PRINCIPAL SETTLEMENTS. ’ 297

are the property of Sir James Montgomery and his brothers. The harbour will only admit small vessels.

The inhabitants, however, are not generally in a thriving condition. The facility of reaching Char- lotte Town market, with a few trout or fresh her- rings, or a dozen or two of eggs, to buy rum and tea, is usually said, in Charlotte Town, to be the cause of poverty in this settlement. They certainly cannot be selling eggs in Charlotte Town market and culti- vating their lands at the same time.

Bedford, or Tracady Bay, is five miles ,to the east- ward of Stanhope Cove. It is a harbour for schooners and small brigs, the entrance to which is strait, and lies at the west end of a narrow ridge of sand- hills, which stretch across from the east side of the bay.*

The inhabitants are chiefly Scotch Highlanders, or their descendants; and, having settled many years ago, they are unacquainted with improvements in agriculture, and are still but indifferent farmers. On the west side of the bay, and from that to Stanhope Cove, there was,when the island surrendered in 1759, a dense population. The late Captain Macdonald of Glenalladale removed to this place in 177 2, with a

* The entrances to all the harbours on the north side of the island, are either at the end, or through narrow ridges of sandy downs ;—thus, the entrances to the harbours of Cascumpeque, New London, Grand Rustico, and Tracady, are at the west end of such ridges; and the other harbours, except that of Richmond Bay, have their entrances through similar downs. Strangers are apt to be deceived when approaching these harbours, as they have a gene- ral resemblance. I} is therefore advisable to have a pilot.