GEOGBAPHICAL DATA. 671 



Ice. Humber arm freezes about December 26, and is usually com- 

 pletely closed by ice \\ to 3 feet in thickness from January to April, 

 both inclusive. The early freezing which closed these waters to nav- 

 igation as early as December 15, 1906, was unusual. Field ice appears 

 about January 1 and disappears about April 15. 



The first vessel generally arrives about May 12 and the last leaves 

 about January 1. 



^ Birchy cove [Lat. 48 57' 30" N., Long. 58 00' 00" W.] is 

 situated at about 1 miles eastward of Pleasant cove; on its shores 

 are an Episcopal church, a white building, with a small spire; the 

 parsonage, a large two-storied house with a clock in the gable end 

 facing the river ; and a Roman Catholic church, which is white, with 

 two spires. Shoal water extends but a short distance from the shore 

 of this cove. 



Communication. The Newfoundland railway passes about 120 

 yards from the shore of Birchy cove. 



There are a railway station and a post and telegraph office at 

 Birchy cove. The mail trains which run three times a week between 

 St. Johns and port Basque stop here. 



Woods or Harbor island. Shoal point, the southeastern end of 

 Woods island, lies west-northwestward 1^ miles from Maciver point, 

 and about northward 1^ miles from Lower Frenchman point, and 

 the island extends northwestward, 3 miles from Shoal point, with 

 an average width of 1 mile. 



Puffin islands are two islands lying within 1,200 yards northwest- 

 ward of the northwestern point of Woods island; the southeastern 

 island has a group of trees on each of its two mounds, which are 91 

 feet high ; the northwestern island is 70 feet high. 



The passage between the southeastern island and the northwestern 

 point of Woods island is a few yards wide, with a rock that uncovers 

 lying in the middle ; it is only suitable for boats. 



Vesuvius rock, with \\ feet of water over it, is near the north- 

 western end of a ledge extending north-northwestward, 900 yards 

 from the northwestern Puffin island. 



Middle arm (formerly South arm) [Lat. 49 09' 00" N., Long. 58 

 07' 00" W.] is nearly 1 mile wide at its entrance within Black and 

 Northern heads ; from the entrance it extends with a greatest breadth 

 of 1^ miles for 5| miles in an easterly direction to Penguin head, and 

 there separates into two branches, Goose arm and Penguin arm. 



Goose arm, extending east-southeastward 2f miles, and thence 

 northeastward for 4 miles, is a little more than \ mile wide in its 

 western part; the width decreases to 200 yards at the Narrows, but 

 expands northeastward of the Narrows to 600 yards; the shallow 

 basin at the head is f mile wide. 



Penguin arm (formerly Penman arm) extends from Penguin head 

 northeastward \\ miles, and thence east-northeastward nearly 2 miles ; 

 the water in it is deep, and it is clear of shoals. There is no secure 

 anchorage for large vessels in this arm, though schooners seeking bait 

 anchor in the bends of the shore. 



Northern head [Lat. 49 09' 30" N., Long. 58 06' 40" W.] of mid- 

 dle arm rises in a steep cliff about 300 feet high, and is streaked with 

 curiously thin stripes of quartz following the stratification, which is 

 much contorted. The shore from the head curves northward round 



