THE MARITIME PUOVINCES. 



13 



of the warm waters of the gr(>at Athiiitic current witli 

 the colder stream which courHcs down the eastern coast 

 of Newfoundhmd from the P(jhir regions, carrying with 

 it trooj)8 of icebergs, is ahnost always hovering off the 

 land, from which it is barely repelled by the gentle west 

 winds from the continent. The funnel-shaped Bay of 

 Fundy, and the bight in the Nova-Scotian coast which 

 merges into the long harbour of Halifax are the strong- 

 holds of this obnoxious pall of vapour. A few miles 

 inhuid the v.'cst wind generally prevails ; indeed it is 

 often astonisliing with wh.at suddenness one emerges 

 from the fog on leaving the coast. A point or two of 

 change in the direction of the wind makes all the diffe- 

 rence. I have often made the voyage from Halifax to 

 Cape Race — the exact course of the northern fog line — 

 alternating rapidly between sunshine and dismal and 

 dangerous obscurity as the wind veered in the least 

 degree on either side of our course. Past this, the south- 

 easternmost point of Newfoundland, the fog holds on its 

 way till the great banks are cleared : it seldom works up 

 the coast to the northward, and is of rare occurrence at 

 St. John's. St. John, New Bnniswick, seems to be espe- 

 cially visited, though it has no footing in the interior of 

 that province. 



Insidiously drawing around the mariner in these 

 waters in calm summer weather, the fog of the Gulf 

 Stream is always thickest at this season, although the 

 stratum of vapour scarcely reaches over the vessel's tops, 

 the moon or stars being generally visible from the deck 

 at night. Fog trumpets or lights are to a certain extent 

 useful precautions, yet even the strictest watch from the 

 bowsprit is often insufficient to avert collision. 



