HUDSON STRAIT.
Persistent ramming forced the ship through about five miles of ice on the morning of the 22nd, when she was again tightly beset until the evening, at that time being about twenty-five miles to the eastward of Cape Wolstenholme, this distance having been made by the drift of the ice. The ice slackened again at eight o’clock in the evening, when after an hour’s heavy work we got into a lead of open water under the land, and continued at full speed all night, steaming east in a lane from two to four miles wide.
At five o’clock next morning we were off Deception bay and the western end of Charles island. The bold coast along which we had been passing all night now became less abrupt, and this change was accompanied by shallower water in the sea fronting it, so that when seven miles from the mouth of the bay, soundings taken at the edge of the ice only gave twelve fathoms, with indications of an uneven bottom, where it would be dangerous to be caught in the ice if the wind should change and force it upon the land. The ship was turned into the ice, and in an hour had reached a place of safety. In the afternoon, with clearing weather, the ice opened, and not much difficulty was experienced in forcing between the loose pans, first towards the east end of Charles island and later more easterly, so that when the ice again closed we were about ten miles northeast of Cape Weggs.
During the night and following morning we continued to drift rapidly to the eastward. Before noon we were opposite the mouth of Douglas harbour, having made fully twenty miles of drift during that interval.
The ice began to slacken at ten o’clock, when we got under way, and forcing the ship towards the north at noon we were in open water, with a heavy northerly swell, which showed an open sea in that direction. Only a few small icebergs and broken pans of ice were seen during the remainder of the trip to Port Burwell, which we reached on the evening of the 25th, but in crossing Ungava bay the lower temperature and an ice-glint to the southward indicated some ice in the southern part of that bay.
The following summary of the condition and extent of the ice met with on the passage from Fullerton to Port Burwell may prove of interest and value. The northwestern part of Hudson bay was quite free of ice, and none to obstruct navigation was found in Fisher and Evans straits. Large quantities of ice were encountered between the mouth of Evans strait and Digges at the western end of Hudson strait, but without serious trouble safe passages were found through it, and there is no doubt that an ordinary unprotected iron steamship would have passed through it at that time without trouble or danger. This ice, evidently the product of the past winter, consisted chiefly, as has been mentioned, of large flat sheets that had only a short time previously broken from their original position, for there were no signs that it had been subjected to pressure or to the action of a swell. The edges of these large cakes had not been crushed, and many soft thin spots were seen which would disappear with the slightest pressure or swell. Along with the predominating flat ice was a considerable amount of rafted ice of the same character, and also of portions apparently subjected to pressure during the past winter. All the ice was comparatively light and thin, which led to the belief that it had come out of Fisher strait, and from the southward up the channel between Mansfield and the eastern mainland, the meeting of these streams producing the blockade at the western end of Hudson strait. Owing to its thinness and rotten character, the greater part of this ice would melt a few days after we passed it.
The ice in the western part of Hudson strait was somewhat heavier than that described above. Much of it was rafted ice in small cakes, and there was a small number of ancient, heavy, discoloured pans that had evidently come from Fox channel. This ice completely filled the side of the strait, and probably extended to Nottingham island, but there was open water on the north side of the strait through which the whaler Active had already passed on her way into Hudson bay. The important point to be noted is that during all the times that the Neptune was beset by the ice during the passage east along the south side of the strait, there was never any sign of the surrounding ice rafting by the pressure occasioned at the change of tides, and never was the pressure about the ship sufficient to cause damage to an unprotected iron ship.
There is little doubt that if a more northerly course had been taken on the passage eastward much more open water would have been found, including an unobstructed passage from at least the western end of Charles island, while to the westward open lanes would probably have extended from the neighbourhood of Nottingham island.
During the early part of July ships proceeding out of Hudson bay will probably find on the southern side of Hudson strait, or rather on the southern side of the mid-channel, the best and safest passage, owing to the easterly currents of that side. Ships entering Hudson bay at this time should follow the northern side of the strait, keeping as far as possible away from the land, especially that of Big island, until that island is passed, when the mid-channel should be held past Nottingham island, and from there the course should be laid to pass within easy distance of the north end of Mansfield island. The strong tides in the eastern part of the strait, and especially about Big island, cause the ice to close with considerable pressure at the change of tide, and this dangerous pressure is most severe close to the land.
We arrived at Port Burwell on the date arranged before leaving Halifax for meeting the relief ship. By a coincidence the Erik, bringing our supply of coal and fresh provisions, arrived in port only an hour ahead of the Neptune. The ships were soon moored alongside, and the mail from civilization was distributed to the ship’s company, this being the first news of the outside world received in eleven months.
Ice off Cape Wolstenholme.