APPENDIX, NO. 11. 29 



though they seem to be Catholics or Christians. — Return- 

 ing to our voyage — I say, according to my opinion, that it 

 would be more prudent, when the Strait of Labrador is 

 cleared, to coast along the opposite coast of New Spain, 

 for two reasons ; first, to discover what population it con- 

 tains, and secondly, to seek for provisions and necessaries 

 for the ships which have to sail through this passage. 



According to the narrative above mentioned, it appears 

 that the distance from Spain to Friesland is four hundred 

 and fifty leagues, and from thence to Labrador one hundred 

 and eighty, and to the termination of that strait two hun- 

 dred and ninety, which make in the whole nine hundred 

 and twenty leagues ; and these added to seven hundred and 

 ninety, which we found to be the distance from the north 

 part of the Strait of Labrador to the Strait of Anian, make 

 in the whole one thousand seven hundred and ten leagues 

 for the distance between Spain and the Strait of Anian. 



The season in which we freed the Strait of Ladrador 

 was very rigorous, being the beginning of March ; and as 

 we were navigating the strait during the latter part of 

 February, we suffered great hardships on account of the 

 darkness, the cold, and the storms ; the days during that 

 time were short, and the cold so great, that the waves of 

 the sea, which beat against the ship, froze on it in such a 

 manner, that the vessel seemed to be one mass of crystal ; 

 and we were obliged to break the ice, for it grew so thick 

 that in some parts we found it more than a pulmo m thick- 

 ness. 



It is a great mistake to suppose that this sea can freeze 

 all over ; for as it is spacious, and rapid currents are always 

 running through the strait, these and the great waves oc- 

 casioned by its continual motion will not suffer it to freeze ; 

 but on the borders of the sea, and the parts where it is 

 quiet, I think it may freeze, and we perceived^ that the 

 water which beat against the shores was frozen. This only 

 I know, and it was told us in Iceland, that a strait of the 



