ee weeks late this year; the first mail boat has not
yet arrived, though last year at this time she was on her second trip.
The last report from the North--down the coast they call it--that went
to Newfoundland and St. John's was "that it was impassable ice this
side Hamilton Inlet." A vessel--a steam sealing bark--though, that was
here yesterday and has gone to Sidney, C.B.I., reports now that the
coast is clear to Hopedale. Beyond we know nothing about it.

On Henley and Castle Islands, at the mouth of Chateau Bay, are
basaltic table-lands about half a mile across, perfectly flat on top
and about two hundred feet high. We walked around one, went to its
top and secured specimens from the columns. The famous "natural
images" of men, are, to my eye, not nearly so good as the descriptions
lead one to expect. The history of the place could hardly be guessed
from its present barren, desolate, poverty-stricken appearance; but
the remains of quite a fort on Barrier Point show some signs of former
and now departed glory. It seems that it has been under the dominion
of England, France and the United States, all of whom took forceful
possession of it, and England and France have governed it. An American
privateer once sacked the place, carrying away, I believe, about 3,500
pounds worth of property. Now, a very small population eke out a
wretched existence by fishing, only a few remaining, living at the
heads of the bays, in the winter, and most of them going home to
Newfoundland.

The icebergs are in great plenty. I counted eighty from the basaltic
table-land at one time, and the professor saw even more at once. Belle
Isle is in plain sight from this place, looking like Monhegan from the
Georges Islands, though possibly somewhat longer.

[Battle Harbor] Finally, as the wind showed no signs of changing, the
captain, to our intense delight, decided to beat around to Battle
Harbor and we anchored here at about 5:50 P.M., July 17th. Many of the
icebergs we passed were glorious, and the scene was truly arctic. It
was bitterly cold, and heavy coats were the order of the day. We
passed Cape St. Charles, the proposed terminus of the Labrador
Railroad to reduce the time of crossing the Atlantic to four days, saw
the famous table-land, and soon opened Battle Harbor which we had to
beat up, way round to the northward, to enter. It was slow business
with a strong head current, but the fishermen say a vessel never came
around more quickly