INHABITANTS. 407 of the island, but they do not hold the same by any tenure but that of possession and sufferance. These tracts are at Escasoni, ,* River Denys, Wagama-takook, Whycocomah, within the Bras d'Or, and at Marguerite. One or more of these places are their rallying points, where they meet during sum¬ mer, and where some families remain stationary. These possess some cattle, and cultivate a little Indian corn, and a few potatoes. From the badness and want of roads, and the con¬ sequent difficulty of travelling, that intercourse which is so common in Canada , Nova Scotia , and Prince Edward Island , between the inhabitants of one set¬ tlement and another, does not exist in ; nor is there yet the same facility of having children instructed in the rudiments of education, while so¬ ciety is also in a more simple state than in any of the other colonies. There is scarcely a good school in the colony, if one or two at Sydney and Aricha ^h^jftg* for establishing good schools, although the present condition of the island warrants the same. The inhabitants, especially the Acadians, and Scotch and Irish Catholics, adhere to the tenets of * On this island they have a chapel and burying-ground. They received a present of some red paint for the former, I believe from the provincial government; but the colour, which, in most cases, the Indians admire, did not please in this instance; their objection as they expressed it in English, was, « Because certain make chapel look all same as one store ;" warehouses in being usually painted with red ochre and oil.