Pictou with Charlotte Town, Prince Edward Island, Shediac, N. B., and Quebec. There is one also on the Bras d'Or lake, and one that plies between Halifax and the principal gold-fields on the Atlantic coast. Two little steamboats ply between Pictou town and New Glasgow, and two others between the city of Halifax and the town of Dartmouth. The legislature granted the sum of $7,700, in aid of steamers, packets, &c., in 1860; and $7,240 in 1861. ROADS, STAGE COACHES, &c.-The high roads of Nova Scotia are very numerous, and generally they are good. Legislative grants are made yearly to aid in opening new roads, and repairing the great post-roads. The grant for this object in 1850 was $96,800; in 1860 it was $103,855; and in 1861, $100,341 34. The great roads of the province are: From Halifax Westward to Yarmouth, by the Atlantic coast, as follows: Halifax to Lunenburg, seventy miles; thence to Liverpool, thirty-six miles; thence to Shelburne, forty miles; thence to Yarmouth, fifty-six miles,-making in all 202 miles from Halifax to Yarmouth. A tri-weekly stage-coach runs this line. Another line of highway is from Halifax to Yarmouth via Windsor, Kentville, Annapolis Royal, Digby, and Clare. The distance from Halifax to Yarmouth by this route is 214 miles. A stage-coach runs this line three times a week. Eastward from Halifax we travel sixty miles to Truro by railway; from Truro to Amherst (within three miles of the New Brunswick line) the distance is sixty miles; from Truro to Pictou the distance is forty miles. An excellent line of stage-coaches run this road daily. From Pictou to Antigonish, fifty miles; thence to the Strait of Canseau Ferry, thirty-three miles. Total from Halifax to Canseau, 188 miles. On Cape Breton side, from Plaister Cove at Canseau, to Sydney town via South of Bras d'Or, seventy-six miles; from Sydney via Sydney mines to Margaree, sixty-four miles; from Plaister Cove to Port Hood, thirty miles; thence to Margaree, forty miles. Another great road runs from Halifax through Musquodoboit via Guysborough to the Strait of Canseau. Another from Halifax to Tangier, Sheet Harbor, &c., by the Atlantic coast. Another important road runs from Pictou via River John, Tatamogouche, Pugwash, &c, to Amherst. The cross-roads and by-roads are too numerous to mention. All those mentioned are run either by daily, tri-weekly, bi-weekly, or weekly stagecoaches. POSTAL COMMUNICATION, &c.-Nova Scotia has regular mails from Great Britain only once a fortnight; with the United States we have weekly, and sometimes bi-weekly postal communication; with Newfoundland, in summer we have fortnightly communication, in winter, monthly; with Prince Edward Island, bi-weekly in summer, or during seven months, and weekly, and sometimes only monthly, in mid-winter; with New Brunswick, bi-weekly and weekly. The number of offices under the control of the postmastergeneral, in 1860, was, 1 general post-office, Halifax, 72 central offices, and 344 branch or way offices. In 1861, the number of way offices increased to 380. The number of newspapers posted at, and delivered at Halifax office during the year 1860, was 2,080,520; in 1861, 2,358,824-showing an increase of 278,304. The number of letters of all kinds sent, received, and delivered in 1860, was 534,922; in 1861, 705,696-increase, 170,774. The number of parcels received and sent from Halifax and county post-offices in 1860, was 627; in 1861, 717-increase, 90. The amount of money paid through the money-order department of the post-office during the last year, was $67,081.90. This department has been in existence only two years, in this province. The net income for 1861, was $47,115.76. The total expenditure for the same period, $69,444.351. In 1860, the length of mail route in existence in the province was 4,115 miles; and the actual distance trav elled, 751,346 miles. In 1861, the length of route, 4,1514 miles; distance travelled, 809,032 miles. There are 289 mail contracts made by the postmastergeneral, at an annual cost of $38,604.60. There is a uniform rate of postage-five cents for letters weighing half an ounce-now established between all the British North American provinces, with the exception of Newfoundland. ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS.-The province of Nova Scotia contains 1,500 miles of telegraph line, and three sections of submarine cable, viz.: Across Pugwash Harbor.... 66 Strait of Canseau.. 66 + mile. .1" Lenox passage (between C. B. and the Isle of Madone). 1 Total...... - .3 miles The lines in the province are owned by the "Nova Scotia Electric Telegraph Company." It has fifty telegraph offices; fifty-six telegraphists; thirty linesmen, and a large number of messenger boys. All officers of the company are sworn to secrecy. The rates of tolls for messages of ten words are as follows: In proportion to extent and population, the province of Nova Scotia has a greater extent of telegraph wire, a greater number of offices, and the tariff is lower, than in any other country in the world. The first line in Nova Scotia was erected from Halifax to the frontier of New Brunswick, by the provincial government, in 1848. Another line was built by a local com pany, between Truro and Pictou, in 1849. In 1851, the legislature chartered the "Nova Scotia Electric Telegraph Company." This company purchased the government line from Halifax to New Brunswick, as well as the one from Truro to Pictou; and they constructed nearly all the existing lines between that date and 1856. In 1860, all the lines of the company were leased for fifty years to the "American Telegraph Company"-a wealthy organization, which controls a great proportion of the telegraphs on the American continent. crown. CROWN LANDS.-Only a little over the half of the area of Nova Scotia has been granted, or alienated from the The price charged for crown lands in Nova Scotia is about forty cents per acre. The following statement will show the quantity of granted and ungranted land in the province : The gross proceeds of crown lands sold during 1860, was $20,846.28. In 1861, $16,598.73. REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE.-The year 1861 shows a decrease in the revenue of Nova Scotia. This is owing, undoubtedly, to the American war. Nova Scotia has suffered probably more from this war than any of the British North American colonies. Free trade is the policy of Nova Scotia. It has no protection duties. Its ad valorem duties are lower than those of any neighboring countries. The following statement will exhibit the gradual growth of our provincial revenue: This revenue is derived from import, excise, and light duties, from the crown lands, the mines, the provincial railway, and the post-office department. The expenditure is for the payment of all public officers, the interest of the public debt, grants for roads and bridges, education, agriculture, subsidies for steamers, mail packets, and ferries, militia, &c. The estimated expenditure for 1861 was $870,771. PUBLIC DEBT, CURRENCY, &c.-The public debt has been mainly incurred in constructing the provincial railways. It is almost wholly represented by works of great public utility. At the close of the year 1860, the whole liability of the province was $4,901,305 42, viz: Provincial Bonds. Total..... .$4,000,000 00 447,458 00 453,847 42 $4,901,305 42 The first provincial currency was eighteen shillings sterling to the pound currency, or £100-£90. The next change made the English shilling equal to one shilling and three-pence sterling, or sixteen English shillings equal to £1 currency. In common with New Brunswick and Canada, Nova Scotia has recently adopted the decimal mode of computa |