80 



PORT HOOD HARBOUR MCINTOSH 



through the night, and accordingly the whole fleet would follow. 

 His hair-breadth escapes from the cutters were also the common 

 property of the fleet. 



The Present Conditions. 



The removal of the land protection on the north left the har- 

 bor open to the northerly and northeasterly gales which are the 

 most severe along this coast. The seas sweep in and it is diffi- 

 cult to maintain a wharf on the Port Hood side. The land on 

 both sides of the harbour has suffered much from the waves. 

 In this connection, Mr. Meagher says: "In my own recol- 

 lection when I went to school at Port Hood in the winter of 

 1863 the land extended out, I am quite sure, as far as, if not 

 further than the head of the present public wharf. There was 

 an old Catholic Church, the first at Port Hood, situate some 

 distance to the southward and eastward of the present pier, 

 and was, I believe, as far out from the present shoreline as the 

 head of the pier. There were some old buildings there too — one 

 of them a store belonging to Peter Smythe. They disappeared 

 years ago. I am under the impression that there was an old 

 meeting house there too. The school boys in the spring of the 

 year were in the habit of going to the shore and having contests 

 to see who threw down the largest area of sod which had been 

 undermined several feet by the action of the sea." The harbour 

 has silted up to some extent at the middle and at the southern 

 end, and many of its fine features as a haven of refuge are gone. 

 It now parta'ces of the type of harbour determined by a shelter 

 behind an island. In this regard it compares favourably with 

 others of that type. The old anchorage still remains with Smith 

 Island serving as a protection from the north and west winds. 

 The island side serves also as a safe shelter for the fleet of fishing 

 boats, and a site for the wharves and buildings connected with 

 the fisheries which continue to be valuable. On the mainland 

 side towards the southern entrance, a coal shipping pier was 

 built some years ago. It appears not to have been adversely 

 affected by the waves, but the shifting sands have, doubtless, 

 lessened the depth of water around. 



The Probable Future. 



In the ordinary course of natural events, the harbour must 

 be destroyed, providing the coast remains stationary. The 



