The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1900-01-25

the SOuCncfnmOSt point Oh NON6 OCOuos
the area circumscribed might well be
called the graveyard Of the Atlantic.
Not only Is this part Of the ocean SUB
ject to all the gales Of the roaring for
ties, but every kind of water snare that
entraps luckless sailors Is found In this
section of the North Atlantic. The
dirty brownish fogs that lie across the
horizon above Belle Isle are, OF course.
the most treacherous enemy for the
ocean liner. They conceal the other
dangers, and the other dangers are
neither few nor far apart What with
icebergs ranging In size from q few
hundred feeti In circumference to mon
sters nine miles In length (the exact d.
mension Of one measured by the New
foundland superintendent Of fsherics).
with naked rock walls rising vertically
700 feet out of the sea. with crumbled
lodges whose saw-tooth edge stands up
In pinnacles or slopes down to white
capped reef, and with the submerged
shoals Of the Sable and Magdalene ISL
and districts, the pilot has as difficult
q piece Of water to navigate a. could
be found,
The perils Of Nova, scotian waters
can be and have been lessened. Light
houses now mark the most dangerous
points. and long ago stop was put to
the nefarious work Of the wreckers
Who piled successful depredations
with Sable Island as q basis. Time
was, within the memory Of navigators
still living, when false lights above the
sands Of Sable Island lured passing
ships to their ruin, and when the gov
eminent cruisers would come to the
ships aid not thing would be found
but the stripped hull. Though passen-
gers might have waded ashore in some
places, the dead used to be found strip
ped of all clothing and jewels, with the
ring finger cut OF, and frequently the
cash Of q wrecker's weapon across the
forehead, signs plainly telling Of con-
flict between the passengers struggling
ashore through beating surf and the
murderous men who awaited them.
But all this is a thing of the past on
Sable Island. Not only were wreck
ers driven of, but live stock was
placed on the long stretch Of grass
grown sand, 80 that castaways could
have some means Of subsistence until
help came.
Belle Isle strait IL by far the most
treacherous part of the North Atlantic
route. The coast Of Labrador projects
into the ocean like a barrier against
the flinging tides; and when the baffled
current flpds resistance suddenly re-
moved, when the narrow straits open
between Newfoundland and Labrador.
the waters toss In with the siding mo-
ton that creates the beam sea 80 hate
full to all landsmen. The strength of
this inbursting current simply cannot
be calculated or counteracted by any
mariner. In width the straits vary
from nine to forty miles; and when the
brownish fog never absent from the
northern horizon spreads southwark,
obscuring every landmark, 1t Is i'm
possible for any captain to keep up
speed and retain his bearings. He may
refer to his chart as often as he pleases
and tell himself, 'Thus and thus have
we come, and here is the place we
are" Tide and fog may have betrayed
him in spite of his calculations, and he
may be at least hundred miles out Of
his course.
Besides the danger from fog and tide
at the entrance to the Gulf Of st. Law
renee, there is the peril Of long, sharp
lodges that furrow all parts Of the
northern coast and are only visible by
the fretted line of surface spray. No
lighthouses mark these hidden reefs,
and many a schooner comes to grief
upon them during the night or In fog.
False Cape runs out from Newfound-
land In great, Jagged, towering rocks.
torn by the driving tide, and White ISL
and lies of the shore bare and lonely
as o tombstone. Afar, from other
rocky islands, comes the dull booming
Of the surf. which Indian legend Of
Labrador describes az the shrieking Of
demons over their prey. Roofess
huts used as wind-breaks by the seal
ers in the spring add to the indescrib-
able loneliness Of the tenantless coast;
and II some fisherman's dory comes
bounding over the waves its sudden
disappearance behind some rocky emil
nence only accentuates the utter drear-
mess Of the whole region.-New York
Evening Post.
A TITAN IN MEXICO.