II @fie Garden of 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Sand-Dunes.—The Island originally covered a 
     
     larger area than at present, its shores on all sides, but more 
     
     particularly on the north, having succumbed to the waves. 
     
     The sand has now constructed a barrier on the north side 
     
     which will stop any further encroachments 0f the sea in that 
     
     direction, These sand-dunes bar the sea from the land for 
     
     a distance of fifty miles. They extend in long lines across 
     
     the bays and parallel to the coast, and sometimes reach a 
     
     height of fifty or sixty feet. The continuous action of the 
     
     wind upon the waste of the red sandstone piles it into irregular 
     
     heaps and ridges, where it is held together by the roots of 
     
     the coarse grasses,'but is very liable to frequent changes 
     
     through the breaking of the surfaces or the cropping of the 
     
     grass by cattle. Between these hills and the shore are formed 
     
     lagoons or ponds—the haunts of fish and sea-fowl. 
     
    
   
   
    
     QZKM3§9 
     
     Historical Sketch 
     
    
   
   
    
     RINCE EDWARD ISLAND’s history is interesting, and in 
     
     3% some respects unique in the annals of British colonies. 
     
    

    
     The exact date of the discovery of the Island will probably 
     
     never be settled, for the mists of the cloudy past have thrown 
     
     over it a veil difiicult of penetration. To John Cabot, a 
     
     Venetian, who with his three sons sailed under a royal com- 
     
     mission from Henry VII. of England “ for the discovery of 
     
     the isles, regions and provinces of the heathen and infidels,” 
     
     is generally accorded the distinction of first viewing this 
     
     Island—June 24th, 1497~and naming it Saint john in honour 
     
     of the day—Saint John’s day. Some authorities maintain 
     
     that Cabot’s son Sebastian discovered it in I498; while others 
     
     contend that it was Champlain who, in 1603, named the Island 
     
     “ lsle St. Jean” and planted upon its ruddy soil the Fleur 4': It's. 
     
     Unfortunately, no details of the earliest voyages have been 
     
     preserved. 
     
    
   
   
    
     ©aqada