THE MAGDALENE ISLANDS — PATTERSON. 51 



some instances, so deep that the people declare that they are 

 bottomless. Some curious things are told in regard to these de- 

 posits. A man digging a well, when he got into the rock bored 

 a hole, charged it with powder and fired it off. To his surprise, 

 instead of blowing up it blew down, and smoke was seen issuing 

 from the foot of the cliff near by, exciting some superstitious 

 fears in the minds of the actors. Formerly it was mined in con- 

 siderable quantities and exported to Quebec. Limestone is also 

 found, but I believe in quantities too small to be of economic 

 value. 



Of quadrupeds, the indigenous animals are the fox, the rabbit 

 or American hare, and the field mouse. 



Of reptiles, we might write the chapter which a writer did on 

 snakes in Ireland, which merely contained the statement : 

 " There are no snakes in Ireland." There are said to be no 

 snakes, lizards, toads or frogs on the Magdalene Islands. 



When these islands were discovered, they were well covered 

 with wood, and formerly vessels of some size were built upon 

 them ; but the most of it has been cut away or destroyed by 

 fire, and what remains, being in narrow strips and exposed to 

 the sea breezes, is stunted. Formerly, there was good birch and 

 other valuable hard wood. Now there are scarcely any trees to 

 be seen but spruce and fir of second growth, very stunted. This 

 for some time has been the only resource of the inhabitants for 

 fuel, and it scarcely serves any other purpose. But on Entry 

 and Alright even that is nearly exhausted, so that the inhabi- 

 tants are beginning to use coal, and on all the larger islands 

 they will soon require to do so. 



We have already mentioned that the soil is of the best quality, 

 but tliere is scarcely any proper farming. Each family generally 

 has a piece of land from which they take some crops, but the 

 cultivation is neglected or left to the women. Hay will be 

 taken off' the same ground for a generation without its being 

 ploughed. Their animals are of the poorest quality. Sheep 

 look like lambs of from four to six months, though to do them 

 justice, they show a skill in climbing cliffs such as we have 

 hitherto supposed the gift of goats. Then, their pigs, whicli run 



