376 CAPE BRETON . are not so long frozen over as those within the gulf: the difference at the beginning and termination of winter, may be considered at each period from fifteen to twenty days. On the coast of , wet weather prevails much more during the year than in Prince Edward Island or Canada . The climate, however, is salubrious; and, while unhealthy subjects are exceedingly rare, instances of longevity from ninety to one hundred years are common. It has been said that obtained its name from the first discoverers being natives of Brittany ; but this is not true, as it was first dis¬ covered by Cabot , and afterwards by Verazani, who named it Isle du Cap. The name of it received from its most easterly point, which projects into the sea between and Scatari, being first so called, and afterwards extended to the whole island. In 1713, it was called by the French, Isle Ptoyale; but it remained unplanted until 1714, when the French of Newfoundland and made some settlements on it near the shore, where each person built according to his fancy, as he found ground con¬ venient for drying cod-fish, and for small gardens. In 1715, Louis XIV ., after having been long con¬ tending with the united powers of , made an offer to Queen Anne of part of the French possessions in , in order to detach Great Britain from that formidable alliance ; and, by the treaty of Utrecht ,* the British became possessed of ¬ land, , and ( Nova Scotia .) In * Note A.