personally or by substitute, a certain quantity of labor for the same pur

pose.

The Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, who is subordinate to the Governor-General of British North America, is supreme military and civil magistrate within the province. The Council, appointed by the crown, consists of 12 members, of whom the Bishop and Chief-Justice, ex-officio, form a part. The Legislative Assembly is a body of 41 members, elected by the freeholders. These assemblies are constituted on the same basis as the Imperial Parliament, but all their acts require the approval of the local executive and of the British sovereign, before they can become valid in law. Each county returns two members to the legislature, the remainder are deputed by the towns. The common law of England prevails in Nova Scotia, so far as it does not conflict with local enactments.

The state religion is the Protestant Episcopal, but other sects have numerous congregations. The Established Church is supported by the crown. Nova Scotia was created a Bishopric in 1787. Presbyterians are the most numerous sect of dissenters from the national establishment. The province can boast of numerous schools, academies, and a Royal college at Windsor ; the Nova Scotians are generally better educated than the Canadian population.

The colony is divided into 10 counties, of which Cape Breton is one. There are 52 parishes. The chief towns are Halifax, Truro, Londonderry, Onslow, &c. The capital, Halifax, is pleasantly situated on the slope of a rising ground, facing a fine spacious bay or natural harbor in front, on the eastern or more accessible side of the peninsula. It contains about 25,000 inhabitants, and is a central point for the foreign commerce and fishing-trade of the colony. Although possessing considerable wealth and trade, and the seat of an intelligent population, it is behind English towns of the same size and of inferior capabilities. Here, as elsewhere in the colonies, dependence on the arrangements of the home government deadens public spirit, and retards that natural tendency to advance which is so observable in the towns of the United States. Halifax is the British North American Station for the Cunard Line of Steamships which sail between Liverpool and Boston, and New-York, and the central depot for the British naval forces.

Of the population of the province, which amounts to 310,000, the aboriginal inhabitants do not exceed 600, and there are about 6,000 Acadians (or descendants of the original French settlers,) and about 2,000 negroes. The remainder consists of Germans or their descendants, British emigrants, chiefly from the north of England and Scotland, a few Irish, and the descendants of refugee loyalists from the United States. The Acadians congregate in settlements of their own, mixing little with the other classes of the inhabitants.

Cape Breton is a romantic and mountainous island, lying close to Nova Scotia on the east, and only divided from it by a narrow strait, called the Gut of Canscow. On the western side is the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The island measures upwards of a hundred miles in length by about sixty in extreme breadth, including the numerous bays which indent the land. The natural productions of this island resemble those of Nova Scotia ; wheat, indeed, is less generally grown, but oats and potatoes are raised to a considerable extent. There are large tracts of good land in the lower parts, and the expense of clearing it of timber is estimated at £3 an acre. The

minerals of the island are valuable. Cape Breton is politically annexed to Nova Scotia, of which it forms a county. Area, 3,129 square miles.;

Nova Scotia was discovered by Cabot, or more properly Gaboti, in 1497, and was first settled by the French, who called it Acadia. It subsequently fell under the English, having been, in 1627, granted by James I. to Sir W. Alexander, and named Nova Scotia. In 1632 it was restored to France by the treaty of St. Germain; but it several times subsequently changed hands, and was not finally established in the quiet possession of the British until 1758. At the peace of 1758, the boundaries of this colony were so defined as to include New-Brunswick and Cape Breton; but in 1784 the former was made a separate government, so far as local affairs were concerned, being under the superintendence of the Governor-General as well as the other colonies.

PRINCE EDWARD'S ISLAND.

This rich and productive island is situated in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, between Cape Breton on the east and New-Brunswick on the west, and is separated from Nova Scotia on the south by a strait of about nine miles in breadth. It measures 140 miles in length, and is 34 at its greatest breadth. The general appearance of this island from the sea is level, but, on landing, the scenery is varied with gentle undulations. It abounds with streams and lakes, and in many places it is indented with bays, no part being more than eight miles from the sea. The soil is in general fertile, yielding good crops of wheat and other grains; and parsnips, turnips, carrots, potatoes, and almost all the common culinary vegetables, succeed well. The climate of Prince Edward's Island is in some respects similar to that of the neighboring countries. The winter is said to be shorter than in Lower Canada, and the atmosphere is noted for being free of fogs. Agricultural operations commence about the beginning of May, and the harvest is generally over by the end of October. The chief disadvantage this colony labors under, and which is equally applicable to the others near it, is the great length of the winter, which obliges the farmer to lay up a very large supply of hay for supporting his live-stock.

The capital of the island is Charlottetown, on the Hillsborough River, which contains about 4,000 inhabitants. The other principal towns are Gagetown, Belfast, Dartmouth, &c. The population consists chiefly of English settlers, with some few Acadians, and numbers at the present time 50,000. The chief exports are timber, deals, fish, &c., which are principally carried to England and the United States. The government and ecclesiastical affairs are similar to those of the other Anglo-American colonies

This island was taken from the French in 1756, and annexed with Cape Breton to the government of Nova Scotia in 1763, but since 1768 has formed a separate colony.

NEWFOUNDLAND.

This large and valuable island, forming another of the British North American Colonies, lies at the entrance of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and

off the east coast of Labrador, from which it is separated by the narrow strait of Belle-Isle, between 46° 30′ and 51° 40′ north latitude, and the meridians of 52° 15′ and 59° 10' west longitude. Its greatest length from north to south is 350 miles, and its average breadth 130 miles; superficial area 35,913. The fixed population is about 100,000, exclusive of those who visit the different stations during the fishing season.

The island may be described as being of a triangular shape, but is much indented by broad and deep bays, harbors, coves, rivers, and lagoons, which, besides numerous capes and projecting headlands, form two peninsulas,—on one of which called Avalon, at the south-east corner, is the town and harbor of Avalon.

Its aspect from the sea is far from prepossessing, and its surface rugged and wild in the extreme. The interior, which, until within the last twenty-five years, was generally unknown, is much broken by water; and the lakes, marshes, and scrubby trees form its essential characteristics. The only large navigable streams are the Humber and River of Exploits. Its prevalent geological constitution is of granite, on which is superimposed, in some parts, porphyry, quartz, gneiss, mica, and clay-slate, with secondary formations; coal and iron also occur in some places.

The eastern half of the interior is generally a low, picturesque country, traversed by hills and lakes, the whole being diversified by trees of humble growth. The country westward is more rugged and mountainous, with little wood, except near the shore. The mountains are not generally in ridges, but have each apparently its separate base. The highest part of the island is its northern peninsula, lying along the straits of Belle-Isle; near its centre are flats of considerable extent; swampy, unhealthy, and usually covered with peat or strong wiry grasses.

The forests abound in spruce, birch, and larch. Pine seldom occurs, and never grows to any considerable size; indeed, there is little wood of any value, except for fuel and the building of small boats. Whortleberry bushes and wisha capuca (Indian tea) are the principal plants on the high wooded grounds.

The best and most fertile soil is along the rivers, and at the heads of the bays fringing the island; but both the soil and the climate generally are unfavorable for raising grain, though well adapted for pasturage, and the cultivation of potatoes and other green crops and roots.

The animals peculiar to the other northern parts of the continent are common to this island. Vast herds of carriboo deer graze on the plains and woods of the interior, and their flesh constitutes nearly the sole diet of the Micmac Indians. Beavers are scarcer than formerly; but foxes are still numerous along the rivers and sea-coast. Among the other wild animals are wolves and bears. Seals abound along the northern shores. The insect tribes are well represented on the swampy places, especially during the hot months, and sometimes prove very troublesome.

The best known and most celebrated among the animals of this island, however, are its fine breed of dogs, famed for docility, intelligence, obedience, and attachment to their masters. They are remarkably voracious, and are usually fed on salted fish; but, like the aborigines of the country, they endure hunger for a lengthened period. The true breed has become very scarce, and the breed known as the "Newfoundland dog" in the United States, though equally as sagacious, hardy, and fond of water, is a cross with the mastiff, or some other specie. The true breed is web-footed, but the cross may be generally recognized, by a practised eye, in the coun

tenance of the animal. From their peculiarities they are well adapted to their native land—a land of waters, where their webbed feet assist them in swimming-a land dreary and cold, where their thick shaggy coats protect them from the inclemencies of a long winter.

Newfoundland has long been celebrated for its fisheries, on which, indeed, the inhabitants principally depend. The Great Bank on the east side of the island is, in some places, 200 miles in breadth and 600 in length, the soundings being from 25 to 95 fathoms. There is also an Outer Bank lying between latitude 44° 10′ and 47° 30′ north, and longitude 44° 15′ and 45° 25′ west, and a continuation of banks extends southward to Nova Scotia. Fogs prevail almost without interruption on these shoals, occasioned by the meeting of the waters of the Gulf Stream from the tropics with those driven by the winds from the polar regions. A counter current from the north sweeps also along the shore of Labrador, bringing with it large icebergs, and rendering navigation dangerous, especially during foggy weather. The best fishing grounds on the Great Bank are between the 42d and 46th parallels. The cod fisheries, which commenced soon after the discovery of America, attained so high an importance during the last war with the French, that the exports of cod and cod oil, in 1814, amounted to no less than £2,604,000 sterling, or $12,500,000; but the English fisheries have since rapidly declined, and, at the present time, are not valued at more than one-fifth of that sum. In 1849, there were 6,159 boats employed in this branch of industry.

The seal fishery is conducted in boats varying from 80 to 120 tons, with crews of from 20 to 30 men. The season commences early in April; it is principally carried on close to the shore of Labrador, and has, of late years, attained considerable importance. There is also a small whale fishery conducted in boats on the south side of the island, and the salmon fisheries are said to be profitable and pretty extensive. The total value of all the fisheries in 1849 was $4,196,300.

The commercial standing of Newfoundland is secondary to that of the other British North American Colonies, but still is not despicable. Its exports average in value about $5,000,000, and consists chiefly, if not altogether, of the products of its fisheries. The principal imports are British manufactured goods, colonial produce, corn, ship-biscuit, and a variety of other articles for the consumption of the inhabitants. The trade between the island and the United States has considerably increased of late, and will no doubt eventually lead to beneficial results. One-half the shipping employed belongs to the resident colonists.

The government of Newfoundland was for a long time administered by naval commanders, who were appointed to cruize on the fishing stations, and who returned home in the winter. Within the last century, however, it was deemed necessary to have a resident governor. In 1812, in consequence of a petition from the inhabitants, a representative government was established, the elections being by almost universal suffrage. The assembly comprises 15 members, and has attached to it a legislative and executive council. The laws are generally based on the common law of England, and are administered by circuit courts; but the police is inefficient in the extreme, though greatly improved of later years. Besides the standing army, which is paid by the imperial government, there is a militia, in which all able bodied men are obliged to serve, and the other protective means are ample. An education act was passed in 1836, which has been the means of bringing within the reach of all the benefits of elementary instruction;

the population, nevertheless, is, as a general thing, extremely unlettered and ignorant.

There is no church establishment, all sects having equal privileges; but a talar Roman Catholic bishop, as well as a Protestant prelate, lately appointed, rende at St. John's. The Roman Catholics are the prevailing body; Sut Eolecopalians, Presbyterians and Wesleyans are numerous.

Le peuple of Newfoundland are honest and industrious, but much adé sted to drinkenness, and are superstitious to a degree almost beyond belief. Gomes of any magnitude are of rare occurrence. The people, chiefly conwhag of Iran, Scotch, and emigrants from Guernsey and Jersey, or their deeridinta, (the Indian aborigines having been long all but extinct,) are * no ojed either wholly or occasionally in the fisheries. The breed of cattle and werg, and the cultivation of small patches of land, are likewise partial sources of occupation. The women, besides assisting the men in catching sud during the hen, are engaged either in rural occupations or in spinning sad en ting worsted stockings, mittens and socks. In winter, much time ja nost,med in bringing home fuel, building boats, and making or repairing ban gamolementa, The morals of the people are at a low ebb, and among the lean the rude celebrations of that people are consummated amid riotous norn and too often horrid debauchery; but, as before observed, capital ofe.dom committed. The houses and food of the common people *t* woke fotog, and to the stranger almost as repulsive as those of the **rage of Labrador.

Newfoundland was probably discovered by the Norwegians, in the 11th century, but if so, it was subsequently forgotten, till Cabot visited it in the matter of 1497, and named it "Prima Vista," from its having been the first Sund 4 romered by that celebrated navigator. As early as 1500, an extenmery was carried on by the Portuguese and French, on the neighborbut though Sir Walter Raleigh and others attempted to form a no successful settlement was made until Sir G. Calvert, afterwork Lord Baltimore, in 1623, established himself in the south-east part of pra savod, ca led Avalon, and appointed his son governor. Ten years after, * song was sent over from Ireland, and in 1654, a few English settlers came The French, early in the 17th century, had formed a station at Plasanta, and were a constant source of annoyance to the English. At the oprench Virment the island was finally conceded to the English, but the Binary e qeta were still a quæstio verata between the two nations.

W regard to the fishery in general, it was chiefly carried on during the toe pot of the last century by the English, Anglo-Americans and the

but the capture of Cape Breton, and other possessions in America, you a very were blow to the fisheries of the latter. The American war 6.1.sed the British fishery: that portion which had previously been carried vy the perpe of New-England, being thenceafter merged into that of the Cured States, but still the English contrived to preserve to themde ves the largest share. During the French war, the French were entirely exo „ded from the fisheries, in consequence of which the English profited vy a monopoly of the business: but since the peace, at the consummation of which, the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon were ceded to the French, it was been carried on chiefly by the French and Americans, that of the English having materially declined since that period.