LAWRENCE, ST. GULF

LAWRENCE, ST. GULF, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, British North America, having Newfoundland on the E., Labrador, Lower Canada, and New Brunswick on the N. and W., and Nova Scotia and Cape Breton on the S.; extending from N. Lat. 46. to 51. 30., and W. Long. 58. to 65. It communicates with the ocean by three channels, the principal of which is between Cape Breton and Newfoundland, 48 miles in width at its narrowest part. The other two channels are much narrower: the Straits of Belle Isle, between the N. extremity of Newfoundland and Labrador, being 10 miles, and the Gut of Canso, betwixt Cape Breton and the mainland, being only about half a mile in width at the narrowest part. The gulf is about 300 miles in length from N. to S., by 240 miles in breadth, and incloses numerous islands, the chief of which are,—Anticosti in the N., the Magdalen group in the centre, and Prince Edward's Island in the S. The estuary of the St. Lawrence River debouches into the

Laybach
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Lead.

gulf at the western extremity of Anticosti; although, properly speaking, this firth is an inlet of the gulf as far up as the River Saguenay. Navigation is suspended here during winter and early spring, from the prevalence of ice, which is especially dangerous in the entrances to the gulf. Fogs, also, are very frequent during the prevalence of the E. winds in spring. In summer, however, the W. and S.W. winds render navigation comparatively safe. The fisheries, which are very valuable, are prosecuted with assiduity by the colonists as well as by United States companies. Herring, cod, and mackerel abound.