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by a dozen volunteers invariably fell into the tide; they appeared to go straight towards the rock, and then, at the last moment, they made a curve backward, as if the rock repelled them. One gentleman went very vigorously to work. He told us that he was always remarkable for throwing a stone well. He went so far as to take off his coat, and yet, after a vigorous effort, failed in the attempt.

The point of interest is Eternity Bay, where there is another elevation, somewhat about fifteen hundred feet high, all beautifully wooded and very precipitous. The whole river is magnificent, and at some points presents the appearance of a lake, entirely shut in by wooded hills, the most abandoned solitude it is possible to conceive. The depth of the water at some points has never been ascertained; it is considered unfathomable, and its colour is as near as possible approaching to black. It was in this neighbourhood, but higher up, that the fire took place by which so many houses were burnt and the inhabitants were thrown upon the charity of the public. The woods somehow were wrapped in one wild conflagration, which spread over a distance of three hundred miles, destroying all the human habitations in its way.

We reached Tadousac at half-past two o'clock, and continued our voyage on to Quebec, admiring on the one hand the mountains, on the other the villages that graced the banks of the majestic St. Lawrence. We reached Quebec at 2 a.m., but did not disembark until morning. The day we spent in visiting our friends, in procuring a bill of exchange for the money we had received, and making other preparations for our voyage to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

CHAPTER VI.

THE LAND OF THE BLUE NOSES.

Quæ regio in terris nostri non plena laboris!

August 5.-At 4 p.m. we went on board the "Georgia," a very fine ocean steamer (Captain Connell), bound to Picton, Nova Scotia, the farthest point to which she goes; the journey from Picton to Halifax to be accomplished by rail. The evening was fine and warm. Our passengers were not numerous, and amongst them were six nuns, bound to Charlottetown, Prince Edward's Island, and two Christian Brothers, bound to the same place, the former to join a convent, the latter to found schools. The nuns were under the protection of a French Canadian priest from Montreal, from which place they had come by this same ship the previous day. When passing Gros Isle, to which I have already alluded, the captain told me some startling things of the unhappy sufferers, to whose misfortunes he was an eye-witness. At that time he had been a pilot on the St. Lawrence.

Next morning we reach a place called Father Point, where some of our passengers land. From this place the bank of the river on the right-hand side becomes very hilly and wooded. Mountains beyond mountains appear, some about three thousand feet high, and so close are they in many places that the captain assured us the snow and ice of winter is never melted in the valleys. The bank on the other side can scarcely be seen. The river at the farthest point is thirty miles wide; it then spreads and become the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The weather is bright and cool, and we have a moon at night,

and while we sit in groups, and tell stories on deck, a beautiful Aurora Borealis appears, and charms us with its ever varying form, and the dancing movement of its rays.

On the second morning, about seven o'clock, we pass between the mainland and a long, curiously-shaped rock. This rock is several hundred feet long, very high, and cut quite sharp, so that its summit cannot be reached by any creature, save a bird. And accordingly, as if conscious of their security, crowds of birds swarm upon it, conspicuous amongst which is the penguin. In this rock Nature has carved a large round hole, through and through. The name of this isolated mountain of stone is "Percy," called from this carved hole, the rock being in the French language "percé"-i.e., pierced. Such is also the name of a small village just here on the main land, at which we touch. Farther out is a considerable island called "Bonaventure Island," mostly cultivated, and with many houses scattered over its surface.

We now fall right out into the deep, and for some time lose sight of land altogether. On the night of the second day after leaving Quebec we stay at Shediac, a small seaport in New Brunswick. Here we remain over night. Next morning, while the vessel is being unloaded of a miscellaneous cargo, chiefly flour, we saunter about the shore; some of our party, principally young folks, go and fish, and are very successful in their attempts, as we found at breakfast and dinner; others go to bathe; some walk to see the town—a small thing some two miles distant. The weather all through the voyage was lovely. Remote as the place is from the inhabited world,

I find an Irishman from Dungarvan, who shakes my hand with all the warmth of brotherly affection.

About 12 o'clock we weigh anchor, and steer for Prince Edward's Island. By this time the passengers have all become more friendly with each other. There is a Mr. Barker, from Picton, an elderly gentleman, and his daughter, Miss Barker, a clever and interesting young lady. There is a Dr. Haight, from the same place, a Mr. McLord, from Montreal, a young man of family, for he tells us of his ancestry, and particularizes one who was an officer under Wolfe, on the plains of Abraham. Here is Mr. Brown, of Montreal, and two young lads, his sons, a quiet, very gentlemanly and social man, who gives me a good deal of information about Canada, and confirms all I have said about the Canadians. There are many others, but one is remarkable above the rest. A handsome young man, with very black hair, dark complexion, black eyes, a moustache, and a very French air, he wears a Turkish fez and looks picturesque with his suit of schaum. This is M. Turgeon, an advocate of Montreal. He speaks English just enough to increase the interest you. feel in him for the beauty of his person. He and I understand each other at once; he has travelled over Europe, and knows life and the world. Thus we get to Prince Edward's Island, which at length discloses itself to view from the bosom of the ocean, a long island, over 130 miles in length, and about 35, at the widest, in breadth. It reminds me much of Ireland; isolated from continental lands, green as emerald, and fertile as Nature can be, with pleasant harbours, and-but here the comparison ceases-with a happy and contented population, self-governed, and only

tweed, and a meer

tweed,

wanting to be let alone by the world, which it is to be feared will not let it alone, but which, despite its inexhaustible treasures of land, is still crying out, "annexation! annexation!"*

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We do not reach the harbour's mouth that opens to Charlottetown until dark, but we have a full moon and a clear sky. We see, as we approach, the dim. outlines of ships and wharves and houses, and church spires, and this is the metropolis, the mother city of Prince Edward's Island. We are moored about 8 o'clock, and Turgeon and I go ashore together, after having bade farewell to the nuns and the two Christian Brothers. We stroll through the dimly-lighted streets-the main street; gas has not yet found its way in here. We wish to find a decent hotel; it is called the "City Hotel" (for the Prince Edward Islanders call their town of 7,000t inhabitants a city). We reach it, and enter. Our chief desire is to hear the news of the great European conflict now waging between the Prussians and French. Up to this time no serious engagement has taken place, nor has the dignity of either Power been compromised. We find ourselves in a place that might be called the reading-room of the hotel, and we take up the paper of the day, Prince Edward's Island Examiner. Here we find news from Europe, three days old, exactly the same that we had heard before we left Quebec. This was disheartening; but it happened just as we were deploring the telegraphic shortcomings of P. E. Island, that

*Prince Edward's Island was incorporated (as a distinct State) in the Dominion of Canada in 1873.

Now over 11,000.

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