SUMMER CRUISE 39 
the southward indicated some ice in the southern part of that 
bay. 
The following summary of the condition and extent of the 
ice met with on the passage from Fullerton to Port Burwell 
may prove of interest and value. The northwestern part of 
Hudson bay was quite free of ice, and none to obstruct naviga- 
tion was found in Fisher and Evans straits. Large quantities 
of ice were encountered between the mouth of Evans strait and 
Digges at the western end of Hudson strait, but without serious 
trouble safe passages were found through it, and there is no 
doubt that an ordinary unprotected iron steamship would have 
passed through it at that time without trouble or danger. This 
ice, evidently the product of the past winter, consisted chiefly, 
as has been mentioned, of large flat sheets that had only a short 
time previously broken from their original position, for there 
were no signs that it had been subjected to pressure or to the 
action of a swell. The edges of these large cakes had not been 
crushed, and many soft thin spots were seen which would 
disappear with the slightest pressure or swell. Along with 
the predominating flat ice was a considerable amount of rafted 
ice of the same character, and also of portions apparently sub- 
jected to pressure during the past winter. All the ice was 
comparatively light and thin, which led to the belief that it had 
come out of Fisher strait, and from the southward up the 
channel between Mansfield and the eastern mainland, the meet- 
ing of these streams producing the blockade at the western end 
of Hudson strait. Owing to its thinness and rotten character, 
the greater part of this ice would melt a few days after we 
passed it. 
The ice in the western part of Hudson strait was somewhat 
heavier than that described above. Much of it was rafted ice 
in small cakes, and there was a small number of ancient, heavy, 
discoloured pans that had evidently come from Fox channel. 
