IO A NATURALIST IN THE MAGDALEN ISLANDS. 
that affords excellent feeding for the cattle. The inhabitants 
take advantage of this, and during the summer months turn 
their animals loose to shift for themselves. We often came 
upon large droves of sheep, accompanied by numbers of 
diminutive horses, a peculiar breed, which seem to be indi- 
genous to these islands. They are strong, hardy little fellows, 
generally weighing from seven to eight hundred pounds. A © 
fair one may be purchased for twenty dollars, and the price 
ranges from that to seventy-five. 
The inhabitants are nearly all of French descent, and still 
speak that language, although a Parisian would probably 
faint away if he listened to their conversation. I was very 
much amused to hear such expressions as “ Fazve shake hand” 
’ 
or “La boat est venu”; but although they have adopted 
many English words, and have a number of peculiar zdzoms, 
still, any one conversant with the French language would 
readily understand them. 
The scenery in many parts of the island is very pretty. 
The cliffs of soft red sandstone have been worn away in many 
places by the action of the sea, forming a sort of catacomb 
of caves, some of them extending to the depth of seventy 
