drift of the ice and the southeasterly limits remained more or less 

 fixed. The southwestern edge receded rapidly however, the ice 

 off the Newfoundland coast moving off shore and disintegrating as 

 far northward as Cape Bonavista. By the 8th all ice west of 49° 

 W., with the exception of bergs and growlers, had receded north 

 past 47° N., and the edge had moved to over 50 miles off shore 

 northward to the latitude of Cape Bonavista. About the middle 

 of April the southeastern corner again began to extend southward 

 along the 100-fathom line as a narrow tongue reaching latitude 

 45° N., on- 16 April, extending to 43°40' N., on the 21st and to 

 43° 12' N., by the 22d. Though only up to about 10 miles maxi- 

 mum width and narrowing to little more than 200 yards in places, 

 this tongue was mostly close-packed, heavy ice and passage through 

 it for other than ice-protected ships would have been inadvisable 

 except with extreme caution. This ice became scattered by ensu- 

 ing winds and all except the heavier floes had dissipated by the 

 25th. Some remnants of the heavier ice drifted south past 43° N., 

 before melting. By the end of April no field ice remained south of 

 45° N., and only a few patches or scattered strings from that lati- 

 tude to 46° N. On 29 April the southern and eastern limits of 

 the main field had receded northward of 46° N., and westward of 

 47° W., and that portion south and east of 47°00' N., 48°00' W., 

 was becoming rotten and scattered. 



Many bergs drifted free of the ice field, great numbers drifting 

 southward over the northern edge and along the eastern edge of 

 the banks. The predominence of newly arriving bergs along the 

 northwest edges of the banks that had been noted in March was 

 no longer true and a larger proportion of the bergs were now 

 crossing the 48th parallel in such positions as to drift around the 

 eastern edge of the banks. Approximately 253 bergs are estimated 

 to have crossed the 48th parallel during April. The most southerly 

 of the bergs reported during the month were in the vicinity of 

 42°25' N., 50°00' W. See figure 36 for a plot of the bergs and field 

 ice conditions reported during the month. 



May 



The field ice south of 50° N., deteriorated very rapidly during 

 early May, by 10 May the edge of the main field having receded 

 northward almost to the 50th parallel and westward past 50° W., 

 with the exception of the southeastern extremity which extended 

 about 5 miles eastward of that longitude. A few scattered patches 

 and strings remained in the area northeast of Cape Bonavista. By 

 the 18th the main body of the field had receded westward of 53° 

 W., but a large detached field had moved southward to the latitude 

 of Cape Freels, mostly between 52° and 53° W., but with a long 

 tongue extending southwest toward the Wadham Islands. By the 



92 



