ST. JOHX: SABLE ISLAND. 7 
used to run the whole length of that beach. In the larger dune hol- 
lows are fresh-water ponds, and near the shores, and especially at the 
eastern end of Wallace Lake, are series of brackish ponds. The dunes, 
especially those near the sea, and the pond shores are well covered 
with vegetation. The beach grass forms a thin covering over all but 
the most recent dunes and flats, but there are great stretches, espec- 
ially near the East End, where the blown sand is beyond control, drift- 
ing over everything and forming a barren desert of shifting white sand. 
This is a bird's-eye view of Sable Island as it was in 1913, but we know 
from trustworthy records that many changes had taken place and 
that pre\iously it was very different, at least in size. 
Early History of Sable Island. 
Who was the first of the European voyagers to sight Sable Island, 
we cannot now say. It is certain, though, that at the beginning of 
the 16th century, the fishermen of western Europe were acfjuaintcd 
with it.^ "This is shown by maps of the period. One preserved 
in the royal library at Munich, marked as made by Pedro Reinel, 
who is described by Herrera as 'a Portuguese pilot of much fame,' 
and supposed to be of about the year 1505, has it under the name of 
Santa Cruz. 
"On the 13th March, 1521, the King of Portugal granted to Joan 
Alvarez Fagundez a large territory embracing Nova Scotia and ad- 
jacencies, together with various islands lying ofY it, which he is said 
to have discovered on a previous voyage, and among them is Santa 
Cruz." 
"Gastaldi, a distinguished Italian cartographer, in a map of 1548, 
represents it under the name Isolla del .\rena, and he is followed by 
his countryman, Zaltieri in 15()(). But as early as 1540 Joannes 
Freire, a Portuguese mai)maker, calls it I. de Sal)le, * * * and by 
the end of that period it seems to have been conmionly known by that 
name." 
This is no place to give a detailed history of Sable Island; conse- 
quently only the more important facts, especially those bearing on 
its physiography or natural history, will in- iiuiitiDiied. 
'Much of this historical data has hccii freely diawii tnun Patterson. Rev. 
George: Sable Islaiul: Its History ami I'heiiomeiia. 'Trans Hoy. Soc. 
Can. xii. §2. 3-49 (1894). 
