The account also includes the cargoes carried by the vessels, estimates of damage and the total number of persons lost or saved. Readers will undoubtedly find the second part of Mr. Duncanson's book the most interesting section. The chapter on statistical information is bare bones and dry. The second part is a mini-history of each vessel Duncanson listed in the statistical section. The narratives are matter of fact but they reveal the horrors and hardships that often befell Nova Scotia seamen in the old days.
Typical examples are the fates of two vessels out of local ports.
The barquentine Albertina from Windsor, sailing from New York in 1904, went down off the coast of Massachusetts and the crew of 10 were lost. The crew of six were saved. There are similar accounts of vessels built in small shipyards along the Bay of Fundy and the Minas Basin and its tributaries. Duncanson's book, which hopefully is the first of a series of two or three similar undertakings, is available from the West Hants Historical Society, PO Box 2335, Windsor, NS B0N 2T0.