e sensation.

Immediately beside him, where he was standing, the easy slope went back
for a hundred yards or so, covered with short, wild grass, with here
and there a stunted tree. Turning round, he saw the land rising by a
steep acclivity towards the heights which bordered on the sea in such
tremendous cliffs. Over the heights, and along the crest of those
cliffs, were flying great flocks of sea-gulls, which kept up one
incessant chorus of harsh, discordant screams. In front of him spread
out a broad sheet of water, on the opposite side of which arose a lofty
line of coast. Into this there penetrated a long strait, beyond which
he could see broad waters and distant shores--a bay within a bay,
approached by this strait. On each side of the strait were lofty,
towering cliffs; and on one side, in particular, the cliffs were
perpendicular, and ran on in a long and unbroken wall. The extremity
of the cliff nearest him was marked by a gigantic mass of broken rock,
detached from the main land, and standing alone in awful grandeur.

What place was this? Was this the mouth of the Petitcodiac? Was that
broad bay a river? Was he still dreaming, or what did it all mean?
And that gigantic fragment severed from a cliff, which thus stood guard
at the entrance of a long strait, what was that? Could it be possible?
Was there indeed any other broken cape, or could it be possible that
this was Cape Split?

He hurried up the slope, and on reaching the top, saw that it descended
on the other side towards the water. This water was a broad sheet,
which extended for seven or eight miles, and was terminated by a lofty
coast that extended down the bay as far as the eye could reach. One
comprehensive glance was sufficient. He saw it all, and understood it
all. It was not the mouth of the Petitcodiac River. It was the
entrance to the Basin of Minas that lay before him. There lay the
great landmarks, seen under new aspects, it is true, yet now
sufficiently distinguishable. There was the Nova Scotia coast. In
yonder hollow was Scott's Bay. That giant rock was Cape Split. The
long channel was the Strait of Minas, and the cliffs opposite were Cape
d'Or and Cape Chignecto.

And now the recognition of all these places brought to him a great and
sudden shock.

For what was this place on which he stood? Was it any part of the main
land?

It was not.

He looked around.

It was an island.

He saw its lofty cliffs, its woode