i6 NEAREST THE POLE 



taken to prevent a recurrence. At supper time we 

 passed four or five small bergs which had come 

 through the straits. Fine weather, with smooth sea 

 till evening, when the fog shut down on us. 

 Just before this, two large steamers passed us 

 heading for the straits, and one hung out the sig- 

 nal, "Wish you a pleasant voyage," to which we 

 replied, "Good-bye." It is light now till 9 p. m., and 

 it seems good to be again approaching the Arctic 

 day. 



Saturday, July 2gth. — A dirty night. In the dense 

 fog, which filled the Belle Isle graveyard of ships, 

 Point Amour Light was invisible, until apparently 

 hanging over our mast head, and then it was a 

 matter of feeling our way from fog horn to fog horn 

 through the Straits. We could hear two or three large 

 steamers that were laying to, blowing their double 

 blasts; and numbers of bergs added to the uncer- 

 tainty and anxiety of the passage. 



Captain Bartlett and myself up all night. At break- 

 fast time just north of Chateau Bay we ran out of 

 the wall of fog into bright sunshine, and a field of 

 beautiful icebergs. Cape York is 1500 miles from here. 



Running northward all day, just off the Labrador 

 coast, in alternate fog and sunshine. Have written 

 two or three brief personal letters which we shall 

 leave at Domino Run to-night, before heading across 

 Davis Strait for Greenland. This is necessitated by 

 the fog having shut us out of Chateau Bay and Battle 

 Harbour, from which place our passing may have been 

 reported to the home folks. 



