[7] TH HALIBUT FISHERY—DAVIS STRAIT. 195 
for a breeze of twenty-five to thirty-five miles anhour; 40 for a breeze of 
thirty-five to forty-five miles an hour; and 50 for a breeze of forty-five 
to fifty-five miles an hour. 
The temperature, sky, and winds were quite different in the harbor. 
The land on all but the sea side of the harbor rises abruptly and not 
only protects it from the winds, but also permits the sun to warm the 
surface of land and water more than in an exposed place. The thermom- 
eter is, therefore, more variable than in the strait, and the wind is seldom 
felt. The mountains, by causing the condensation of the vapors of the 
sea breezes, make fogs and showers frequent. 
I have also given tables of the height of the barometer, made from an 
aneroid belonging to the captain. This was hung up in the cabin and I 
noticed considerable variation in the instrument whenever a fire was 
built there. When this variation was very marked, I have indicated 
the same in the tables by an asterisk. . 
The season of 1879 was, however, uncommonly mild for Davis’ Strait, 
and ‘the weather that summer more favorable for fishing than it has been 
since. In 1880 the Herman Babson was started for Greenland, but was 
turned back in 52° N. lat. by immense quantities of icebergs and field 
ice. The Mary E. succeeded in getting through by going farther to the 
eastward. 
In 1881 the three vessels that went to Davis’ Strait skirted the ice 
200 to 300 miles before succeeding in getting through, and, even after 
reaching the fishing-grounds, they were obliged several times during the 
summer to change their positions on account of drifting bergs. 
This ice is carried by the currents down the east coast of Greenland, 
and thence across to the Strait of Belle Isle, and the fishermen will 
probably encounter more or less of it every year. 
