Finding Your Bearings

1. On a map of Cape Breton Island trace the route that many ships took in the early 1800s: Start in the Bras d’Or Lakes where ships picked up lumber and other products, go through the St. Peter’s Canal, around Cape Breton Island and through the Strait of Canso and on to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

2. Find the Great Bras d’Or Lake on a map of Cape Breton Island. Now find the place marked “Seal Island”. Before the canal at St. Peter’s was built, ships left the Bras d’Or Lakes through this narrow opening. Then they circled around Cape Breton Island and went through the Strait of Canso and on to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Compare this route with the route described above. You can see how much shorter the trip was when ships could use the canal.

3. Trace the route from Arichat to the Caribbean, then to Europe and back to Arichat. Why was it called a “triangular trade route”?

Strait and Straight

A strait is a narrow waterway that connects two larger bodies of water. The Strait of Canso connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Straight means not having any curves or bends, such as a straight road.

Circle the correct word in the sentences below.

1. He always wanted to see the (Strait/Straight) of Gibraltar, near Spain.

2. A (straight/strait) may be the shortest way between seas.

3. That river flows in a (straight/strait) line to the ocean.

4. She stood up (strait/straight) to look her best.