THE MAGDALEN ISLANDS. 



Havre aux Maison, or House Harbor, is the second in size 

 on the islands. Here we were kindly received by Mr. J. 

 Nelson Arsenault, who did all in his power to make us com- 

 fortable. " Vous etes chez vous, monsieur," he repeatedly 

 observed, after we had got quietly settled in his pretty little 

 house. 



Here and at Amherst are the only places where any one 

 can be comfortable. On all the rest of the islands it is 

 almost impossible to sleep for the myriads of fleas and other 

 insects which infest them ; but here, where the heat rarely 

 exceeds seventy degrees, when winter clothes are often a 

 necessity even in July, and fresh milk and good food to be 

 had for the asking, this quaint little village of House Harbor 

 offers a splendid field to the naturalist or sportsman after a 

 winter's confinement in the city. 



The Magdalens are composed of ten so-called islands, 

 although they are all, with the exception of Entry Island, 

 Deadman's Island, Byron Island, and the Bird Rocks, con- 

 nected by a narrow sand-beach, thirty-four miles in length 

 and extending from East Point to Amherst. 



This belt of sand is covered in many places with grass, 



