280 J. G. BOUEINOT 



"We pass a number of uot too well cultivated farms, each with its little homestead of logs 

 or sawn lumber, chiefly occupied by Scotch settlers. Grradually we can smell the fresh 

 salt air, that tells us of our nearness to the sea, and suddenly emergino- from a desolate 

 looking country, covered wnth small spruce, or with stumps and rocks where there 

 happens to be a little clearing, we End ourselves on the hills which overlook the harbour, 

 which stretches before us from northeast to southwest. If the day be foggy and dull — 

 and there is a prevalence of such weather on that southeast coast of Cape Breton — the 

 feeling that comes to the visitor is one of intense loneliness as he surveys the scattered 

 houses, the almost deserted port, the absence of any commercial activity, and the wide 

 ex^ianse of ocean stretching away to the eastern horizon. This feeling is naturally inten- 

 sified by memories of the very different scenes that were witnessed on the same harbour 

 in the middle of last century. It is by such contrasts between the past and the present 

 that a place like Louisbourg makes the most impression on the mind. A large bustling 

 city would cause us almost to forget the historic days of old, and could not have the charm 

 of the lonely aspect that the site of the ouce famous town now wears. 



This harbour, so full of memories, possesses natural characteristics which are peculiar 

 to itself and after a while bring with them a feeling of rest and isolation from the great 

 world which frets and fumes away beyond it, and has brought none of its activity to its 

 now relatively deserted shore. It is a striking feature of Louisbourg as of the coast 

 generally of Cape Breton, that the landscape ever and auon assumes a sad aspect, arising 

 from the misty clouds that at certain seasons obscure the sun, and give darker shadows 

 to the gloomy spruce that fringes the shores of the island. A similar feeling of sadness 

 passes over the spirit when we contemplate the great prairies of the northwest, which, 

 by their wide expanse and fitfvil shadows, recall the great sea that beats against the rock- 

 bound coast of Cape Breton. Louisbourg is, indeed, a place to see Nature in its varied 

 aspects. The very atmospheric changes, so sudden at times, somehow seem adapted to 

 the varying moods of life. One day is all bright and the waters of the port sparkle in the 

 sunshine, the gulls and seabirds take lofty liights in the pure atmosphere, the patches of 

 stunted spruce assume a deeper green, and the lights aud shadows play above the ruined 

 ramparts of the old town to which the eye ever turns in remembrance of the past. Then 

 in a moment the wind veers round and as we look to the southeast we can just see above 

 the horizon a low bank of grey shadow which moves forward, and soon enshrouds the 

 islands at the entrance, and the lighthouse on its rocky height in a cloud of mist, which 

 increases steadily in volume until at last the point of land on which the old fortress ouce 

 stood is no longer visible to the eye. Then, a few hours later, the wind changes ouce 

 more and a cool breeze comes from the northwest, and the fog is driven out to sea again, 

 and the harbour is revealed in all its solitary beauty. Or perhaps the wind rises to a 

 storm, and then the waves dash with fierce velocity on the rocks and islets that bar the 

 ocean from the ports, which, despite the tempest outside, seems remarkably unruffled, and 

 affords a safe anchorage to the boats and vessels that are now its sole occupants instead 

 of the great fleets of stately ships that once whitened its waters in the days of old. 



Let us walk around this harbour on a bright day when the fog, for once, has found 

 its way beneath the horizon, aud take a brief survey of the natural features of this 

 curious landscape, aud of the memorials that still remain of the old régime. The Light- 

 house Point, or rocky promontory that forms the northeastern entrance, is the terminus 

 of a great mass of rocks, where the inevitable spruce has obtained a foothold, aud the 



