NOTES ON NEWFOUNDLAND. 263 



or, at all events, until the vessel rounds Cape Eace — 

 nearly at the end of the journey. Near the Cape icebergs 

 are frequent during the summer months, and it is not an 

 uncommon circumstance to hear the dull roar of the surf 

 upon their precipitous sides as one passes in uncomfortable 

 proximity in a dense fog. Field ice, too, is another 

 drawback in the spring ; enormous areas come down 

 from the Gulf, and more than once the little steamer has 

 spent a fortnight or so enclosed, drifting into one of the 

 wild, inhospitable harbours of the southern coast. The 

 duration of the voyage from Halifax to St. John's is 

 from three to five days — a little longer when, as is 

 generally the case, Sydney, Cape Breton, is touched at. 

 In fine summer weather coasting along the shores of 

 Nova Scotia and Cape Breton is pleasant enough, par- 

 ticularly in the evenings, when the heated atmosphere, 

 blown off from the fir woods, is charged with delicious 

 fragrance. The scenery, viewed from the deck of a 

 vessel passing at some two or three leagues distance, has 

 nothing of especial interest, as might be inferred ; the 

 numerous indentations of the harbours are hardly per- 

 ceptible, and the wooded country behind rises but a few 

 hundred feet or so in a continuous undulating line of hills. 

 A noticeable rock, which may be seen at a considerable 

 distance out to sea, termed " The Ship,'' terminates a 

 headland on the western side of the harbour of that 

 name. It looks just like a schooner, or rather brigantine, 

 under full sail. 



This part of the North American coast is marked by 

 the presence of multitudes of sea birds, which, at the 

 periods of their annual migrations, afford abundant and 

 exciting sport. Formerly they resorted to the numerous 



