Charts 1877

Minimal amount -2. (M).
None south. (GR).
Some light slob appeared at St. John’s Jan 16, otherwise no ice. Seals taken 180m SE of Belleisle. (GR).
At Ferryland, no drift ice seen up to Apr 1. (JW in GR).

January/February

Feb 3. …. about 40 casks are on board a vessel frozen in at Port-Au-Basks. (LL).
Feb 20 Issue: An unusually mild winter. (PL).
Feb 22 Northern mails from Twillingate got in. No ice in the bay (Green Bay ?) though slob ice sufficiently strong to obstruct the passage of a boat. Around Fogo too. (PL).
Feb 24. The Brig “G.W.” from P.E.I. which was caught in ice off Port Hood Island sprung a leak and was in sinking condition. Ship and crew survived. (LL).
Feb 27 Very mild and pleasant weather. (Newf.).
Feb 27 Issue: SS “Arctic”, from Dundee, took a northerly course and reports having met a pack of ice 300m NE of Newfoundland, also heavy northern ice 30m NE of the Funks. (PL).

March

Mar 7 SS “Hercules”, from St. John’s met the northern ice at Baccalieu and returned. (PL).
Mar 11 The schooner “Francis Helen” from Fogo to St. John’s put into Catalina. and next day got as far as Bacalieu when they saw a large quantity of heavy field ice reaching from Grates Point as far as the eye could see to the eastward. (Newf.).
Mar 17 SS “China” 4323’N 4121’W passed an iceberg. (NYMR).
Mar 20 5 vessels arrived in Windau today the condition of the ice in the North is unchanged the ice will be driven away by an easterly wind. (LL).
Mar 22 Issue: from letter dated Feb 26 from Fogo that during the last week the ice had nearly thawed out of the harbour and an unusually mild winter so far. (PL).
Mar 23 Weather continues very mild. (Newf.).
Mar 23 Advices today from Taganrog state that ice is breaking up and that navigation was to reopen this week.(LL).
Mar 26 SS “Greenland” first sealer back, struck seals 14th about 80m SE of Belle Isle Strait. (Newf.).
Mar 27 Issue: The steam sealers “Greenland”, “Walrus” and “Kite” did their sealing off the coast of Labrador. The “Greenland” left the ice about 100m off the land in the vicinity of Cape St. John and having called at Poole Is. left there on Mar 24 meeting no ice in shore. (PL).
Mar 28 SS “Kite” arrived at St. John’s full of 16,000 seals, 2nd arrival of the season. (NYMR).
Mar 29 SS “Hercules” arrived from the north, left Bett’s Cove on the 24th with ice coming in quite fast. Ice near Fogo.(PL).
Mar 30 Issue: SS “Kite” struck seals about 100m NE of Quirpon, starting on the 16th finished loading on the 20th about 70m off the land. She suffered damage to her propeller and sheathing. (PL)

April

Apr 1-10 All the lower St. Laurence lights were lit up, all the lights above this will be the same as soon as the ice from St. Peter passes out. (LL).
Apr 2 Ship’s bow stove in off Anticosti. (NYMR).
Apr 6 3 sealer steamers arrive St. John’s with good catches. (NYMR).
Apr 7 Advices from Halifax, N.S. state the Pugwash Harbour was open and no ice was visible there. (LL).
Apr 13 A cable message from Charlottetown advises: ‘Ice Broken’. (LL).
Apr 19 The Brig “Sinobe” (?) from St. Pierre, stranded at the island early in the winter; the crew were saved. The Islands seal fishery on shore has been a failure. The sealing vessels have not yet been heard from, herrings have not yet appeared. (LL).
Apr 20 No ice at all in Green Bay and but a few loose strings outside. (Newf.).
Apr 21 The “Melchoir” saw two icebergs 150 feet high in 47N 50W; she also saw a large iceberg on the 23 of April in 45N 50W. (LL).
Apr 23 The German Barq “Jason” arrived at Delaware breakwater from Bremen, came a Northern passage and was West of the banks 14 days; saw heavy bergs. (LL).
Apr 28 A ship frozen in at Harbour Island since Jan 12 arrived Sydney. (NYMR).
Apr 30 The “Nina” which arrived here the 28th of April from Leith, reports that she came through 80 miles of ice and saw 3 vessels in the ice off the South point of Anticosti. (LL).
Apr 30 SS “Greenland” returned from another sealing trip. The ice was left at Battle Harbour. (PL).
Apr 30 The “O.B. Stellman” from the Bay of Islands, Nfld. to Liverpool via Harbour Island, Nfld. which put into the latter place the 12th of Jan. and was there frozen up, arrived at Portland. (LL).


May 2 The “St. Bernard’s”, Churchill, reports that halfway between the Bird Rocks and the East end of Anticosti and about 20 miles West of the Bird Rocks, she encountered very heavy ice, which she passed through for about 25 miles East of Cape Gaspe. (LL).
May 11 A telegram from Charlottetown, P.E.I. announces the stranding in the ice at West Cape of the Barq. “Invernesk” of Liverpool, from Hamburg to Shediac. (LL). May 11 A telegram from Chatam, N.B. states that a large barque supposed to be the “Lothair” from Miramichi had been forced ashore by the ice upon a reef near point Esquimault. (LL).
May 11 A number of ships are reported outside a number of them are in ice. (LL).
May 16 Summerside, P.E.I: The Northern shore is blocked with ice. Four square rigged vessels from Northern ports were caught in it off Malpeque and 3 off West Cape. One is ashore at the later point. The ice is now blocking the harbour. A number of the vessels have been carried from their anchorage. (LL).
May 20 The SS “Rhein” arrived here (South Hampton) from New York reports that she passed an iceberg at 42N 50W. (LL). Jun 5th, a string of ice in Notre Dame Bay. (GR).