Baddeck 
the sea. This message was transmitted by 
telegraph and cable from Newfoundland to 
Aspy Bay on the northern part of Cape 
Breton Island, and from there telegraphed to 
Port Hastings. 
Cape Breton Island lies in the line of the 
shortest distance by sea between Europe and 
America; and so, remote as it is from the 
great cities, it was one of the first places to 
be traversed by telegraph-wires, in order to 
transfer the cable messages receivede at Aspy 
Bay. 
From Port Hawkesbury to Sydney there 
is a railroad which crosses the water at the 
head of the Great Bras d'Or Lake, where the 
channel is contracted, and where is situated a 
small hamlet called Grand Narrows. 
The country between Port Hawkesbury and 
Grand Narrows is rough and dreary-looking, 
with much gypsum cropping out white and 
ghostly in the wilderness. As we approached 
Grand Narrows, we got cheering glimpses of 
the blue Bras d'Or, and at the hamlet itself 
uprising hills and blue water revived our 
spirits. 
We left the train to continue Its course to 
163 
