22 THE HOME, FARM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPEDIA. 



Indian name of which is Kanago " the Boiling Pot ; " the Falls of Mont- 

 inorency, seven miles below Quebec ; the gloomy, sullen Saguenay river 

 rolling cold between its rocky walls, and numerous other points of de- 

 lightful resort. Sebastian Cabot, it is said, discovered the province in 

 1497 ; but Jacques Cartier made the first settlement near Quebec, in 1541. 

 Up till 1760, when "Wolfe conquered Quebec, the country was held by the 

 French. In 1792 the province was divided into Upper and Lower Can- 

 ada ; in 1841 these were re-united; but in 1867 both wer3 merged in 

 confederation. 



NOVA SCOTIA, 



originally known as Acadia, is a long narrow peninsula fronting on the 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence. The country is beautifully variegated by ranges 

 of lofty hills and broad valle} T s, both of which run longitudinally through 

 the province. Its Atlantic frontier is composed of poor soil, though 

 it has some valuable gold and other mineral deposits. Along parts of 

 the Bay of Fundy extends a ridge of mural precipice from 100 to 600 

 feet high. Be} r ond this barrier lies the rich valley of Annapolis and 

 the Basin of Minas, celebrated in Longfellow's " Evangeline." Nova 

 Scotia covers an area of about 3,000 square miles. The principal lakes 

 are Rossignal twenty miles long, and Ship Harbour lake fifteen miles long. 

 These are on the main-land. Cape Breton, separated from the mainland 

 by the Strait of Canso, is also part of the province. Here are several large 

 lakes. The great Bras d'Or is a magnificent expanse of water fifty miles 

 long, of great depth, and abounding with valuable fishes. On Cape Breton 

 are located valuable coal mines, the most important of these being at 

 Sydney. There are several rivers navigable for distances varying from two 

 to twenty miles. The most remarkable body of water in the province is the 

 Basin of Minas, the east arm of the Bay of Fundy, penetrating sixty miles 

 inland. The tides rush in here with great violence and form what is 

 known as a " bore." At the high tides they sometimes rise from forty to 

 fifty feet ; while in Halifax harbour, on the opposite side, the spring tide 

 rises only from six to eight feet. The province possesses valuable re- 

 sources in gold, iron, copper, silver, lead and coal. The quantity of iron 

 belonging to the Londonderry iron company is inexhaustible ; and the 

 product is as good as the best Swedish. Agates, amethysts, jaspers, chal- 

 cedonies and cairngorms abound in the amaydaloidal trap along the 

 Bay of Fundy. The climate is temperate; the thermometor seldom 

 goes 20 below zero ; and the heat seldom reaches 98 above zero in the 

 shade. The springs are tedious ; but the summer heat for a brief season 



