MR. WILTON. "Nova Scotia is about 350 miles long, and 250 broad: its chief town is Halifax. This island, with regard to fishing, is scarcely inferior to Newfoundland, which place is connected with the government of Nova Scotia."
MRS. WILTON. "Cape Breton, or Sydney Isle, lies north-east of Nova Scotia, from which it is separated by a strait only a mile broad. Its length is 100 miles, its breadth 60. A remarkable bed of coal runs horizontally, at from 6 to 8 feet only, below the surface through a large portion of the island: a fire was once accidentally kindled in one of the pits, which _is_ now continually burning. Cape Breton has been termed the Key to Canada and is the principal protection, through the fine harbor of Louisburg, of all the fisheries in the neighborhood."
EMMA. "The next important bays in our southward course are Bay of Fundy, Delaware Bay, and Chesapeake Bay: then we come in sight of the Bahamas."
MRS. WILTON. "Which islands must stand aside while we examine the Bermudas, which are half-way between Nova Scotia and the Antilles. They were so called by Juan Bermudas, who discovered them in the year 1557, but did not land upon them: they are of various sizes, the largest being about twelve miles. The cedar-trees grown there form the chief riches of the inhabitants, and they estimate a man's income by the number of trees he possesses. St. George is the capital, and the islands belong to the English. They are sometimes called 'Somers Isles,' from the circumstance of Sir John Somers being shipwrecked on the rocks by which they are surrounded. Previous to this occurrence Henry May, an Englishman, was cast ashore on one of the largest, and as the islands abound with cedar, he contrived, with the assistance of the materials he obtained from the wreck, to build a small vessel, in which he returned to England, and was the first person who gave any account of the group."
GEORGE. "Now for the Bahamas. They are 300 in number! but only twelve are large. Nassau is the capital They were the first land discovered by Columbus in the year 1492."
MR. WILTON. "And were once a nest of pirates, but the English expelled them, and established a colony in 1720."
MR. BARRAUD. "Speaking of pirates, have you ever heard the plan adopted by the Portuguese for the suppression of piracy?"