24 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE MIRANDA. 



Sydney is a very attractive place, with green sloping 

 banks that run down to meet the still waters of a beautiful 

 cove — waters so deep that the largest vessels can anchor within 

 a few yards of the shore ; and here British and French war- 

 ships are to be seen during the summer. Now that the town 

 possesses a commodious hotel, furnished with every modern 

 convenience, it must become a popular resort for sportsmen 

 and tourists. There are plenty of salmon and trout in the 

 adjacent streams, as well as fine salt-water fishing ; then, as 

 regards liunting, there are partridge, snipe, woodcock, curlew, 

 and plover to be found in abundance, while within a day^s 

 journey are the magnificent hunting-grounds of the North 

 Cape. Here is an immense tract covered with primeval woods, 

 where bear, moose, and caribou wander about at will. The 

 interior of these forests has never been fully explored, and 

 but rarely echoes to the crack of the huntsman's rifle. 



The people of Cape Breton Island are mainly of Scotch 

 descent, and mining and fishing are their chief industries. 

 The island is completely seamed with veins of coal, and the 

 enormous mines at North Sydney run far out under the sea. 

 These mines are also owned by an American syndicate. About 

 a mile from North Sydney live a tribe of Mic-Mac Indians, 

 who support themselves by making baskets and other utensils 

 and trinkets. They are entirely independent, and are fairly 

 intelligent. The chiefs and sages of the tribe dwell in little 

 houses, and the others content themselves with wigwams. 



We took in a supply of coal, some provisions, and live 

 stock, at North Sydney, and then went gayly on our way, 

 feeling that we had sufficient resources to take us up to the 

 North Pole and back again if need be. It had been the 

 original intention to go from Sydney through the straits of 

 Belle Isle ; but so much ice was reported that Captain Farrell 

 made his course around Newfoundland instead. On the morn- 

 ing of Sunday, July 15, the forbidding and frowning coast of 



