114 NOVA SCOTIA. 



fires swept over it and wiped out the " dingy hovels," its old- 

 fogyism, and its apathy. The American war gave it a sub- 

 stantial lift. Confederation emptied the barracks of the 

 garrison. And the influx, sagacious investment, and judi- 

 cious distribution of Yankee and Canadian capital have 

 planted thriving settlements and enterprises from one end 

 of the Province to the other. 



Herewith I enter the lists as the champion of Nova 

 Scotia. Once upon a time I resided there for a considerable 

 period. "Within the past thirteen years I have traversed it 

 from one extremity to the other ; much of it by private con- 

 veyance. I have become enamored of its natural beauties 

 and nnusual resources. "Were I to give a first-class certificate 

 of its general character, I would affirm that it yields a greater 

 variety of products for export than any territory on the globe 

 of the same superficial area. This is saying a great deal. 

 Let us see : she has ice, lumber, ships, salt fish, salmon and 

 lobsters, coal, iron, gold, antimony, copper, plaster, slate, 

 grindstones, fat cattle, wool, potatoes, apples, large game, and 

 furs. But, as this volume is not a commercial compendium, 

 I shall regard the attractions of the Province from a sports- 

 man's standpoint only. 



As a game country it is unsurpassed. Large portions are 

 still a primitive wilderness, and in the least accessible forests 

 the moose and cariboo are scarcely molested by the hunter. 

 Nearly every stream abounds in trout, and although civiliza- 

 tion, with its dams and its mills, had nearly exterminated 

 the salmon at one time, the efforts of the Canadian Govern- 

 ment since 18G8 have so far restored the streams that this 

 royal fish may also be taken in nearly all its old haunts. 

 When the process of re-stocking shall have been fully com- 

 pleted, and the dams all opened for the passage of the salmon 

 to their spawning grounds, these rivers will be leased to anglers. 

 At present they are the only ones in the New Dominion not 

 so leased. Such as they are, they are free to all comers. In 

 some respects they offer inducements not to be found in other 



