See ANAS, p. 6.

NOVA SCOTIA, or NEW SCOTLAND, one of the British settlements in North America, situated between 43° and 49° north latitude, and between 60° and 67° west longitude, is bounded by the river St Lawrence on the north; by the gulph of St Lawrence and the Atlantic ocean on the east; by the same ocean on the south; and by Canada and New England on the west. In the year 1784, this province was divided into two governments. The province and government now styled New Brunswick is bounded on the westward of the mouth of the river St Croix, by the said river to its source, and by a line drawn due north from thence to the southern boundary of the province of Quebec, to the northward by the said boundary as far as the western extremity of the Bay de Chaleurs, to the eastward by the said bay to the gulph of St Lawrence to the bay called Bay Verte, to the south by a line in the centre of the Bay of Fundy, from the river St Croix aforesaid, to the mouth of the Mufquat river, by the said river to its source, and from thence by a due east line across the Isthmus into the Bay Verte, to join the eastern lot above described, including all islands within five leagues of the coast.

The chief rivers are, the river of St Lawrence, which forms the northern boundary. The rivers Riggouche and Nipisiguit run from west to east, and fall into the bay of St Lawrence. The rivers of St John, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, and St Croix, which run from north to south, fall into Fundy Bay, or the sea a little to the eastward of it.

The seas adjoining to it are, the Atlantic ocean, Fundy Bay, and the gulph of St Lawrence. The lesser bays are, Chenigto and Green Bay upon the isthmus which joins the north-part of Nova Scotia to the south; and the Bay of Chaleurs on the north-east; the Bay of Chedibucto on the south-east; the Bay of the Islands, the Ports of Bant, Chebucto, Prosper, St Margaret, La Heve, port Maltois, port Rygnol, port Vert, and port Joly, on the south; port La Tour on the south-east; port St Mary, Anapolis, and Minas on the south side of Fundy Bay, and port Rofeway, now the most populous of all.—The chief capes are, Cape Portage, Ecumenac, Tourmentin, Cape Port, and Epis, on the east; Cape Fogerie and Cape Canceau on the south-east; Cape Blanco, Cape Vert, Cape Theodore, Cape Dore, Cape La Heve, and Cape Negro, on the south; Cape Sable and Cape Fourche on the south-west.—The lakes are very numerous, but have not yet received particular names.

The face of the country, when viewed at a distance, presents a pleasingly variegated appearance of hills and valleys, with scarcely any thing like mountains to interrupt the prospect, especially near the sea. A nearer approach discovers those sublime and beautiful scenes which are so far superior to the gaudy embellishments of art. Immense forests, formed of the tallest trees, the growth of ages, and reaching almost to the clouds, everywhere cover and adorn the land: Their leaves falling in autumn, add continually to that crust of moss, vegetables, and decaying wood, that has for many centuries been accumulating; whilst the rays of the sun, unable to pierce the thick shade which everywhere covers the ground, leaves it in a perpetual state of damp and rottenness; a circumstance which contributes, in no small degree, to increase the sharpness of the air in winter.

The clouds, flying over the higher grounds, which are covered in every direction with vast forests, and arrested by the attraction of the woods, fill the country with water. Every rock has a spring, and every spring causes a swamp or morass, of greater or less extent in proportion to its cause: hence it is, that travelling becomes almost impracticable in summer, and is seldom attempted, but in the fall of the year, when winter begins to set in, and the ground is already frozen.

The land throughout the peninsula is in no part mountainous, but frequently rises into hills of gradual ascent, everywhere clothed with wood. From these arise innumerable springs and rivulets, which not only fertilize and adorn the country, but have formed, in the midst of it, a large lake or piece of fresh water, which is of various depths, and of which, however, little more is known, than that it has upon its borders very large tracts of meadow-land highly improvable. That part of the province which is beyond the Bay of Fundy, and extends to the river St Lawrence, rises also gradually as we advance from the sea quite to Canada, but is, however, hardly anywhere mountainous. Its lands are for the most part very rich, particularly at a distance from the sea; and its woods abound with the hardest and loftiest trees.

Though this country, like Canada, is subject to long and severe winters, succeeded by sudden and violent heats, often much greater than what are felt in the same latitudes in Europe, yet it cannot be accounted an unhealthy climate. The air in general in winter is very sharp, frothy, and dry; the sky serene and unclouded, by which every kind of exercise adapted to the season is rendered pleasant and agreeable. The fogs are frequent near the sea, but seldom spread themselves to any distance in land.

The winter commonly breaks up with heavy rains, and the inhabitants experience hardly any of the delights of the spring, which in England is accounted the most agreeable season of the year. From a lifeless and dreary appearance, and the gloomy scenes of winter wrapped around the vegetable world, the country throws off its disquieting attire, and in a few days exhibits a grand and pleasant prospect; the vegetation being inconceivably rapid, nature passes suddenly from one extreme to another, in a manner utterly unknown to countries accustomed to a gradual progression of seasons. And, strange as it may appear, it is an acknowledged fact, a fact which furnishes a certain proof of the purity of the air, that these sudden changes seldom, if ever, affect the health of strangers or Europeans.

In this country agriculture has yet made but small progress. Nova Scotia is almost a continued forest, producing every kind of wood which grows in the neighboring provinces of New England. Four fifths of all the lands in the province are covered with pines, which are valuable not only for furnishing masts, spars, lumber for the sugar plantations, and timber for building, but for yielding tar, pitch, and turpentine, commodities which are all procured from this useful tree, and with which the mother-country may in a few years easily be supplied.

All the various species of birch, beech, and maple, and several sorts of spruce, are found in all parts in great abundance; as also numerous herbs and plants, either not common to, or not known in, England. Amongst these none is more plentiful than tarapavilla, and a plant whose root resembles rhubarb in color, taste, and effects; likewise the Indian or mountain tea, and maiden-hair, an herb much in repute for the same purpose, with shrubs producing strawberries, raspberries, and many other pleasant fruits, with which the woods in summer are well stored: Of these wild productions the cherries are best, though smaller than ours, and growing in bunches somewhat resembling grapes. The sassafras tree grows plentifully in common with others; but amongst them none is more useful to the inhabitants than a species of maple, distinguished by the name of the sugar tree, as affording a considerable quantity of that valuable ingredient. See Sugar.

Amongst the natural productions of Nova Scotia, it is necessary to enumerate their iron-ore, which is supposed equally good with that found in any part of America.

Lime-stone is likewise found in many places; it is extremely good, and is now much used for building; independent of which, it gives the farmers and landholders a great advantage for improving the ground, as it is found by experience to be one of the most approved things in the world for that purpose.

Several of the useful and most common European fruits have been planted in many places; so that the province now produces great quantities of apples, some pears, and a few plums, which are all good of their kind, especially the former. The smaller fruits, such as currants, gooseberries, &c., grow to as great perfection as in Europe; and the same may be said of all the common and useful kinds of garden plants. Among these their potatoes have the preference, as being the most serviceable in a country abounding with fish; and indeed they are not to be exceeded in goodness by any in the world. The maize, or Indian corn, is a native of much warmer climates; and, though planted here, never arrives at more than two-thirds of its natural bigness; a defect which arises as well from the shortness of the summer as the gravelly nature of the soil. Tobacco may likewise be cultivated with ease in Nova Scotia, as it is already everywhere in Canada, from Lake Champlain to the isle of Orleans, for the purpose of internal consumption.

This country is not deficient in the animal productions of the neighboring provinces, particularly deer, beavers, and otters. Wild fowl, and all manner of game, and many kinds of European fowls and quadrupeds, have from time to time been brought into it and thrive well. At the close of March the fish begin to spawn, when they enter the rivers in such shoals as are incredible. Herrings come up in April, and the sturgeon and salmon in May. But the most valuable appendage of New Scotland is the Cape Sable coast, along which is one continued range of cod-fishing banks and excellent harbours. This fishery employs a great number of men, in some seasons not less than 10,000, when 170,000 quintals will be caught, of which 40,000 may be exported. These, at the lowest price, must bring into the colony L. 26,000 Sterling, either in cash or in commodities necessary to the inhabitants.

Notwithstanding the comparatively uninviting appearance of this country, it was here that some of the first European settlements were made. The first grant of lands in it was given by James I. to his secretary Sir William Alexander, from whom it had the name of Nova Scotia or New Scotland. Since that period it has frequently changed hands from one private proprietor to another, and from the French to the English nation backward and forward.

It was in 1604 that the French first settled in Nova Scotia, to which they gave the name of Acadia. Instead of fixing towards the east of the peninsula, where they would have had larger seas, an easy navigation, and plenty of cod, they chose a small bay, afterwards called French Bay, which had none of these advantages. It has been said, that they were invited by the beauty of Port Royal, where a thousand ships may ride in safety from every wind, where there is an excellent bottom, and at all times four or five fathoms of water, and eighteen at the entrance. It is more probable that the founders of this colony were led to choose this situation, from its vicinity to the countries abounding in furs, of which the exclusive trade had been granted to them. This conjecture is confirmed by the following circumstance; that both the first monopolizers, and those who succeeded them, took the utmost pains to divert the attention of their countrymen, whom an unsettled disposition, or necessity, brought into these regions, from the clearing of the woods, the breeding of cattle, fishing, and every kind of culture; choosing rather to engage engage the industry of these adventurers in hunting or in trading with the savages.

This colony was yet in its infancy when the settlement, which has since become so famous under the name of New England, was first established in its neighborhood. The rapid success of the plantations in this new colony did not much attract the notice of the French. This kind of prosperity did not excite any jealousy between the two nations. But when they began to suspect that there was likely to be a competition for the beaver trade and furs, they endeavored to secure to themselves the sole property of it, and were unfortunate enough to succeed.

At their first arrival in Acadia, they had found the peninsula, as well as the forests of the neighboring continent, peopled with small savage nations, who went under the general name of Abenakis. Though equally fond of war as other savage nations, they were more sociable in their manners. The missionaries easily ingratiated themselves among them, had so far inculcated their tenets, as to make enthusiasts of them. At the same time that they taught them their religion, they inspired them with that hatred which they themselves entertained for the English name. This fundamental article of their new worship, being that which made the strongest impression on their senses, and the only one that favored their passion for war, they adopted it with all the rage that was natural to them. They not only refused to make any kind of exchange with the English, but also frequently disturbed and ravaged the frontiers of that nation.

This produced perpetual hostilities between the New Englanders and the French settlers in Acadia, till that province was, at the peace of Utrecht, forever ceded to the English, who seemed not for a long time to discover the value of their new acquisition. They restored to it its ancient name of Nova Scotia; and having built a slight fortification at Port-Royal, which they called Annapolis in honour of Queen Anne, they contented themselves with putting a very small garrison into it. In process of time, however, the importance of Nova Scotia to the commerce of Great Britain began to be perceived; and at the peace of 1749, the ministry offered particular advantages to all persons who chose to go over and settle in Acadia. Every soldier, sailor, and workman, was to have 50 acres of land for himself, and ten for every person he carried over in his family. All non-commissioned officers were allowed 80 for themselves, and 15 for their wives and children; ensigns 200; lieutenants 300; captains 400; and all officers of a higher rank 600; together with 30 for each of their dependents. The land was to be tax free for the first ten years, and never to pay above one livre two sols six deniers* for fifty acres. Beside this the government engaged to advance or reimburse the expenses of passage, to build houses, to furnish all the necessary instruments for fishery or agriculture, and to defray the expenses of subsistence for the first year. These encouragements determined 3750 persons, in the month of May 1749, to go to America, in hopes of bettering their fortune.

Thus encouraged, the province of Nova Scotia began to flourish, though in 1769 it sent out only 14 vessels and 148 boats, which together amounted to 7324 tons, and received 22 vessels and 120 boats, which together made up 7006 tons. They constructed three sloops, which did not exceed 110 tons burden. Their exportation for Great Britain and for the other parts of the globe did not amount to more than 729,850 livres 12 sols 9 deniers†. Continuing, however, true about its allegiance when the other colonies threw off the dominion of Great Britain, it has now become a place of great consequence both to the mother-country and the West Indies. Its shipping and seamen are rapidly increasing, as well as its produce, which affords the pleasing prospect of being able to supply itself with all the necessaries of life. The number of persons who have abandoned their habitations in the more southern provinces, and settled either there or in Canada, cannot be estimated, by the most moderate calculation, at less than 80,000; and it is without doubt the most convenient point of situation of any province in America for a maritime power of Europe to be possessed of.