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NOVA SCOTIA. 



NOVA ZKMBLA. 



1062 



I 



especially on the northern shores and around the Bay of Mines. Cattle 

 are exported to New Brunswick to form working teams for the lum- 

 bering trade. Newfoundland receives from Nova Scotia all its sheep 

 and live stock. Beef and butter are exported. Nearly 9,000,000 acres 

 are still covered with forests, which form a chief part of the wealth of 

 the province. The most important trees are pine, birch, oak, hemlock, 

 beech, ash, maple, and elm. Others of great beauty are of less com- 

 mercial value. The wild animals which remain are the moose-deer, 

 tiger-cat, beaver, bear, fox, marten, otter, mink, musk-rat, racoon, 

 weasel, squirrel, and hare. The first four are nearly extinct. Nearly 

 all the small lakes and streams contain trout and salmon. Cod and 

 haddock are taken in great numbers along shore, and especially on 

 banks about 10 miles off. Mackerel, going north in spring and 

 returning in autumn, swarm in prodigious numbers in all the bays and 

 inlets. In Mines Bay vast numbers of shad and bass are caught in 

 weirs at the ebb and flow of the tide. Small herrings, taken in the same 

 way in Annapolis Basin, are smoked for the foreign market. Halibut, 

 sturgeon, sole, and other kinds of fish are found on the coast, which 

 also abounds with lobsters, oysters, and other shell-fish. 



The population of the province is of mixed origin. Of the aborigines 

 there are a few hundreds belonging to the Micmac tribe. Free blacks, 

 the descendants of slaves who entered the province at different periods, 

 number some thousands. There are several settlements of Acadian 

 French, of Germans, and of Swiss Protestants. The western and 

 midland counties are chiefly inhabited by the ofispring of loyalists 

 from New England. The chief part of the population consists of the 

 descendants of English, Scotch, and Irish immigrants. Tho Scotch 

 are most numerous in the northern counties. The chief occupations 

 are farming and fishing. A great part of the population engage in 

 both, tilling their lands at the heads of the bays and near the river 

 mouths, and sharing in the fisheries of the coast. Many take part in 

 the more distant fisheries of the banks of Newfoundland and the coast 

 of lAbrador. lu the midland counties the farmers and their suns 

 are much engaged in ship-building, the ships being often manned by 

 themselves and freighted with their own produce or with lumber. The 

 manufactures, which are limited, are coarse cloths and flannels, bed- 

 linen, blankets and carpets, hats, paper, tobacco, leather, ploughs and 

 other argicultural implements, ropes, stoves for some of the colonies, 

 and chain-cables for the United. States. Near Halifax there are 

 distilleries for the preparation of spirits from molasses. The exports 

 of the province are timber of all sorts, planks, deals, spars, staves, and 

 cordwoMSd; fish, dry and pickled, smoked herrings, seal-skins, oil, coal, 

 gypsum, grindstone, beef, pork, butter, live-stock, potatoes, and other 

 Tegetables. The imports are chiefly British manufactures, wines, 

 spirits, wheat and flour, beef, pork, sugar, and tobacco. In 1852 the 

 value of the exports was 970,781/., that of the imports was 1,194,175/. 

 The number of vessels belonging to the province in 1852 was 29'(3, 

 with an aggregate tonnage of 189,083. 



The province is divided into 10 coimties, exclumve of Cape Bretor, 

 which is comprehended under the same government. These counties 

 are subdivided into 43 towushipe, the inhabitants of which have the 

 right of assembling to authorise assessments for local purposes. 



The only incorporated dty in the province is Halifax, which is 

 noticed separately, as is also the town of Axhapoub. The following 

 towns may be noticed : — Amher^ is a thriving place, near the east 

 shore of Cumberland Basin. Chester is favourably situated on the 

 north side of Mahone Bay, and contains several fulling-, grist-, and 

 saw-mills. It has a considerable lumber trade, and a number of its 

 inhabitants are employed in the fisheries. Dartmoulh, a small town 

 opposite Halifax, on the eastern side of the harbour, was a place of 

 importance during the war, bnt has been nearly stationary since. A 

 steamer plies constantly between it and the city. Dorchater is a place 

 of considerable trade, on the Antigonish River, a mile above the head 

 of navigation. It contains a court-house, and a Baptist, a Presbyterian, 

 and a Uoman Catholic church. Quytbonmgh is situated at the entrance 

 to Hilford Haven, near the head of Chedabucto Bay. It contains a 

 oourt-honse, and churches for Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, and 

 Protestant Dissenters. Liverpool, the chief town of Queen's County, 

 is a well-built place, situated on the west side of Liverpool harbour. 

 Its inhabitants are chiefly employed in fishing and lumbering ; and 

 considerable quantities of timber and fish are exported to Europe and 

 the West Indies. Lunenburg, situated at the head of Ltmenburg Bay, 

 is ■ rsgularly built town, containing several churches. It trades in 

 lumber with the West Indies. Pictou, situated at the head of Pictou 

 harbour, in Northumberland Strait, is a busy and improving town, 

 with a population of several thousands. It contains a college, and 

 Episoopol, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic places of worship. 

 nmber and coal are largely exported. The harbour has a bar at 

 its mouth, but is capacious within, and has from five to nine fathoms 

 depth of water. SAetbunu, situated at the head of Shelbume har- 

 bour, was built by American loyalists after the war of independence. 

 It had a population of 12,000 within a year after its rise, but it now 

 contains only a few inhabitants, who are employed in ship-building 

 and the fisheries. Truro, a town situated at the head of Cobequid 

 Bay, is mostly built of wood. It contains a court-house and several 

 places of worship. Windsor, a neat, clean, well-built town, on the 

 ostuary of the Avon River, and near the mouth of the St. Croix, 

 distant about 40 miles N. from Halifax, contains King's College, an 



academy, and placeS of worship for Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, 

 and various other denominations. Yarmouth, an improving town, 

 on the west coast of the province, consists of one street nearly two 

 miles long, in which the houses are still considerably detached. It 

 contains a court-house, an Episcopal church, and places of worship for 

 Congregationalisks, Baptists, and Methodists. It carries on an active 

 trade with the AVest Indies. Many vessels belong to the place. From 

 its local advantages and the enterprise of its inhabitants it is likely 

 to become a town of great importance. 



The affairs of the province are administered by a governor and 

 executive council, a legislative council appointed by the governor, and 

 a House of Assembly of 43 members, which meets at Halifax. The 

 possession of a 40». freehold forms the elective franchise, and qualifies 

 for a seat in the House of Assembly. The laws are administered by 

 a Court of Queen's Bench ond district courts. They include the 

 common and statute law of England, and the statute law of the 

 province. 



The religious denominations in the province are Episcopalians, Pres- 

 byterians, Roman Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, and some smaller sects. 

 The members of the Church of England are under the direction of a 

 bishop, an archdeacon, and 50 clergymen. The bishop and archdeacon 

 are endowed by the home government, the clergy ore supported by the 

 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The Established Church 

 of Scotland has 6 ministers in the province, the Free Church has 

 19 ministers, and from 20 to 30 ministers are connected with tho 

 United Presbyterian Chm-ch of Scotland. The number of churches 

 in the province in 1851 was 520. Since 1826 a Common School Act 

 has been in operation, which is every three or four years revised by 

 the legislature. It divides the province into districts, in which the 

 people appoint trustees, and maintain their schools on a popular basis, 

 under the control of boards of commissioners appointed by the 

 executive. In 1851 the number of common schools was 1026, with 

 29,175 children. A Grammar school is maintained in each county. 

 There are several colleges in the province : King's College at Windsor, 

 on the plan of Cambridge and Oxford ; Dalhousie College at Halifax, 

 on the model of Edinburgh College ; a general institution at Pictou ; 

 a Baptist college at Horton ; and Acadia College, a Roman Catholic 

 seminary at Halifax. Attempts have been made to unite some of these 

 institutions into one efficient nniversity, but without success. 



The revenue of the province is derived from a tax on imported 

 goods, consisting chiefly of an ad valorem duty of 6j per cent. The 

 income in 1852 was 93,039/. 7». 2d. The defence of the colony is 

 provided for by two or three British regiments stationed in the gar- 

 rison towns, and by the visits of the squadron in summer. An 

 organised militia of 26 regiments, constituting a force of 26,248 

 men, exclusive of officers, is provided for by statute. For the con- 

 struction and maintenance of lighthouses an annual rate is levied 

 from coasting vessels, and a rate per ton from all other vessels entering 

 and leaving the ports. Twenty-one lighthouses are in full operation 

 around the coast. 



Nova Scotia was discovered by the Cabots in 1497. In 1604 the 

 French attempted to settle in it, but were expelled by the Virginian 

 colonists, who claimed the country for Britain in right of previous 

 discovery. Acadia, as the peninsula was called by the French, was 

 granted under the name of Nova Scotia to Sir William Alexander in 

 1621. The French however retained their footing in it till 1654, when 

 they were reduced by a strong force sent out by Cromwell. The 

 colony was ceded to France by the treaty of Breda in 1667, but after 

 various contests was finally secured to Britain in 1711. Certain designs 

 of the French led the British Parliament in 1749 more actively to 

 promote the settlement of the province. A large grant of public 

 money was made for the purpose, 4000 adventurers embarked with 

 their families for the colony, and the present capital was founded by 

 them. The French, assisted by the Indians, made repeated attacks 

 on the settlement till 1758, when they were finally expelled. In 1784 

 New Brunswick and Cape Breton were separated from tho peninsula, 

 and formed into distinct governments, but in 1819 Cape Breton became 

 again, as it is now, a part of the province of Nova Scotia. 



NOVA ZEMBLA, properly NOVAlA ZEMLl A, or ' New Land,' 

 is the name of an island or rather of a chain of islands in the Arctic Sea, 

 which curve round from south to east-north-east between 70" 30' and 

 76° 30' N. lat., 52° and 76° E. long. The convex or western side of 

 Nova Zembla is washed by the Spitzbergen Sea, the eastern by the 

 Kara Sea, and that part of the Arctic Ocean that lies opposite tho 

 mouths of the Obi and Yenisei. On the south it is separated from 

 Waigatz Island by Kara Strait, also called Burrough's Strait. The 

 total length of Nova Zembla is about 500 miles, and the average 

 breadth is about 50 miles. At about 160 miles distant from Felsen 

 Bay (an inlet of Kara Strait) a deep narrow sound called Matotshkin, 

 or Matyushin Shar, connects the Sea of Spitzbergen with the Kara Sea, 

 and cuts oft' the southern island, the proper Novaia Zemlia. About 

 40 miles farther north a similor but wider sound, the western part of 

 which is called Cross Bay, cuts off another island. When about half- 

 way through the island. Cross Bay divides into several arms inclosing 

 several small islands. To the north of Cross Bay lie Lutko's Land, 

 which extends to Cape Nassau, and Bareutz Land, the most eastern 

 part of Nova Zembla : these it is believed form one connected island. 

 In a geographical point of view the island of Waigatz (60 miles long, 



