The reference in the text is to a passage in the narration of Francis Fletcher, Drake's chaplain, The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake (London, 1628): "June 3, we came into 42 deg. of North latitude, where in the night following we found such alteration of heate, into extreame and nipping cold, that our men in generall did grieuously complaine thereof, some of them feeling their healths much impaired thereby; ... the next day ... the very roapes of our ship were stiffe, and the raine which fell was an vnnatural congealed and frozen substance.... In 38 deg. 30 min. we fell with a conuenient and fit harborough, and June 17 came to anchor therein, where we continued till the 23 day of July following. During all which time, notwithstanding it was in the height of summer, and so neere the sunne, yet were wee continually visited with like nipping colds as we had felt before." This was the experience of the English (according to Fletcher, though his veracity is questioned by some writers), while sailing along the western coast of North America, from the region of Cape Blanco to Cape Mendocino.—See Hakluyt Society reprint of The World Encompassed (London, 1854), pp. 113-118. Cf. H. H. Bancroft's History of the Northwest Coast (San Francisco, 1886), vol. i., pp. 139-145.
Drake's aim in this voyage was to find a northern passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Such a passage was supposed to exist, and was termed "the Straits of Anian;" Cortereal having found, as he imagined, its eastern end in Hudson's Straits. This supposed passage across the continent is shown on Zaltieri's map (1566), Mercator's (1569), Porcacchi's (1572), Furlano's (1574), and others. For various theories as to the origin of the name Anian, see Bancroft, ut supra, vol. i., pp. 53-56.
[13] (p. [57]).—On some early charts was shown an imaginary lake, Conibas,—its waters flowing through a river or strait into the great Northern sea, as in the Wytfleit-Ptolemy map (1597); or into the mythical "Straits of Anian," as in Judæis's map (1593), and Löw's (1598). On Wytfleit's map is shown, within the lake, an island and town of the same name. See Bancroft's N. W. Coast, vol. i., pp. 84-85: and Winsor's N. and C. Hist. vol. ii., p. 457. Bancroft thinks that the notion of the lake was "probably owing to Canadian aboriginal rumors," doubtless of Hudson Bay.
[14] (p. [67]).—The white cedar (a name commonly given to the arbor-vitæ, Thuya occidentalis) is found in abundance along the Atlantic slope. The red cedar (Juniperus Virginiana) is abundant from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico; its odor is offensive to most insects. It is probably the tree thus referred to by Sagard (Canada, p. 783): "In the forests [of the Huron country] are seen abundance of cedars; the odor of this tree is disliked by serpents, and on this account its branches are used by the savages for their beds, when on their journeys."
[15] (p. [69]).—Champlain's statement, here referred to, is in his Voyages (Prince Soc.), vol. ii., p. 16: "From Long Island passage we sailed north-east two leagues, when we found a cove where vessels can anchor with safety [Little River, on Digby Neck, St. Mary's Bay].... In this place there is a very good silver mine, according to the report of the miner, Master Simon, who accompanied me." He adds: "Quarter of a league from here [the place now known as Sandy Cove] there is a good harbor for vessels, where we found an iron mine, which our miner estimated would yield fifty per cent. Advancing three leagues farther on, to the north-east [probably near Rossway], we saw another very good iron mine, near which is a river surrounded by beautiful meadows. The neighboring soil is red as blood."
Nova Scotia is rich in minerals of many kinds, and is one of the chief mining districts of the Dominion. Murdoch says (Nova Scotia, p. 3): "The discovery of gold, along the whole Atlantic shore of the peninsula of Nova Scotia, has taken place chiefly since I began this work in 1860; and it now gives steady remunerative employment to about 800 or 1,000 laborers, with every expectation of its expansion." In 1895, there were in this province 37 mines, yielding 22,112 ounces of gold. It is estimated that gold may be found in an area of from 5,000 to 7,000 square miles; but less than forty square miles have as yet been worked. The industry supports 3,000 to 4,000 persons. From 1862 to 1895, the total yield was 602,268 ounces, the average value of the ores during that time being $14.50 a ton.
Copper is mined to some extent. Gesner says, in Industrial Resources of Nova Scotia (Halifax, 1849), p. 289: "Thin seams of copper ore are seen in the red sandstones of Minudie. At Tatmagouche, Carriboo, and the rivers of Pictou, small deposits of the sulphuret and green carbonate of copper have been found among the strata of the coal series." An interesting statement on this subject is made in a "Memoir upon Acadia," written in 1735, by one Duvivier, a descendant of Charles de la Tour, and cited by Murdoch (Nova Scotia, vol. i., pp. 508-511): "In the seigneurie of Mines, which is six leagues square (and belongs to the family [of La Tour's descendants] with donations of mines, etc.), a lead mine, a considerable silver mine, an especial mine of red copper of a color like gold, and one of another metal, the value of which is not known to the Sr. Duvivier or anybody.... The English having obtained likewise the knowledge of a copper mine resembling gold, at a place called Beaubassin, joining to Mines, have sent thirty miners there, with an officer, according to the report of one Fougère. They have formed a company for this undertaking, in which the Governor, Lieutenant du Roi, and Major are secretly interested, to establish there a so-called copper work."
Gesner says (ut supra, p. 264): "Narrow veins of galena occur in the limestones of the Shubenacadie, Stewiacke, and Brookfield, and the ore sometimes contains a small percentage of silver. No profitable veins have so far been discovered."
The coal fields of Nova Scotia (including those of Cape Breton), cover about 635 square miles, and are of great richness, the veins being 30 to 70 feet deep. It has been estimated that they contain 7,000,000,000 tons of coal. The present annual output is about 2,400,000 tons.
The Statistical Year-Book for 1893 (p. 361) cites Sir William Fairbairn as saying: "In Nova Scotia some of the richest ores yet discovered occur in boundless abundance. The iron manufactured from them is of the very best quality, and is equal to the finest Swedish material." The ores are found through almost the entire length of the province. The product of Nova Scotia for 1895 was 79,636 tons. Gesner (ut supra, p. 255) says: "The most common variety of iron ore in the oldest fossiliferous strata is brown hematite. At Clements, in the county of Annapolis, and three miles from the mouth of Moose river, it outcrops, and may be traced a mile on the surface, with an average thickness of 9 feet 6 inches. It yields from 33 to 40 per cent. of cast metal, and the quality of the iron is very superior."