308 J. G. BOUEINOT 



are heights in nliich we find quantities of plaister in some places. The land is not very good, although the moun- 

 tains are covered with trees, chiefly consisting of pines, spruce and a few oaks and beeches. The fishing is not 

 good, for we find chiefly oysters, which are not of tlie best flavour, on account of their freshness when they are 

 first dragged up, but they can be kept eight or ten days with their juice, and then when they are salted they lose 

 that sickly taste which arises from the fresh water of the rivers at tlie mouth of which tliey are taken. 



Leaving the port of St. Pierre by way of Canipseaux to make a tour of tlie island in an easterly direction we 

 come first to lie Verte, and next to the rocks known a.s Isles Micliaur,' some three leagues ofl", where the codfishery 

 is excellent. Thence to the English harbour- is a distance often leagues, mostly of rocky coast. At the entrance 

 of the port there is an island ' which must be kept well on the left, but once inside ships are safe, as the anchorage 

 is good. The land is mostly high and rocky, and at the bottom of the harbour is a pond ' where one may catch a 

 great number of eel.«. The codfishery in this locality is good. The Olonnois'' formerly came here to winter that 

 they might be the first on the grand bank for the catch of green cod, and the first to return to France, as such fish 

 sells best when it is quite fresli. Three leagues further east is the port of Baleine, which is still a good harbour 

 despite its ditficulty of access on account of the number of rocks. We next reach the Fourillon,'' which is behind 

 Cape Breton. This cape is only an island,' and the part of the island which bears this name lies towards the 

 southeast, and is only a collection of rocks behind which vessels sometimes find shelter while they catch the fish, 

 which are exceedingly plentiful here. All the land of this part of the country is poor, although there are some fine 

 trees on the hills, like beech, birch, a few piies, and plenty of spruce. Going on further we come to Spanish 

 River,^ in the entrance of which vessels can lie quite securely. A mountain of excellent coal is found four leagues 

 up the river, and the land is for the most part pretty good. One side is covered with beech, birch, maple, ash and 

 some kinds of oak, be.sides iiine and spruce. From the sources of this river we can cross over to the Labrador,'' 

 passing on the way at least three leagues of wood. Leaving Spanish river to enter Labrador we find for a distance 

 of three leagues many rocks, at the end of which is the entrance of little Cibou or Labrador, where there is a good 

 deal of coal. At this point commences a great bay which comes close to Inganiehe; it is eight or ten leagues 

 broad ; inside there are many rocks where the cormorants make their nests. Beyond these rocks on the right is 

 Great Cibou, wliich is the entrance of the harbour of St. Anne, which is good and spacious.'" Its entrance is between 

 two points and has not a hundred paces of width. Vessels of three or four liundred tons can enter at all tides ; the 

 anchorage is goo<l, and when the cable parts the vessel i\Tith itself only in the mud. The harbour will hold a 

 thousand vessels, the basin is surrounded liy mountains, the rocks are very high, ships can put their bowsprit on 

 the land at the right side of the entianco; that is to say, in entering they can approach the land so close that the 

 jibboom of tlie bowsprit can touch the rocks, which are quite steep. Some small rivers and brooks fall into the 

 harbour from the surrounding mountains. At the bottom of the harbour there is a mountain as white as milk 

 and as hard as marble. In another place there is some land full of pebbles of all colours. Some stones of con- 

 siderable size have fallen on tlie .shores, and although the sea beats against them continuously they appear to 

 harden so much, both in the air and water, that tools make little or no impression upon them — a fact that makes 

 me lielieve that they ^ ill look as handsome as pclished marble, or as the white rock of which I have just spoken, 

 if any one should make the experiment. Salmon are caught in the Harbour; mackerel, which are also plentiful and 

 sometimes of great size, can be taken with the line at the entrance. There is a point of sand where one can find a 

 great many shells- At the base of the mountain there are some ponds where we find numbers of bustards, ducks 

 and otlier game, which offer abundant sport. 



On the way to Inganiehe we pass eight leagues of coast remarkable for its high rocks, as steep as a wall. If a 

 vessel should be lost there no one would be saved, for Inganiehe, which is about two leagues from the point, would 

 afford little security, since it is little better than a roadstead lying between islands " which are somewhat in the 

 offing opposite a small sandy bay. Vessels anchor here between the islands and the land. Sometimes you see three 

 ships there, but they are not safe. Nevertheless it is a locality which is first made on this coast, because the fish- 

 ing is good and the fish take the hook readily. I'rom the Fourillon or Cape Breton it is perhaps from eighteen to 

 twenty leagues as far as Inganiehe, and thence to Cape North five or six leagues by a very rocky coast. At Cape 

 North there is room for a vessel to fish, and from the cape to Chadye '- the distance is about fifteen or sixteen 

 leagues. All the coast in this direction is extremely rocky and covered with spruce, mixed with a few small beech. 

 We see on this dangerous coast a few sandy coves and little bays where a shallop can hardly find shelter. Chadye 

 is a big bay about two leagues deep, at the foot of which is a .sandy beach full of pebbles that the sea has worn, 

 and behind it is a pond of salt water. This bay is surrounded by rocks on the two sides. We find plenty of cod in 

 this locality to attract ve.-=sels, although they run much risk from want of sufficient shelter in t ase of storms. 



Continuing the voyage along the coast, which is rocky and steep for four leagues, we came to a little island 

 opposite a little sandy bay where shallops can find shelter. In this bay there is a mountain of black stone, which 

 carpenteri use to mark their work. It is hard and not of the best quality. We then pass about eight leagues 

 of coast until we find lower land and flats covered with all sorts of wood like ash, beech, birch, maple, pine and 



' Now the Basque islands, off Michaux Point ; the fame name was applied to those islands in Denys's time. 



- Louisbourg. 



•' Goat Island, where the French had a battery to defend the entrance of the harliour when Louisbourg was founded. 



■" Reference is Ifero made to the barachois at the southwestern riart of llio harbour, close to the town of Louisbourg. 



'' The men of the Sables d'Olonnc, famous for its sailors, arc probably meant. 



'■■ Forillon is a name applied to a large rock, split oil' the coast, as at Gaspu. 



' Brown, in his "History of Cape Breton " (p. 17!l), gives a description of this point which csplains what Dcnys here tell us: "If a 

 vessel is bound for Louisbourg, steering westerly with Scatari on the starboard, she will run close jiast a large nx-k covered with waving 

 gra.ss, elevated some fifty feet above llie level of the sea, called Port Nova [Porto Novo] Island, which is connected by a reef of sunken 

 rocks, with a low point about a mile to the northward. . . . This is the very capo from which the island is named." 



"Sydney Ilarbour. 



■' The East Bay of the Labrador— a beautiful inlet of the lake. 



"' His description of St. Anno is necess.arily more accurate and full thiui th.at of other ports and bays on the enstern coast, since he 

 had personal knowledge of it. 



'^ He must refer to Inganiehe Island- 



'- He refers probably to Chcticamp, but his description of the northwest coast of Cape Breton is too v.ogue— obviously made up from 

 mere rumour— to enable us to identify the localities with .any degree of exactnos,". 



