on of the passengers had the
unmistakable excursion air: the half-jocular manner towards each
other, the local facetiousness which is so offensive to uninterested
fellow-travelers, that male obsequiousness about ladies' shawls and
reticules, the clumsy pretense of gallantry with each other's wives,
the anxiety about the company luggage and the company health. It became
painfully evident presently that it was an excursion, for we heard
singing of that concerted and determined kind that depresses the spirits
of all except those who join in it. The excursion had assembled on the
lee guards out of the wind, and was enjoying itself in an abandon of
serious musical enthusiasm. We feared at first that there might be some
levity in this performance, and that the unrestrained spirit of the
excursion was working itself off in social and convivial songs. But it
was not so. The singers were provided with hymn-and-tune books, and
what they sang they rendered in long meter and with a most doleful
earnestness. It is agreeable to the traveler to see that the provincials
disport themselves within bounds, and that an hilarious spree here does
not differ much in its exercises from a prayer-meeting elsewhere. But
the excursion enjoyed its staid dissipation amazingly.

It is pleasant to sail into the long and broad harbor of Pictou on a
sunny day. On the left is the Halifax railway terminus, and three rivers
flow into the harbor from the south. On the right the town of Pictou,
with its four thousand inhabitants, lies upon the side of the ridge that
runs out towards the Sound. The most conspicuous building in it as we
approach is the Roman Catholic church; advanced to the edge of the town
and occupying the highest ground, it appears large, and its gilt cross
is a beacon miles away. Its builders understood the value of a striking
situation, a dominant position; it is a part of the universal policy of
this church to secure the commanding places for its houses of worship.
We may have had no prejudices in favor of the Papal temporality when we
landed at Pictou, but this church was the only one which impressed us,
and the only one we took the trouble to visit. We had ample time, for
the steamboat after its arduous trip needed rest, and remained some
hours in the harbor. Pictou is said to be a thriving place, and its
streets have a cindery appearance, betokening the nearness of coal mines
and the presence of furnaces. But the town has rather a chea