These mines gave employment to over 2000 persons in 1851, and 60,000 chaldrons were raised. The quantity of coal raised, sold, and exported at Pictou in 1861 was 104,952 tons. The coal-mines of Sydney, at Cape Breton, produce annually about 80,000 tons. There are numerous other mines in Nova Scotia and New Breton, which are capable of supplying the wants of the steam marine to any extent. The total quantity of coal raised in Nova Scotia in 1861 was 200,000 chaldrons.

Iron. Dr. J. L. Hayes, of Massachusetts, U.S., speaks of iron veins in high terms. He says there are immense fields of iron ore, and that iron ore can be raised for 4 dollars per ton. "I have no doubt that iron of the first quality for purity and strength, and which will cominand the highest prices in the market, can be made from these ores. If Mr. Mushet's opinion, based on his own experiments-that these ores will furnish steel-iron equal to the best Swedish brands-should prove correct, they possess a rare value; for, of the many charcoal iron establishments in the United States, I know but one which furnishes iron suitable for making the first quality of steel.”

Gypsum. The common gypsum is found in abundance, and is quarried at Windsor, Newport, Walton, and other places. In 1861 there was shipped to the United States 150,000 tons for agricultural purposes, which averaged 2 dollars a ton. Surely, when we review the natural resources and productiveness of Nova Scotia, she presents a picture of present prosperity which her inhabitants may well be proud of; and, with the increased means of development which the union of the provinces promises, she may look forward to a continued and steady increase of her agricultural, manufacturing, and mercantile wealth.

CHAPTER VI.

DESCRIPTION OF NEW BRUNSWICK,

New Brunswick-Rivers and Counties-Capabilities of the Province-ForestsFisheries-Minerals-Fruit and Vegetables-Manufactures-Counties-Commerce-Finances-Government-Public Schools-Militia-Census of 1861

Agriculture.

NEW BRUNSWICK.

NEW BRUNSWICK lies to the eastward of Canada, and upon the eastward boundary of the State of Maine, U. S. On the east and south it borders the St. Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy; on the west the small river of St. Croix and the meridian of 67° 53′ divide it from the territory of the United States; on the north it is terminated by the river Restigouche, which falls into the Bay of Chaleurs on the western side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The landscape is of great variety and of most picturesque beauty, being alternations of attractive valleys and hills, which northward assume a bold outline. It is 230 miles in length and 130 in breadth, and is covered with a mantle of magnificent forests that are unrivalled, and constitute a source of industry and wealth which is well nigh inexhaustible. It comprises an area of 27,037 square miles, or about 17,677,360 acres of land, the whole of which abounds in lakes and rivers. astronomical position is between latitude 45° 05′ and 48° 04' north, and between longitudes 63° 47′ and 67° 53′ west from Greenwich. Seat of Government, Frederictown. The surface of New Brunswick is varied along the shores; it is generally flat, but a little inland it rises into hills, some of which are sharp and bold, and serve to protect the interior table-lands and declivities. The quantity of good land sold up to 1861, was 6,000,000 acres, leaving 11,000,000 unsold, 7,500,000 of which are admirable lands for cultivation and farming purposes.

RIVERS AND COUNTIES.

Its

The longest river of New Brunswick is the St. John's; this remarkable and beautiful river rises in the high lands which separate Maine from Canada, and empties into the Bay of Fundy, at St. John's Harbour, after traversing a distance of over 600 miles. The river and its affluents afford navigation for over 1300 miles; it is navigable for sloops up to Frederictown, a distance of 80 miles, and for flat-bottomed boats up to the Great Falls, a distance of 200 miles from its mouth. The shores of the St. John are mostly covered with primeval forests. In some parts, the banks rise in

grand rocky hills, forming in their lines and interlacings pictures of wondrous delight.

The chief tributaries of the St. John, besides the St. Francis and other waters already mentioned, are Aroostook, the Oromocto, and the Eel, on the west; and the Salmon, the Naskwaak, the Tobique, the Kennebecasis, and the Washedemoak, on the east.

As

The St. John affords most valuable fishing, the salmon being as delicious and delicate as the Severn salmon of England. many as 40,000 salmon, 16,000 barrels of alewives (a species of shad), and 1000 barrels of shad are caught annually, giving employment to 200 boats and 500 men, and producing 100,000 dollars, or £20,000 sterling, annually. The other rivers are the St. Croix, which falls into the Passamaquoddy Bay; the Miramichi, which flows eastward into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, having a course of 120 miles, and being navigable for nearly 40 miles; and the Restigouche, which falls into the Bay of Chaleurs, has a length of about 85 miles.

The climate is healthful, but subject to great extremes of heat and cold; the mercury rising sometimes to 100 in the day-time, and falling to 50 at night. The country is covered with snow for four months in the year.

New Brunswick is divided into ten counties. Frederictown, the political capital of the province, is situated on the south bank of the St. John's River. The other principal towns are-St. Andrew's, situated on the shore of the Passamaquoddy Bay; Liverpool, upon the coast of the Gulf of the St. Lawrence; Newcastle, at the mouth of Miramichi River; and Bathurst, on the south side of the fine Bay of Chaleurs.

CAPABILITIES OF NEW BRUNSWICK.

"The

Professor J. F. W. Johnstone, F.R.S., in a report made to the Government, speaking of its agricultural capabilities, says, stranger, if he penetrates beyond the Atlantic shores of the province, and travels through the interior, will be struck by the number and beauty of its rivers, by the fertility of its river islands and intervales, and by the great extent and excellent condition of its roads, and, upon the whole, of its numerous bridges. He will see boundless forests still unreclaimed, but will remark at the same time an amount of actual progress and prosperous advancement, which, considering the recent settlement and small revenue of the province, is really surprising."

Major Robinson, R. E., in his report, thus describes the province:-" Of the climate, soil, and capabilities of New Brunswick it is impossible to speak too highly. There is not a country in the world so beautifully wooded and watered. An inspection of the map will show that there is scarcely a section of it without its streams, from the running brook up to the navigable river. Two

thirds of its boundary are washed by the sea; the remainder is embraced by the large rivers-the St. John and the Restigouche. For beauty and richness of scenery, this latter river and its branches are not surpassed by anything in Great Britain. The lakes of New Brunswick are numerous and most beautiful. Its surface is undulating, hill and dale, varying up to mountain and valley. It is everywhere, except a few peaks of the highest mountains, covered with a dense forest of the finest growth. The country can everywhere be penetrated by its streams. In some parts of the interior, by a portage of three or four miles, a canoe can float away either to the Bay of Chaleurs and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or down to St. John's in the Bay of Fundy.

THE FORESTS.

As we have before stated, New Brunswick is unusually rich in the amount and variety of her forest-trees, the principal of which are the white pine, the black spruce, the American larch, the black and yellow birch, the white and red beech, the white and red elm, the hemlock spruce, the butternut, the white and black ash, the white cedar, the white maple, and red flowering maple, the white and canoe birch, the balsam poplar, the American aspen, the alder, the willow, the wild cherry, the basswood, the hornbeam, the ironwood, the white spruce, the American silver fir, and last, but most useful of all, the maple sugar-tree. This tree is not only useful for its wood, but furnishes a syrup superior to treacle and molasses, and a sugar which is not only consumed at home, but proves a profitable article of commerce; besides this, it furnishes the best fuel, the best charcoal, and its ashes are rich in alkaline matter. The maple sugar is not only admirably adapted for tea and coffee, but it is delicious as a candy. All that is required to obtain it at the proper season-usually about the 1st of March-is to bore small holes in the trunks of the trees, and the sap is caught in boilers. This is boiled to the consistency of a syrup, kept skimmed to remove impurities, and then poured into moulds. Each tree ordinarily yields about 20 gallons of sap, which will make five or six pounds of sugar. The quantity of sugar obtained in 1861 in New Brunswick was 500,000 lbs.

The amount of timber exported from New Brunswick in 1854 was 127,567 tons; deals (M. feet), 258,004; boards and planks (M. feet), 19,256; masts and spars (No.), 3794; ship knces (No.), 15,248; lathwood (cords), 2223; sawed laths (M.), 19,672; shingles (M.) 24,837; box-shooks (No.), 142,672; besides wood in many other shapes.

In 1850 there were 86 vessels built, the total tonnage of which was 30,356, and the value £242,852 sterling. In 1860 there were 100 vessels, 41,003 tons, value £328,024 sterling.

In 1860 St. John's owned 492 vessels, 123,425 tons, value

£987,400; Miramichi, 132 vessels, 14,910 tons, value £119,380; St. Andrew's, 201 vessels, 8748 tons, value £69,984. Total in 1860 owned in New Brunswick, 825 vessels, 147,083 tons, value £1,176,664 sterling; in 1861, 813 vessels, 158,240 tons; in 1862, 814 vessels, with a tonnage of 157,718.

The produce of the forest in 1860 was 3,180,428 dollars; in 1861, 3,447,910 dollars; in 1862, 2,810,188 dollars.

THE FISHERIES.

In the Bay of Fundy there is the cod, pollock, hake, haddock, herring, mackerel, halibut, and sea-shad, besides numerous tribes of small fish. The Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Bay of Chaleurs, and the mouth of the Miramichi River, swarm with cod, hake, mackerel, salmon, and striped bass, besides oysters, lobsters, clams, crabs, shrimps, and mussels.

In the rivers the fisherman will find fresh-water trout in abundance, with striped bass, white and yellow perch, roach, dace, carp, and white fish.

MINERALS, FRUIT AND VEGETABLES, MANUFACTURES.

Minerals.-Among the most valuable productions are its minerals which may be thus enumerated-bituminous coal, iron ore, manganese, plumbago, lead, copper, granite, gypsum, limestone, marble, red sandstone, grindstone, oilstone, iceland-spar, roofingslate, sulphuret of iron, bituminous shale (from which kerosine or paraffine is produced), plastic clay for bricks or pottery, peat, barytes, felspar, quartz, chlorite, jasper, soap-stone, and salt and sulphurous springs.

Fruit and Vegetables.-New Brunswick produces apples, pears, plums, currants, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, great whortleberries, cherries, besides butter-nuts, hazelnuts, and beech-nuts. The principal vegetables are potatoes, peas, and beans, turnips, beets, carrots, parsnips, cabbages, cauliflowers, celery, cucumbers, and squashes.

Manufactures.-In 1861 the value of manufactures was as follows:-Boots and shoes, £89,377; leather, £45,162; candles, £19,860; wooden ware (not cabinet-work), £20,505; chairs and cabinet-ware, £13,472; soap, £18,562; hats, £6360; iron castings, £20,205.

COUNTIES.

The various counties are Restigouche County, Gloucester County, Northumberland County, Kent County, Westmoreland County, Albert County, St. John County, Charlotte County, King's County, Queen's County, Sunbury County, York County, Carleton County, Victoria County.

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