Cape Breton

Cape Breton, a rocky island of irregular form in British North America, at the eastern extremity of Nova Scotia, from which it is separated by the Gut of Canso, one mile broad. It has an extreme length of 100, a breadth of 85 miles; area, 3120 sq. m., with a pop. (1891) of 92,639. The coast is greatly indented with bays, and an inlet, the Bras d'Or, entering the island on the east, forms a lake (50 miles long, and 20 broad) which renders most of the interior accessible by water, and which, now continued by a ship-canal ($\backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}$ mile) to St Peter's Bay, on the south coast, bisects the island. The climate is moist, but milder than that of the adjoining continent; the principal exports are timber, fish, iron ore, and coal. The island produces maize and other grains, though not in sufficient quantities for home consumption. Originally a French possession, it was taken by the English in 1745; but being subsequently restored to France, it was again captured in 1758, and in 1819 became part of the province of Nova Scotia. The towns are Sydney, Arichat, and Port Hood, the once famous Louisbourg, stripped of its fortifications, having become merely a village.