58 THE LABRADOR PENINSULA. chap. xxiv. 



equally probable that dry weather will ensue.* Fogs 

 and currents are generally considered to be the great 

 drawback to the navigation of the Gulf, yet, in many 

 instances, dangers may be avoided if due attention is 

 given to them. 



The recent loss of the steamers North Briton and 

 Clyde naturally attracts attention to those causes of 

 shipwreck in the waters of the Gulf.f 



With regard to the currents at the entrance of the 

 Gulf, between Cape Eay and St. Paul's Island, Admiral 

 Bayfield says that ' winds, both present and at a distance, 

 possess so powerful and irregular an action upon the set 



* ' The annual Tariations of atmosplieric pressure in the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence are very remarkable. From the mean of all the observations in the 

 " Meteorological Journal of the Naval Surveying Party," we find that the 

 atmospheric pressure is least in January, February, and March ; that it in- 

 creases slowly in April and May ; and that there is a very slight decrease in 

 June ; that the pressure is greatest in July, August, and September, after 

 which it decreases gradually through the three remaining months of the 

 year. A similar course has been observed on the opposite side of the con- 

 tinent, namely, at Sitka, and in Em-ope, at considerable mountain elevations. 

 At Toronto, eight hundred miles from the mouth of the St. Lawi-ence 

 (hat. 43° 39' 4" N., long. 6° 17' 33" W.), the atmospheric pressure is least 

 in May, June, and July, and greatest in September.' — Dr. W. Kelly, R.N., 

 Proc. Royal Irish Academy, iii. 3. 



t Captain Grange, the officer in command of the North Briton, after 

 relating the circumstance of her loss, says that the ship 'was at all times 

 imder perfect control, was not too deeply laden for safe navigation, and was 

 in every respect quite fit to encoimter any weather. A careful and efficient 

 look-out was constantly maintained, and every other precaution for the 

 safety of the vessel was observed. She was provided with the most ap- 

 proved compasses, charts, and every other description of nautical instruments. 



' I can only account for the difference in the ship's actual position from 

 shore I calculated her to be by an extraordinary current or tide setting con- 

 tinuously to the northward. This cm-rent was probably caused by an 

 unusually high tide, which I am informed prevailed all over the continent- 

 at that time, and by the continuance of north-east winds. But, to whatever 

 cause the loss of the ship was due, it was not to any want of condition or 

 efficiency in any respect of the vessel, or her means and appliances.' 



