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subscribed for another north-west voyage, and in this and the following two years, John Davis commanded three successive expeditions. He sighted Greenland, and visited Gilbert's Sound in 64° 30′ N. From this he proceeded, on August 6, for five days, towards the north-west, and sighted land again in 66° 40', at an anchorage free from ice. He named various prominent features here, such as Mount Raleigh and Cape Walsingham. This was the highest latitude then reached on the American side of Davis' Strait. He coasted this land to the south, passed the Cape of God's Mercy, sailed up Northumberland Inlet, and worked his way south into Frobisher's Strait, and then into Hudson's Strait. In his second voyage Davis simply explored the coast of Labrador. In his third voyage he went as far north, along the west coast of Greenland, as Cape Hope Sanderson, in 72° 15′, or well into Baffin's Bay; he seems to have reached the North Water, and hence to have been the pioneer to this well-known whaling ground.

The account of Barentsz's voyages is given in the body of our work, and here we may allude only to the discovery which was made this year of the house in which these hardy men lived during the long winter; the relics brought home are now deposited in the National Museum of Holland. The

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various articles found are figured in the sketch appended.

[graphic]

Captain Waymouth's expedition, sent out in 1602 by the Muscovy Company in search of the North-West Passage, traversed ground which had been previously explored; and the expeditions of Cunningham and Hall in 1605, and of John Knight in 1607, were also without any result. In 1609, Henry Hudson, whose earlier voyages will be noticed presently, discovered Hudson's Bay; and in 1610 he was nominated to the command of the Discovery, with a view to renewing the attempt to find the North-West Passage. He went into Frobisher's Bay, which was

much obstructed with ice, then crossed the mouth of Hudson's Strait into Ungava Bay, and worked his way round the coast of the continent into James's Bay, where he wintered. On November 21 his crew mutinied, and he and a few others were turned adrift in a small boat. Nothing more was heard of them. In 1612, Sir Thomas Button, accompanied by Bylot and Prickett, explored portions of Southampton Island and Hudson's Bay, and wintered there without any material injury to the crew. In 1615, Bylot and Baffin passed Mill Island in Hudson's Strait, and traced the north-east coast of Southampton Island, from SeaHorse Point to Cape Comfort. Baffin suggested that the North-West Passage should be sought off Davis' Strait, not through Hudson's Strait. Accordingly, in his next voyage, in 1616, also in company with Bylot, he passed Hope Sanderson on May 30, and was stopped by the ice in Horn Sound, 74° N. When the ice permitted, he kept on north, passing by Cape Dudley Digges in 76° 35′ N., Walstenholme Sound, Whale Sound in 77° 30' N., and Hakluyt's Island. He proceeded a little north of this, and saw a large sound stretching away north, which he named Smith's Sound. He then turned south, following the west side of Baffin's Bay. He saw Cary Islands, Jones's Sound, and Lancaster Sound, which was blocked up by ice (July 12).

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Through stress of weather, together with the ill-health of his crew, he was unable to ascend these sounds, and was compelled to make for the coast of Greenland. His report of the great abundance of whale in Davis' Strait led to the whale fishery there. Meuck's voyage to Hudson's Bay in 1619 calls for no remark; and that of Captain Luke Fox, in 1631, was chiefly a re-survey of what Button had seen. Fox, however, coasted along the east side of Cumberland Strait, as far as St. Peregrine, in 66° 47′ N. In the same year Captain James wintered in James's Bay, and discovered Charlton Island. After this period most of the northwest expeditions were at the expense, not of the Muscovy Company, but of the Hudson's Bay Company; but none of these advanced beyond previous explorers until we come to Captain Middleton, who, in 1741, discovered Wager River, entered Repulse Bay, and saw the Frozen Strait off Southampton Island.

The voyage of Moor and Smith, in 1746, did not lead to the discovery of the North-West Passage, nor to any discoveries within the Arctic circle, but both their ships went up Chesterfield Inlet. Hearne's land journeys added much to our geographical knowledge of North America; but in this place they are noticeable, because he advanced to the mouth of the Coppermine River, in 67° 48' N.; since this fact showed that the

North-West Passage must be within the Arctic circle. This was also shown by Cook, in 1776, when he coasted along the west coast of America, through Behring's Strait, as far as Ice Cape, in 70° N. In 1789, Sir N. Mackenzie followed the Mackenzie River to its termination in the Arctic Sea. He determined the latitude of Whale Island, off the mouth of the river, to be 69° 15′ N. In 1818, Captain John Ross and Lieutenant W. E. Parry went up Davis' Strait, but they did little more than confirm the observations of Baffin. Lancaster Sound was, however, now found to be free from ice, and Captain Ross sailed into it a short way. He was induced to return by the sight of the Croker Mountains, which subsequent research proved to be purely visionary. His own men doubted the accuracy of his sight, and accordingly Parry was sent in 1819 to explore Lancaster Sound. His ships, the Hecla and Griper, passed over the supposed site of the Croker Mountains, through Barrow's Strait and Parry's Sound, to the south side of Melville's Island, where he wintered in Winter Harbour. In the following year he attempted to advance through M'Clure's Sound, but did not succeed. His first voyage was undertaken in two small ships, the Gabriel and the Michael, and narratives of this and his subsequent voyages were written by Hall, Best, Settle, and Ellis. The first land sighted

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