390 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. — NEWFOUNDLAND. 



into the Bay of Fundy is the principal, and has a course of 60 miles. There is a very great 

 number of excellent harbors. Chedabucto and JMahone Bays, and the basins of Mines and 

 Cumberland, running up from the Bay of Fundy, are the chief bays. 



4. Islands. The Isle of Cape Breton, separated from the mainland by the Gut of Canseau, 

 is about 100 miles long, by from 30 to 80 bi oad, and contains about 500,000 acres of arable 

 land. It sustains a population of 25,000 inhabitants, and has some excellent harbors. Sable 

 Island, to the southeast of Nova Scotia, is a dangerous bank of sand, on the track of vessels 

 sailing between Europe and North America. 



5. Minerals. Gypsum or plaster of Paris, limestone, iron, and bituminous coal, are found 

 m Nova Scotia. 



6. Canals. The Shubenacadie Canal extends across the peninsula, from the harbor of 

 Halifax to the Bason of Mines, 54 miles, and it is proposed to cut a canal across the isthmus 

 from Cumberland Basin to Verte Bay, 11 miles. 



7. Towns. Halifax, the capital, stands on Cbebucto Bay, with a fine harbor, safe, capa- 

 cious, and easy of access. It is regularly built on rising ground, with wide, straight streets, 

 and contains several government buildings, a dock-yard or nav3'-yard, and 10,000 inhabitants. 

 The Government House, or residence of the Lieutenant-Governor, the province building, a 

 handsome edifice of the Ionic order, containing the legislative halls and public offices, 8 church- 

 es, Dalhousic College, &c., are the principal public buildings. Several Enghsh regiments are 

 stationed here, and there are generally some ships of v/ar in the harbor. It is the centre of a 

 profitable fishery and a thriving trade. Dartmouth, a little village, lies opposite to Halifax. 



Lunenburg, with 1,200 inhabitants, chiefly Germans, and Liverpool, a flourishing trading 

 town, with 1,800 inhabitants, lie southwest of Halifax. On the northern coast are Annapolis, 

 formerly Port Royal, an old French setdcment ; Digby, famous for its red herrings ; and Wind- 

 sor, containing the University of King's College, and a collegiate school. Pictou, on the Gulf 

 of St. Lawrence, with an excellent harbor, is a busy town in the coal region. Pictou College 

 is a respectable seminary. On the Island of Cape Bieton are Sydney, which has derived some 

 importance from its coal trade, and the ruins of Louisburg, once a formidable French fortress, 

 captured by the Americans and English in 1745, and a second time by the English in 1758, 

 when its works were demolished. Louisburg formerly contained about 5,000 inhabitants, but 

 is now reduced to a few fishing huts. Arichat, on Madam Island, between Cape Breton and 

 Nova Scotia, has 2,000 inhabitants. 



8. Government. The chief execudve officer is styled Lieutenant-Governor, and there is a 

 council, appointed by the crown, which is at once an executive council and a legislative body. 

 The other legislative house, called the Assembly, is chosen by the freeholders. 



9. Inhabitants. Nova Scotia originally belonged to France, and was then called Acadia. 

 The Acadian French, Scotch, and Irish, are the most numerous classes ; there are also many 

 English, refugee loyalists from the United States, or their descendants, some Germans, and 

 about 3,000 negroes. One third of the inhabitants are Roman Catholics, about one fourth 

 Presbyterians, nearly as many Episcopalians, and there are great numbers of Methodists and 

 Baptists. 



CHAPTER XLVL PRINCE EDWARD'S ISLAND. 



Prince Edward's Island, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is separated from Nova Scotia, by 

 Northumberland Strait, 9 miles in width. It is 140 miles in length by from 15 to 30 in breadth, 

 having an area of 2,000 square miles, and containing 35,000 inhabitants. It is divided into 3 

 counties, which are subdivided into 67 townships. The capital, CJiarlottetown, has an excel- 

 lent harbor, at the junction of the rivers York, Elliot, and Hillsborough, which empty their 

 united waters into Hillsborough Bay. Population, 3,500. The climate of the island is mild, 

 dry, and healthy, and the soil fertile ; the shores abound with fish. The inhabitants are chiefly 

 Scotch, with many Irish and Acadian French. The local government is like that of Nova Scotia. 



CHAPTER XLVIL NEWFOUNDLAND. 



1. Extent, Population. This island is separated from the continent by the Straits of Bel- 

 Jisle and the Gulf d' St. Lawrence. It is 330 miles in length, and from 50 to 300 in breadth, 



