396 CAPE BRETON.

habitations are scattered near the shores on each side, Where the lands have also been partially cleared and cultivated. At Ship Harbour, and near Plaster Paris Cove, are two or three fishing plantations, or depéts for salt, fishing-tackle, &c., and stores for receiving dry and pickled fish.

The tides in this strait are so irregular as to baffle all calculation; and, apparently governed by the winds, flow. several days in one direction:

The Gfiofbaiiseali possesses eminent advantages for a rallying point of communication with all parts of America. Vessels from Quebec, and all places within the Gulf of St Lawrence, pass frequently through this strait, on their passage to and from the West Indies, and to and from different parts of North and South America. Ships sailing from Europe for the lower ports in the Gulf, generally prefer the pas- sage of Canseau ; and through it many of the United States’ vessels engaged in the fisheries, and those that now go for the coals of the Albion mines to Pictou, enter and return. A good carriage road might also, at the usual expense, be made from the Nova Scotia side of the Gut to Truro, at the head of the Bay of Fundy; from whence roads diverge to Hali- fax, Pictou, and New Brunswick, which may from the last place be continued to Canada. Lastly, the Gut of Canseau is of safe access, and may be approached generally without the apprehension of danger.

- The coast of Cape Breton, from the Strait of Can- seau to Port Hood, is as densely settled as any part of the island. The houses and farms of the inha-