HUDSON BAY A NATIONAL ASSET 



may be greatly extended at small cost if more space is 

 required. 



From records of the Hudson's Bay Company, extending 

 back for a great number of years, the average dates of the 

 opening and closing of Churchill Harbor are the 19th of 

 June and the ISth of November, making the length of open 

 season exactly five months. The earliest recorded date of 

 opening was the 5th of June, 1863, and the latest the 2nd 

 of July, 1866. The earliest date of closing was the 1st of 

 November, 1837, and the latest the -tth of December, 1885, 

 These dates, of course, represent the times of the ice first 

 running out and again setting fast — without any reference 

 to the reappearance of drift-ice, from which source some 

 trouble may be experienced during the early summer — 

 but we may quite safely count upon the free and unob- 

 structed use of Churchill Harbor for the four months of 

 July, August, September and October. 



I am of opinion that little difiiculty would be experi- 

 enced in keeping the harbor open during the greater part 

 of November, and with the use of ice-breakers it could, if 

 necessary, be kept open throughout the winter. 



The strong tidal and river currents in the harbor are nat- 

 ural features which assist very materially in the breaking 

 up and clearing out of the ice. Outside of the harbor a 

 belt of shore-ice forms during the winter season, but 

 beyond this the bay is never frozen, and may be freely 

 navigated at all seasons of the year. Outside of the harbors, 

 the only difficulties to navigation occur in Hudson Strait, 

 where at three points the channel is contracted to forty or 

 forty-five miles in width. The first of these points, count- 

 ing from the west, is at the south of Nottingham Island, 

 and here ice-jams are frequently met with during the early 

 part of the summer and late in the fall; but by careful 

 observation of the wind and tidal currents these obstructions 

 may often be avoided by passing either to the north of Not- 



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