Down North and Up Along 
boats flee through the dangerous channel to 
the safe waters of West Bay. 
As soon as we were fairly past Blomidon, we 
could look down the inlet to Cape Split, which 
forms the farther edge of the trough on the 
south side, while Cape Sharp is seen extending 
into the water from the opposite shore. 
Cape Split is a curious-looking object. At 
its extreme point a great cliff of solid rock 
seems to have been cleft or split from the 
mainland by a blow from some mighty sword. 
It stands alone, towering aloft, the home of 
countless sea-birds that build their nests upon 
its unscaleable summit. Their white forms can 
always be seen in clouds about it. 
While Blomidon's front extends almost due 
north and south, only the southeastern corner 
being visible from the Cornwallis Valley, the 
ridge of rock which terminates in Cape Split 
lies nearly at right angles to it, extending east 
and west. 
This ridge is a narrow spit of solid rock ; and 
a glance at the map will show how, if it were 
swung about until Cape Split touched the 
Cumberland shore, Minas Basin would indeed 
be a lake. 
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