44 THE MAGDALENE ISLANDS — PATTERSON. 



tlie British General ot" that name. It Hes altout east and west 

 and is eleven miles long by about four at its greatest breadth,, 

 and on the average not more than two. It is compared in shape 

 to the human foot. On the instep are two conical hills known 

 as the Demoiselles, which I am informed show evidence of vol- 

 canic origin, the highest of which has a sea-clifF 280 feet high. 

 At the foot, along a crescent-shaped cove, and straggling up its 

 slopes, are some fifty or sixty houses, forming a sort of village,, 

 which is the capital of the island. Here is the jail, for the 

 people are not without that engine of civilization, though 

 among such a quiet people it must be only as a measure of 

 precaution, or for the use of foreign visitants, among whom 

 before the abrogation of the fisher}^ treaty, American fishermen 

 specially claimed its hospitality. Here reside the collector of 

 customs and other officials. At this cove the. landing is effect- 

 ed. There is no wharf here or at any other place on the 

 island, so that landing" is often inconvenient and sometimes 

 danoferous. The reason o-iven bv the inhabitants for not hav- 

 ing some wharf or pier is that no construction of the kind 

 will stand the pressure of the ice. The Dominion Govern- 

 ment, at the time of my visit, were building a breakwater on 

 one of the other islands, but the tirst structure was carried 

 away, and many doubt the permanence of this. Farther along 

 we see stores and stages for drying lish, and the entrance to 

 a harbor known as Harbor Aubert, a small and perfectly safe 

 port, the best on the islands, but its entrance channel is nar- 

 row and shifting, and it is accessil)le only to vessels drawing 

 under 12 feet of water. 



To the west the island is hilly, rising to an elevation of 

 550 feet, and falling in gentle slopes to the north. It is partly 

 wooded, but is generally arable and much of it under culti- 

 vation. 



In connection with this island must 1)6 noticed the remark- 

 able rock, known as Deadman's Isle, which lies nine miles to 

 the west of it. It is a bare solitary rock about a mile long, 

 having neither bush nor herb, nor even a blade of grass upon 

 it. It rises with a razor-like ridcre at the heic<ht of 170 feet. 



