28 



this western path as early in the ice season as this. By April 27 bergs 

 were beginning to be less numerous inside the 50-fathoni curve, and 

 track E was beset with numerous bergs from 48° 30' to 46° 00' W. 

 The bergs sighted by the ice patrol during April were generally small 

 and in advanced stages of disintegration. The fact that numbers of 

 bergs crossed the 50-fathom curve indicates that the drafts of these 

 bergs were necessarily shallow. The height of many of these bergs 

 were well over one hundred feet. As the ratio of draft to height of 

 an iceberg becomes smaller as the berg disintegrates (see Smith, 

 1928, U. S. Coast Guard Bulletin No. 19, pt. 3, p. 112), it is 

 believed by the ice observation officer that most of the bergs that 

 crossed well inside the 50-fathom curve were in advanced stages of 

 disintegration. If this is true, then it follows that the great number 

 of the bergs that drifted south during April are bergs from the season 

 before that spent last winter grounded on the Labrador coast or 

 elsewhere on an incompleted journey southward. The steamer 

 Thuhaug was caught in an ice field. Cape Race bearing 265° true, 

 distance 200 miles, for two days during the early part of the month. 

 She was not seriously damaged. No field ice was reported south of 

 latitude 49° 00' N. after April 12. 



MAY 



During May it is estimated that 90 difi^erent bergs drifted south of 

 latitude 48° 00' N. These bergs drifted in the usual paths east of the 

 slope of the Grand Banks. North of latitude 46° 00' N. they extended 

 eastward to longitude 45° 20' W. Only 14 bergs drifted south of 

 latitude 45° during May. Five of these drifted south of the tail of 

 the Grand Banks in latitude 43° 00' N. The drifts of these bergs were 

 carefully watched for fear they would cross the westbound B track 

 then in use. The drifts of these bergs may be followed on the ice 

 chart for May. The southernmost ice during the month was a small 

 berg on the 27th in latitude 41° 43' N.-50° 32' W. 



JUNE 



Fifty-eight bergs drifted south of the forty-eighth parallel during 

 the month. Three of these were south of the tail of the Banks. One 

 small berg just before it completely disintegrated crossed the west- 

 bound steamer lane near the turning point. After June 7 no bergs 

 were sighted or reported south of latitude 47° 00' N. After that date 

 the positions of the icebergs were almost entirely confined to the region 

 along the northern slope of the Grand Banks. However, a few bergs 

 were in widely scattered positions as far east as longitude 46° 00' W. 



