80 J. G. BOURINOT ON SOME OLD FORTS BY THE SEA. 
what wasted with rust, its shape was as perfect as it was the day it was made. This 
lock evidently belonged to the Queen’s Gate, near the eastern or sea-end of the walls of 
the fortification. 
As the tourist stands upon the brow of the ruined ramparts and surveys the present 
aspect of Louisburg, he cannot fail to be deeply impressed by the intense loneliness and 
desolation of the scene. The contour of the grass-covered walls is boldly outlined, and 
the large casemates look like so many black ovens rising out of the green fields. To the 
southwest stretches the ocean; to the north rise the cliffs from which the lighthouse 
flashes forth its beacon of warning from eve to day-break. The land towards the interior 
is low and covered with a small growth of firs, while the houses are small and scattered. 
Early in the morning and late in the afternoon the harbour present an animated spectacle, 
as the fishing-boats, of which there is a large number, dart merrily through the water ; 
but at noon of a summer’s day, unless there are vessels in port, the scene is inexpressibly 
lonely. The tinkle of a cow-bell, or the cry of the circling gull, alone startles the loneliness 
of the ruined fortress. Our thoughts naturally fly back to a century ago, when a stately 
pile of fortifications and buildings stood on that low, green point now only covered by a 
few grass-covered mounds to tell the story of the past. Port Royal, LaTour and Beau- 
séjour were but comparatively insignificant forts, while Louisburg was for years one of 
the strongest fortified towns in America; but all are now alike in their desolation and 
ruin. 
Nothing but historic tradition remains of the old buildings in which the Frenchman 
of the last century talked with his comrades— 
“ Of sallies and retiring, of trenches, tents, 
Of palisades, frontiers, parapets ; 
Of basilisks of cannon, culverin, 
Of prisoners, ransoms, of soldiers slain, 
And all the currents of heady flight.” 
On the other side of the harbour is the terminus of a narrow-guage railway which 
connects with the town of Sydney. The action of the government, during the present 
session of Parliament, in giving a subsidy to a railway from the strait of Canso to Louis- 
burg or Sydney, will in all probability assist in bringing about a great change in the 
fortunes of this section of the Dominion. The harbour of Louisburg is one of the most 
accessible on the Atlantic coast of the Dominion, for a vessel can reach its shelter in a 
very few minutes from the ocean, while it is remarkably clear of ice during the winter. 
Let us hope that, in the course ofa very few years, Louisburg will have entered on a 
new era in its history, and will more than realize, under Canadian auspices, the idea of 
those statesmen who founded the old town more than a century ago. 
