it to fall into its present ruinous and forlorn state. Not a vestige of the double tier of verandahs remains; the balcony and parapet railing are hanging in the most doubtful suspense; and, when we expressed a wish to see the interior, the old soldier in charge said that he would not insure us against either vanishing through one of the floors or being buried under the falling roof. The old guardhouse has been converted into the stables of a comfortable inn, the scene of many garrison pic-nics and citizens' Sunday parties.

We continued our route to the village of Sackville, at the head of the basin, three miles farther, where there is a small military post for the apprehension of deserters; and struck into the forest by a bridle path, over the same rough and hilly country to the village of Dartmouth on the opposite side of the harbour. The Shubenacadie Canal, which was designed for the purpose of connecting the Basin of Minas with the harbour, and thus diverting part of the trade of the western towns of the province from St. John's in new Brunswick, has its commencement in rear of the village. The original estimate of the expense of finishing the entire work was 75,000l., the canal being 53 miles in length, and 60 feet in width at the surface, with sufficient depth of water for vessels of eight feet draught. The locks were to be 90 feet in length within the chambers, and 19 feet in width, in order that steam boats might tow vessels of considerable burden from Halifax into the Bay of Fundy, and thus save them the long circuit of a dangerous The legislature at the commencement made a grant of 15,000l., and the heaviest expenditure would be upon the first section of 1200 yards, at an estimate of 23,000l., the canal being raised by seven locks into Dartmouth Lake at an elevation of 70 feet above the level of

coast.

the sea. Thence, with but short exceptions, it would run through a connected chain of lakes, into the Shubenacadie (derived from Shuben, signifying a "river," in the Micmac language, and Acadie, the original name of the province), which flows into the Basin of Minas, that great reservoir of rivers (receiving the waters of not fewer than eleven powerful streams). Owing to an error in judgment the work has entirely failed, and the canal, now under mortgage to Government for 25,000l., is in as forlorn a state as the Prince's Lodge. Instead of the expenditure being entirely confined to the first section, which would have opened a communication with the lakes, it was spread out in portions through the whole sections, not one of which was completed, the original estimate falling far short of the requisite funds; and, all attempts to increase the stock proving fruitless, the work was laid aside, and the scheme is apparently abandoned. The locks are of fine substantial masonry, their bottoms composed of excellent inverted arches; but, many of them being in an unfinished state, the frost and heavy rains are already committing great havoc. It was stated that Colonel By, the engineer of the Rideau Canal, had lately surveyed the works, and had given in an estimate of 75,000l. for the completion; but here, as in the other British provinces, that same sad want of a spirit of enterprise is very apparent; and the chances are that the Shubenacadie Canal will be in statu quo a century hence.

We had an opportunity while at Halifax of seeing some of the provincial militia. They were well equipped in every respect, and appeared to take some pride in making a soldier-like appearance. They had lately been engaged in several sham fights with the garrison, and the skirmishing over several miles of rough ground had instilled such

a martial spirit into them, that they were parading voluntarily to perfect themselves in military exercise. The province can muster 22,000 infantry, but no cavalry as in New Brunswick.

There is a settlement of negroes a few miles from Halifax, at Hammond's Plains, the commencement of the military road laid out by Sir John Sherbroke, in a direct line to Annapolis, through the dense forest, which lessens the intermediate distance nearly one-third. Any one would have imagined that the Government would have taken warning from the trouble and expense it incurred by granting protection to those who emigrated from the States during the Revolution, 1200 of whom were removed to Sierra Leone in 1792 by their own request. Again, when 600 of the insurgent negroes, the Maroons of Jamaica, were transported to Nova Scotia in 1796, and received every possible encouragement to become good subjects, by being granted a settlement at Preston, and being employed upon the fortifications at Halifax, yet they too soon became discontented with the climate, and, being unwilling to earn a livelihood by labour, were removed in 1800 to the same colony as their predecessors, after costing the island of Jamaica more than 45,000l., and a large additional sum to the province. Notwithstanding all this, when the runaway slaves were received on board the fleet off the Chesapeake during the late war, permission was granted to them to form a settlement at Hammond's Plains, where the same system of discontent soon arose. Many of the settlers professing they should prefer their former well-fed life of slavery in a more congenial climate, and earnestly petitioning to be removed, were sent to Trinidad in 1821. Some few of those who remained are good servants and farmers, disposing of the produce of their lands at the Halifax market;