THE BASIN OF MINAS


A curving beach with rolling surf, a long and very high pier, showing
the great rise of the tide,--at this point sixty feet in the spring,--
and directly before one the peculiarly striking promontory of Blomidon,
with the red sandstone showing through the dark pines clothing his
sides, and at his feet a powerful "rip" tossing the water into chopped
seas; a current so strong that a six-knot breeze is necessary to carry
a vessel through the passage which here opens into the Bay of Fundy.

This is the place where schedules said nothing of a boat to convey the
tourist across the inland sea--of thirty miles' width--to the railroad
on its south shore,--the line which bears on its rolling stock the
ominous initials W. A. R, but passes through the most peaceful country
nevertheless. Yet our genial host's assurances that such a vessel will
come are not to be doubted; and, after a dainty repast, a group sits on
the pier, watching ghostly ships and smaller craft emerge from and
vanish into the mist. As the mists disperse and the moon comes out
clearly, it reveals the "Hiawatha" approaching,--a graceful propeller
of five hundred tons burden, and one hundred and some odd feet in
length.

Partridge Island, which is close at hand, commands exceptionally fine
views, as Blomidon does also; the famous Capes d'Or and Chignecto, seven
hundred and thirty to eight hundred feet high, with Advocate Harbor,
are within pleasant driving distance. There are twenty varieties of
minerals on Blomidon; as many more, with jaw-testing names, on Partridge