67 



The fact that only two bergs drifted as far south as the Tail of 

 the Bank places the season of 1927 comparable with those in 1924 and 

 1925, two years noted for the absence of ice near the regular steam- 

 ship tracks. The United States-Europe steamship lane routes dur- 

 ing 1927, in fact, were at no time endangered on this score, and the 

 conditions can best be presented by referring to Figure 28, which 

 shows that during April there was only one berg that drifted as far 

 south as the Tail of the Grand Bank, it being on April 13, its southern- 

 most point, 90 miles to the north. During May the closest an ice- 

 berg approached the steamship lanes was on the 31st instant, when 

 it was 210 miles away. June 8, the nearest that any berg drifted 



\ .. 



v*e.ST-&ooMP sTe&naMcP tkack 



EAST-e>ooi*c ^ifTj::T><^ir~TiraZ!^ 



SO 49 4» 47 46 



Fig. 28. — The nearest positions which bergs attained to the United States-Europe steamship tracks 

 during 1927. Also, there is shown all the bergs that the ice patrol was able to follow in their drift 



during the month, was 140 miles to the northwest of the United 

 States-Europe lanes. 



As in former years, the ice patrol kept track and recorded the 

 drift of as many bergs as possible during the season, and the paths 

 followed are shown on Figure 28. A record of all the icebergs that 

 the patrol has been able to chart and follow since 1914 is shown as 

 Figure 29. 



As a result of the observations concerning the courses which bergs have 

 followed near the southern end of their transport, we are including this 

 year a map (fig. 30, p. 69) which shows diagrammatically the general 

 berg paths and the most likely offshoots. Icebergs approaching the 

 northern slope of the Grand Bank take any one of three paths a, b, 



