220 A summer's cruise TO NORTHERN LABRADOR. 



windward all day in the fog and rain, making about 

 thirty miles. We passed many fine icebergs, some of 

 them of magnificent proportions, moving down the coast 

 in a stately way, while others were left stranded close in- 

 shore. 



We remained outside in the fog through the night 

 and early part of the next day ; took a northerly storm 

 in the afternoon, and lay to during the night for fear of 

 encountering the bergs or pieces of floating ice. 



We here saw in a large school of humpback and fin 

 whales what Captain Handy pronounced to be a sperm- 

 whale by its " spout," which formed a single short stream 

 of vapor curling over in front from the blow-hole, which 

 is situated at the end of the nose. Mr. Pike (at Square 

 Island) told us that a school of nine sperm-whales used 

 to pass annually up and down the coast, but that now 

 only five of them were remaining ; we may have seen, 

 one of the five. 



After a very uncomfortable night, having heaved ta 

 in the darkness in a heavy swell and calm to avoid col- 

 liding with the ice, which in scattered bergs and floes- 

 surrounded us, we finally on the 20th ran before a fresh 

 northeasterly gale into Henley Harbor. 



Sunday the 21st was, after the fog had cleared away in 

 the morning, a very pleasant day, though towards night 

 the easterly wind again brought in the fog. Colonel 

 Amory and myself went over to an island on the west 

 side of the harbor, where a recent severe gale, in which 

 three vessels had been driven ashore, had washed off the 

 soil so as to disclose some graves supposed to be those 

 of Eskimos. We dug into them, finding a few bones 

 and pieces of flannel ; the former were too much decayed 



