The Acadians 
homes to be burned, so that the stragglers, for 
many escaped, might not return. 
Pains were taken, the historian is careful to 
say, not to separate families or neighbours, and 
few such events are believed to have occurred. 
Yet, whatever precautions were taken, the exile 
was pitiful enough, and even the grave histo- 
rian cannot refrain from expressing the universal 
sentiment as he nears the tragic moment. He 
tells us how Winslow sailed down Chignecto 
Channel to the Bay of Fundy. 
" Borne on the rushing flood, they soon drifted 
through the inlet, glided under the rival promontory 
of Cape Blomidon, passed the red sandstone cliffs of 
Lyon's Cove, and descried the mouth of the rivers 
Canard and Des Habitants, where fertile marshes, 
diked against the tide, sustained a numerous and 
thriving population. Before them spread the bound- 
less meadows of Grand Pre, waving with harvests or 
alive with grazing cattle ; the green slopes behind 
were dotted with the simple dwellings of the Acadian 
farmers, and the spire of the village church rose 
against a background of woody hills. It was a 
peaceful rural scene, soon to become one of the 
most wretched spots on earth. Winslow did not 
land for the present, but held his course to the 
91 
