104 



HISTOKY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



Table shouting the height of the 'barometer for July and August Continued. 

 AUGUST Continued. 



" Due to fire In the cabin. 



(e) Tides and currents. I had hoped to compile tables that would give definite figures regard- 

 ing the tides, but on account of the frequent changes of position and the remarkable complexity of 

 the currents near the edge of the banks this was impossible. The first peculiarity one would be 

 likely to notice is that the tide runs up the strait much longer and with greater velocity than in 

 the opposite direction. In fact, some days there was no tide at all down the strait, but correspond- 

 ing to it would be nearly slack water for seven or eight hours. The tide also, instead of changing 

 every six hours, would only do so twice a day. The observations made August 4 will show this. 

 The velocity is expressed in the number of feet a chip floated in a minute, and the directions are 

 those of the compass. As this varies about 70 toward the west, it will be seen that all the direc- 

 tions given are up rather than down the strait. 



Tide August 4. 



The greater velocity of the tide running north compared with that going south is probably 

 due to the existence of a current on the east side of the strait running up the coast of Greenland. 

 The slack water of six or seven hours at a time would then be when the current and tide just bal- 

 anced each other. The few icebergs we saw while fishing came from the south. The harbors of 

 Holsteinborg and Sukkertoppeu are open much earlier than the more southern ones, owing to the 

 ice that is brought round Cape Farewell blocking up these latter. The existence of this southern 

 ice will be a great barrier to the utilization of the southern fishing banks, making those about 

 Sukkertoppen and Holsteinborg the ones most accessible. 



The combining of the tide and current often renders fishing impossible five or six hours at a 

 time, but, as the slack water is usually correspondingly long, the loss of time need not be very 

 great, for^'by careful observation the fishermen can time themselves so as to sleep while the tide is 

 strong and fish when it is slack water. It must be remembered that in this latitude it is light 

 enough in July to work all night without inconvenience. 



The tides and currents are not, however, as simple as the preceding remarks would seem to 

 imply. Often a changing of our position a few miles would bring us into a different combination 

 of currents. The banks occasion variations in currents a few miles apart. The whole coast of 



