CAPE BRETON, the north-east portion of Nova Scotia, Canada, separated from the mainland by a narrow strait, known as the Gut of Canso; length (north to south) Isom., greatest breadth about 87m., and area 3,120 sq.m. It juts out so far into the Atlantic that it has been called "the long wharf of Canada," the distance to the west coast of Ireland being less by I,o0Om. than that from New York. A headland on the east coast is also known as Cape Breton, and is said by some to be the first land made by Cabot on his voyage in 1497-98. The large, irregularly shaped, salt-water lakes of Bras d'Or communicate with the sea by two channels on the north-east ; a short ship canal connects them with St. Peter's bay on the south, thus dividing the island into two parts. Except on the north-west, the coast-line is in dented with numerous bays, several of which form excellent har bours. The most important are Aspy, St. Ann's, Sydney, Mira, Louisburg, Gabarus, St. Peter's and Mabou ; of these, Sydney Harbour, on which are situated the cities of Sydney and North Sydney, is one of the finest in North America. There are numer ous hill streams not navigable for any distance ; the largest are the Denys, the Margaree, the Baddeck and the Mira. Lake Ainslie in the west is the most extensive of several fresh-water lakes. The surface of the island is hilly and the northern part is a table land I,000ft. high, consisting of gneiss, and fringed by a narrow border of carboniferous rocks. South of this a Cambrian belt continues the same formation on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. On the west and south sides of the island at Seacoal Bay and Little River (Richmond county), valuable seams of coal are worked. Still more important is the Sydney coal-field on the east coast from Mira Bay to St. Ann's. The outcrop is plainly visible at various points along the coast, and coal has been mined in the neighbourhood from a very early period. Since 1893 the operations have been greatly extended, and over 3,000,00o tons a year are now shipped, chiefly to Montreal. The coal is bitumi nous, of good quality and easily worked, most of the seams dipping at a low angle. Several have been mined for miles beneath the ocean. Slate, marble, gypsum and limestone are quarried, the latter being of great value as a flux in the blast-furnaces of Sydney.
The lumber, agricultural products and fisheries of Cape Breton are also important. Nearly covered with forest at the time of its discovery, it still exports pine, oak, beech, maple and ash. Oats, wheat, turnips and potatoes are cultivated, chiefly for home consumption; horses, cattle and sheep are reared in considerable numbers; butter and cheese are exported. The Bras d'Or lakes and the neighbouring seas supply an abundance of cod, mackerel, herring and whitefish, and the fisheries employ over 7,000 men. Salmon and trout abound, attracting large numbers of tourists and sportsmen from the other provinces and from the United States. The Canadian National railway extends to Sydney and crosses the Gut of Canso on a powerful ferry. From the . same strait a railway runs up the west coast, and several shorter lines are controlled by the mining companies. Of these the most important is that connecting Sydney and Louisburg. Numerous steamers, with Sydney as their headquarters, ply upon the Bras d'Or lakes. The inhabitants are mainly of Highland Scottish descent, and Gaelic is largely spoken in the country districts. On the south and west coasts are found a number of descendants of the original French settlers and of the Acadian exiles (see NOVA and in the mining towns numbers of Irish are employed. Several hundred Mic Mac Indians, for the most part of mixed blood, are principally employed in making baskets, fish-barrels and butter-firkins. Nearly the whole population is divided between the Roman and Presbyterian creeds.
There is some evidence in favour of early Norse and Icelandic voyages to Cape Breton, but they left no trace.
In 1629 Lord Ochiltree settled a small colony at Baleine, on the east side of the island ; but he was soon of ter taken prisoner with all his party by Captain Daniell of the French company. By the peace of St. Germain, in 1632, Cape Breton was formally assigned to France; and when, by the treaty of Utrecht (1713), the French were deprived of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland (qq.v.) they were still left in possession of Cape Breton, and their right to erect fortifications for its defence was formally acknowledged. They accordingly transferred the inhabitants of Plaisance in Newfoundland to the settlement of Havre a l'Anglois, which soon after, under the name of Louisburg, became the cap ital of Cape Breton (or Ile Royale, as it was then called), and an important military post.
Cod-fishing formed the staple industry, and a large contraband trade in French wines, brandy, and sugar was carried on with the English colonies to the south. In 1745 it was captured by a force of volunteers from New England, aided by a British fleet. By the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle the town was restored to but in 1758 was again captured by a British force. On the con clusion of hostilities the island was ceded to England; and on Oct. 7, 1763, it was united by royal proclamation to the Government of Nova Scotia. In 1784 it was separated from Nova Scotia, and a new capital founded at the mouth of the Spanish river which received the name of Sydney in honour of Lord Sydney, then secretary of state for the colonies. In 182o, in spite of strong opposition, it was again annexed to Nova Scotia, since when its history has been uneventful.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.—Richard Brown, A History of the Island of Cape Bibliography.—Richard Brown, A History of the Island of Cape Breton (1869), and Sir John Bourinot, Historical and Descriptive Ac count of Cape Breton (1892), are both excellent. See also Denys, De scription geogr. et hist. des cotes de l'Amerique septentrionale (1672) ; Pichon, Lettres et memoires du Cap Breton (176o), also Reports of Geological Survey, 1872 to 1882-86, and 1895 to 1899, by Robb, H. Fletcher and Faribault ; Richard Brown, The Coal Fields of Cape Breton (1871 ; reprinted, 1899) . H. Fletcher, The Sydney Coal Fields, Cape Breton, N.S. (1900) ; L. B. Runk, Fort Louisburg: its two sieges, and site to-day (Philadelphia, 191I) ; J. Emerson, Diary Kept at the Siege of Louisburg, 1745 (Cambridge, Mass., 191o) ; Un Journal inedit du siege de Louisburg . . . en 1758 0913).