56 GENERAL REMARKS. 



East coast of Labrador. — Xear this coast, as a rule, the flood 

 stream runs northward and the ebb southward, following the coast. 

 line and rarely attaining a rate of ^ knot an hour. 



Temperature of the sea. — The temperature of the water from 

 off St. Johns to the mouth of Placentia bay at the depth of 30 fath- 

 oms is practically at freezing point. It varied only from 30^° to 34° 

 Fahrenheit, and there was no change from one month to another 

 between May and September, 1903. The water of the Arctic current 

 becomes quite as warm on the surface as the surface water elsewhere 

 in this region. The general increase in the surface temperature 

 along the south coast from Trepassey to St. Pierre was from 36^° 

 in May to 50° in September; and the surface temperature of the 

 Arctic current rose from an average of 34-|° at the end of May to 50'^ 

 at the middle of August. It has been observed that during strong 

 winds, especially when offshore, the surface water is driven out to 

 the offing and the cold water comes to the surface from underneath. 



In the navigable season the surface temperature of the southeast- 

 erly current in Cabot strait is from 55° to 65°, and the water has a 

 distinctlj^ brown color. At that time this outgoing current is much 

 Avarmer than the ingoing current on the opposite side of the strait, 

 although it is not so at all other times of the year. The color of the 

 water in the strait, except that of the southeasterly current, is the 

 millrv^ green of ordinary sea water. 



In the gulf of St, Lawrence the surface temperature in summer 

 usually ranges from about 50° to 65°. This temperature gradually 

 falls below the surface until, at a depth of 40 to 50 fathoms, it is 

 31° to 34°, or practically at the freezing point. In parts of the gulf 

 where there is deeper water the water at greater depths is appre- 

 ciably warmer, rising to 38° and 41° in depths of 100 to 200 fathoms. 



In Belleisle strait the surface temperature is relatively lower than 

 that in the gulf, and it is very cold. On the NeAvfoundland side it 

 seldom falls below 50° during the navigable season. It is generally 

 warmer on this side than on the northern side, and a difference of as 

 much as 20° has been observed. AVhen flowing ' inward the average 

 temperature of the water from top to bottom is under 45° in Sep- 

 tember. The temperature of the sea in the strait does not afford 

 any definite indication either of the direction of the stream or of the 

 proximity of ice. 



In August, 1898, at about 4 miles southward of Black bay, a heavy- 

 tide rip extended across the strait northwestward and southeastward ; 

 the temperatures of the surface water on either side of the rip within 

 about a cable of each other were 35° on its eastern side and 48° on its 

 western side. Eastward of the rip the stream was running weakly 

 westward, and westward of it at the rate of 2 Imots eastward. One 



