
 these valuable minerals. Limestone and gypsum occur in 
 large and readily accessible deposits at Plaister Cove, on 
 the Strait of Canso, at several points on the shores of 
 Lennox Passage, at St. Peter's, Arichat, Mabon, Margaree, 
 St. Ann's, Boulardarie Island, Sydney Mire, and upon 
 every hand on the shores of the Great Bras d'Or Lake 
 and its tributary rivers and inlets. These beds are, in 
 many places, found associated with marls. J 
 
 Marble of various descriptions is found in several parts 
 of Nova-Scotia. An extensive bed of grey and white 
 marble is found on the southern side of the Little Bras 
 d'Or, neai Long Island.§ " Several pretty and unusual 
 varieties of coloured marble " are procurable at Craignish 
 
 * Census Returns. 
 T awson ] Gesner. 
 
 t Dawson. 
 § Dawson, 
 
 Acadian Geology. 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 40 
 
 and Long Point, in Inverness, near the northern entrance 
 to the Strait of Canso.* " A curiously waved grey 
 marble is also found near New Glasgow and at Little 
 Harbour, in Pictou County." f Quarries have not been 
 opened to any extent at any of the above-named places ; 
 nor have any decided steps been taken as yet with that 
 object. But a bed of marble exists at Five Islands, in 
 Colchester County, to work which a company was 
 incorporated, in the Nova-Scotian legislative session of 
 1855, under the name of the " Acadian Marble Company." 
 The Five Islands marble beds have not been sufficiently 
 opened up as yet to warrant a very decided opinion as to 
 their extent or value ; but they seem to hold out great 
 inducements to the capitalist. Specimens of white marble 
 are procured from these beds as pure and fine-grained as 
 any which the most highly valued European quarries 
 afford to the sculptor. They also produce several 
 varieties of coloured marble, some of which are very 
 beautiful. 
 
 Ochres from which good paints may be manufiictured, 
 occur in large quantities on the banks of the Shuben- 
 acadie. East River, and other places. A material which 
 makes a hydraulic ceinent, is procured near Chester ; and 
 
 species of umber, from which paint is manufactured, is 
 ioimd at the same place. There is no part of the car- 
 boniferous district of Nova-Scotia, of any extent, in which 
 there is not an abundance of good clay for the manu- 
 facture of bricks and the coarser kinds of earthenware. 
 
 First in importance among the ores and metallic 
 substances found in Nova-Scotia, must be placed Iron. 
 Enough is already, known concerning the extent and 
 quality of deposits of that kind in Nova-Scotia, to lead to 
 the conviction that iron of excellent description may here 
 
 Dawson, " Acadian Geology." 
 
 t Ibid. 
 
50 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 ,*i. 
 
 bo profitably manufactured to an almost indefiuile extent. 
 The ores of this most useful of metals are found in great 
 variety, and in several places widely removed from each 
 other. The most western deposit of any extent yet dis- 
 covered occurs at Clements, on the south side of Anna- 
 polis Basin. The outcrop of the vein may be traced on 
 the surface for the distance of a mile, with an average 
 thickness of nine feet six inches. ' The ore consists of 
 scales of specular iron, firmly cemented together, and 
 intermixed with silicious and calcareous matter ; and it 
 has been in part converted by heat into magnetic iron 
 ore.f It yields from 33 to 40 per cent, of cast iron, the 
 quality of which is said to be very superior. J In 1826, 
 a company was formed for the purpose of working this 
 mine. Operations were commenced, and the smelting of 
 the ore and manufacturing of the iron continued for some 
 time ; but operations suddenly ceased, owing, it is said, 
 to dissensions among the stockholders, and have not since 
 been resumed. 
 
 A bed of iron ore occurs at Nictan ; also in the County 
 of Annapolis, and is similar to that found at Clements. 
 There are several parallel veins at this place, varying from 
 four to ten feet in thickness — six of these have been 
 examined and accurately defined, and the ore contains 
 55*3 per cent, of iron of excellent quality. § Works have 
 recently been erected at the falls of the Nictan River, in 
 the immediate vicinity of this deposit, for the purpose of 
 smelting the ore. The great natural advantages of the 
 situation, the good quality of the ore, and the abundance 
 immediately at hand of most of the raw material required, 
 afford every reason to suppose that the operations here 
 commenced will prove quite successful. 
 
 * Gesner, "Industrial Resources." 
 + Dawson, ** Acadian Geology." 
 
 J Gesner, Ibid. 
 § Dawson, Ibid. 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 51 
 
 The next great deposit of iron ore which we will mention 
 is found on the southern slope of the Cobequid Hills. This 
 deposit, considenng its extent and the variety and quality 
 of its ores, may be pronounced the most important in the 
 province. That part of it to which attention has been 
 most particularly directed lies between the Debcrt Iviver 
 and a point some two miles westward of the Great 
 A^illage River, a distance in all of about ten miles. Be- 
 tween these points the vein extends nearly east and west, 
 and at a distance of from five to eight miles from the 
 shore of Cobequid Bay. It consists of a veinstone of the 
 species of ore called Ankerite, associated with Spathose 
 iron, surrounding and including a number of other varie- 
 ties of ore. Of these the Red Oclirey iron ore occurs in 
 large quantities, but in minor veins and irregular masses ; 
 and the Specular ore, and Magnetic ore, in crystals and 
 nests, and in still smaller veins. Yelloiv Oclirej/ ore and 
 Brown hematite are also found in large quantities on the 
 surface of the vein. The whole vein is of very irregular 
 width. At one spot on the bank of the Great Village 
 River it is 120 feet wide ; whilst at another, not far from 
 the most eastern point to which the vein has boon traced, 
 it attains a breadth of over five hundred feet. Its breadth 
 is unequal at various intermediate points where measure- 
 ments have been made. The length of this vein is not 
 yet ascertained : its continuation may be seen near Five 
 Islands, twenty miles westward of Great Village River ; 
 so that the vein is known to extend a distance of about 
 thirty miles in length. It is not at all improbable 
 that upon continued examination it will be found to 
 extend along the whole length of the Cobequid range of 
 hills.- 
 
 These ores are of an excellent quality. The Specular, 
 
 * Dawson, "Acadian Geology." 
 
 B 2 
 
62 
 
 K0VA-8C0TIA. 
 
 Magnetic, and the Ochrey Red ores, the latter of which is 
 the most abundant ore in the vein, afford from 60 to 70 
 per cent, of pure iron. From the richness, abundance, 
 and position of the ore, it has been calculated that it can 
 be provided at the blast furnaces at Great Village River at 
 a lower cost per ton of iron than at most of the other 
 principal establishments of the kind in the world.* The 
 iron made from these ores is found to bo equal to any in 
 the world, in the rare properties requisite for making good 
 steel.f 
 
 Furnaces and other necessary works were erected, and 
 the manufacture of iron commenced, a few years since, at 
 the spot where the vein crosses the west branch of Great 
 Village River, by a few gentlemen of England and Nova- 
 Scotia. For the purpose of enlarging their sphere of 
 operations, and carrying on the works with greater vigour, 
 an Act of Incorporation has been procured from the 
 Nova-Scotian Legislature, during the session of 1855, 
 incorporating the proprietors of these mines by the name 
 of the " Acadian Iron and Steel Company." There seems 
 to be no reason why the operations of this Company 
 should not be attended by complete success. As already 
 shown, the supply of the ore appears to be almost inexhaust- 
 ible. The iron made from that ore is equal to the best 
 quality produced by any other part of the world. There 
 are immense forests in the immediate vicinity of the 
 mines, sufficient to supply them with charcoal, at a small 
 expense, for many years. Good free-stone for building- 
 purposes, and, it is said, good fire-brick clay, are found at 
 a short distance from the works. The Great Village 
 River and other streams traversing the vein of ore, 
 afford water-power sufficient to drive any machinery 
 
 *■ J. S. Hayes' "Report to Acadian Iron Mining Association." 
 t Mnshet. 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 53 
 
 that will probably be required ; aiul there is a shipping- 
 place, easily accessible, at five and a half-miles distant 
 from the spot where the Company has commenced 
 operations. 
 
 A very extensive deposit of iron ore, of a description 
 similar to that of Nictan, is found at East River, Pictou, 
 and within ten miles distance from the Albion coal mines 
 on that river /'^ The vein at this place is sixteen feet in 
 thickness.f The situation of this deposit, like that of the 
 Cobequid Hills, affords every facility for the profitable 
 manufacture of iron. There is a coal mine in operation, 
 extensive forests for the production of charcoal, and an 
 abundance of good building stone and lime, in the vicinity 
 of the bed of ore. Clay Ironstone and Brov, n Hematite 
 are also found in abundance in the coal measures, nearer 
 the mouth of the East River, and in the immer-'atc 
 neighbourhood of the coal mines. There are no works 
 in operation for smelting any of the ores found in Pictou 
 County. 
 
 Iron ore, in the forms of Red Ochre, Red Hematite, and 
 Brown Hematite, is found on the Shubenacadio, near its 
 mouth. It has also been found in small quantities in 
 several other places, affording good reason to believo that 
 further extensive deposits of that valuable material will be 
 discovered upon a more general research into the mineral 
 wealth of Nova- Scotia. 
 
 Copper ore occurs at several places L- Nova-Scotia. 
 Large and numerous fragments of that ore are found in 
 the southern part of Sydney County, affording indications 
 of some valuable deposit in that section of the country.^ 
 It is also found in the high lands in the rear of Five 
 Islands, and at various other points in the Cobequid Rano-e. 
 
 * Dawson, «* Acadian Geology." f Gesner, " Industrial Resources." 
 
 X Dawson, Ibid. 
 
51 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 Copper ores, in the form of the grey sulphiiret and green 
 carbonate of that metal, and of a rich quaUty, occur at 
 several places in Pictou County, particularly at East River, 
 "West River, and Carribou. A specimen from the latter 
 place was found, on analysis, to contain 40 per cent, of 
 copper. Ores of the same description are found, at 
 Minudix, in Cumberland, and near Tatamagouclie, in 
 Colchester County. No steps are being taken to open 
 mines at any of the places above mentioned, except that 
 near Tatamagouche. The proprietor of the lands upon 
 which the ore is there found has recently petitioned for a 
 lease of a copper mine at that place, of which fact the 
 Lieutenant-Governor has given notice in the Royal 
 Gazette, according to the requirements of a law of the 
 province, to which particular allusion will be made 
 hereafter. Virgin copper is found, in grains and in 
 masses in the fissures of the trap rock at Five Islands, 
 Cape D'Or, and several other points in tlie trap 
 district. 
 
 Galena, or sulphuret of Lead, occurs at Gray's River, the 
 boundary between Halifax and Colchester Counties ; also 
 at Guysborough and several other places. At Gay's 
 River it is associated with silver. That particular part of 
 the country where this ore is found is still covered for the 
 most part with forests ; and little pains have been taken to 
 ascertain the extent, or discover the most valuable deposit 
 of it. From the indications already observed it is quite 
 probable that, upon a careful examination of the neigh- 
 bourhood by competent parties, such a deposit will be 
 discovered, of great value, with reference either to the 
 lead or silver contained in it, and perhaps with reference 
 to both. 
 
 Manganese ores are found in several parts of Pictou 
 County ; also at Cheverie, Walton, and Rawdon, in Hants 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 55 
 
 1^ 
 
 County, on the banks of tlie Shubenacadie, at Parrsboro', 
 and at Cornwallis. Small quantities of it are occasionally 
 shipped from Walton alone/''' 
 
 The mineral substances Avhich, more for the sake of 
 distinction than with regard to strict accuracy, we have 
 classed as Precious Stones, are confined mostly to the trap 
 districts. They comprise materials applicable to jewellery 
 and ornamental purposes ; and also a great variety of 
 substances of interest to mineralogists as specimens of the 
 minerals formed in volcanic rocks. Nova-Scotia has become 
 widely celebrated among scientific men for the abundance 
 and variety of these specimens, and the facility with which 
 they may be procured. Many of them are very beautiful ; 
 and several of those useful for ornamental purposes are so 
 plentiful and so easily obtained as to be quite worthy of 
 attention in an economic point of view. These minerals 
 are found in the rocks throughout the whole Trap dis- 
 trict ; but are most sought after among the cliffs of Cape 
 Blomidon, Cape D'Or, Partridge Island, and other points 
 on the shore of Minas Channel and its vicinity. At those 
 places the action of the winter frosts upon the exposed 
 face of the cliffs is such that, every spring, great 
 "avalanches," or land slides, take place, and the finely 
 crystallised and beautiful minerals are then found in pro- 
 fusion among the fragmentary rocks scattered upon the 
 shelving beach. Fine specimens of many of the mineral 
 substances already mentioned, are found among the Trap 
 rocks. Of these there are several varieties of iron and 
 copper ores, oxide of manganese, sulphuret of lead, 
 carbonate of lime, and sulphate of lime in its varieties 
 of selenite, and compact, anhydrous, fibrous, black, 
 white, and red gypsum. Besides these, specimens of the 
 
 * Gesner ; Dawson. 
 
56 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 following minerals are procurable, and most of them in 
 great abundance at the places already named : — •'■ 
 
 Acadiolitet 
 
 Agate 
 
 Albin 
 
 Amethyst 
 
 Amethystine Siuter 
 
 Analcime 
 
 Apophyllite 
 
 An'agouite 
 
 Augite 
 
 Basalt 
 
 Barytesj Sulphate of 
 
 Galcareous Spar 
 
 Chalcedony 
 
 CameUan 
 
 Cacholong 
 
 Chlorite 
 
 Chabasite 
 
 Chlorophoeite 
 
 Hairstone 
 
 Heliotrope 
 
 Heulandite 
 
 Homstone 
 
 Jasper, red and ribband 
 
 Ledererite 
 
 Laumonite 
 
 Mezotype, Natrolite, Sco- 
 
 lecite 
 Needlestone 
 Opal, Semi-opal 
 Onyx 
 Prehnite 
 Quartz 
 
 Silicious Sinter 
 Stilbite 
 Thomsonite 
 Tremolite 
 Zeolite 
 
 Since an early date in the history of Nova-Scotia, it 
 has been usual, in passing grants of crown lands, to 
 reserve to the crown all mines and deposits of gold, silver, 
 coal, iron, copper, and some others. The mineral deposits 
 so reserved, as well as those existing upon lands still 
 belonging to the crown, were in 1826 granted to the late 
 Duke of York for a term of sixty years, and are now 
 imder lease to the General Mining Association, subject to 
 a royalty which already yields a large sum annually to 
 the revenue of the province. All the mineral wealth ot 
 the province is not subject to this monopoly, however. 
 No reservation was made in many of the earlier grants ; 
 and some whole townships are exempt from its operation. 
 The valuable iron deposits of Annapolis and Colchester 
 
 * Gesner, "Geology and Mineralogy of Nova-Scotia," and "Indus- 
 trial Resources." Dawson, " Acadian Geology. " 
 
 t So called by mineralogists, from Acadia, the former name of Nova- 
 Scotia, to which coimtry it is supposed to be peculiar. 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 57 
 
 are upon lands in which no such reservation was made. 
 But a monopoly it certainly is to a great extent, and one 
 which has been a cause of much complaint on the part of 
 the people of Nova-Scotia. Efforts have recently been 
 made by the provincial legislature to break the monopoly 
 itself, or to confine it within such limits as will render it 
 harmless to the interests of the province. The measures 
 taken are such that they may possibly result in some com- 
 promise with tlie lessees of the reserved mines, which will 
 be found not prejudicial to the interests of either of the 
 parties immediately concerned. By a statute of the pro- 
 vince already referred to, any individual may petition the 
 Grovernor for a lease of the unworked mines and minerals 
 upon any Crown lands, or upon any granted lands where 
 they have been reserved, upon which the Governor will 
 cause an advertisement to be inserted for three months in 
 the Royal Gazette, notifying all parties interested in such 
 mines of that application. If such interested parties shall 
 not, within twelve months after publication of the notice, 
 open and work the mines in question, the Governor may 
 then order a lease of them to be made to the party apply- 
 ing for it, for such time and upon such conditions as he 
 may think fit. 
 
 FISHERIES. 
 
 Nova-Scotia is widely and deservedly celebrated for the 
 extent and value of its Fisheries. It may be safely 
 averred that no country on earth surpasses it in this 
 respect ; and it is questionable if any, unless it be the 
 neighbouring province of Newfoundland, even equals it. 
 It has already Veen mentioned that the coast line of 
 Nova- Scotia forms a distance of not less than a thousand 
 miles. There is no part of that coast on which a highly 
 profitable fishery may not be pursued. The interior of the 
 
58 
 
 N(?v 1~SC0TIA. 
 
 country is also, as already shown, well watered by nu- 
 merous rivers. In these, the fishes that usually frequent 
 such inland waters in their latitudes are caught in 
 abundance. The salmon {Sal mo salar), the common trout 
 {Salmo fontinalis), and salmon trout [Salmo trutta), are 
 plentiful in nearly all of those streams, and afford fine 
 sport to the angler ; and the fishes of the former species 
 are so numerous and of so fine a quality as to be of some 
 importance as an article of commerce. The yellow perch 
 {Perca flaoescens), the white perch [Labraa ^allidus), sucker 
 (Catostomus communis), chub [Leiiciscus i 'nhaliis), carp 
 (Z. cltrysoleucas^ roach {L, conmtus and .L. pulchelhis), are 
 also abundant in many of the lakes and streams. 
 
 The shad [Jlosa sapid/'ssma) is taken in great numbers 
 in Cumberland Basin, Minas Basin, and the estuaries of 
 the rivers which empty into them. The taking of this 
 most delicious fish constitutes the principal fishery of those 
 waters. There the shad is taken in draft-nets and in 
 set-nets, and weirs placed along the sloping mud-flats of 
 the shore. Brush weirs and nets thus placed become 
 entirely submerged at high water by the tide, which, in 
 retreating, leaves them high and dry, and the fish which 
 they retain are then carried away without any boating- 
 being required. The gaspereau, or alewive {Jlosa, 
 tyrannus)^ the cod {MorrJma vulgaris), the haddock {M. 
 ceylefinus), the pollock {JSIerlanyiis carbonarius), the herring 
 {Clwpea elon(/ata), and the flounders {Platessa plana, P, 
 pimlla, and P. limanda), are found in the greatest abun- 
 dance in all parts of the Bay of Fundy, and also in its 
 branches, Cumberland Bay and Minas Basin ; whilst the 
 hake {Phi/cis Americamis), the forsk or cusk [Brosnims vul- 
 (jaris) and halibut {liippoglossiis vulgaris), are taken in such 
 numbers as to form a very important item in the products 
 of those waters. In the early spring the smelt {Osmerus 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 69 
 
 viritiescens), swarms in myriads up into most of the rivers 
 emptying into the Bay of Fundy. These fish are usually 
 dipped up with scoop nets, about the head of the tide 
 waters. The herring of the Bay of Fundy is small, but 
 usually fat and of excellent quality. The greatest number 
 of those caught are smoked and packed in boxes. The 
 pollock fishery is believed to be the most valuable and 
 extensive of the deep-sea fisheries of the Bay of Fundy.* 
 The cod, haddock, haUbut, and gaspereau, do not differ from 
 the fishes of those kinds found upon other parts of the 
 coast of Nova-Scotia. The sturgeon {Jccijje?iser oxyrmchus)^ 
 is also frequently caught in the Bay of Fundy, but is not 
 highly valued in Nova-Scotia. The bass (Lahvax lineatus)^ 
 a delicious fish, sometimes attaining a weight of forty or 
 fifty pounds, is also common in this bay. 
 
 In the Gulf of St. LawTence the shad and gaspereau 
 are not so numerous nor of such good quality as on the 
 Bay of Fundy coasts. All the other fishes already 
 named, with the exception of the pollock, are there found 
 in abundance. The bass appears at certain seasons on this 
 coast, in large schules. The mackarel {Scomber vernalis)^ 
 which forms an important article of commerce in Nova- 
 Scotia, but which is comparatively rare in the Bay of Fundy, 
 is abi -idant in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The sea perch 
 (Ctenolahrus ceruleus)^ is also very numerous. It is in the 
 estuaries of the rivers on this coast that the salmon trout, 
 or sea trout {Salmo trutta), already referred to, is found in 
 the greatest numbers in Nova-Scotian waters. Of these. 
 River Philip seems to be more particularly favoured, and 
 is the summer's resort of many anglers. Valuable oyster 
 Fisheries exist at several points on the Gulf coast. 
 
 The Atlantic coast of Nova-Scotia is that most celebrated 
 
 * M. H. Perley, " Report on the Sea and River Fisheries of New 
 Brunswick, 1852." 
 
60 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 for its Fisheries. Neaiiy all of the salt-water fishes already 
 named arc here Ibund in abundance, and many other 
 valuable species })esidcs. The [ialifax fish-market is said 
 to be the best supplied of any in the world ; and certainly, 
 if such is not the case, it is owing to no lack of means. 
 The cod swarms along the shores and upon the fishing 
 banks which lie off this coast throughout nearly its whole 
 extent. The supply of this \aiual>le fish and of haddockj 
 hake, and pollock, appears to be unlimited. When cured 
 tho}^ are most frequently sent to market in the form of " dry 
 fish." Delicious halibut, sometimes attaining a weight of 
 SOOlbs., may be taken in the greatest abundance ; and 
 the great tunny, or albicore (Thi/mms vulgaris)^ sohigldy 
 prized in the Mediterranean, is here frequently taken, 
 varying from six to twol ^e feet in length. The mackarei, 
 so much valued, frequ onts this tsoasfc in immense " schules," 
 the arrival of any one of whici^ gives occasion to a scene 
 of great activity among the fishermen who are anxiously 
 awaiting them. Nova-Scotia is, undoubtedly, without a 
 rival in the facilities which it aflbrds for prosecuting the 
 mackarei fishery with profit. This fish, in approaching 
 the coast from the deeper waters of the Atlantic, seems to 
 have certain favoiuite resorts ; but, unaccountably as yet, 
 it sometimes exchanges a long frequented spot for some 
 new favourite, to return again to the old haunt after an 
 interval of years. The shores in and a^)out Chedabucto 
 Bay, the southern entrance to the Strait of Canso, are 
 especially famed for the myriads of these fishes which 
 resort to them annually. In that vicinity the immense 
 schules of mackarei are sometimes seen several miles in 
 breadth, rendering the surface of the water quite smooth, 
 and forming a mass so dense as even to impede the pro- 
 gress of the smaller class of vessels. These waters are 
 their highway to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, of which, as 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 61 
 
 already mentioned, they form one of the most valuable 
 Fisheries. 
 
 The quantity of fish that may be taken from one of 
 these great shoals seems to depend solely upon the extent 
 of the means at hand for securing and curing them. 
 Immense hauls are sometimes made by means of seines. 
 It is not uncommon to take 1000 barrels at a single 
 haul of one of these nets ; and upwards of 3000 barrels 
 hn-ve been thus secured in a single night. One night, 
 November, 1855, 800 barrels of mackarel were 
 
 in 
 
 ba<^ed by a seine on a part of the shore of the city of 
 Halifax, having been taken in the North-West Arm. 
 Up\\ards of 20,000 barrels were taken in HaHfax harbour 
 in the autumn of 1855 ; and the value of products of the 
 sea taken by the fishermen of Halifax County during that 
 year, were estimated to be over 250,000/. A great 
 number of mackarel — probably a greater number than in 
 any other way — are also taken in the deeper waters ofi' 
 shore, particularly in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, by means 
 of hook and line. The mackarel abounds on all the coasts 
 of the Island of Cape Breton. 
 
 Next to the mackarel the herring is most deserving of 
 particular mention. Immense schules of this fish also 
 frequent the Atlantic coast. This fish, although different 
 from the herring of the European side of the Atlantic, is, 
 when properly dressed and cured, scarcely, if at all, in- 
 ferior to the widely celebrated Dutch herring. Those 
 caught upon the Atlantic coast of Nova-Scotia are usually' 
 pickled in barrels. There is no part of that coast on 
 which herring may not be taken in great abundance ; 
 and they may there be caught at all seasons of the 
 year. But, indeed, nearly every salt-water fish named 
 in this section may be caught in the greatest abundance 
 upon the Atlantic coast of the province of Nova-Scotia, 
 
62 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 and, with very few exceptions, at all seasons of the 
 year. 
 
 The following Table, taken from the Census Returns of 
 
 a Dh 
 
 O <M O 
 
 lO iH -^ (M 00 :0 N (M 
 05 O i-- 05 CO »o »0 Tjt 
 co^(No:C5coi>.M 
 
 »* •% *N 
 
 !>• 00 
 
 O O i- 
 
 CI 00 M 00 00 rfC t- 
 CO Ci iH rW !» 1>» Tj< 
 Oi lA CO rH O 
 
 .N ». .^ *\ 
 
 N iH i>. (M 
 (M r-( (N 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 -s 
 
 bo 
 
 (§ 
 
 
 "c "^ 
 
 o 
 
 
 s 
 
 o- 
 
 0) 
 
 •? 
 
 Jz; 
 
 <i> 
 
 
 ." 
 
 a 
 
 eo oiooo(N»oi>.©o 
 
 O COt^OCOOrMOiOO 
 
 I NiHOOeOr-liHiHCO 
 
 ' Tj< !>. (N 
 
 •o 
 
 rH 
 
 «« * 
 
 « O 
 
 iH r-i O «0 rt( 
 
 O r- r- iH O 
 
 CO 
 
 W « lO (M iH 
 
 iH CO iH 1- ITS 
 
 00 iH 00 
 
 CO 
 
 «5000©OOCOC>0»©00<M0001>-00 
 00t-0000O5r-l<NrJ('<jHt-. r-lO»O«O00OS 
 00000«OCO(?1l«iOOCOOrH OI-^(NC0 
 
 CO 
 
 »0 "<iH ">* © iH lO 
 
 iH 00 N •># O 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 00 
 
 © 
 
 eo 
 eo 
 
 © 
 © 
 
 CO 
 U5 
 
 
 »ai>.iH©©iooo<N 
 
 CO »H rf< tH Cq 00 © 
 
 00 -^ Tj* o i-i CO i-i 
 
 «\ A rs v\ n v% 
 
 © © 1-^ Tj) iH tH 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 00 "* tH CJ 
 W K5 © 1-- 
 
 00 © Ti< eo 
 
 «N «S #\ #\ 
 
 iH © lO »0 
 
 00 
 
 © 
 
 © 
 
 © 
 © 
 
 O oj CS 
 
 oh* 
 
 eo © © © CO © 
 
 I -"It C^ 1ft -* © K5 
 
 I 00 1ft JO Tf 
 
 "«* 
 
 Ift 
 
 QC 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 1ft 
 
 CO*^ 
 
 (M O 
 C 09 
 
 
 © 
 Ift 
 
 ©©i-lftlft^rHCOlM tH 
 
 CO ©THl>.00©©Th Tl< 
 
 iH © tH CO 
 
 © 
 © 
 
 JS OB 
 
 09 
 
 g 
 
 •^l>.00i>.©tH(NTj(J>.©C5'*eO-rH»Hlft 
 
 ooift©tHJt^©©©ooooi?qeoeoeo©ift 
 
 ©©©■«*C<»©©© ©(M ©00©iM 
 
 -^H tH 00 »o © © 
 iH N CO IM iH 
 
 1ft iH (M 
 iH tH CO 
 
 00 
 ift 
 
 iH 
 (M 
 
 Wh^ 0'mI>h Q 
 
 CO 
 
 © 
 © 
 
 -s 
 
 1851, will show the extent to which the Fisheries were 
 prosecuted at that period. 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 03 
 
 It should liavo been observed that the dog-fish {Spina.v 
 ncanthias) is taken in large quantities along the Atlantic 
 Coast, chiefly for the sake of the oil which is extracted 
 from it. The greater portion of the fish-oil represented 
 in the foregoing Table is obtained in this way. The 
 remains of the fish, after extracting the oil, is usually 
 given to hogs. Of some kinds of fish named in this Table 
 — particularly of salmon — the largest portion are not 
 usually cured at all, but are sent to iw^vkei fresh. 
 
 The following statement shows the quantities of fish and 
 oil actually exported from the province in ISSe."*^ 
 
 DESCRIPTIOK. 
 
 VALUK. 
 
 Alewives .... 
 Codfish . . . . . 
 Herrings (pickled) . 
 
 ,, (smoked) 
 Mackarel .... 
 Oils (fish and seal) 
 Scale fish . ... 
 Shad and Salmon . . . 
 
 £10,941 Bterliug. 
 250,042 „ 
 
 85,976 „ 
 
 2,309 „ 
 
 178,020 „ 
 
 34,819 
 
 30,706 „ 
 
 16,589 „ 
 
 Total .... 
 
 £610,002 sterling. 
 
 Notwithstanding the large item which the products of 
 the Fisheries form in the exports of Nova-Scotia, it will be 
 presumed from the foregoing Tables, that the catch of fish 
 is small in proportion to what it might be. Such is really 
 the case. The Fisheries of Nova-Scotia afford an immense, 
 and but very partially occupied field for the application of 
 labour and enterprise. As already shown, those Fisheries 
 are productive in an extraordinary degree ; and Nova- 
 Scotia, owing to its geographical position, extensive coasts, 
 and excellent harbours, presents unsurpassed if not unri- 
 valled facilities for the profitable prosecution of them. 
 
 * Official Returns. 
 
64 
 
 NOVA-SroTTA. 
 
 Yet by the Census of 1851, we find that there were then 
 but 9927 persons engaged in the Fisheries. Of those so 
 engaged, it is a common complaint tliat they bring little 
 skill to the prosecution of their calling ; and are so impro- 
 vident in their habits as to be nearly always deficient in 
 the means of employing their labour to great advantage. 
 How far soever these reproaches may be well grounded, it 
 is certain that there is abundant room in the Fisheries of 
 Nova-Scotia for the profitable employment of both capital 
 and labour. All that could be asked of Nature is hero 
 furnished by her — abundance of materials for the construc- 
 tion of fishing vessels and boats ; excellent harbours and 
 fishing grounds, so situated that the business can be car- 
 ried on with the greatest degree of safety and the least of 
 expense ; and unHmited numbers of excellent fish. To 
 these might be added, at the present time, the compara- 
 tive proximity of Nova-Scotia to the principal markets for 
 the fish taken in North American waters. By the " Re- 
 ciprocity Treaty " between Great Britain and the L aited 
 States, which came into operation in June, 1854, coloilial 
 fish are imported into the latter country free of duty. The 
 natural tendency of this is to add largely to the profits, 
 and increase the enterprise of the fishing classes of Nova- 
 Scotia. In short, it seems but reasonable to believe that 
 the only thing required to make the Fisheries of Nova- 
 Scotia by fa'' the most prosperous and productive in the 
 world, is the knowledge of their value in those older coun- 
 tries where skilled labour in that department is more abun- 
 dant and less remunerative than it is here.* 
 
 * In speaking of the products of the Fisheries, as in those of the 
 forests, those species only have been named which are of importance in 
 an Economic point of view. 
 
 i 
 
NOVA -SCOTIA. 
 
 05 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CLIMATF 
 
 Much misapprehension has prevailed, among persons 
 not personally cognisant of the facts of the case, relative 
 to the climate of Nova-Scotia. That climate has been mis- 
 represented as extremely rigorous, disagreeable, and insa- 
 lubrious. There is but very slight foundation for such 
 misrepresentation. It is true that, owing to causes which 
 need not here be explained, Nova-Scotia, like all countries 
 on the western coaf^t of the North Atlantic, is subject to 
 greater extremes of heat and cold than countries in the 
 same latitude on the eastern coast of that ocean. This 
 comparatively great variety of temperature in North 
 America, does not, in the latitude of Nova-Scotia, prevent 
 the climate being very salubrious and agreeable. There 
 is a lack of statistical information upon this head. No 
 such tabular statements are procurable as will enable us to 
 arrive at general accurate results relative to the longevity 
 of human beings in this province. Notwithstanding this 
 deficiency of statistics, it may be safely averred that the 
 average length of human life is there greater than in most 
 countries in the temperate zone. So far as the writer is 
 aware, there are no' diseases peculiar to the country ; and 
 there are none which are there disseminated in an unusual, 
 or even notable degree of rapidity or virulence. The most 
 prevalent complaints are those which are caused by sudden 
 transitions in the temperature of the atmosphere ; and, 
 therefore, form a class of diseases which are most easily 
 guarded against. There are no large, shallow lakes and 
 morasses filled with stagnant water, which would render 
 the air unwholesome ; whilst the nature of the country's 
 
66 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 surftujo, and the nearness of every part of it to the open 
 sea, in causing a free and almost constant circulation of air 
 over every part, renders that air remarkably pure. Those 
 violent and protracted intermittent fevers which are so pre- 
 valent in other parts of America, in and about the same 
 latitude as Nova-Scotia, are never generated in that coun- 
 try. On the contrary, a person afflicted with disease of 
 that kind, and who may have undergone the most skilful 
 medical treatment, with no permanent beneficial result, 
 will, on removing to Nova-Scotia, become quite well in a 
 short time, owing merely to the curative effects of the 
 climate. 
 
 Owing to the peninsular position of Nova-Scotia, and the 
 tendency of large bodies of salt water to equalise the tem- 
 perature of the atmosphere in their vicinity, it is not sub- 
 ject to such great extremes of heat in summer, and cold 
 in winter, as the neighbouring provinces of New Bruns- 
 wick and Canada, and the North Eastern States. The 
 extreme of cold is 25" Fahr. below zero ; the extreme 
 of heat, 95" above, in the shade ; but it must be observed, 
 that there is seldom a year in which the temperature attains 
 either of these extremes. The mean temperature of the 
 year is 43" ; and there are about 100 days in which the 
 temperature is above 70° in summer, or above 62° in the 
 remainder of the year ; and about twenty nights in which 
 it is below zero.* 
 
 The coldest season is comprised in the first three months 
 of the year. During this season the cold weather is not 
 so continuous, nor does the ground remain so constantly 
 covered with snow, as is usual in the neighbouring pro- 
 vinces and states already referred to. At least, when a 
 " Canadian winter " does occur in Nova-Scotia, it is an 
 exception to the ordinary rule. But during the most of 
 
 * Dawson's ** Handbook of Nova-Scotia." 
 
I 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 C7 
 
 , 
 
 ► 
 
 > 
 
 winters in Nova-Scotia, notable changes of temperature are 
 both frequent and sudden. A great body of snow usually 
 falls in the course of the season ; but, owing to the fre- 
 quency of thaws, it very rarely attains a greater depth 
 than one foot, except upon the high lands ; and, not 
 unfrequently, the ground is quite bare for weeks in succes- 
 sion. The local varieties of temperature arc more obscrv- 
 nblo in this season than in any other. In the northern and 
 north-eastern parts of the province, the winters arc ordi- 
 narily colder, there is a more even temperature, and the 
 ►snow remains more steadily upon the ground ; whilst in 
 tite south-western parts the weather is comparatively mild 
 and wet, and the snow does not usually attain any depth. 
 An impression very generally prevails among the inhabit- 
 ants of the country, that the winters are gradually becom- 
 ing milder, a fact — if it really is one — which is by some 
 attributed to the removal of the forest and the extending 
 cultivation of the soil. 
 
 Spring may be considered to commence with April. 
 Throughout this season, but more particularly during the 
 months of April and May, the climate is still subject to 
 frequent and sudden transitions of temperature. The 
 season does not glide gradually from winter into summer ; 
 it consists rather of a series of changes alternating between 
 the two. Heavy frosts are rare, but there are frequent 
 northerly and easterly winds which, having swept over 
 the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where great masses of ice still 
 float, and being often attended by light squalls of snow, 
 render the air very chilly and give a wintry aspect to 
 nature. The/0^5 for which Nova- Scotia has been somewhat 
 unjustly celebrated, are, during spring, frequent on the 
 Atlantic coast. They are confined, for the most part, to 
 the coast line, scarcely ever extending any distance inland. 
 
 In ordinary seasons, they finally disperse about June ; and, 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 during summer and autumn, fog is scarcely ever seen on 
 the Nova-Scotia coast, except on the extreme south-western 
 part — even there it is infrequent. Such a thing is scarcely 
 known on the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence at any 
 season of the year. Agricultural operations commence in 
 April, and " seed time " continues through May. Owing 
 to the rapidity with which vegetation proceeds when once 
 fairly started, and to the fact that winter crops are rarely, 
 or never, sown in Nova-Scotia, this is an extremely busy 
 season in the farming districts. Spring — or rather the 
 first two months, April and May — is considered the least 
 healthy season of the year ; but June, when the mild wea- 
 ther has become more steady, w^hen the migratory birds, 
 including many agreeable songsters, have all arrived, when 
 the field and forest are in full bloom, presents spring such 
 as the poet and painter love to describe it, and such as the 
 most dehcate invalid could not complain of 
 
 During the next three months, forming the Nova-Scotian 
 summer, the w^eather is moderately warm, with no con- 
 siderable fluctuations of temperature. Vegetation is very 
 rapid. Wheat, oats, barley, rye, are found to ripen in 
 ninety -two days in an average temperature of 52°.* Hay 
 for the winter's fodder is made in July, and the harvest- 
 ing of the grain crops commences in August. During 
 September the nights begin to grow cool, and are some- 
 times attended with light frosts. 
 
 Autumn is usually a very agreeable season. The skies 
 have the serenity of summer, yet the air is sufficiently 
 cool to be bracing and quite exhilarating to the human 
 system. The appearance of Nature is none the less gay 
 from wearing the symptoms of decay ; and the forests, 
 tinted by the frost with all the colours of the rainbow, 
 present that gorgeous appearance which has long been 
 
 * Gesner. " ludustrial Resources of Nova-Scotia," 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 G9 
 
 remarked as one of the most attractive cliaracteristics of 
 American scenery. At such a season those forests, being 
 stocked with an abundance and variety of game, are a 
 paradise to the sportsman, who carries to the scene of his 
 exciting amusement an ardent love of the beauties of 
 Nature. Usually, but not every autumn, there occurs 
 some time during this season, a continuance of from two 
 or three days to as many weeks of peculiarly mild, 
 calm, hazy weather, known as the " Indian summer." 
 Root crops are secured during the month of October, and 
 the remainder of this season is generally employed in the 
 agricultural districts in " clearing up " new land, and in 
 preparing the ground for the reception of the seed in the 
 foUoAving spring. December, although conventionally 
 classed as a winter month, may in Nova-Scotia be, with 
 much more propriety, regarded as a part of the season 
 we are now describing. The weather usual during that 
 month has more of an autumnal than a wintry character. 
 The mean temperature of the first quarter of the year 
 is 22° ; of the second, or spring, 49° ; of the three summer 
 months, 62"^ ; and of the autumn, 35°.""" 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 As is but natural to be supposed of so new a country 
 as Nova-Scotia, little progress has yet been made in manu- 
 factures. Of course, in a country but recently settled, 
 the facilities for carrying on manufactures are few, and 
 the demand for manufactured articles comparatively small. 
 The Nova-Scotian manufacturer hf',s hitherto been almost 
 
 * Dawson's ''Handbook of Nova-Scotia." 
 
70 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 limited to the market of his own country ; and, owing to 
 commercial regulations, he is virtually excluded even 
 from the markets of the neighbouring British provinces. 
 Hence it follows, that, in this branch of industrj^, 
 operations are not carried on upon a large scale ; yet 
 manufactures have for several years past increased in 
 proportion to the general growth of the country. They 
 consist largely of what are usually called domestic manu- 
 factures — that is, of articles made in the rural districts 
 by persons who do not devote their time exclusively to 
 the business. 
 
 There Avere, in 1851, but 10 steam-mills, or factories, 
 in the province. There were also at that time 1,153 saw- 
 mills, 398 grist-mills, 237 tanneries, 9 foundries, 81 
 weaving and carding establishments, 17 breweries and 
 distilleries, and 131 other factories — all upon a com- 
 paratively small scale. There were scattered through 
 the rural districts 11,096 hand-looms, from which were 
 manufactured 119,698 yards of coarse woollen, or cotton 
 and wool, cloth, afterwards fulled; 790,104 yards not 
 fulled; and 219,352 yards of flannel. There were 78,076 
 gallons of malt liquor, and 11,900 gallons of distilled 
 liquor manufactured. The value of agricultural imple- 
 ments manufactured was 16,640/. ; of chairs and cabinet 
 work, 11,155/. ; of carriages, 9,491/. ; of other wooden 
 ware, 19,233/.; of soap, 28,277/. ; and of candles, 21,210/. 
 The manufacture of most of the above-named articles has 
 very considerably increased since 1851 ; but the extent 
 to which they are produced is very far from being com- 
 mensurate with the consumption of the country. The 
 number of vessels built in the province that year was 
 486, with an aggregate tonnage of 57,776 tons. 
 
 With so much good soil still uncultivated, and with 
 such valuable fisheries upon its coasts, it is not probable 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 71 
 
 that Nova-Scotia will very soon become celebrated as a 
 manufacturing country. There seems no reason, however, 
 why it should not become so in time — the probabilities 
 point rather to an opposite result. The geographical 
 position of the country in some degree favours such a 
 supposition. The superior "water powers" for driving- 
 machinery to b ) found in all parts of the province — its 
 numerous and valuable coal mines — inexhaustible deposits 
 of iron and other mineral substances — would lead to the 
 conclusion, that at all events, when the price of labour is 
 lowered by a large increase of population, manufacturing 
 will be carried on upon an extensive scale. Indeed, there 
 seems no reason to doubt that it might be profitably 
 done even now in many articles for which the country 
 affords the raw materials of an excellent quality, and at 
 a comparatively small expense. Whatever may be the 
 inducement to undertake manufacturing on a large scale, 
 it is quite certain that the present wants of Nova-Scotia 
 itself, and in articles not usually imported into the coun- 
 try, hold out employment for a great many additional 
 mechanics. That country is a good field, not only for 
 labouring artisans, but for men who are desirous of 
 investing a small capital in the prosecution of some 
 mechanical art. There is an especial deraand for all 
 kinds of mechanics employed about either i^ouse or ship 
 building ; but many other trades may be carried on with 
 handsome profit by the industrious and skilful artisan. 
 
72 
 
 K OVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 COMMERCE. 
 
 The products which have hitherto formed the largest 
 portion of the exports of Nova-Scotia, have been drawn 
 from its forests and fisheries. Mineral substances, — par- 
 ticularly coal and gypsum, — live stock, and agricultural 
 produce, are also exported pretty largely. The exports 
 under this latter head have increased very much within 
 the last few years. The principal markets for these pro- 
 ducts are Great Britain, the United States, and the West 
 Indies. The principal export to Great Britain consists of 
 timber, both as squared timber and sawed into deals, 
 lumber, &c., and of ships built in the province. In return 
 for these, there are imported from the United Kingdom 
 manufactures of every description suited to the wants of 
 the country. The West Indies have long been the prin- 
 cipal market for the fish of Nova-Scotia, which receives in 
 return produce the growth of those countries. To the 
 United States are exported coal, gypsum, wood, fish, and 
 agricultural and horticultural produce. The imports from 
 that country consist principally of breadstufFs and of 
 American manufactures, especially of a cheap description 
 of furniture and cabinet-work, carriages, and agricultural 
 implements. 
 
 The general trade of Nova-Scotia being divided among 
 various channels, and carried on in a large variety of 
 products, with no very great preponderance of any one, 
 it has not been liable to such great and sudden fluctuations 
 as have been rather frequent in some neighbouring coun- 
 tries. It has increased very steadily and in proportion 
 to the general growth of the country. The following 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 73 
 
 statement, taken from official returns, shows the imports 
 and exports of the province from 1851 to 1855 inclu- 
 
 sive :- 
 
 TEAR. 
 
 1 
 
 IMPORTS. 
 
 BXPORIS. 
 
 1851 
 
 £1,005,528 sterling. 
 
 £708,462 sterling. 
 
 1852 
 
 1,194,175 „ 
 
 970,780 „ 
 
 1853 
 
 1,417,086 „ 
 
 1,078,707 „ 
 
 1854 
 
 1,791,082 „ 
 
 1,247,668 „ 
 
 1855 
 
 1,882,703 „ 
 
 1,466,215 „ * 
 
 This statement in itself shows that the trade of Nova- 
 Scotia has about doubled in five years. To arrive at the 
 correct value of the exports, some addition should be 
 made to the above sums for under-valuation of some 
 articles, and for the value of others of which no return 
 has been made. Another very important addition to be 
 made, is that of vessels built in the province and sent out 
 of it for sale. No official returns show the amount of this 
 item previous to 1853. The following table shows the 
 extent to which ship-building has been carried on in the 
 province for the last three years, and the amount of 
 shipping exported for sale : — 
 
 Year. 
 
 Number 
 Vessels 
 Built. 
 
 Tonnage. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Number 
 expox-ted 
 for sale. 
 
 Tonnage. 
 
 Value. 
 
 1853 
 1854 
 
 ' 1855 
 
 i 
 1 
 
 203 
 244 
 236 
 
 34,376 
 52,814 
 40,469 
 
 £315,418 Stg. 
 509,319 „ 
 448,142 „ 
 
 86 
 70 
 53 
 
 21,867 
 21,125 
 12,549 
 
 £191,401 Stg. 
 179,316 „ 
 117,945 „* 
 
 Thus it appears that the true exports of 1853, 1854, 
 
 * According to returns made up since these tabular statements were 
 
74 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 
 and 1855, as nearly as they can be ascertained, reach 
 the respective amounts of 1,270,308/., 1,426,984/., and 
 1,584,160/. sterhng. 
 
 There seems every reason to suppose that the commerce 
 of Nova-Scotia, rajiidly as it has grown of late years, must 
 continue to grow much more rapidly. By the " Recipro- 
 city Treaty" between Great Britain and the United States, 
 which went into operation in June 1854, and which has 
 been already alluded to, all unmanufactured articles, the 
 growth and produce of Nova-Scotia, of commercial import- 
 ance, may be imported into the United States free of 
 dutij. The result of this is to cause a great stimulus to 
 the export trade of Nova-Scotia, a result which is yet but 
 scarcely commenced. Notwithstanding that, by one 
 article in that treaty, United States fishermen are pri- 
 vileged to prr'^uc ^heir calling upon the coasts and in the 
 bays of Nova *:< )tiri and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it is 
 believed that tne N .va-Scotian fisherman will ever find a 
 ready market for . s fish in the United States. However 
 this may be, there are other articles, the growth and 
 produce of that province, which it is quilu certain will 
 ever find a ready sale in the United States, and at a fair 
 profit to the producer. The decided superiority of Nova- 
 Scotia with reference to its agricultural resources, its 
 mines, or its forests, over the New England States, 
 furnishes the best of reasons for sue)) a conclusion. The 
 proximity of the province to the market thus opened 
 to its products, and the comparatively small cost of the 
 transportation of those products to mark-^t, owing to 
 the free water communication available for that ("pur- 
 pose to every section of that province, add to the 
 
 prepared, the imports, in 1856, amounted in value to £1,869,832 ; the 
 exports, to £1,372,958 ; value of ships sent out of the province for 
 sale, £126,890, making the total exports amount to £1,499,854. 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 76 
 
 .[ 
 
 probabilities of a greatly enlarged trade between it and 
 the United States. 
 
 There is an equal probability of a great increase in the 
 trade between Nova-Scotia and the neighbouring British 
 provinces. Previous to 1850 but very Httle commercial 
 intercourse existed between them. Since that time, 
 owing mainly to an inter-provincial treaty, providing for 
 an exchange of commodities, the growth, or natural 
 products of the province whence exported, the trade be- 
 tween them has considerably increased. Canada affords 
 not a small market for the fish of Nova- Scotia. The latter 
 country is richer in mineral resources than Canada, New 
 Brunswick, or Prince Edward's Island, a fact which will 
 itself, in all probability, lead to an active traffic between it 
 and them. The principal import from Canada has been 
 and will probably continue to be, breadstuffs. But that 
 which is most especially calculated to increase the direct 
 traffic between Nova-Scotia and the more important of 
 these provinces, is the undoubted tendency of the trade 
 between Canada, and, to some extent, New Brunswick 
 also, on the one hand, and the West Indies on the other, 
 to pass through Nova-Scotia. Owing to causes which it is 
 scarcely necessary here to trace out, Nova-Scotia will be the 
 immediate source from which those neighbouring countries 
 will mainly draw their supplies of West Indian produce. 
 
 Without descending to particulars, the reader will per- 
 ceive that from the geographical position and conformation 
 of Nova-Scotia, already so frequently alluded to ; the num- 
 ber and excellence of its harbours, its great facilities for ship- 
 building, the tendency of these conditions combined with 
 the excellent fisheries upon its coasts, to decide the occu- 
 pation of a large proportion of its population ; it is more 
 than probable that it must soon appropriate to itself a very 
 large proportion of the carrying trade of North America. 
 
76 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 CONSIDERED SOCIALLY. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 The head of the Executive and Legislative bodies in 
 Nova-Scotia is the Lieutenant-Governor, who is ap- 
 pointed by the Crown. He is nominally subordinate to 
 the Governor of Canada, who is " Governor-General of 
 British North America." The Lieutenant-Governor is 
 advised, in the discharge of his administrative and legis- 
 lative duties, by an Executive Council, usually of nine 
 members, appointed by the Crown and chosen from the 
 Legislative Council and the House of Assembly. They 
 are responsible to the people for the public acts of the 
 Lieutenant-Governor. Five of the members of the 
 Executive Council are, whilst occupying that position, 
 Heads of Public Departments, or hold important offices of 
 emolument in the province, viz., the Attorney-General, 
 Solicitor-General, Provincial Secretary, Financial Secre- 
 tary, and Receiver-General. 
 
 The other legislative bodies are the Legislative Council, 
 and the House of Assembly. 
 
 The Legislative Council, or Upper House, consists, at 
 the present time, of twenty-one members : they are 
 appointed by the Crown, and hold their seats for life. 
 The functions and privileges of this Council, as a legis- 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 77 
 
 „ 
 
 lative body, do not materially differ from those of the 
 House of Lords. 
 
 The House op Asseaibly — The provincial House of 
 Commons — consists of fifty-three members, thirty of whom 
 are elected by the counties, and the remainder by certain 
 privileged representative townships. They are elected 
 every four years. The right to vote at these elections 
 extends to every male of twenty-one years of age, who is 
 a natural-born, or naturalised, subject of the British 
 Sovereign, and who has for one year just previous to the 
 election been a resident of the county or township in which 
 he votes. A residence of five years in the province is 
 required where the elector is not a native of Nova-Scotia. 
 The qualification of residence is in neither case required if 
 the elector has, for six months preceding the election, been 
 a freeholder of real estate, within the county or township 
 where he votes, of the annual value of forty shillings. 
 The elective franchise does not extend to Indians, unless 
 they are freeholders, nor to paupers. The House of 
 Assembly has the power of legislating upon all the in- 
 ternal affairs of the province, and it conforms in its usages 
 as nearly as possible to the House of Commons. 
 
 JUDICIAL. 
 
 The lowest order of courts for the trial of civil causes, 
 in Nova-Scotia, are those of the Justices of the Peace. 
 There is a large number of these officers in every county, 
 and each of them has jurisdiction throughout the whole 
 county in which he resides. One justice may adjudicate 
 upon any matter in which the cause of action does not 
 exceed three pounds ; where it is above this amount, but 
 does not exceed ten pounds, two are required. They 
 cannot adjudicat3 where the cause of action exceeds this 
 
7S 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 latter amount. An nppcal lies from tlio Justices' Courts 
 to the Supremo Court. 
 
 The General Sessions are held in each county annually, 
 or semi-annually. They are assemblages of the County 
 Justices and Grand Jurors, for the transaction of certain 
 local business, being legislative rather than judicial bodies. 
 
 Tne Probate Court is a County Court, presided over by 
 a single judge, usually a barrister of some professional 
 eminence. It has the custody of all wills ; and its 
 function is to dispose of the estates of deceased persons. 
 An appeal from its decisions may be had to the Supreme 
 Court. 
 
 Tlie Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in all civil 
 suits where the cause of action is not less than five 
 pounds ; and appellate jurisdiction where it is less than 
 that. It is also the only criminal court in the province. 
 This court is presided over by a Chief Justice and four 
 Assistant Justices. The whole province is divided into 
 four circuits ; and the sittings of the Supreme Court are 
 held twice annually in each county. A Court of Chan- 
 cery, which formerly existed in Nova-Scotia, has recently 
 been abohshed, and equity jurisdiction conferred upon the 
 Supreme Court. 
 
 The Court of Vice-Admiraltt/, which is unlike the 
 English Admiralty Court in no respect, except its subor- 
 dinat .:k, is presided over by one judge. 
 
 TJie Court of Marriage and Divorce, the nature and 
 object of which are sufficiently explained by its name, is 
 composed of the Lieutenant-Governor and Executive 
 Council, assisted by one judge of the Supreme Court. 
 
 The Governor and Council form a Court of Error, 
 before which all suits may be brought, on appeal, where 
 the amount of the judgment is not less than £300. A 
 further appeal lies to Her Majesty in Council. 
 
NOV A -SCOTIA. 
 
 79 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL. 
 
 people. In 
 iiiSLuiices two — 
 
 The common schools of Nova-Scotia arc supported in part 
 by legislative grants of iiioncy, but principally by the 
 voluntary payments of the people, or tuition fees of those 
 educated in them. The annual grant of the Legislature 
 for common schools, grammar schools, and county 
 academies, now amounts to 1 6,868/. This sum is appor- 
 tioned among the different counties, an ^ iien subdivided 
 among the various school districts \\ portion to the 
 
 amounts therein directly contributed 
 each county there is a board — in so in 
 of School Commissioners, wdiose duty it is to regulate the 
 division of the county into school districts, apportion the 
 Legislative grant among them, examine and license school 
 teachers, furnish educational statistics, and superintend the 
 interests of education generally within its own particular 
 sphere. A normal and training school for teachers, 
 founded by a provincial grant and to be supported by the 
 jDrovince, was opened at Truro, the county town of 
 Colchester, in the autumn of 1855. Highly beneficial 
 results are expected to follow the opening of this institu- 
 tion. There are but three teachers engaged in it at 
 present ; but from the large number of applications from 
 pupils desirous of qualifying themselves for common school 
 teachers, it is believed that the school will have to, be 
 speedily enlarged. The Principal of the institution is 
 also superintendent of education throughout the 
 province. 
 
 The common school educational system of Nova-Scotia 
 is, at the present time, inferior to that of Canada West, 
 

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 VtfnSTIR,N.Y. US80 
 
 (716) •72-4503 
 
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80 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 and of some of the New England States ; yet it has 
 recently made great advances in the way of improve- 
 ment, and there are reasonable grounds for anticipating 
 that, in the course of a few years, it will be not inferior 
 to any in America. The tuition obtainable at these 
 common schools is so very cheap, and the provision made 
 by the Legislature for paupers so ample in proportion to 
 the numbers of that class, that the rudiments of an 
 English education may be had by all who are really 
 desirous of acquiring them. The improvements now sought 
 to be introduced are for the purpose of elevating the 
 character of the schools ; and of providing for the'r 
 support in such a way that no man shall be permitted to 
 plead poverty as an excuse for bringing up his children 
 in ignorance. The first of these objects will be attained 
 through the instrumentality of the Normal School already 
 established. To attain the other, the plan of supporting 
 schools ^'^e to all classes of children, by a taxation of the 
 whole property of the country, has been in agitation for 
 several years, and is now so favourably regarded by all of 
 the more intelligent classes, that there is every probability 
 of its soon becoming law. 
 
 There are many facilities for obtaining education 
 of a higher class. Grammar schools or academies, in which 
 the classics and the higher branches of English education 
 are taught, exist in nearly all the towns, or large villages 
 of the province. There are also three chartered colleges 
 in operation — King's College at Windsor, an Episcopalian 
 institution, Acadia College, Wolfville, Baptist ; and 
 St. Mary's College, Halifax, Roman Catholic. Another 
 Catholic educational institution of the higher class has 
 recently been opened at Antigonish. Although these 
 institutions are under denominational control, no religious 
 tests are required of students on matriculation. The 
 
 I 
 
 ! 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 81 
 
 
 curriculum in each of these colleges, extending over four 
 years, does not differ materially from that of the others. 
 It usually comprises courses of instruction in the Latin and 
 Greek languages, mathematics, logic, rhetoric, and moral 
 and intellectual philosophy. In King's and Acadia 
 Colleges, there are also theological departments having 
 professorships of Hebrew and theology. The " Free 
 Church College for the Lower Provinces of British North 
 America " is located at Halifax, and affords a course of 
 instruction similar to that of the other institutions just 
 mentioned. Gorham College, Liverpool, Queen's County, 
 under the control of the Congregational sect, was sud- 
 denly interrupted in its operations in the year 1854, 
 owing to the destruction of the college building by 
 accidental fire. This serious damage has not yet been 
 repaired. The Presbyterian church of Nova-Scotia has a 
 Theological seminary, now at Durham, in Pictou County, 
 but about to be removed to Truro. Dalhousie College, at 
 HaUfax, was incorporated in 1820 ; when a building was 
 erected at the public expense, and a sum invested in the 
 British three per-cents for the support of the institution. 
 It has not, as yet, answered the expectations which were 
 entertained concerning it. Twice has a staff of professors 
 and teachers been appointed, and the institution been 
 opened for the admission of students ; but all attempts to 
 make the college of service to the country have resulted 
 in failure. It has been quite recently opened a third 
 time, with a new set of teachers, as a sort of City High 
 School. 
 
82 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 POPULATION, RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. 
 
 The population of the province of Nova-Scotia amounted, 
 in 1851, according to the census taken that year, to 
 276,117 souls. It had increased, for the ten years 
 preceding that time, more rapidly than that of the 
 adjoining province of New Brunswick, or of the neigh- 
 bouring States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, or 
 Connecticut, and at about the same rate as that of the 
 State of New York. It is now probably not less 
 than 330,000. 
 
 No considerable portion of this population is collected 
 together in towns. The population of the city of Halifax, 
 in 1851, was 20,949. It may now be computed at not 
 less than 25,000. This is the only city in the province ; 
 and there are no other towns of any size, the bulk of the 
 population being scattered over the country in agricultural 
 settlements and fishing villages. The geographical con- 
 formation of Nova-Scotia does not favour the growth 
 of large towns. This is such that there is no place in the 
 province distant more than thirty miles frf»»n a good 
 shipping port ; and indeed there are but n points 
 which are not much nearer than that t(i several of the 
 many excellent harbours which line the coast. This 
 peculiarity is a great advantage to the country at large ; 
 but it has a tendency to prevent any one place from 
 advancing, with remarkable rapidity, in wealth and 
 population. 
 
 The distribution of this population,' at the time the 
 census was taken, was as follows : 
 
 : 
 
■ 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 
 Halifax .... 
 
 . 39,112 
 
 Lunenburg 
 
 . 16,396 
 
 Queen's. 
 
 . 7,256 
 
 Shelbume .... 
 
 . 10,622 
 
 Yarmouth 
 
 , 13,142 
 
 Digby .... 
 
 . 12,252 
 
 Annapolis 
 
 . 14,286 
 
 King's .... 
 
 . 14,138 
 
 Hants .... 
 
 . 14,330 
 
 Cumberland 
 
 14,339 
 
 Colchester 
 
 . 15,469 
 
 Pictou .... 
 
 25,593 
 
 Sydney .... 
 
 13,467 
 
 Guysborough . . . 
 
 10,838 
 
 Iniemess 
 
 16,917 
 
 Biohmond .... 
 
 . 10,381 
 
 Cape Breton ) 
 Victoria J 
 
 2V,580 
 
 88 
 
 The inhabitants of Nova-Scotia, as may naturally be sup- 
 posed, are mostly of British origin ; but Richmond County, 
 the eastern portion of Sydney County, the township of 
 Clare in Digby County, and some large settlements in 
 Yarmouth, are occupied almost exclusively by people of 
 French descent ; whilst the population of Lunenburg 
 is mostly (Jescended from a body of German emigrants 
 who first settled in that county. The townships of Earl- 
 ton and New Annan, in Colchester, the counties of Pictou, 
 Inverness, Victoria, and the larger portions of Sydney and 
 Cape Breton, are settled by emigrants from the Highlands 
 and Islands of Scotland and their descendants. The 
 largest proportion of Irish is to be found in Halifax. In 
 most other' parts of the province, the population is of 
 mixed origin. 
 
 The numbers comprised in the various religious deno- 
 minations in the province, as shown by the last census, 
 are as follows : 
 
 Roman Catholics .... 69,634 
 
 Baptists 42,243 ' 
 
 Church of England . 36,482 
 
 Ptesbyterian Church of Nova-Scotia 28,767 
 
 2 
 
H. 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 
 Free Church 
 
 25,280 
 
 Methodiiits .... 
 
 23,596 
 
 Church of Scotland 
 
 18,867 
 
 Lutherans .... 
 
 4,087 
 
 CongregationalistB . 
 
 2,639 
 
 Universalists . . . . . 
 
 580 
 
 Quakers .... 
 
 188 
 
 Sandimanians .... 
 
 101 
 
 Other denominations 
 
 3,791 
 
 The whole number of churches in the province, at 
 the same time, was 567 — equal to one for every 487 
 inhabitants. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 POSTAL AFFAIRS, ROADS, CANALS, AND OTHER 
 PUBLIC WORKS. 
 
 ; 
 
 POST-OFPICB. 
 
 NoVA-ScoTiA is well provided with postal facilities ; and 
 the post-office department being subject to the control of 
 the provincial Legislature, these facilities are rapidly en- 
 larged and extended as the wants of the country increase. 
 A daily postal communication is kept up between Halifax 
 and Yarmouth to the westward, Pictou to the eastward, 
 and the principal intermediate places. Mails are received 
 and despatched, at least three times per week, at all the 
 most important villages and settlements in the province ; 
 and there is no place which can properly be called a 
 " settlement " which does not enjoy that advantage once, 
 or twice, per week. Besides the overland mails which 
 run between Nova-Scotia and the neighbouring provinces 
 of New Brunswick and Canada and the United States, 
 there is a direct communication with the latter country 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 ^8 
 
 evevy fortnight, by means of the Cunard steamers ; and 
 a more frequent regular communication is maintained, 
 between various ports in Nova-Scotia and in the United 
 States by several lines of steamers and sailing packets. 
 The mail communication with England direct is carried on 
 through the Cunard steamers which, in their fortnightly 
 trips each way between Boston and Liverpool, touch at 
 HaUfax. By branch steam packets belonging to the 
 same company a fortnightly mail communication is kept 
 up between Halifax and Newfoundland, and Halifax and 
 Bermuda, from which latter place it is extended to the 
 West Indies. 
 
 According to the report of the Post-master General for 
 the year ending 5th October, 1856, there were at the 
 close of that year, in the province, 66 permanently esta- 
 blished post-offices, 277 branch offices, or " way offices," 
 and 3,879 miles of mail communication. There is now 
 an established uniform rate of postage throughout the 
 North American continental provinces ; and threepence, 
 Halifax currency — the lowest rate — carries a letter of 
 half an ounce in weight to any part of those provinces. 
 Newspapers are transmitted free of postage. 
 
 COMMON ROADS. 
 
 The roads of Nova-Scotia compare favourably with those 
 in the Northern States. The country being yet new, these 
 means of communication are being rapidly extended 
 every year. The cost of opening new roads is defrayed 
 in part by legislative grant applied directly to that pur- 
 pose, and in part by sums granted out of the treasury of 
 the county in, or through, which the road is made. The 
 County Treasuries contain the proceeds of a few inconsi- 
 derable taxes levied and appropriated by the Court of 
 
86 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 Sessions. To these means of opening up new lines of 
 road may also be added the voluntary aid of the people 
 immediately interested, which is often contributed cheer- 
 fully and with highly profitable results to themselves. 
 Roads are kept in repair by means of legislative grants, 
 and by a tax, payable in labour, but which may be com- 
 muted for money, levied upon all able-bodied men between 
 the ages of 16 and 60, according to a scale in which 
 their ages, means, and some other circumstances are taken 
 into consideration. Small county appropriations are 
 sometimes made for the same purpose. The annual 
 Legislative grant to the road and bridge service, has 
 gradually increased in proportion to the increase in the 
 revenues of the province. In 1856, it amounted to 
 45,000/. Toll-bars are unknown on the roads of Nova- 
 Scotia ; and there are but two or three bridges in the 
 province, built by companies, at which tolls are taken 
 from passengers. r ., : 
 
 RAILROADS. 
 
 Nova-Scotia has somewhat extensive works of this kind 
 now in course of construction. It was determined by the 
 Legislature, during the session of 1854, to commence, as a 
 provincial work, certain lines of railway, to connect 
 Halifax with the interior of the province. Provision has 
 been made for procuring the necessary funds by the sale 
 of provincial debentures in the English money market ; 
 and the works were actually commenced in May, 1 854. 
 The lines, so far as already decided upon by the Board 
 of Railway Commissioners, consist of a trunk-line to 
 extend from Halifax to Truro, a distance of about 
 sixty miles, together with two branches ; one extending 
 westwardly to Windsor, about thirty-three miles in length ; 
 the other, eastwardly to Pictou, a distance from the trunk, 
 
 } 
 
 t 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 87 
 
 at Truro, of rather more than forty mih;s. But it is also 
 expected that the trunk-line will be extended to the New 
 Brunswick frontier — upwards of sixty miles beyond 
 Truro — as soon as a similar work, to be constructed by 
 that province, shall be brought up to the frontier ; and 
 New Brunswick is already fully committed and actually 
 engaged upon the work which is to cause this extension 
 of the Nova-Scotian lines. , -. 
 
 Of the lines referred to above, there were, on the 1st of 
 June, 1857, but ninety-two miles located and in course of 
 construction or finished. This comprised a part of the 
 trunk extending from Halifax to Truro, and the whole of 
 the Windsor branch. Of this, twenty-two and a half 
 miles only, upon the trunk, was completed and in 
 operation. , 
 
 i 
 
 CANALS. 
 
 There is not a finished canal in Nova-Scotia ; but there 
 are two now in course of construction. As early as 1825, 
 operations were commenced for connecting the harbour of 
 Halifax with Cobequid Bay, by means of the waters of 
 the Shubenacadie River, the Dartmouth Lakes, and the 
 " Shubenacadie Canal." These works were continued for 
 some time, and at a pretty large expenrliture of money, 
 but were at length abandoned whilst still i.icomplete. A 
 new company was incorporated, by Act of the Provin- 
 cial Parliament, in 1853, to resume and complete the 
 works thus commenced, with some modifications of the 
 original plan. Early in the following year, operations upon 
 the " Shubenacadie Canal " were recommenced. When 
 completed, locomotion is to be aided upon this canal by 
 means of a series of locks and two inclined planeSy one of 
 1,320 feet, and the other of 500 feet in length, to be 
 worked upon by means of water-power machinery. There 
 
NOVA-SOOTIA. 
 
 are to be eight locks only, each of which will bj in length 
 67 feet ; in breadth, 17 feet ; and to have 5 feet depth of 
 water. They are intended to afford locomotion to boats 
 of 100 tons burthen. 
 
 The "St. Peter's Canal" was commenced in the autumn 
 of 1854, as a provincial work. It is to connect the waters 
 of St. Peter's Bay, on the Atlantic coast of the island of 
 Cape Breton, with those of the Bras d'Or Lake ; and, when 
 completed, will divide Cape Breton into two islands. This 
 will be a work inconsiderable as to its magnitude, but of 
 great importance to the interests of the island of Cape 
 Breton. It will open into the great Bras d'Or a safe and 
 easy entrance, and one by which access to it will be 
 sought much more frequently than through the natural 
 outlet of that lake. The advantages expected to accrue 
 from the completion of the work may be seen by a glance 
 at a map of the country. The length of St. Peter's Canal 
 will be only 2,300 feet ; its breadth at water line, 50 feet ; 
 depth of water, 13 feet. It is intended to have one lock 
 at the St. Peter's Bay termination, and a guard-gate at 
 the Bras d'Or. The length of the lock will be 120 feet ; 
 width of gates, 22 feet. These dimensions are expected 
 to be sufficient to accommodate any coasting or fishing 
 vessel frequenting the neighbouring waters. 
 
 ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS. 
 
 Every county in Nova-Scotia is connected with the pro- 
 vincial metropolis, and with the neighbouring provinces, 
 and the United States, by lines of electric telegraph. 
 Those within Nova-Scotia are owned and worked by the 
 " Nova-Scotia Electric Telegraph Company." They extend 
 over a distance of 1,124 miles ; and there are thirty-six 
 telegraph offices in the province. The tolls for messages 
 upon these lines are low, being at the rate of sixpence 
 
 V 
 
 f; 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 a» 
 
 sterling per ten words, for distances not exceeding sixty 
 miles, with proportionable increase for additional words 
 and for greater distances. During the summer of 1856, 
 the " New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph 
 Company," succeeded in submerging a cable, by which 
 the Nova-Scotian lines were put in connection with St. 
 St. John's, in Newfoundland. In the Provincial Legis- 
 lature, during the session of 1857, a bill was passed giving 
 to the " Great Atlantic Telegraph Company " the exclusive 
 right, for twenty-five years, to land upon the coast of 
 Nova-Scotia a submarine cable, connecting that province 
 with the British Islands. 
 
 t 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 It is hoped that the foregoing remarks will be found 
 sufficient to give a correct general knowledge of the 
 resources of Nova-Scotia, and of the advantages which it 
 offers to intending emigrants. When compared with 
 a view to such advantages with the western states, Canada, 
 New Brunswick, or any of the British Australasian provinces, 
 there will be certainly no contrast presented unfavourable 
 to Nova-Scotia. The latter country does not afford the 
 same wide field for the settlement of emigrants which any 
 of the others do ; although, as we have already seen, it 
 contains large tracts of good unoccupied land. It cannot 
 be said that, as a wheat-growing country, it is equal to 
 Western Canada or the north-western States, which pro- 
 bably rank as the first in the world in that respect. As 
 a timber-producing country, it is inferior to New Bruns- 
 wick, Canada, or the British American possessions on the 
 coast of the Pacific Ocean. On the other hand, Nova- 
 Scotia, considered with regard to its fisheries, or its mineral 
 
90 
 
 NOVA-SCOTIA. 
 
 wealth, is undoubtedly superior to any of them. It is 
 nearer, and more easy of access from Europe than any of 
 those other new countries to which the tide of European 
 emigration has hitherto principally directed its course. It 
 is more conveniently situated for the purposes of trade, as 
 a glance at the map of the world will show. Lands are 
 generally cheaper there than in the neighbouring provinces 
 or the United States. The climate of Nova-Scotia agrees 
 much better with European constitutions than that of the 
 celebrated wheat-growing sections of Canada and the 
 United States. Leaving out of view all consideration of 
 fisheries and mineral resources, doubtless each of tho 
 great emigration-fields of the Avorld at the present day is, 
 in some particulars, superior to Nova-Scotia ; but when 
 everything is taken into consideration, it is, at tho very 
 least, extremely doubtful if Nova-Scotia is inferior to any 
 one of them. 
 
 The author will not pretend to enter upon the subject, 
 usually occupying so large a portion of works of this 
 nature, of "Advice to Emigrants.'* In the case of a 
 country so easy of access from Europe as Nova-Scotia is, 
 it can only be necessary to give the intending emigrant 
 every possible information concerning the character of 
 the country itself : an ordinary amount of practical good 
 sense will direct him how to get there, and to dispose of 
 himself on his arrival. 
 
 Much might be said, however, upon another point, 
 which comes very naturally under notice in such a work 
 as this ; that is, the great advantages, as a place of set- 
 tlement, which Nova-Scotia, in common with the other 
 provinces of British North America, holds out to persons 
 of a wealthier class than is in the habit of emigrating, — 
 at least to that part of the world ; persons living upon 
 incomes scarcely sufficient to provide for all their neces- 
 
NOVA-SCOTIA, 
 
 91 
 
 De sufficient to maintain them with ease, and in comna 
 rative affluence, in British North Ameri a. To desTnt" 
 upon this branch of the subject with the fullne s wh^^? 
 
 ft TZ' ""'' -'"n" ""' ^"^" ''"^'^ ^-^'^-^^^ C5 
 
 Its 1 mits as originally contemplated ; and it will, therefore 
 not be attempted at all. "teroiore, 
 
 THE END. 
 
 B«ADBT,nv AKD SVAHSfc PRIHTBRS. W,r,«rR, 
 
 ARS.