Navigation of Hudson's Bay and Strait. 243 



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Hudson Bay system of rivers runs is drained, is scarcely perceptible. 

 No doubt the tidal records kept at the observing stations will show 

 less time occupied by the incoming tide than is consumed by the 

 outflow. The flood current, under the pressure of this general 

 easterly trend, will naturally come to rest sooner than the ebb 

 current, which, on the other hand, will be slightly prolonged by it. 



There is a cold current coming down Fox Channel into Hudson 

 Strait, bringing with it, in some seasons, a vast volume of heavy ice. 

 This is carried southward between Mill, Salisbury and Nottingham 

 Islands, and far away to the south shore at Cape Wolstenholme, and 

 easterly or westerly according to the winds. The Atlantic entrance 

 to the Strait is also slightly affected by the main arctic or Labrador 

 current, which, coming down from Baffin's Bay and Davis Strait with 

 great force, finds its way into the Strait when the tidal current is 

 favourable. By this current, when easterly winds prevail, the 

 entrance to the Strait is sometimes partly blocked with ice from 

 Baffin's Bay. 



The rise and fall of the tide (springs) in Hudson Strait is from 

 eighteen to thirty-five feet according to location, and future investi- 

 gation may discover places where it is much greater. At North 

 Bluff, half-way through the Strait, and on the north main coast, it 

 is thirty-two feet. Following is the record of the tide guage at that 

 point from five o'clock a.m. until five p.m., on the 20th of September 

 last, with flood tide, at forty minutes past eight a.m. : — 



