14 



CHAPTER II. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ACADIAN PROVINCES TABULAR 



ARRANGEMENT OF FORMATIONS. 



Let the reader glance at the map, and he will readily perceive some 

 of the principal physical features of the region we have to describe. 

 Nova Scotia consists of a peninsula and island, situated between north 

 latitude 43° 25' and 47°, and between west longitude 59° 40' and 66° 

 25'; and bounded on the south-eastern side by the Atlantic, and 

 on the western and northern sides by the Bay of Fundy, New 

 Brunswick, and the Gulf of St Lawrence. The peninsular part, 

 Nova Scotia proper, is 250 miles in length, and about 100 in its 

 extreme breadth, and is attached to the mainland of North America 

 by a low isthmus sixteen miles in width. Its form is nearly triangular, 

 and its surface is occupied by several rock formations, arranged for 

 the most part in lines corresponding with its longest or Atlantic coast 

 line. The insular part. Cape Breton, barely separated from the 

 mainland by the narrow sti'ait of Canseau, is 100 miles in extreme 

 length and eighty in breadth ; and its rock formations are similar to 

 those of Nova Scotia proper, though more irregularly distributed. 



The three sides of the triangle formed by Nova Scotia proper are, 

 as seen on the map, distinguished by marked differences of outline. 

 That fronting the north-west is deeply indented by large arms of 

 the sea, separated by precipitous promontories. The longest side, 

 that facing the Atlantic, is dotted with innumerable islands, and 

 penetrated everywhere by small inlets and indentations. The northern 

 shore, fronting the Gulf of St Lawrence, is comparatively smooth 

 and uniform in its coast lines. This is also the character of the 

 eastern coast of Cape Breton ; while its remaining sides are very 

 irregular, and its interior is occupied by a lake-like arm of the sea, 

 which, but for the isthmus of St Peter's, less than a mile in width, 

 would cut it into two parts. 



It will be observed that the characters of these several coast lines, 

 as well as the different physical districts of the province, are well 



