I9H] 
THE YOUNG ICE GOES OUT 
253 
It is curious to find that all the heavy seas come from 
the south and that it is from this direction that protection 
is most needed. 
There is some curious weathering on the ice blocks 
on the N. side ; also the snow drifts show interesting dirt 
bands. The island had a good sprinkling of snow, which 
will all be gone, I expect, to-night. For as we reached 
the summit we saw a storm approaching from the south ; 
it had blotted out the Bluff, and we watched it covering 
Black Island, then Hut Point and Castle Rock. By the 
time we started homeward it was upon us, making a harsh 
chatter as it struck the high rocks and sweeping along 
the drift on the floe. 
The blow seems to have passed over to-night and the sky 
is clear again, but I much fear the ice has gone out in the 
Strait. There is an ominous black look to the westward. 
Sunday, April 30. — As I feared last night, the morning 
light revealed the havoc made in the ice by yesterday's 
gale. From Wind Vane Hill (66 feet) it appeared that 
the Strait had not opened beyond the island, but after 
church I went up the Ramp with Wilson and steadily 
climbed over the Glacier ice to a height of about 650 feet. 
From this elevation one could see that a broad belt of sea 
ice had been pushed bodily to seaward, and it was evident 
that last night the whole stretch of water from Hut Point 
to Turtle Island must have been open — so that our poor 
people at Hut Point are just where they were. 
The only comfort is that the Strait is already frozen 
again; but what is to happen if every blow clears the sea 
like this ? 
