178 PEINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 



it has plunged itself deeply into debt. This debt is made 

 the most of, popular alarm is fanned, and the frightened 

 province, to avoid supposed bankruptcy, throws itself into 

 the arms of its absorbing neighbour. 



And the worst of it is that in these railways got up for 

 political ends there is no small amount of " axe-grinding " 

 and " log-rolling." Contracts are given in such a way as 

 to put money into the pockets of political partisans, and 

 not with regard to the best interests of the country. The 

 Prince Edward Island railway meanders through the 

 island like a stream through the meadows. It was pro- 

 bably contracted for by the mile, and so the more miles 

 the merrier for the contractor. Not only did he escape the 

 hills, but also, by following rivers up to their sources, he 

 escaped bridging. The fences are neither ornamental nor 

 useful, and cattle treat them with contempt. It is possible 

 that I take a jaundiced view of this railway. I only 

 travelled on it once, and then I was two hours and a half 

 late in a journey of 40 miles. This delay was accounted 

 for to the satisfaction of my fellow-passengers, who were 

 merely having " a ride on the car " for amusement. In 

 the first place a herd of cattle belonging to a personal 

 friend of the engine driver, notwithstanding the frantic 

 screams of the whistle, persisted in remaining on the 

 track until the functionary before named, assisted by the 

 conductor and some passengers, got off and drove them 

 home. Then at a wayside station a picnic party, con- 

 sisting of about twenty young people, got in, and were 

 altogether too much for our locomotive, as my friend, the 

 driver (who spent a good deal of his time in cruising up 

 and down tbe line on foot), remarked, " She was kind of 



