CURRENTS IN THE GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE— FOX. 305 
stream through the Straits of Northumberland, turns south- 
easterly, and along the Nova Scotia coast towards the Strait of 
Canso, then past the Cape Breton coast, and out of the Gulf 
between Capes North and Ray, to the Ocean. 
The Island of Anticosti divides the entrance tc the River St. 
Lawrence into two channels, called north and south; through 
these the current from the river sets with great rapidity, in the 
spring with the melting snow, from two to three miles an hour. 
The polar current through the Straits of Belle Isle meeting this 
stream in the north channel, and striking it obliquely, causes those 
eddies, and counter currents, which are so often fatal to shipping 
on this much dreaded Island. 
The south channel stream sets down from the river in a south 
and southeasterly direction, contracting and expanding in breadth, 
by the action of the winds, either to the east or west, and its influ- 
ence is sometimes felt down the Gulf below the Magdalen Islands. 
On the twentieth of November, 1880, the steamship “ Ottawa” 
of the Dominion Line, grounded in the “ Cap de la Roche” Chan- 
nel, between Montreal and Quebec, and a portion of her cargo was 
thrown overboard to lighten her. About four weeks afterwards 
some of this cargo was found upon the North Beach of the 
Magdalen Islands, proving, beyond doubt, the force and direction 
of this dangerous current. 
During the summer solstice, when the water of the Gulf attains 
a high temperature, most of the currents met with there are sur- 
face currents and controlled by the winds. The cold Polar ecur- 
rent, which sets to and fro from the Ocean, from its greater 
weight and density sinks below and becomes a submarine current, 
and a resort for the schoois of codfish, mackerel, and herring, which 
abound in those waters. 
To illustrate the influence these dangerous currents have upon 
ships navigating the Gulf of St. Lawrence, we will suppose a 
ship passing Cape Race and bound for Quebee with a southerly 
wind and clear weather. The master, after verifying her position, 
takes his departure and shapes his course up in 2 northerly diree- 
tion, suddenly the weather becomes obscured by fog or snow-storm, 
which often occurs here, and not being aware of this northerly set 
