THE SALMON FISHER. 117 



and cream, eggs and poultry; and whatever one 

 cannot find at the towns and hamlets he can procure 

 between two days by sending an order to Halifax. 

 Here on the watershed which traverses the whole 

 peninsula lengthwise, are scores of delectable lakes 

 filled with trout, out of whose cradle the limpid 

 rivers leap to the pulsating bosom of the esftiaries 

 by the seaside. Driving along the shore we cross 

 these rivers at frequent intervals, keeping the ocean 

 constantly in view on the one side, and the alternate 

 forests and hamlets on the other. Far out on the 

 horizon clusters of islands loom up in the haze or 

 sparkle like gems in the sunshine. "When the 

 weather is fine the coast scenery is entrancing; but 

 intermittent fogs are apt to shut off the landscape 

 betimes. Whenever they lift and dissolve the beau- 

 ties of Nature are enhanced ten-fold by contrast. 



The rivers of Nova Scotia are short, never exceed- 

 ing fifteen miles in length, so that the salmon have 

 only a holiday journey from the sea to their spawn- 

 ing beds; hence they are able to perform their ex- 

 acting duties of procreation with that comfort and 

 immunity from distress which is so graciously vouch- 



