Morning journal and courier., 1888-09-15
OLD ACADIA AND BEYOND.
A Barren Land-HaIiGax-ltsI Interest ing H1sG0FY-Its HarbOr-Scenes In the Oity-Loufsbars.

ing H1Se0FT-Kta HarbOr-SCeneg 1n
 the Oity-LoufsbarE.
 LoUIsBURG, o. B. l., Sept. 8.
 Tothe Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
 Ienvied good Captain Ballast and his man of all affairs, Tom, their sea trip from An napolis Royal around the splendid shores of Nova Scotia to Halifax. They saw every thing romantic and beautiful along the coast, and came upon the ancient city from point of vision where it's bay islands, it's out reaching headlands and sunny capes, and it's quaint old self, are all very fascinating and winsome to the travellers eyes. But from the witching shores of the Basin of Minas to the peninsula's capital city, one must possess a rare and radiant fancy to conjure from the dreary landscape even one sight or scene which fingers as 8 pleasant memory. Vast reaches of stunted hemlock and spruce broken only by some black la goon, swampy lake or God forsaken eollec- ton of houses which stand for 8 railway sta ton, appear and disappear until one stines from the monotonous sameness and dreari- ness. The very horizon is jagged and cruel from bleak and half burned trees. Crows wheel and swirl and cav above the blasted landscape. Here and there great fields of broken rock lift their sharp angles as if some race of Titans had suddenly deserted a mighty task of quarrying. know of no use to which the entire region may ever be put unless it be eeded to Great Britain when we finally take possession of Canada. Ven- turing an incautious expression of pained sur prise at the -barrenness and sterility of so l,- ofN ola
 tive hotly resented it with,
 ''My God, moni Ets little ye know O thes land. livery acre be mine O goldi"
 'Sure enough gold" I inquired with apologetic blandness.
 My good friend glared at me like an apo plectie British lion for 6 very long time.
 Beads of loyal indignation broke through the pores of his red, red face. Then he stared at 8 bushy faced companion with ap- pealing amazement. The companion stared back in amazed appeal. After several more glares and choky attempts at utterance he beloved to his friend for my benefit:
 eMy God, monl Everything be only in H'smerica, yenturet"
 My heart said ''Amen" to this stinging sa- tire, while my lips informed him that so far as my observation extended bis "venture" was an unusually accurate one. And with few more enlivening interohangss of interna- tional comity we soon rolled into Halifax, at precisely 1920 o'clock in the evening, Inter- colonial railway time. For you should know that they have @ crisp way here of printing their railway folders with no divi- sion of time in the twenty-four hours. Ac- cordingly you rise at seven o'clock. You lunch at twelve. You dine at seventeen or eighteen o'clock; and then retire any way from twenty-one to twenty four o'clock. One's first impressions of Halifax are any, thing but pleasant, despite it's picturesque situation, splendid harber and outlying shores. This is mainly owing to it's unkempt dinginess and somber colorings of time and decay where no arresting hand of enterprise seems ever to come. But as you get better acquainted with the old city the appearance of snuRness and quaintness have much to do with awakening pleasanter contemplation. In the 6rst place Halifax is very old and has had an eyentfu1 history. The Indians named its magnificent harbor "Chebucto," or the l chief haven. It was to Halifax the remnant of the great French Armada of 1746 came after the unparalleled disasters by sea to the expedition commissioned to conquer British North America from Newfoundland to Vir- ! ginia; and the shores of Bedford basin are q | continuous sspulcher of bones of those whe have perished here by war or wars diseases. f Its first permanent settlement was by Massa- ! British lords of trade. The immense fleets | of Wolf and Loudon concentrated here before advancing on Louisburg and Quebec. It was the chief station in America for British men-of-war, soldiery and munitions | of the war of the Revelation and of 1812. \ At Halifax was formulated the infamous decree whien authorized the exile of the I Acadians. Here lived Sir William Kars, the hero of Kars and the victim of English, Russian diplomacy. Prince Edward, Duke
 of Kent and father of Queen Victoria, was | for some time commander of the forces here
 partially constructed by captured Maroons his slaves. During our late civil war Halifaz swarmed with Confederate privAteers and English men-of-war, and untold millions were made by Halifax merchants througl ] the profits of blockade running. To-day ai
 for more than century past, to be plair
 about it, Halifax has been simply England
 bristling with cannon, filled with soldiery
 and her harbor at every pretext full of Brit, ish men-of-war, in the event of war ready
 and able to devastate our defenseless coast at thirty-six hours notice. The American people Will some day conclude that, h thl ! sense, any harbor on which stthe nRYies O
 the world may ride" is just about three thou
 sand miles too near our own great harbor
 for any other flag than our own to foa | above.
 1 But 1t is a beautiful harbor indeed. It lie
 behind Cape Sambro, which breaks the fore of the sea completely. To the right and lief
 assyou enter, lighthouses and massive fortif
 cations are everywhere seen. On the yves shore is Herring Cove, in which region man picturesque fishers villages are found. ] little farther on Salisbury Head is passed
 and you enter the harbor proper between tn
 Martello Tower on Msagher's Beach and th 1 York redoubt. Leaving MeNab's Island now pleasure resort, behind, you pass un
 der the drowning walls of Fort Clarence an
 the great fortress of Georges Island, and th
 city and harber with it's fine groupings ( } l shipping are before you. The chief featuz of the harbor ie it's magnificent Bedford Bs