RECREATION 



Volume XV* 



JULY, J 90 J. 

 G. 0. SHIELDS (COQUINA), Editor and Manager. 



Number \. 



CANOE AND CAMP IN NOVA SCOTIA. 



F. C. STOWELL. 



September's sun never shone more 

 fair nor did the ship's deck ever 

 carry a jollier crowd. Our quartette 

 bunched early and settled on deck, 

 just as the big steamer swung into 

 the stream and began nosing her 

 way through the ubiquitous small 

 fry of the inner harbor. We were a 

 congenial party, for there we sat 

 through the devious harbor passage, 

 through the panorama of islands with 

 forts and without, and of beacons 

 with and without lights ; sat till the 

 gilded dome on Beacon Hill had 

 faded out of sight ; till the autumnal 

 sun, poising an instant on wavy 

 crests, had sunk, reluctant, into the 

 sea. As darkness fell we, too, joined 

 the procession and went below. And 

 why not? The supper gong was 

 sounding. 



When I awoke next morning and 

 poked my head through the solitary 

 opening of fresh air and daylight into 

 our berth the sun was just swinging 

 up over the fair Isle of Evangeline, 

 and I could see the steeples and 

 housetops of a coast city lying low 

 on the horizon. I informed Mrs. 

 S. of this discovery, and by the time 

 we had finished toilets and strapped 

 up belongings the steamer was at her 

 pier. We hastened ashore for the 

 usual interview with customs officers 

 and, having made peace with them, 

 returned to the steamer for breakfast. 



A rail run of 70 odd miles through 

 quaint Annapolis valley took us 

 to Annapolis proper, whence we were 

 to detour radically from the main 

 thoroughfare. The number of tour- 

 ists and sportsmen who recognize 

 Nova Scotia as a delightful field for 



an outing increases every season. 

 But these people usually hasten 

 across the Province by the only rail 

 route from Yarmouth to Halifax di- 

 rect, or vice versa. They know little 

 of the remoter settlements or their 

 people, and nothing of the great in- 

 terior wilderness of the island. 



A leisurely stroll about the old 

 earthworks and crumbling magazine 

 once defending and still overlooking 

 the picturesque Annapolis basin in- 

 terested us till we started on our long 

 drive 60 miles inland. Fine weather 

 favored this drive; even the ladies 

 were not much fatigued, and we en- 

 joyed every foot of the journey. We 

 pulled into the mining settlement of 

 Whiteburn about noon of the second 

 day, having rested comfortably over- 

 night at a halfway house. 



Whiteburn did not suggest an ori- 

 gin from any such feverish excite- 

 ment and turmoil as culminated in a 

 Leadville or a Cripple Creek, or it 

 must have, been long, long ago. 

 However, extensive gold operations 

 were carried on there in the past. 

 Several mines are still worked profita- 

 bly, and prospecting continues apace. 

 But our interest there was our host, 

 an old friend, a miner and a royal 

 good fellow. He was to captain our 

 outing, a happy circumstance, for in 

 addition to a perfect knowledge of 

 the territory, he was a thorough 

 sportsman, an expert with rod, rifle 

 or paddle. 



Two days at Whiteburn completed 

 details, and on the morning of Sep- 

 tember 7th we sent off the first team 

 with our canoes and camp duffle. A 

 few hours later we donned our woods 



