A PAPER—BY WM. GOSSIP- 163 
dence upon cne God, the Supreme Being, the great Father, is still 
paramount, the foundation of his reliance in life, his chief 
consolation in death. 
Such is our Algonkin, and with this very imperfect sketch I 
leave him with the ethnologists of the Royal Society as an 
interesting study, which, if carefully followed out, may throw 
some light on the conformation of the western continent ; and 
the history of the aborigines which inhabit its northern portion 
Nova Scotia cannot produce exclusively, original types in any 
department of Natural Science. It is only within a comparatively 
recent period that gold has been added to its mineral resources, 
but this is found in similiar strata and under the same conditions 
as in other lands. Fortunately for us, its workings are of vast 
area and fairly remunerative. The coal and gyspum of the 
country, which are so well known and appreciated, are of carboni- 
ferous age and practically inexhaustible. Indications of other 
metals are frequent, but they do not appear in such quantities, as 
yet, that we would like to pin our faith on their extent and value. 
The iron ore of Nova Scotia, which is no recent discovery, but 
not unlimited, is of great extent and of the most valuable 
description. After all it is upon our iron and coal that the chief 
reliance can be placed for our mineral contributions to commerce. 
Much depends upon a careful geological and mineralogical exam- 
ination of the country, and the one ought to accompany or 
immediately follow the other, and cannot be too exact. It might 
have been expected that long ere this the question would have 
been settled. I would recommend the writings of your President, 
Dr. Dawson, and those of our Provineial Geologist, Rev. Dr. 
Honeyman, as the best authorities upon the subject. 
Nova Scotia is a country of no vast extent, but sufficiently 
large to afford the best examples of the geology and mineralogy, 
the zoology and botany of the Dominion, and is replete with the 
rare but as yet inert resources that contribute to the study of 
natural science and art. It is fairly entitled both to the considera- 
tion of the government and people of the Dominion, with a view 
to encourage and call them into useful activity. We ought 
therefore, to expect great things from an alliance with a Royal 
