The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-03-10
Bay of st. AIMS. Cape Breton.

rem, probably f~oreshadowed the Amer
lean Revolution.
With the closing of this refuge of
Atlantic privateers, marine insurance
or AnglO-American vessels fell at
nee from 30 to l. per cent? Sub
%sequently the island was restored to
France, and again the fortunes Of war
made it permanently Il British pos
session.
The giant fortress Of LouiSburg was
demolished in favor of the newly for
titled base at HalifaX-a military ne
cesSity that is deplored by the visitor
Of today.
And yet in all its desolation. n
thrills to the glory OF its past. Here
are the remains Of the D%auphin's gate {;
Wonder can be traced the bomb-prOOf
easements of tie kings Bastion, and
on one of these grassy mounds stood
the citadel, where fair ladies and gal
liant gentlemen of France graced the
grand ball on that fateful eve OF
peppercll's arrival in Gabarus Bay.
Not until 1854, when the island be-
came temporarily Il separate colony,
with its own governor, were grants or
land to settlers permitted. To it In
the late years Of the Eighteenth and
the opening Of the Nineteenth cen
fury came q great number of hardy
Scottish settlers. In this way the is
land became ''as Gaelic as the most
Gaelic part of Scotland Though
there are considerable French AcaGian
settlements, a or less c0Slnopol-
itan population in the vicinity Of the
mining districts. and many descend
ants of the old United Empire Loyal
iSt stock. the f. +. VS. of the prov
inceS, Cane Breton is still predOmi-
nantly Highland Scottish in its pop
ulation.
The finest scenery in the Maritime
provinces is to be found in northern
Cape Breton and through the lovely
Bras dor Lake region of the interior.
Bras dor Lakes.
Most striking of the islands physical
features is this inland sea, known in
its two sections as the Great and Lit
tie Bras d'Or Lakes. Widening out
from its two Atlantic entrances, it
extends in its $50 square miles Of
area through the heart of the island
nearly a thousand miles Of interior
coaSt-line bordering all four counties
and forming in enchanting succession
wide harbors, island-dotted bays, and
-. c.,.l Nh .l,,,n,lc shin nnnnl
at historic st. Peters, across the old
Indian portage of Nicholas Deny's
time, connects the lake waters with
the Strait Of Canso.
This inland waterway vas Of great
strategic value to the French. as at Il
later period it was Il valuable means
Of transportation-indeed, the only
means Of transportation ut tirst-to
the Highland Scottish settlers. To
day it affords easy access to the
markets Of the Sydneys for the farm
ers of the interior, no less than a
natural playground for the people OF
the industrial centers.
The drive along the north shore
of Cape Breton is surprisingly lovely.
Landward there are ever the hills,
near and remote, the green meadows
Of farmlands Astounding in milk and
Celtic hospitality; seward the At
lantic, and in the distance, sheer out
of the ocean, towers Smoky"
Once seen, the view looking south
ward from Smoky is never forgotten.
Headland after headland in outline
reaching out to the eastward, plaster
cliffs dazzling white against the dis
tant blue, and, 1000 feet below, the
long roll of the Atlantic.