64 



shrouded in fog as well as where the patrol ship was further south. 

 In spite of the low visibility on the northern routes, however, the 

 bergs continued to be reported, which is pretty good evidence that 

 they must have been quite plentiful, and many of the reports men- 

 tioned passing ice close aboard. 



Just about nightfall on the 20th of May the steamship Tiger 

 reported the position of 10 icebergs to the patrol, on the forty-third 

 parallel, and about 25 miles east of the Tail. The patrol at the time 

 was only a short distance to the southward finishing the last of the 

 oceanographic stations and inasmuch as this ice was in a position 

 from which it was liable to drift farther south the patrol laid plans 

 to locate these bergs the next morning. Fortunately the 21st, 22d, 

 ^nd 23d of May were days of clear weather and this permitted us 

 to determine the position of 26 bergs distributed around the Tail and 

 as far north as 43° 20'. The distribution of this group is shown 

 on the accompanying sketch. There were no large bergs found and 

 it was quite striking to observe that they were all about the same 

 size and fairly well collected together. It is also worth remarking 

 that none of these bergs were identified as any of the former group 

 sighted on the 13th and 14th instant, nor would such a coincidence 

 agree at all with the set and velocity of the currents which had been 

 flowing in this interim of about one week. Several of the bergs were 

 carefully watched as to geographical position and it was quite plainly 

 observed that those farther offshore of the slope were being turned 

 or retarded in the dead water which from the current map existed 

 there. This movement is further illustrated on Figure 15, page 65. 

 A regard of the current map together with the positions of the bergs 

 convinced patrol officials that this ice constituted a serious menace 

 to the present North Atlantic lane routes and it was believed that 

 within the space of 7 to 10 days many of the bergs would be on, or 

 uncomfortably near, the steamship tracks. It was deemed of utmost 

 importance, with such information at hand, to advise Washington 

 immediately to shift the tracks farther south. 



Reports regarding the position of bergs to the northward continued 

 to be received by the patrol, and after May 15 the shift from track E 

 to Cape Race track, caused numerous bergs to be sighted in the more 

 northerly latitudes of 48° and 49° and also longitudes farther west, viz, 

 50° and 51°. (See fig. 13, p. 60.) 



The patrol was engaged in eft'ecting the relief between its two ships 

 the 24th and 25th and on the 26th instant, when we had returned to 

 the vicinity of the southern bergs, south of the Tail (see fig. 15, p. 65) 

 a dense fog was encountered. A steamer passing close to us on this 

 day reported having narrowly missed a berg and growler, and a brief 

 light up during the afternoon permitted us to sight what was believed 

 to be the southernmost ice. It was foggy at this time, it must 



