ON SABLE ISLAND. 45 



"While this (lostruetion is going on at the west end, the motion of the saml eastward hy 

 the wind must be making land in that direction. The old charts place the east end con- 

 siderably farther west than the modern ones do. Probably this is not altogether the result 

 of imperfect observations. At all events, residents have noted the increase of land at certain 

 points, though \vc have no particular statement of its extent. But it nmst lie far from 

 ecpialling the destruction manifested by the facts already adduced. Another important fact 

 must be noticed, the prolongation and shoaling of the northeast bar. Most of the ship- 

 wrecks of late have occurred here, some of them sixteen miles from the east end lighthouse. 



From these facts the prospects of the island nuiy be spoken of as really ominous. From 

 what has taken place within tlic recorded period, it seems alisolutely certain that the whole 

 island will disappear, and that, even speaking according to time as measured by human 

 life, at no distant period. What then? If its deep foundations could be uprooted or sunk 

 in the fathomless depths of the ocean, we might rejoice. But, alas ! the rcnutval of the land 

 would be to leave fl>r a lengthened period only shoals and sand-banks, such as the present 

 bars exhil)it, more fatal to vessels and lives than the island itself can be now. When that 

 happens there wi^ be no humane establishment to receive wrecked mariners reaching land, 

 indeed there will be no land to reach. Instead of vessels being imbedded in the sand of the 

 beach, they will strike on the sands to be engulfed in the pitiless sea, where no human aid 

 can reach them. What preventive measures can be adopted ? The erection of beacons, as 

 on the Goodwin sands, is the only one we can conceive, but the placing them there so as to 

 resist the power of sea and storm will be, to say the least, a work of immense difficulty, I 

 am inclined to think, one which will at least equal the greatest works which human hands 

 have hitherto accomplished. It may be too soon yet to think of preparations for such a 

 contingency, but, in a scientific point of view, it would be a matter of great interest and 

 value to sink a bore-hole down to the underlying rock, both to ascertain the nature of it 

 and the depth at wliieh it uuiy be reached. At the same time this would be of immense 

 imjiortance when the time comes, that government will have to consider the question of 

 what can be done to save property and life from what will then be only treacherous 

 quicksands, covered by a landless and insatiable sea. 



APPENDIX A. 



(See foot-note, page 11.) 



The Following was received too late for insertion in text : 



Of the destruction of these cattle by the Acadians, we have another notice in a letter by Bishop Saint Vallier, 

 written in 1686 after a visit to Acadia. After describing Beaubassin, he says : "About ten years ago the first French- 

 men came to this place from Port Royal. In the Ijoginning they were obliged to live chiefly on herbs. At present 

 they are in more easy circumstances, and as there is an abundance of pasturage in the vicinity, they have let loose a 

 number of cows and other animals, which they brought from Sable island, where the late Commandant de Razilly 

 had formerly left them, they had become almost wild, and could only be approached with difficulty; but they are 

 becoming tame little by little, and are of great advantage to each family, who can easily have a good number of them." 

 The Bishop was no doubt mistaken in supposing the cattle to have been placed on tlie island by Razilly, as there is 

 evidence of their having been there before his time. 



APPENDIX B. 



SUPERINTENDENTS. 



1801-9, .James Morris ; 180<J-18:J0, Edward Hodgson ; 1830)848, Joseph Darby ; 184S-18.').î, M. D. McKeuna; 1855- 

 1873, Philip Dodd ; 1S7:M884, D. McDonald ; 1884, 7 months, J. H. Garroway, acting ; 1884, R. J. Boutilier. 



