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about 30 lbs. weight. The stomaciis of all of them
were full of the Ophiopholis. We reached Halifax
on tho morning of the 0th. The Aveather Avas A'ery
fine and perfectly still Avith a light mist, ami as avc
steamed up the hay there A^as a most extraordinary
and hcAvildering display of mirage. The sea and the
land and the shy Avere hojielpssly confused;—all tlu*
objects along the shore draAvn np ont of all jiro-
portion, the Avhiie cottages standing out like pillars
and lighthouses; and all the Ioav rocky islands
looking as if they Averc croAvned Avith hattlemenis
and toAA'crs. Loa\’ hazy islands Avhich had no place'
on tlic chart hounded the horizon, and hided aA\'ay
Avhile one Avas looking at them. The little coasting
vessels Avith their hulls drawn up looked as if they
were standing on pedestals, aaIhIo above them their
inverted images on the soft grey mist were more real
and definite than they AA'cre themselves. None of ns
had CA’cr seen such an extreme effect before, nor have
wc seen anything like it since.
Coming directly from the rich vegetation and the
lovely sub tropical spring AA’cather of Bermudas, the
first view of the country about Halifax Avas certainly
hy no means attractive. The low rolling liills of
granite and metamorphic rocks covered Avith somewhat
stunted pine-Avoods, remind one of some of the
tamer parts of Scandinavia. AA'hen a v c arrived the
AA'cather Avas still chilly; on tlic Saturday hefoic
there had been a fall of snow, and the frost Avas
still in the ground. The deciduous trees were leal'-
less, although the large crimson buds sAA'clled fast on
the maples during our stay; hut the pines and the
hemlocks AA’crc in great beauty, just heginning to
send out their new leaves. Early in the forenoon Ave
Avere alongside of the coaling wharf. Halifax is not
a pretty town. I t reminds one greatly of Greenock
or a second-rate English seaport, with its dull streets
of square houses blackened with coal-smoke. The
houses are almost all built of Avood, and there is no
attempt to lighten the effect hy introducing colour.
In the centre of the toAA'n there are some rather
better streets, with good shops and one or tAvo fair
public buildings. The Post-office is one of these,
and in one of its spare rooms the local Museum has
temporary accommodation. The collection is a very
miscellaneous one, hut it contains many good things,
among them some beautifully-stuffed birds, the work
of Mr. Downs, an old gentleman avI i o has devoted
his life, partly as an amateur and partly as a
matter of business, to the preparation of objects of
natural history ; and, simply by becoming intimately
acquainted with them in the field, has acquired a
dexterity in reproducing their characteristic a ttitudes,
particularly in repose, which I have never
seen surpassed. The collection of specimens illustratin
g the geology of Nova Scotia, which is under
the special superintendence of Hr. Honeyman, the
Government geologist, is also very good, and highly
instructive to a British naturalist.
At Halifax I had the pleasure of meeting an old
Edinburgh friend, Professor LaAVSon, and he and I
had some excursions, as pleasant as the cold damp
Aveather Avould allow, round the town and into the
border of the ‘ forest primeval,’ which stretches aAvay
to the westAvard towards the Bay of Eundy, the Basin
of Minas, and the ‘ beautiful village of Grand-Pré.’
c c
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