CXIV ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



the natives, (per dubito), they remained ashore for a short time only. 

 Hence they must have been bade aboard by 8 o'clock a.m. Resuming 

 their western course in the placid gulf, by 6 o'clock^ the}' would be well 

 abreast of the "large island" lying not opposite, nor "ex adverso," both 

 of which are mistranslations of the original Spanish, but lying in the 

 same direction, or parallel with the mainland. How exactly this describes 

 the position of Prince Edward Island, a glance at a good chart will reveal. 

 Here we find verified the descriptions of Pasqualigo and da Soncino. The 

 appearance of Prince Edward Island, approached from any point, is most 

 striking. The Micmacs knew it as Abeigwit, meaning a something lovely, 

 floatino- on the water. Truly it does seem to rise and fall on the dark blue 

 waters of the gulf This fairy-like motion together with the beautiful red 

 colour of its soil, overlaid with an emerald carpet of softest mosses and 

 millets, and studded, as it was when Cabot saw it, with shapelj' beech 

 and birch, maple and fir, in all the glory of their summer foliage, could 

 not fail to impress the hardy mariners. They had good reason to say 

 the islands were " very fruitful," for the gulf shore of Cape Breton 

 difters widely from its Atlantic one ; they might well report that the 

 "soil was excellent and the climate temperate"; and considering the 

 unique colouring of the clay and rock, the graceful headlands of Prince 

 Edward Island, and the fascinating beauty of its bays, they may be 

 excused for having thought that here grew both silk and the precious 

 woods of Brazil. There is no island other than that of Prince Edward, 

 either without or within the gulf, to which this description, preserved by 

 da Soncino, is applicable. 



Again, Pasquahgo tells us the " waters are sluggish, and the tides 

 are not so high as here." The average tide at East Point, Prince Kdward 

 Island, and at Cape St. Cleorge, N.S., is two feet, whilst it is double that on 

 the outer shore. But apart from the height of tide, we have it that Cabot 

 reported the water as " sluggish." This could not possibl}' be said 

 of the roaring waters of the Atlantic, that madly break on the seaboard 

 of Cape Breton ; but it accurately characterizes those of the gulf, especi- 

 ally in summer. It is just such casual and apparently unimportant 

 remarks that supply the historian with the most convincing proof, and 

 throw the clearest light on a question. 



Another argument, and a most convincing one, is drawn from the 

 fact that Cabot found " snares to catch game," and "needles for making 

 nets." Now, the Indian did not fish in the ocean, but in the gulf; in his 

 frail birch bark canoe he did not adventure the fierce Atlantic waves. In 

 the quiet bays and inlets of the gulf he set his nets, or dipped for fish as 

 he floated idly on the placid waters. We may be sure Cabot did not 

 penetrate far inland. In fact, "through fear," he did not stay long on 



1 No doubt they saw it earlier than that when running to starboard as they beat 

 their way. 



