Ml 



CAPE BRETON. 



CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 



M 



of St. Ann's Bay, is an fakt two mile* wide and 



which then srpsrstos into two narrow arms, one of 

 which run* tothe wuth wwt, tit* otherHo the south 







:.:t:. 



which rune to the Muth-west, the otherto the Math : at the bottom 

 of the Mirth arm, seven mile* (ram the sea, U the town of Sydney, 

 th* capital of the island. Sydney Harbour is safe and spacious. It 

 DM a bar at its mouth, but with sufficient depth of water for Urge 

 hips to enter. Sooth of Sydney Harbour are Lingen. Windham, 

 Murrain, and MM bays. Mir* Bay i* the outlet of MM River, 

 which flows into it from the west On the south-east coast are 

 Loui.bo.irg Harbour, Oabaru* Bay, Portland Cove, Forked Harbour, 

 and St Esprit Harbour. St Peter's Bay is on the south coast, and 

 in Lenox Channel leading to the Gut of Canso. In the southern 

 entrance of th* Out is situated the island of Arichat, with the port 

 of the same name. The only harbour on the west coast which will 

 admit trading v ass nils is Port Hood, situated at the north-east point 

 of 8t George's Bay : this harbour is capacious, and completely 

 sheltered. The moet remarkable physical feature of the island is 

 th* Bras d'Or, an inland sea, which occupies a large portion of its 

 surface, and nearly divides it into two islands. The entrance to this 

 basin is by two channels formed by the island of Boulardrie, which 

 lies between St Ann's and Sydney harbours on the east coast The 

 north channel is called the Great Entrance, and the channel on the 

 couth side of the island the Little Entrance : the last has a sunken 

 bar at the month, and is seldom used even by boats. Boulardrie 

 Island U 80 miles long, and its greatest breadth is two miles. Within 

 this island is the Little Bras d'Or, a passage to the west of which 

 leexis to Bedeque Bay and Whycocomagh Basin, which are together 

 15 miles lone. Another narrow passage at the south extreme of the 

 Little Bras d Or conducts to the large basin, which contain* numerous 

 small islands, and branches out into several arms or inlets. The 

 meet southern of these arms terminates at the Isthmus of St Peter, 

 a neck of land only 900 yards across, which separates the water of 

 Bras d'Or from the Atlantic, at the Bay of St Fetor in Lenox 



The Bras d'Or receives the water* of several rivers, the principal 

 of which are the Bedeque and the Wagomatcook on the north, and 

 the Dennys on the west From the mouth of the Great Entrance 

 to the south-went extremity of St Peter's Isthmus this inland basin 

 U 55 miles long ; its width from east to west at the broadest part i* 

 20 miles. The depth of water varies from 70 to 360 feet, and in 

 every part it is safely navigable, offering great commercial advantages 

 to the island by affording water-communication to the farmers of every 

 ilittrict 



The island contains several fresh-water lakes. In the north-west 

 division is Lake Marguerite, 40 miles in circumference, the outlet of 

 which is by a river of the same name 15 miles long, which falls 

 into the sea opposite East Cape, on Prince Edward's Island. Grand 

 Lake and MiriS River or Lake nre in the south division ; the latter 

 receives the waters of Salmon River, which flows from the west 

 There are likewise on different parts of the coast many small streams 

 which are not navigable. 



The climate of Cape Breton is not so regular, but neither is it so 

 rigorous aa that of the neighbouring continent The frost does not 

 usually set in long before Christmas ; and there are frequent intervals 

 of warm weather, sometimes for a fortnight together, in the course of 

 the winter season. Very intense cold is occasionally experienced. 

 The cummer months are dry and warm on the eastern coast, but on 

 the western coast there is more moisture. The mean summer heat 

 is 80* Fahrenheit in the shade. The spring is short, and vegetation 

 is exceedingly rapid. Planting and sowing are done in May, fruits 

 ripen in July, and in August and September the harvest is got in. 



Mica-flate, clay-slate, syenite, and primitive trap are found in all 

 part* of the island. Transition limestone, grauwacke, gypsum, and 

 coal are very generally distributed. The coal-fields are of great 

 extent in the south-east division. Coal exists in the west part of the 

 island ; and it has been calculated that the available seams of coal in 

 different parts occupy an area of 120 square miles. Extensive works 

 are carried on at Sydney and at Lingen, where the seams vary in 

 thickness from 3 to 11 feet The quantity of coal raised in the 

 inland in 1*51 was 63,000 chaldrons. Granite prevails among the 

 primitive rocks Muth-east of the Bras d'Or. Gypsum is found in 

 great abundance in many parts, and particularly on the shores of 

 the Bras d'Or. There are salt springs at Bedeque, at Whycocomagh, 

 at W agamatoook, and in Mine other parts on the Bras d'Or : the 

 brine produces from 10 to 12 per cent of salt. Iron-ore is found 

 abundantly asMciated with the coal about Sydney, Lingen, and in 

 other places. Some of the ore will, it is said, yield 60 per cent of 

 the metal 



The principal vegetable productions of Cape Breton are timber, 



and the common cereal grains, 



and potatoe*. Of the 



Umber, which inolnd. the piw birch, oak, spruo hemlock, b**h, 

 ash, maple, and elm, considerable shipments are made yearly to th* 

 fmted Kingdom. The produce in 1851 included : Wheat, 16,600 

 bushds; barley, 24,774 bushels; oats 188,188 bushels; maize, 124 

 bushels ; buckwheat, 75 bushels ; rye, 33 bushels ; potatoes, 1 1 4,654 

 bushels; turnips, 21,718 bushels; hay, 10,251 tons; butter, 329,084 

 Ibs. ; cheese, 14,300 Ibs. 



The comet and harbour* swarm with fish. Those most commonly 



Uken are salmon, cod, herrings, mackerel, shad, halibut, sturgeon, 

 alewives, Mies, plaice, haddocks, and smelts. In the lakes and riven 

 perch, trout, bream, and eols are abundant The statistics of the 

 ishery for 1851 show the following results: Vessel* employed 21, 

 of 403 tons, with 83 men : boats employed 54, with 1298 men. 

 Quantities cured: dry fish, 21,458; salmon, 344 barrels; shad, M 

 barrels; mackerel, 9428 barrels; herring, 8113 barrels; alewives, 53 

 barrels. A considerable quantity of fish-oil was aUo obtained, 

 amounting to nearly a fourth of the quantity furnished by all the 

 other parts of Nova Scotia. 



The first settlement was made on this island in 1712 by the French, 

 who gave it the name of /jfc Royalt. In 17'Jit they constructed the 

 Fortification* of Louisbourg, on the south-eastern coast In 1745 the 

 island was taken by the British. The town of Sydney, now the 

 capital of the island, was founded in 1823. It U laid out with regu- 

 larity, and the houses are neatly built, each having a garden attached 

 to it The courts of law are held in Sydney, where also the different 

 government officers have their residences. The other settlements are 

 lituated either on the sea-coast or on the margin of the Bras d'Or. 

 Most of the smaller settlements on the coast have been nude by 

 fishermen, many of whom are the descendants of the Acadian*, or 

 original French settler* from Nova Scotia. The European inhabitants 

 who occupy themselves in agriculture and in the timber trade, are 

 principally emigrants from Scotland and Ireland ; some few inhabit- 

 ants are the descendants of American loyalists. According to the 

 Census returns of 1851 there were then on the island 18 clergymen, 7 

 lawyers, 7 doctors, 119 merchant* and traders, 94 employed in manu- 

 factures, 502 mechanics, 8276 farmers, 1124 persons engaged in the 

 fisheries, 35 registered seamen, 273 persons employed at sea, and 66 

 employed in the lumber trade. 



The island is included within the government of NOVA SCOTIA, and 

 U politically divided into two districts or counties, those of Cape 

 Breton and Victoria. The island send* two representatives to the 

 Nova Scotia House of Assembly. The greater number of the inhabit- 

 ants, including moat of the Scotch who came from the Highlands, are 

 of the Roman Catholic religion. There are a few Presbyterians, and 

 some members of the Church of England, who are under the spiritual 

 care of the bishop of Nova Scotia. The respective numbers of the 

 various religious bodies in 1851 were as follows : Church of England, 

 2156 ; Roman Catholics, 11,493 ; Kirk of Scotland, 3452 ; Presbyterian 

 Church of Nova Scotia, 103 ; Free Church, 8968 ; Baptists, 681 ; 

 Methodists, 685; Independents, 73; other denominations, 318. The 

 number of churches in all was 47 ; of schools, 70; of scholars, 2179. 

 A few Indian* still remain in the island. Their principal employments 

 are hunting and fishing, but tract* of laud have been reserved for 

 them, upon which they grow maize and potatoes. They are quiet and 

 inoffensive, generally remain stationary at their settlements during 

 the winter, but wander along the shores at the return of warmer 

 weather. 



The following figures relative to the trade and manufactures of 

 Cape Breton are obtained from the Census returns of 1851 : Saw- 

 mills 14 ; grist-milU, 34 ; steam-mills, 2 ; tanneries, 7 ; value of leather 

 manufactured, 28541. ; value of boots and shoes manufactured, 69781.; 

 one foundry, employing 5 hands, and producing castings of the value 

 of I'lwl. ; 3 weaving and carding establishment* ; 1194 hand-looms ; 

 fulled-cloth manufactured, 24,850 yards; cloth (not fulled) manu- 

 factured, 48,504 yard*; flannel manufactured, 16,084 yards; soap 

 manufactured, value, 1074/. ; candles, 5121. ; quantity of maple sugar, 

 2132 Ibs. The number of vessels built during the year was 24 of 

 2593 tons : the number of boat* built was 469. The import* and 

 exports stood as follows : Sydney, estimated value of imports, 

 12,9542., of which 64131. was from Great Britain ; 1332/. from British 

 North America; and 48491. from the United State*. Exports, 

 30.234/., of which 18,9061. went to British North America, and SS'oSt 

 to the United States. Shipping, inwards 293, of 28,633 tons, with 

 1620 men ; of these ships 193 were from the British colonies : out- 

 wards, 300 ships (of which 192 sailed to British colonies), tonnage 

 30,127, with 1721 men. Arichat, value of imports, 16,2981. ; exports, 

 21,850/., of which about one half went to foreign states. Shipping, 

 inwards, 183 of 15,215 tons, with 801 men : outwards, 77 of 5448 tons, 

 with 857 men. 



(Macgregor, BritM America; Bouchette, Brituh Dominion! in 

 Norlk America; Parliamentary Papen.) 



CAPE COAST CASTLE. [Oou> COAST.] 



CAPE COD. [MASsAciu-srns.] 



CAPE FEAR, [CAROLINA, NORTH.] 



CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, one of the most southern points of 

 Africa, was discovered by Bartholomew Diaz, the Portuguese, navi- 

 gator, in 1493. Diaz, after exploring the Atlantic coast of Africa as 

 far as Cape das Voltes, 29 S. tat, was driven out to sea by a storm, 

 and the next land he saw was Algoa Bay. He had thus doubled the 

 southern extremity of Africa without knowing it On his way back 

 he saw the cape to which he gave the name of Cabo Tormentoso, or 

 Cape of Storms. On his return homo the King of Portugal gave it 

 the name of Cape of Good Hope, as an omen that the Portuguese had 

 now a fair prospect of reaching India, the great object of their mari- 

 time expeditions. Vasco do Gama doubled it in November 141)7, cm 

 his way to the Indian seas, and from that time the Portuguese cousi- 



