Chapter One 9

CHAPTER ONE

The Place and the Peoples

L7/n 1799, the area now included in the parish and district of Tignish was uninhabited. It is probable the Mi’kmaq (pronounced mig—maw) Visited seasonally to fish, since they had a name for it, roughly rendered by Mtagueniche. Located about one hundred miles (160 kilometres) northwest of Charlottetown, this area looks like a rough isosceles triangle, the apex being North Cape. It is low-lying land, though not flat, except in a number of marshy areas. At that time, the central part was largely covered by spruce mixed with some oak, fir, maple, birch, hazelnut and, in the wetter areas, alder. A number of ponds dotted this wilderness, some of which contained trout. Berries flourished in the rather acid soil, which was red and tended to be clay or sand. Along the shore were a number of small harbours, the largest of which was the one near the southeast corner. Most of these harbours, in fact, looked towards the east and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Marshland and sandy beaches alternated along most of the area’s perimeter, though at North Cape, cliffs of red sandstone rose above the waters. Cod filled the sea. Mackerel and herring were also plentiful, as were seals, otters and walrus. In fact, when Captain Samuel Holland circumnavigated Prince Edward Island, starting in 1764