46 THE MA(4I)ALEXE ISLANDS — PATTERSON. 



a tear dropping from the left eye. This island is somewhat oval 

 or tortoise-shaped, its greatest diameter from north to south being 

 about five miles, and its least about four. Its surface exhibits a 

 beautiful variety, hills covered with wood rising to the height of 

 550 feet, slopes rich in agricultural produce, shores descending to 

 beach or marsh or rising in clitfs steep and inaccessible. It has 

 no harbor of its own, but to the north-east sends out a gravel 

 beach, opposite to which the island of Alright sends out another, 

 leaving a very narrow passage Ijetween them. Inside of these is 

 formed a harbor known as House Harbor. But the entrance is 

 narrow and tortuous, and it is only suited for boats or small ves- 

 sels. 



Alrio-ht Island, exclusive of its beaches, is about four miles in 

 length by about two in width. Its surface is uneven, consisting 

 of rounded hills with intervening hollows, and in beauty and 

 fertility it is not the least interesting of the group. 



From the north-west of Grindstone, in a north-eastwardly 

 direction for twenty-two miles, or till it reaches the north cape 

 of the Grosseisle, extends the most remarkable sand beach on the 

 group, with the usual sand dunes. 



Near the centre of it is a small elevation covered with wood 

 and less than half a mile in diameter known as Wolf Island. 

 From the north-east corner of Alright a similar ridge from 500 

 to 2000 yards wide extends in the same direction for nineteen 

 miles, where there is a passage known as the Grand Entry. 

 Between these two ridges is a quiet bay at least twenty miles 

 long, once navigable for small vessels, but now having a narrow 

 winding channel fit only for boats, except at high tides. The tops 

 of these sand ridges are scantily covered with sharp speared salt 

 grass, but on the southern ridge soil has been partially formed, 

 and we observed it to be covered in many places by shrubbery 

 and dwarf spruce. 



Grosseisle in its wider sense end)races four islands, commonly 

 but improperly so-called, as they are united by marsh or sand 

 beach. These are known as Cofiin's Island, East Island, Grosse- 

 isle, and North Cape. The first of these lies to the east of 

 Grand Entry, and contains the largest extent of upland, being 



