Containing Much That Is Curious Concerning the Manners and Customs of the People :: The Stories and Legends of the Southern Shore and Including Short Excursions Into the History of the Country BY CHARLES GILBERT HINE HINE’S ANNUAL 1913 HINE’S ANNUAL 1913...

Nova Scotia was a sudden inspiration, induced by the enthusiasm of a friend who had enjoyed a recent vacation here, and after some correspondence with Nova Scotians who knew their country, I selected the coast line between Yarmouth and Halifax. The afternoon of October 12, 1913, saw me venturing forth from Boston on the Governor Cobb . The day had been given over to much rain, but ran dry late in the afternoon, and my hopes revived, though the evening started somewhat unprofitably with the moon

YARMOUTH TO BARRINGTON. I have a very proper cousin in the West who, when it was announced to a waiting world that my precious person was to be intrusted to the great deep, hastily sent on the following incident in the life of one who had preceded me: The facts in the case were about as follows—Mr. Smith was to make his first trip abroad and, having heard much concerning that grievous malady of the sea which is usually a matter for ribald jest on the part of those kind friends not afflicted, he

Even this early I clearly saw that to walk all the coast line between Yarmouth and Halifax could not be done at my leisurely three miles or less per hour. It is three miles when no pictures intervene or no friendly Nova Scotian comes along with a ghost story or tale of the seas: Under such circumstances time is not of the essence of the contract. It was necessary to visit Port Latour, as here were the ruins of an old fort to be photographed, and when I saw “Livery Stable” writ large across a Bar

Shelburne has a history that is peculiarly interesting to the people of the United States, as it was settled by Loyalist refugees immediately after the Revolutionary War. Colonel Alexander McNutt about 1765 secured a grant of land at Port Razoir, and arrived from Ireland with about three hundred settlers. He called the place New Jerusalem, but Colonel McNutt seems to have been an obstreperous gentleman and his little settlement was in almost constant hot water, and within a short time boiled dow

At Lockport I put up at Mrs. Mack’s “New Hillcrest,” from which it is but “two minutes’ walk to the celebrated Lockport beach,” a pebbly, crescent shaped stretch, where the waves break well out, owing to the shoal water. Mrs. Mack is a large success from the point of view of the traveler. Here I had the best supper of the entire trip, oyster stew and roast chicken, each in perfection, and was told by one who had spent three weeks under her hospitable roof that it was always the same. On entering

At Lockport I met S. E. Mack of Lunenburg, who is in the Customs Service, and who took a live interest in my method of seeing the country. He suggested the Daniels House as a comfortable place to spend Sunday, and while its management had changed hands since he knew it last, I found it quite satisfactory. The Mersey House here is claimed to be one of the best in Nova Scotia. Charles Warman, a resident of Liverpool, has written much concerning the town’s history and has tramped Nova Scotia from e

The Sperry House down by the water at Petite Riviere is another of those pleasant homes for wayfarers. Both the master and mistress can find time to be agreeable, and are kindly people. The situation of the house is such that the roar of the breakers on the outer bar is always to be heard, and their whitening tops can readily be seen from the upper windows as they are dashed to pieces upon the breakwater. It is one of those hotels that believes in deeds rather than words. There is no sign on hou

After a brief search I found a ferryman who would set me across the Lahave to Riverport. The ferryboat was a dory, and this was the first time that I had seen a dory without centerboard sailed to windward. The boatman stood or sat forward of midships, passing the sheet through an after tholepin hole and holding the end of it in one hand, while with the other he manipulated an oar on the lee side of the boat so that it was both rudder and sideboard, and thus the boat sailed fairly well into the w

The walking is over; in order to spend a day in the Evangeline country the railroad must do the speeding hereafter and I must omit St. Margarets Bay and all the interesting country to Halifax. I should prefer to remain a night at Peggys Cove in the hope that I too might see the ghost of the Teazer , and there is Sambro, often mentioned in the history of early times, and Ketch Harbor sounds attractive, as does many another spot that holds out invitation to the wanderer. It can be taken as an axio

The novelty of the tides having worn off, the immense mud flats left by the outgoing water and the railroad ride from Wolfville to Yarmouth convinced me that I had followed good advice in selecting the south shore for my jaunt. Not that the Annapolis Valley is other than beautiful and well kept, it is both, and the Fundy tides are interesting, but to travel with day after day their muddied waters and wastes of yellow flats cannot be compared with the sparkle of the clean waters of the Atlantic a