406 CAPE BRETON.

CHAPTER III.

Population—Characteristics and Pursuits of the Inhabitants—Agriculture, Trade, 8w.

THE population of Cape Breton, estimated at from 25,000 to 30,000, consists of people from various countries, and those born on the island.

Scotch, from the Western Highlands and isles of Scotland, form the greater proportion of the inhabit- ants, and are found in settlements Within the Bras d’Or, along the shores of the Gut of Canseau and the coast, to the harbour of J ustua Corps, at Cape Ma- bou, and on the Atlantic shore at St Esprit. Several families, the descendants of American loyalists, are settled in different places, and form an industrious class of the inhabitants. Numbers of Irish, Who, in the first instance, generally emigrated to Newfound— land, are scattered among the settlers; and a few English, J erseymen, and Dutch, are mixed With the other inhabitants.

Acadian French are, next to the Scotch, the most numerous class ; and their settlements are chiefly at Arichat, Petit de Grat, Ardoise, Little Bras d’Or, Marguerite, and Cheticamp. About 300 Micmac In- dians wander through the woods and along the shores. They have six reservations of land in different parts