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ETJILDPJRS OF NOVA SCOTIA. 



GREAT SEAL OF NOVA SCOTIA. 



I. 



Origin of the People of Nova Scotia. 



L Introduction— Historic Acadian Names.— If we study the map of 

 Nova Scotia in the light of the history of the past, as far back as we 

 have any records or traditions, we see that it has a legitimate claim to 

 be considered the section of the North American continent first known 

 to Europeans. It is quite probable that the Norsemen landed on its 

 shores, and there are imaginative antiquaries who see Norse inscriptions 

 on mysterious rocks that have been unearthed from time to time, and can 

 even trace a Norse origin in the name of " Loran," which still clings to 

 two little harbours in the vicinity of the historic ruins of Louisbourg, and 

 appears on the oldest maps in the primitive and correct form of Loram- 

 beque or Norembeque. It is quite certain that the Cabots and their 

 English sailors were the first Europeans to see its bays and harbours, and 

 they may have given the designation of Prima Vista to one of the head- 

 lands of the island which now forms its eastern political division; but those 

 famous adventurers of the sea have left no memorial of their voyages 

 among the names that have come down to us for centuries. On the other 

 hand the Portuguese have left us the appropriate name of Fundy (Fondo) 

 for the great funnel-shaped bay which washes the shores of the most 



