288 CAPE RAY TO CAPE BAULD. 



Ice. — Port au Port generally freezes early in January and the ice 

 breaks up toward the end of April ; during the winters of 1884—1886 

 the bay did not freeze, but this had not happened before for fifty 

 years. Field ice never enters the port to a great extent, and under no 

 conditions inside Fox island. 



The southeastern shore of Long Point tongue is higher than 

 the seaward side, and is for the most part composed of cliffs, which in 

 places reach a height of 114 feet, and rocky foreshore. 



At Beach point, southwe&tward If miles from Long point, a stony 

 beach projects a little to the eastward, and incloses a shallow pond. 

 In this locality there are a few huts as well as an old lobster factory. 

 Farther southwestward are a few scattered cottages, and abreast 

 Black Duck Brook village is a wooden tramway, on the face of the 

 slope, for conveying goods to the road leading to the villages, as land- 

 ing is frequently made here when the weather prevents communica- 

 tion with the shore outside. It often happens, however, during 

 southerly winds, that landing on the inner side is impracticable, 

 owing to the sea on the rocky shore, and the absence of shelter for 

 boats. 



Tidal stream. — Near the shore about Beach and Long points the 

 ebb stream at springs sets strongly, sometimes at the rate of 2 knots 

 an hour, northeastward, and turns westward across the bar, where it 

 causes eddies and overfalls. Outside the bar this stream sets west- 

 ward. 



French bank lies southeastward about ^ mile from Long point; 

 within the 5-fathom contour line it is nearly circular, and about -fj^ 

 mile in diameter. The depths over it are generally from 4 to 5 fath- 

 oms, but there are two small heads on Avhich the least water is 22 feet. 

 One of these is near the middle of the bank, and the other near the 

 southern end. There is a good passage, carrying 9 fathoms water, 

 between this bank and the shore to the westward. 



American bank is situated near the middle of the outer part of 

 Port au Port, its northern end being separated from French bank by a 

 channel 1,400 yards wide, with depths of 7 to 9 fathoms in it. 



Within the depth of 5 fathoms the bank is 3^ miles long in a north- 

 erly and southerly direction and 1^ miles wide at its widest part, 

 which is nearly 2 miles from the southern end. The general depth on 

 the bank is 2 to 5 fathoms, rock, stones, and sand bottom, but there are 

 the following patches on it. 



A shallow patch, 1,400 j^ards long, north-northeast and south-south- 

 west, with less than 6 feet water over it, lies 1 mile from the northern 

 end of the bank, and on this patch are 3 large bowlders awash at 

 low water ; there are depths of 1^ to 3 fathoms around the patch. 



Near the southern end of the bank there is a rocky head with 7 feet 

 water over it and 2 fathoms around, and on the northwestern end of 



