'SCOTCH SETTLERS. GAME. 163 



Gaelic. An Englishman, and especially an Irishman* 

 settled in a new country, soon becomes assimilated ; a 

 Scotchman never. Now I feel that I am treading on 

 dangerous ground when I say that the Scotchman does 

 not make the best of settlers. I consider that the north 

 of Ireland man makes by far the best settler in a new 

 country. He possesses all the sterling qualities of the 

 Scotchman without the overweening conceit which causes 

 the latter to think and to maintain that nothing can be 

 good and nothing can be right that is not Scotch. 



Cape Breton was formerly celebrated for the number 

 and size of its moose. They are now very scarce. Cariboo 

 are more plentiful. Towards the north point there is a 

 large district of unsettled country in which there are 

 large plains, where I believe the hunting is good. Fur of 

 all sorts is also scarce, all except the irrepressible mus- 

 quash. It was once a beaver country, but now I am told 

 that animal is extinct on the island. There are still, 

 however, a few bears, foxes, otter, mink, marten, and loup- 

 cervier. The Canada goose and brant touch the island in 

 their spring and fall migrations, also a fe>v plover and 

 curlew. The black duck, red head, wood duck, and two 

 or three of the mergansers breed on the island. There is 

 good duck shooting in the fall, in the month of October. 

 River Deny and Lake Ainslie are about the best localities 

 for the duck shooter. Snipe also hatch in Cape Breton, 

 and a few cock, but not in sufficient numbers to afford 

 much sport. 



The angling in Cape Breton, as in Nova Scotia, is free. 

 The principal salmon rivers are the Margaree, the Chete- 

 camp, and the St. Annes. The rivers are not so much 



