ON SABLE ISLAND. IS 



think it lialf as pretty as tlie oiu' lier t'atlicr had taken oft' the lady's liaiid at Sahle island. 

 ' îfo, my dear,' said the mother, who eame behind his chair to telegraph, ' he got it from a 

 Frenelnnan, who pieked it up on the sand there.' ' Oh, I believe it was,' said the girl, 

 colouring up and looking contused. The ring was handed back, and he asked for a sight of 

 theirs, otFering to purchase it if it was as handsome. He was told that it was in the hands 

 of a watchmaker in Halifax, with whom it was left to sell, and who had advanced twenty 

 shillings upon it. The next morning he started on his return to Halifax. There were then 

 only two watchmakers in town, and in the shop of the first he visited he found the ring, and 

 on inquiring its history received the same account as he had heard. He immediately said : 

 'Give it to me ; here are the twenty shillings advanced ; and if the owner wants more, tell 

 him to bring the finger that was cut off to get at it, and then come to me.' 



" The ring was identified at once l)y the ladies of the regiment and some of the doctor's 

 brother otiicers. And the moment the prince saw it he knew it, for it was a curious old 

 fiamily ring, and the captain sent it to England to Mrs. Copeland's friends. Capt. Torrens 

 was ordered home soon after that, and there the matter dropped. 



" 'Well,' says Eldad, 'that story is as true as gospel, for I've heard it from Mr. Col- 

 lingvvood's father, who was with the prince at the time, and saw the ring ; and, more than 

 that, I can tell you the name of the wrecker, l)ut I won't, for some of his descendants are 

 still living and are decent people. I have seen the old coon several times, and nothing 

 could coax him out of the house after dark.'" 



The author evidently meant to represent the statements of this story as real facts, for 

 lie says in a note that " it is given with the real names, and was w^ell known to an officer of 

 the 7tli, still living, who was intimately acc^uainted with the parties." This can be no other 

 than the late chief justice Halilnirtou, who was an officer of the 7th while the prince was 

 in Halifax. No better authority could be given. ÎSTone would doul)t his truthfulness. As 

 little would any who knew him question the soundness of his judgment. Accustomed to 

 weigh evidence and to form conclusions from facts, he was little likely to be led astray by- 

 idle tales. In addition, being in a [losition to know the whole circumstances of the case, 

 one could not doubt the story if really told by him. At all events it has long been firmly 

 believed in a circle in Halifax and on the southern shore of Nova Scotia. Curiously 

 enough, Haliliurton gives to one of the speakers in whose mouth he puts the storv, the 

 name of a man who was generally regarded in his neighliourhood, as having shared in the 

 plunder which had been brought from the island. We may add further, that tlie site of the 

 hut in which the lady appeared has been till recently, and perhaps is yet, pointed out, being 

 known as "smoky hut," and a trilje of horses which fed in its neighbourhood being known 

 as the " smoky hut gang." 



And yet his statement is so full of errors, so mixed up, and even contradictory, as to 

 throw discredit upon the whole narrative. In the first place, he represents the vessel which 

 was bringing the furniture of Prince Edward from England as wrecked on the island in 

 1802. Passing the error of calling her the "Princess Amelia," which was wrecked in 1797, 

 five years previous, it is to be noted that the prince had finally left Halifax in 1800, two 

 years previous. He received his appointment as commander-in-chief in 1799, and arrived 

 in Halifax in September. His equipage followed and was lost, the same season. Besides, 

 while he states that there was then no regular establishment on the island, there has been 

 such an institution since 1801, and the superintendent reported all wrecks from that date, 



