and moral Philosophy. It is generally regretted that so much money should have been so injudiciously expended. One College, with the Academies already established, is at present sufficient for the two Provinces of Nova-Scotia and New-Brunswick. The latter Colony, with that sectional feeling so peculiar to America, has already provided means for the support of one at Fredericton, and if this institution should ever be completed, we shall have three insignificant, instead of one respectable institution. Halifax also contains a grammar school, which has an endowment of two hundred pounds a year from the Province; a large school on the National, and one on the Lancastrian system, besides an extensive one for Catholics, and several common schools. There are no periodicals published, nor are any European or American books re-printed at Halifax, and the only productions of the press in this Province are the weekly Newspapers, of which there are six at this place and one at Pictou. The Court-House is a plain brick building, in which there is an Exchange room for the Merchants, and suitable apartments for the Courts of Common Pleas, and General Sessions of the Peace. There is also a large wooden building, called Free Mason's-Hall, where the public assemblies for dancing are usually held. Besides the Poor-House, which is open not only for the reception of the paupers of the township of Halifax, but for all the transient poor of the Province, there is a Bridewell, or house of Correction, which was established in the year 1815.-Persons designated in the Act as liable to be committed to Bridewell, for a term not exceeding seven years, are described vaguely" as disorderly and idle people, who notoriously mispend their time, to the neglect of their own and family's support, and those who are convicted of any clergyable or lesser criminal offence." The charitable institutions are the English, Irish and Scotch Societies, the Masonic, Philanthropic, and Poor Man's Friend Society. Its manufactures are still in an infant state, most of them having been commenced since the year 1815. They consist of a Sugar Refinery, Distilleries of Rum, Gin, Whiskey, &c. Breweries of Porter, Ale,&c. Cábinet work, Soap and Candles, Glue, Leather, Carriages, Chocolates, Linseed Oil, Combs, Brushes, Paper, Snuff and other manufactured Tobacco, Flour, Cordage, &c. &c. Halifax, in common with every other part of British America, experienced in its trade the embarrassments and difficulties incidental to a sudden transition from war to peace, but as the Merchants of this place have always traded within the limits of their Capital, the shock, though severe, was not such as to induce either ruin or distress. Business is conducted in a safe and honorable manner, and it is a fact highly creditable to the Mercantile Community, that only one bankruptcy occurred among the respectable part of the Merchants, during the whole of the administration of his Excellency Sir James Kempt, a period of eight years. It is difficult to estimate, with any degree of accuracy, the extent of its trade, as much of that at the outports is conducted on the funds of the Capital. There are owned at Halifax, six ships, sixty-seven brigs, seventyseven schooners; of these there are employed about seventy in the West India trade, six in the Brazil and Foreign European trade, four between the Province and Great Britain, and the rest in the fishéries and coasting trade.* The passage from Halifax to Portsmouth, N. H. occupies from 3 to 6 days; to Boston, nearly the same time; to New-York from 4 to 8 days; to Philadelphia or Norfolk, from 7 to 14 days; to Charleston from 8 to 15 days; and to Sa- vannah from 9 to 18 days. The passage to England is accomplished in from 14 to 30 days; to Bermuda 493 524 5531 580 625 See the table annexed to the Chapter on Trade. This The Peninsula upon which Halifax is built is formed by Chebucto harbour, and the North West Arm, an inlet of the sea, which extends in the rear of the town to within a mile and a half of Bedford Bason. tract of land contains about three thousand acres, and during the administration of Governor Cornwallis, was divided into lots containing five acres each, with the exception of 240 acres, reserved for a common. To promote the cultivation of these allotments, an excise duty was imposed upon all spirituous liquors consumed in the Province, out of which a bounty of 20 shillings was paid for every acre of ground cleared and enclosed. The inhabitants, stimulated by this encouragement, prepared, within a short time, two hundred lots, or one thousand acres, for the recep tion of grain, and protected them with substantial wooden fences; but an accidental fire spreading over the whole surface, consumed the pickets, and the decayed vegetable substances with which the land was covered. The sterile and stony nature of the soil was thus exhibited to view, and the settlers, disappointed and discouraged, desisted for many years, from making any further attempt at cultivation. At a subsequent period, Governor Lawrence, finding that the inhabitants were under the necessity of importing hay from Massachusetts at exorbitant prices, prevailed upon the Legislature to offer a bounty on hay raised upon the Peninsula, and upon the erection of stone walls. In consequence of this act, the attempt was again made, and in 1762, 70 acres were brought into a state of cultivation, at an expense of twenty-two pounds ten shillings per acre. Since that time, and especially within the last twenty years, the greater part of the land in the vicinity of the Capital, has been enclosed with stone walls, and rendered more productive than any other upland in Nova-Scotia. It is therefore in much better accordance with the natural beauty of the environs of the town. The noble harbour, the splendid sheet of water contained in Bedford Bason, and the exquisite beauty of the North West Arm, are never failing objects of admiration. The average width of the latter is about a quarter of a mile, and its depth from 15 to 20 fathoms. It is navigable throughout its entire length. It receives several streams of fresh water, that are supplied by lakes which lie scattered in every direction between its western shore and Margaret's Bay. On one of these streams, are very extensive and valuable Mills, the property of Messrs. W. & S. Black, of Halifax. In the centre of a little cove on the western side of the Arm, and about half a mile from its head, is Melville Island, the former abode of unfortunate prisoners of war. There are about ten buildings upon it, which, together with a garden, nearly cover its surface. The principal one is the prison, a long wooden house, two stories in height, whose grated windows bespeak the use to which it has been applied. All the buildings are in a state of neglect and decay; a wooden bridge connects the Island with the main land, and on a small hill to the southward is the burying ground belonging to the |
