until the white man came and took all to himself. So, for John's sake, I passed quickly and reverently over the spot; but subsequently I cross-examined him on the subject of Micmac ghosts, but, beyond some shrugs of the shoulder, he would give me no satisfaction.Whatever were his ideas and opinions, he recognized the wisdom of the adage "Speech is silver, but silence gold ;" and, consequently, the reader must do without the ghost-story, which, of course, has been expected.

TO THE GULF Shore.

A week after his departure from Sydney, the writer was on his way to the little village of Port Hood, on the Gulf shore, a distance of about thirty miles through an exceedingly picturesque country. The first ten miles ran through "Sky Glen," and by the side of mountains which stretched far to the northward, and were lost in the purple of the heavens. Now and then we would be perched at the very verge of a precipice, and overlooking a dark ravine, where a little stream rushed furiously amid the rocks that had tumbled there from above, and tried to impede its course to the valley far beyond. Again the road would take so sudden a decline down the mountain side, that it required no small amount of management on the part of the driver to keep the horses steady on their feet. Fortunately, the driver was so well accustomed to the road that his passenger soon ceased to speculate as to casualties, and was able to give his undivided attention to the landscape, where nature was still perfectly wild and untamed by cultivation. Just when he was admiring a charming little bit of scenery a lake glimmering at the foot of some deeply-wooded hills— the driver observed:

"An ugly place for a tall," pointing to a deep gorge below us; "only a few days ago, a cart, with a woman and child, rolled off the road, and the child was killed and the mother fearfully bruised.”

By and by we left the wild country and came to the open, where there were many large farms lying in deep valleys, through which the river Mabou wound like a silver ribbon. Graceful meadow-elms, singly or in clumps, drooped at intervals, whilst the luxuriant grass, ready for the scythe, waved to the western breeze that came down the hills. Flocks of sheep were browsing on the mountain side, and the tinkle of bells came continually from the meadows below, where herds of fine, clean-looking cows were cropping the rich pasture. The sides of the road were perfectly crimson with ripe strawberries, which mingled their fragrance with the tiny blue-bells and the pyrola, that umbrella-shaped flower.

Suddenly, as we were slowly descending a lofty hill, the notes of a sweet soprano voice came gently toward us from the level below. At first, the words were indistinct, but, by and by, we could recognize the old poem, "The Bridge," which, to the writer, will be always as fresh as when he heard it first, many years ago, beneath the shades of the elms of Harvard. The fair singer belonged to a party on a pleasure-trip from Halifax to the lake, and long after they had passed lingered in my ears the words:

"And forever and forever,

As long as the river flows,
As long as the heart has passions,
As long as life has woes;

"The moon and its broken reflection
And its shadows shall appear,
As the symbol of love in heaven,

And its wavering image here."

We soon passed through Mabou, a neat village, not far from the sea-board, and exhibiting some of the characteristics of New England thrift and cleanliness, and, an hour later, came within sight of the blue waters of the Gulf. To the northward extended the cliffs, indented with many a picturesque cove where the fishermen dwell.Landwards stretched a wide expanse of green fields. To the left, the waters of the Gulf, whitened by many a sail, sparkled in the sunshine, and far away at the verge of the horizon, what seemed a bank of fog indicated some headland of Nova Scotia.

Port Hood is a very insignificant place, and even its harbour is being rapidly destroyed by the shifting sands. Some days, at the approach and close of the mackerel geason, the waters of the Gulf, as far as the eyes can reach, are alive with American schooners-low-lying, clipperlike craft-on their way to Chaleur, Gaspe, and other parts, where the fish are generally found in large quantities. These vessels come up the Strait of Canso, which they perfectly pack at times-perhaps as many as seven or eight hundred vessels pass this way in the course of a week.— The mackerel appear to have deserted the shores of New England, and to have found more congenial resorts on the southern coast of Nova Scotia, and especially in the Gulf. Probably 70,000 tons of American shipping are annually engaged in the fishery of this beautiful denizen of the waters, with its back of cerulean hue, and belly of pearly whiteness.

When I left Port Hood, I followed the coast line as far as the settlement of Margarie,* situated at the mouth of the river of that name. The whole coast as far as Cape North-the extreme northern point of the island is exceedingly bold and precipitous-a coast to be avoided in stormy weather, as the ribs of many a wrecked vessel on the shore painfully attest. Some years ago, when there were no settlers whatever on the coast, the crews of vessels wrecked in the fall would often perish miserably in the thick and sombre forests that cover that rugged part of the island; but the probability of such occurrences is now diminished by the erection of buildings and the settlement of fishermen at different points. The scene in winter must be grand in the extreme, for vast fields of ice come down the Gulf and choke up the Strait, so that it is sometimes impassable for days at a time. The ferrymen at Plaister Covewhere the headquarters of the American Telegraph Company on the island is now situated-have many a perilous escape; but so great is their skill and knowledge of the currents, that accidents have not occurred for many years. The ice will be forced down by the northerly winds and block up the passage, but by watching the currents the ferryman will seize a favour

*A corruption of Marguérite.

able moment and pilot his little skiff through little passages of the water, amid huge clumpers, until at last, after a hard tussle and a very circuitous mode of progression, he reaches his destination. At the point where the ferry crosses, the strait is not more than a mile across, and abounds in noble scenery. Cape Porcupine, with its back bristling with stunted firs, frowns down upon the strait which is bounded throughout by tall cliffs, and forms many a pretty landlocked bay and harbour. The ice that crowds into it during the winter is generally of small size; but off Port Hood, and the coast toward Cape North, many an ice-berg, with its pinnacles and turrets, glimmers in the sunlight amid the floating fields, and now and then some monstrous pile strands on the shore, where it remains until it slowly dissolves under the influence of the penetrating summer sun. In former times large quantities of seal were caught in the gulf, and the settlements of Margarie and Cheticamp contained many intrepid hunters of this animal; but now-a-days they are rarely caught on the western coast of the island. The grandest scenery of the island-indeed of the whole province of Nova Scotia-is to be seen in the northern section of Cape Breton, for there the mountains rise to the height of a thousand feet and more, forming deep gorges, flanked by almost vertical precipices. In the winter large glaciers are formed, and their debris are to be scen well into July. Cape North, "the Watch tower of the Gulf," is a lofty promontory reaching far into the ocean, four miles in a northeasterly direction, and having on each side a crescent-shaped bay, partly settled by fishermen and farmers. A large district of this section is still a wilderness, where the moose range in small herds, finding rich pasture in the moose-wood and young ash that plentifully abound in the valleys and on the mountain side.

The river Margarie, which has long been famous for its salmon fishery, divides into two branches about eight miles from its mouth, one of which flows from the northern hills of the interior, through woodland, glade and intervale, whilst the other descends from Lake Ainslie, the largest reservoir of fresh water in Nova Scotia, singularly placed at right angles with the course of the Gulf shore and the Bras D'Or, between which it lies. Many Acadian French are still living on the banks of the Marguérite, as well as on the coast as far as Cheticamp, where there are large fishing establishments. We met on the road women with red handkerchiefs bound round their heads and petticoats reaching to the knee, and turning towards us ruddy, smiling faces. The men wore red blouses and short corduroys or homespun, and courteously bid us "Good day, sir," or "Bon jour, M'sieu.” No doubt, in the course of time, the Acadian tongue and names will vanish. Still, those who remain cling to their customs with all the persistence of a race, slow to adopt improvements.— Wooden ploughs, driven by oxen, still turn up the soil; the women work hard in the field; they are never so happy as when the Curé is with them, or when they are attending mass in their pretty white Chapels. Simple in their habits, easily amused, fond of finery on holidays, the Acadians of Cape Breton, like the Acadians everywhere, represent the past rather than the present.

I have not attempted to go into any lengthy details of the resources of the island, for such information is easily obtained from ordinary books

of reference. I may mention, however, that in the vicinity of the Bras D'Or there is what is known as the "Marole Mountain.” This valuable stone is found in many parts of the northern section of Cape Breton, but its value has never yet been thoroughly tested, and no quarries have been worked. A short time go, a stranger accidentally discovered what he believed to be a very valuule accumulation of this stone, and has commenced operations for quarrying and sending it to market in large. quantities. Cape Breton, in fact, abounds in minerals of every description, which will, no doubt, attract the attention of capital and enterprise when their value has been more fully shown by those geological surveys which the island has never yet received. Her coal deposits alone have been thoroughly examined by gentlemen of high scientific attainments, like Mr. R. Brown and Mr. Poole, who have long been connected with mining operations, and have given many valuable contributions to the world relative to the geology of the island. Gold has been discovered in some places, although not as yet in remunerative quantities. The land of the greater part of the country is also good for agricultural purposes, and one of the counties especially-Inverness--compares favorably with the best farming districts of the Lower Provinces. It is only necessary to look at the natural position of Cape Breton to see that the fisheries can be conducted on the largest scale. An island so rich in resources must have a noble future before it when capital has come in to develope its resources, and railways connect it with the larger countries of the conti nent. Louisburg is, above all others, that port in the New Dominion which seems destined by nature to be the Atlantic terminus of the British American system of railways. Perhaps, in the course of time, it will again become as famous as it was more than a century ago, and the argosies of commerce will once more anchor off the peninsula where France erected the fortifications which were to control the Gulf and River St. Lawrence.

AH ME!

BY ALEXANDER MCLACHLAN.

Go seek the shore, and learn the lore
Of the great old mystic sea,

And with list'ning ear you'll surely hear
The great waves sigh "Ah me!"

There's a Harper good in the great old wood,

And a mighty ode sings he;

To his harp he sings with its thousand strings,
But the burden is "Ah me!"

A glorious sight are the orbs of light
In heaven's wide azure sea;

But to our cry they but reply,

With a long deep sigh, "Ah me!"

And Death, and Time, on their march sublime,
They will not questioned be:

And the hosts they bore to the dreamless shore
Return no more "Ah me!"

THE SIMPLER FORMS OF LIFE.

RHIZOPODA.

By A. W. McKAY, Streetsville, Ontario.

Naturalists of the present day seem chiefly intent upon penetrating the veil that hides from our view the great mystery of life. Attempts have recently been made, by two very able men, to account for vital phenomena on the ground of the operation of ordinary natural laws, or rather to reduce the vital force to a place among, and co-ordinate with, the ordinary natural forces. But, with all due deference to their great powers, we cannot but think that the attempt has been only very partially successful. It would seem that all we can know of it, are the effects it produces. Like the "noumenon" of Ontology, we believe in its existence from the appearances observed. These are accounted for on the ground of the existence of a principle which we call "life." The hope to know it more intimately, no doubt, has its uses. It stimulates the study of forms and phenomena. To know that there is something beyond our previous efforts and attainments, is what gives life and interest to all our studies. There is a limit which we cannot pass, beyond which all is darkness and mystery; but it is as well, perhaps, that we never know when we have reached that limit, or the effect would be, that our interest, from that moment, would cease. In knowledge, as in pleasure, it is true, that

"Man never is, but always to be, blest."

The great attraction of the studies which look in this direction lies in the fact, that life is for ever at once hiding and revealing itself.When we set ourselves to inquire what it is, what its nature, in what it differs from the other forces which unite with, and subordinate themselves to, it in the operations of nature, all is darkness impenetrable. And yet in all the variety of its multitudinous forms and phenomena, life is everywhere around us. The humbler and simpler, as the higher, more complex and more finished forms, reveal its presence and power. It seems as if it were obtruding itself ostentatiously on our notice, striving to win our regard to its thousand creations of grace and beauty; and when our attention is fixed, and we seek to know what the power is which underlies and produces them, where is it? We can analyse the contributing elements, and estimate their constituent proportions; we can understand the operation, to some degree, of the various forces and laws involved; but of that one force or principle, or whatever else we may call it, which lies at the basis of all, and without which the observed organism could not exist as such, we remain as ignorant as ever. And yet it must be there. Combine constituent elements, according to their laws, in the most definite proportions,— allow of the operation of light, heat, electricity, and such other forces as nature employs, and, without life, they remain for ever the same