1829.] 
days ; and once a Spanish vessel came to 
the coast, and some of the crew landing, 
and catching a glance, shot after him; but 
by climbing a tree, he eluded pursuit. Had 
he been captured, murder, or imprisonment 
for life, he knew, was inevitable. 
Atlast, in January 1709, about four years 
and four months from his first landing, two 
English vessels bore in sight, on board of 
one of which was Dampier, now only sail- 
ing master; and Selkirk, finding Dampier 
had no command, willingly went on board, 
and served in the expedition, till the ves- 
sels returned in 1711, by which he gained 
£800. 
He now re-visited his native Largo, where 
his father and mother were still alive. There 
he indulged in the solitary habits contracted 
in the island ; and spent whole days sitting 
on a crag, which overlooked the waters, or 
roaming in a boat along the shores, till 
finally he met with a young girl, who was 
tending a single cow, and seemed as lonely 
as himself. An acquaintance commenced 
between them, and in a few days, to avoid 
the opposition probably of his friends, or 
their rude mirth and coarse raillery, he per- 
suaded her to elope with him to London. 
From this period nothing was known of 
him by his friends till his death in 1723, 
when a second widow appeared to claim her 
husband’s share of some paternal property. 
His first wife, it appeared by the papers pro- 
duced, a power of attorney and a will, died 
before 1720; and he himself died a lieu- 
tenant on board His Majesty’ ship Wey- 
mouth. 
Historical and Descriptive Sketches of 
the Maritime Colonies of British America, 
by J. M’Gregor ; 1829.—This will prove 
an acceptable volume, for, unless they have 
escaped us, there is a singular dearth of 
books relative to these regions. Of the 
author we know nothing; but he professes 
to give the results of personal observation, 
or the best authority: and certainly the 
contents, the general style and tone of the 
whole, is well calculated to conciliate con- 
fidence. He dedicates to Sir George Mur- 
ray, and dates from Foxteth Park—Ros- 
 coe’s residence, near Liverpool—and so we 
may conclude him to be respectable ; and 
as to any political bias or colonial prejudice, 
nothing is very observable. It is, in short, 
a book of information, and just what the 
chimney-corner man desires to have at 
The colohies described are Prince Ed- 
ward Island—Cape Breton —Nova Scotia 
—New Brunswick, and Newfoundland.— 
Prince Edward is the most minutely de- 
tailed—the author apparently being more 
intimately acquainted with it than with the 
rest. Of this he speaks in very favourable 
terms. The soil is generally good—scarcely 
an acre of it uncultivable—almost wholly 
flat, or only varied by such gentle swells as 
ad almost indispensable for successful culti- 
Domestic and Foreign. 
203 
vation. Its extent is about 140 miles by 
34, and divided into 67 townships, of 
20,000 acres each; the whole of which is, 
we believe, appropriated, but very large 
tracts are still in the rudest state. 
Though originally discovered by Cabot, 
under English auspices, the island was nei- 
ther occupied nor claimed by the English. 
Within a few years it was re-discovered by 
the French, and by them, though not till 
1663, granted to a single individual, in vas- 
salage to a French Company; but settle- 
ments were generally discouraged in favour 
of Cape Breton, so much so, that, in 1758, 
when it surrendered to the British, not 
more than 10,000 persons were upon the 
island. Since that period it has been in 
our hands. The population has been aug- 
mented by considerable accessions of Scotch, 
Trish, and English ; and, in 1778, was 
honoured with a representative government. 
By an act of the Colonial Legislature, the 
name was changed from St. John to 
Prince Edward—in compliment to the late 
Duke of Kent, then commander of the forces 
in the colonies. 
What may be the amount of the existing 
population does not appear, nor what the 
number of French descendants. There are 
about 4,000 Acadian French from Nova 
Scotia, who retain, with a kind of religious 
feeling, the dress and habits of their an- 
cestors; “nor have they,’’ says Mr. G., 
“at all times received the kindest treatment 
from their neighbours.” The industry of 
the wives and daughters is wonderful ; they 
are at work during the spring and harvest 
on their farms ; they cook and wash, make 
their hushands’ as well as their own clothes ; 
they spin, knit, and weave, and are scarcely 
an hour idle during their lives. 
These Acadian women dress nearly in the same 
way as the Bavarian broom-girls. On Sundays 
their clothes and linen look extremely clean and 
neat; and they wear over their shoulders a small 
blue cloth cloak, reaching only half way down the 
body, and generally fastened at the breast with a 
brass brooch. On week-days they are more care- 
lessly dressed, and usually wear sabots (wooden 
shoes). The men dress in round blue cloth 
jackets, with strait collars and metal buttons set 
close together; blue or scarlet waistcoats and 
blue trowsers, Among allthe Acadians, on Prince 
Edward’s Island, I never knew but one person 
who had the hardihood to dress differently from 
what they call notre facon. On one occasion he 
ventured to put on an English coat, and he has 
never since, even among his relations, been called 
by his proper name, Joseph Gallant, which has 
been supplanted by that of Joe Peacock. 
Belfast is now in a state of considerable 
prosperity. This region, from the period 
of the surrender of the island, was almost 
wholly unoccupied, till Lord Selkirk’s colo- 
nists were established upon it. 
In 1803, says Mr. Macgregor, the late enter- 
prising Earl of Selkirk arrived on the island with 
800 emigrants, whom he settled along the front of 
the townships that now contain these flourishing’ 
2D 2 
