Whipple’s brief account of Nova Scotia in his _Geographical View of the District of Maine_ should not be overlooked; but it was written at a time when historical students were less exacting than they now are, and its details are meagre and unsatisfactory.[428] Haliburton’s _History of Nova Scotia_ is a work of conscientious and faithful labor, but in its preparation the author was under serious disadvantages from his inability to consult many of the books on which such a history must be based; and as he was not able to correct the proofs, his volumes are disfigured by the grossest typographical blunders. No one without some previous familiarity with the subject can safely read it; but such a reader will find in it much of value.[429] [Illustration: SIR WILLIAM ALEXANDER. [Slafter, p. 124, gives an account of the engraving by Marshall, published in 1635, of which the above is a reproduction following Richardson’s engraving of 1795. It represents Alexander at fifty-seven.—ED.]] A work of far higher authority, much fuller on the earlier periods, and one which is generally marked by great thoroughness and accuracy, is Murdoch’s _History of Nova Scotia_. Written in the form of annals, it lacks every grace of style; and in a few instances the author has overlooked important sources of information,—such as Winthrop’s _History of New England_,[430] which is not named in his list of authorities (p. 533), and which he seems to have known only at second-hand through the citations of Hutchinson and of Ferland; and the original papers connected with La Tour and D’Aulnay in the _Collections_ of the Massachusetts Historical Society. On the other hand, he had access for the first time to very valuable manuscript materials, which greatly enlarge our knowledge on not a few points previously obscure.[431] The _Cours d’Histoire du Canada_ of the Abbé Ferland is mainly devoted to what is now known as Canada; but there are several chapters in it on Acadian affairs. By birth and choice a Canadian, “and above all a Catholic,” as he himself avows, his statements and inferences need to be scrutinized carefully. He had, however, gathered considerable new material, his narrative is clearly and compactly written, and his work must rank among the best of the modern compilations.[432] [Illustration: F Parkman] The same, or nearly the same, may be said of Garneau’s _Histoire du Canada_. The chapters on Acadia are based on materials easily accessible, and they add no new facts to those given by the earlier writers; but his narrative is clear and exact, and not much colored by the writer’s point of view. He had not, however, so firm a grasp of his subject as had Ferland; and for the period covered by this inquiry the latter may be read with much greater pleasure and profit.[433]