on the 15th and remained throughout the remainder of the month 

 but was becoming broken and scattered by the 28th. No informa- 

 tion is available concerning off shore conditions during the latter 

 part of the month north and east of Cape Breton Island and 

 through Cabot Strait but subsequent reports indicate that no ap- 

 preciable amount of field ice had moved out through the strait 

 and that such movement as had occurred was probably confined 

 to a very narrow belt at the very southern edge of the strait drift- 

 ing around Cape North. 



March 



The winter ice in Sydney Harbor disappeared by the 5th and 

 except for light ice forming on the 12th and melting by the 15th, 

 the harbor remained clear throughout the remainder of the season. 

 Heavy field ice appeared off Sydney about the 6th and by the 8th 

 when the first aerial observation was made over the area, the ap- 

 proaches to Sydney were completely blocked. The ice field was 

 heavy and closely packed off Sydney becoming open and somewhat 

 scattered toward its outer limits. At this time it had reached the 

 most easterly extent noted durinQ- the season at 46° 15' N., 58°45' 

 W. Between the 10th and 13th of March the ice moved southwest- 

 ward along the east coast of Cape Breton Island reaching its most 

 southerly extent for the season in latitude 45° 12' N., at 60° 10' 

 W. Easterly winds had moved the ice inshore and from the 14th 

 until the 23d the ice moved in and out along the beach at Louisburg. 

 By the 17th outer limits had receded westward past 60° 10' W., 

 and northward past 45°20' N. The field was now rapidly reced- 

 ing for by the 25th only a few scattered strings remained south of 

 Scatari Island and with the exception of a closely packed strip 

 along the beach southward from Aspy Bay, the ice off the north- 

 east coast was open and scattered and passage to Sydney consid- 

 ered easily navigable by ice-worthy vessels. At no time during 

 the month was Cabot Strait closed or the Newfoundland coast south 

 of Bay of Islands endangered by field ice. That ice drifting through 

 the strait was confined to a narrow belt passing along the south 

 side around Cape North and the greatest northerly extent observed 

 in the strait was in the vicinity of St. Paul Island. From there the 

 edge curved westward to the vicinity of Bird Rocks. By the 22d 

 the ice in the river began to breal^ up and by the last of the montli 

 the river was almost clear as far as Quebec. 



April 



By 4 April the river was clear to Quebec and was mostly clear 

 from Quebec to Montreal. Only a few patches and a few scattered 

 strings remained in the gulf and a few rotten strings in the area 

 northeast of Sydney. The Cape Ray-Bird Rocks route was nav- 



89 



