22 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE MIRAXDA. 



heartily to the enthusiasm of the Salvationists. In fact, the 

 people of Sydney seem to have made up their minds about 

 this life and the next one, and perhaps they prefer to solve 

 both of these problems by the lights that have already been 

 given them. 



There was another subject upon which the inhabitants of 

 Sydney seemed to have made up their minds, and that was 

 that we were a band of rash and foolhardy men, doomed 

 to certain destruction. An iron ship, they declared, was not 

 fit to make the voyage to the Arctic regions ; it would be 

 smashed by the ice. We smiled at such prophecies then, but 

 later on we took them more seriously. One ancient oracle, a 

 prophet of wind and wave and ice, who appeared to have 

 honor even in his own country, was appealed to for his 

 opinion. After the manner of many another oracle, he shook 

 his head, gave a significant look, and said solemnly that he 

 did not like to express his opinion in our presence. Had he 

 doomed us to certain death he could not have thrown a 

 deeper gloom upon the assembled company. 



From North Sydney to Sydney proper is a pleasant half- 

 hour's ride by ferry. At Sydney is a fine summer hotel, which 

 had just been completed at the time of our visit. It is run 

 by a Bostonian, Colonel Brownell Granger. Indeed, Boston 

 capital seems to be doing a good deal for the development of 

 Cape Breton. A party of four of us drove out to some rich 

 copper-mines in the vicinity — a fine drive through a rolling 

 and beautiful country — and were taken about the mines by the 

 manager, Mr. Isaac P. Gragg, also from Boston. The mines 

 are operated by a Boston firm, the Eastern Development 

 Company. We were allowed to inspect them thoroughly, and 

 descended the shaft, in the bucket the miners go down in, to 

 the depth of six hundred feet. It was, of course, as black as 

 pitch soon after we left the mouth of the shaft; but we 

 each held a candle in one hand, and held on to the chain of 



