and disgust, and that they were not replaced in consequence. In addition to the horses, English rabbits, and rats have been introduced, and have multiplied exceedingly. The rats which have come on shore from wrecks, feed upon the rabbits, and keep down their numbers; whilst they themselves perish in vast numbers from the climate during severe winters. They nevertheless remain so numerous as to be a serious inconvenience in winter, when they swarm about the houses and stores of the establishment. There does not appear to have ever been any indigenous quadrupeds, -for the black foxes, that were formerly found on the island, and have long since disappeared, most probably came on shore originally from drift ice; several instances of bears and foxes having landed on the island from ice, having occurred in comparatively recent times; affording an interesting example of the mode in which species have been distributed, and conveyed to habitations apparently the most unlikely, notwithstanding the obstacle presented by a wide expanse of intervening sea. When we consider the number of such instances, that must have occurred in the course of many centuries, our surprise will probably be excited more by the paucity of animal life on an island of such extent, and affording such ample means of subsistence, at the time of its discovery, than it would have been by its abundance, did we not perceive in the absence of rocks and trees, the want of that shelter from the climate, and from natural enemies, which would be indispensable for the preservation of many species. From the commencement of the sixteenth century to this day, shipwrecks appear to have been frequent on this island, for at that early period of American History, the valuable and extensive fisheries, the fur trade with the Indians, the desire to introduce the gospel and to form settlements in the new world, seem all to have combined in promoting that spirit of enterprize and love of adventure so characteristic of the age. Hence, numerous voyages were undertaken, many of which were to various parts of Breton Island, Nova Scotia, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Canseau, now Canso Harbour, seems from the first to have been much frequented, especially by the French;-doubtless so also was the Passage de Fonsac, now the Gut of Canso:-and Sable Island, with its formidable long bars, lies directly in the way of vessels passing between those places, and the ports of Europe and Newfoundland. In the following century the island appears to have been much frequented by the New England and French fishermen, for walrus, as well as seals and fish. The walrus, whose teeth were exceedingly valuable, are now seldom seen; but seals still visit the island periodically in considerable numbers, and are taken by the people of the establishment. As the trade between Europe and the American colonies increased, so also did the number of shipwrecks, until at last Sable Island became the terror of seamen. The trade of Nova Scotia suffered so greatly, that, in 1801, measures were adopted by the Government and Legislature of that colony for the relief and removal of shipwrecked persons, and for preventing the plunder of the wrecks. Hence the origin of the present humane establishment, so creditable to the colony; and for the support of which the British Government has borne an equal share of the expense, since 1827. The necessity for such an establishment will appear evident, if we try to imagine the dreadful misery, which must have been repeatedly endured by the shipwrecked, during the many dreary winters of the three intervening centuries, from the discovery of the island to the formation of this provision for the unfortunate. Many fatal shipwrecks occurred, during that long period, of which no record was left but the bones of the lost! These are exposed to view from time to time, by the action of the winds and waves upon the loose sand, of which the island is composed. A dreadful example of this is recorded in the Nautical Magazine for 1842,* wherein is related the discovery of the remains of a part of the 43rd regiment, under Major Elliott, which, together with the huts they had constructed out of the wreck, had been buried under the sand hills for nearly a century. The transport in which they had embarked was never heard of until this discovery, and was supposed to have foundered at sea. The average number of wrecks on the island for some years past has been about two each year; but the superintendant informed me, that this conveys but an inadequate idea of the loss of life and property; for there is frequent evidence of the loss of vessels on the long bars, after a long continuance of foggy weather. Of these unknown vessels the only records are the fresh fragments of the wreck and cargo, or the drowned bodies of the crew. The position of Sable Island was first determined with any pretension to accuracy, by Admiral Sir Charles Ogle's officers, (Messrs. Jones and Jauncey,) in 1828, and the Admiralty charts, were corrected accordingly. The correction however, seems not to have been generally adopted, and the discrepencies, amounting to upwards of twenty miles of longitude, between the corrected and uncorrected charts, seems to have added in some cases to the just apprehension with which the island has been regarded. Hence it became desirable to verify its position, and the result of our observations for that purpose is as follows: 43 56 82 60 60 3 19 9.00 The west extreme of the Grassy Sandhills 43 56 52 Sandhills *Times, September 17th, 1842.-The Halifax Papers published the following singular discovery:-"The following facts have been made known to us by a gentleman of this city, who has had his information from the best authorityviz., Capt. Darby, sen., Governor (as he is called) of Sable Island. For the last twenty-five or thirty years there has been a large mound or pyramid of sand, about 100 feet high, on the island, and not very far from the residence of Captain Darby. The winds for some years have been gradually diminishing its height, and after a severe blow some weeks since it was completely blown away, and, singular to say, a number of small houses, built of the timbers and planks The longitude is here given under the assumption, that Halifax tablet in dock-yard, is in 63° 35′ 19.5" W., and will be subject to any correction to which the latter may hereafter be found liable. The latitude may be 10" too far north, that being the usual error of the instrument, when observing the sun or stars to the southward, but this is of no importance to seamen. The position above given, is substantially the same as that of Sir Charles Ogle's officers, the only material difference being in the west extreme of the Grassy Sandhills, which was found to be 2' 18" long. further east from Halifax Dock-yard observatory; showing an average annual diminution in the length of the island, of O'1 of longitude, or 73 fathoms of distance, during the twenty-three years from 1828 to 1851. This confirms the statements of Captain Darby and Mr. M'Kenna, the former and present superintendant concerning the continual washing away of the west end of the island, of which a remarkable instance is related by Captain Darby, to have occurred in 1811, and recorded in the Nautical Magazine for 1838.* There appears to have been no change whatever in the north-east end of the island since 1828; nor any material change, according to the statements of Captain Darby, and the people on the island, since the commencement of the present century. Further back all is conjecture, the island being then without inhabitants, and its position undetermined. of a vessel, were quite visible. On examination they were found to contain a number of articles of furniture and stores, put up in boxes, which were marked '43d Regiment;' the boxes or cases were perfectly rotten, and would not admit of their being removed. A brass dog-collar was, however, discovered by Captain Darby, with the name of Major Elliot, 43d Regiment,' on it, and which Captain Darby brought to the city, and presented to Major Tryon, who belongs to the 43d Reg."-Halifax Herald. Captain Darby has endorsed this announcement. Addressing the editor of the Halifax Herald, on Wednesday, he says, "The houses are appearing at the base of the hill, about two miles long and sixty or seventy feet high, lying parallel with the south coast of the island, the eastern end of which hill is about fifty-five feet high, covered with grass and other vegetation, about twenty-three above the level of the sea; these houses appear as the sands wear away with the action of the winds. There appeared at times numerous bullets of lead, a great number of military shoes, parts of bales of blankets and cloths, brass points of sword scal bards, bees'-wax, a small glass, convex on both sides, a copper halfpenny of George II., dated 1749, some military brass buckles, a great number of brass paper-pins, a very small dog's brass collar, with Major Elliott, 43d regiment,' engraved on it, numerous bones, some whole and some broken, with the scalp of hair and head dress of a young female, a piece of gold band. There are three buildings, which seem to have been constructed of the fragments of some ship; they are situate about ten feet apart, in a triangular form, and are ten to twelve feet square." * We quote the passage alluded to here by Captain Bayfield, as it is not only an interesting trait in the history of the island, but also goes far to account for the difference in the positions of the extremes of Sable Island in different charts alluded to by a correspondent, T. F. F., in the Nautical Magazine, for Novem ber last, (p. 615), who will perceive that of the positions he quoted for it, Norie's chart is the nearest to Captain Bayfield's.-ED. On the 30th of September, 1811, there was a severe gale of wind from S.S.E., that washed away all of the dry part of north-west bar, extending four miles How long therefore, this irregular, yet constant waste of the island, at its west end has continued is unknown; but if it has continued during the whole of the three and a half centuries, that have elapsed since its discovery, the island must originally have extended beyond the extremity of the north-west bar, where there is now a depth of 10 fathoms of water, at the distance of seventeen miles from the present west extreme of the Grassy Sand-hills. Neither is this very improbable, for the northwest bar, is reported to have become longer of late years, in proportion as the island has been shortened. The bars are said to be "travelling" to the northward, and the island to become annually narrower and higher; but there is no sufficient data either to prove or disprove these assertions in the absence of any regular survey of the island before the present year. If, however, we were to take the height of the Sandhills as usually stated, and compare it with the real elevation above the sea, we should be compelled to say that the island had become lower; but no reliance can be placed on such estimations, or rather they are almost always exaggerated. Whether the present waste of the island be owing to any change in the currents, or to a gradual subsidence of the bank, of which the island is the summit, must at present therefore, be mere conjecture; but if the latter be the true cause, as seems by no means improbable, then the narrowing of the island would follow as a necessary consequence. The and a half north-west from the high part of the island, and half a mile broad. The greater part of it was covered with grass, and on the outer part of it was a hill elevated about twenty-five or thirty feet above the level of the sea, on which the rigging and sails of a brig that was wrecked there that summer were placed for safety; but these were all lost when it washed away. There is now, over the same extent of bar, four or five fathoms of water. The sea has been reducing the western end both since and before that time, at the rate of nearly one. sixth of a mile annual. Easterly, southerly, and S.S.W. winds, set a rapid current along shore in shoal-water, to the W.N.W. and N.W.; that is, along the shore of the western end of the island, but not the eastern or middle, as there the current, with southerly and south-west winds, sets to the eastward. The natural tendency of the food-tide is toward the coast. When it strikes the island, it flows to the eastward, over the north-east bank, and to the westward over the north-west bank, and passes the west end in a north-west direction, so rapidly that it carries the sand with it; and the hills of the west end being high and narrow, they are undermined at their base by it, and tumble down some thousands of tons of sand at a time. This, the current beneath catches, and sweeps away to the north-west, increasing the bank. As soon as this current passes the extreme point of the dry bar, it tends more across the bank to the north-east, the motion of the sea contributing to keep the sand in motion; the current carries it to the north-east, and spreads to the north-west. Although across the bank from the island, to the distance of fifteen or twenty miles to the north-west, there is a flood and ebb tide, the flood setting to the N.N.E., the ebb to the S.S.W., the flood comes over a broad flat bottom until it arrives at the highest ridge of the bar, bringing the sand with it so far. It then finds a deep water suddenly to the eastward of the bar, and its strength is as suddenly lost, the waters pitching over this bank settle gently in deep water, and the sand going with the current does the same, and keeps the eastern edge of the bar and the bank very steep; but to the southward and westward it is flat and shallow. The ebb tide, setting gently to the southward and westward, meets the steep early navigators of the sixteenth century, were not remarkable for accurate or full descriptions. They have supplied us with no sufficient data to judge of such questions; but their casual and very general account of the island, would lead us to suppose a reduction of its length not improbable; whilst it indicates no observable difference in its nature or form, or in its position relatively to the neighbouring continent of Nova Scotia, from the nearest point of which, (White Head), it is distant about eighty-five miles. Our trigonometrical survey will, however, supply all that is wanting, for estimating in future the annual waste of the island, in length, breadth or height; any changes that may take place in the position of the most remarkable Sandhills, in the opening, closing, or filling up of the long pond, and in the length and direction of the formidable long bars. The present length of the island, from the extremities of the Grassy Sandhills at either end, is sixteen and two-thirds nautical miles in a direct line of true bearing, N. 82° 22' E., and seventeen and a quarter nautical miles if we follow the curve of its shores. Its extreme breadth is exactly one mile. It is formed of two nearly parallel ridges of sand, shaped like a bow, and meeting in a point at either end. It is wholly or partially covered with grass for considerable spaces, in others scooped out by the winds into bare crater-shaped hollows; or hove up into sandhills, attaining the extreme elevation of seventy-five feet above side of the bank; and rising above it, passes over and increases in strength, merely levelling the sand that had been brought up by the last flood. It does not carry it back until the next flood comes, which brings up a fresh supply from the washing of the island; and so alternately the sand changes with every flood and ebb tide. The consequence is, that although the west end is several miles to the eastward of where it was in 1811; yet, the shoalest or eastern part of the bar or bank, has the same bearing from the dry land that it had then, which plainly shows that the bar and bank have increased eastward as fast as the island has decreased in the same direction. But the distance of the outer breakers has not increased more than about two miles. In 1829 their whole distance from the land being from ten to fourteen miles, in rough weather bearing north-west from the island. There is a passage across the bar inside, about four or five miles broad, with three or four fathoms of water. Since 1811, or about twenty-six years, an extent of four miles and a half of high land has been washed away, which averages rather better than one-sixth of a mile every year. In the last few years it is nearer to one-fourth of a mile every year, owing to the land being much narrower than it was the first fifteen years of the elapsed time. The whole of the island that does not wash away, grows in height; the most windy seasons cause the greatest elevation of parts where loose sand can be blown on to them; but the island in general grows smaller. The eastern end of the island has not wasted much in length since my know. ledge of it,―nearly thirty years. The high land (about a mile of it) has blown down with the wind, (but not washed down with the sea, as at the west end,) and now there is a low, bare, sandy beach, extending in a north-east direction from the high land about three miles. I think about one mile of this was high land, or sand hills, thirty years ago; the other two miles were formed by a low sandy beach, as at present: the elevated portion of the one mile of course has been blown into the sea, and gone to increase the shoal-water on the bar, being carried there by a strong flood-tide setting to the N.N.E. The bar itself extends from the dry part E.N.E., and at the distance of twelve or fourteen miles from the land, a very shoal spot, always breaks, except when dry, at which time seals may be observed lying on it. Between this spot and the land is a passage |