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. 



