but upon tryall made it prooved no better than black-lead, and verified the proverbe—all is not gold that glistereth."

On another small island, which they named Smith's Island, they found a mine of silver, and four sorts of ore "to holde gold in good quantitie;" and on another island a great dead fish, twelve feet long, "having a horne of two yardes long growing out of the snoute or nostrels," which was brought home and "reserved as a jewell” in the queen's wardrobe. They continued to proceed up the strait for about thirty leagues, much hampered with, and frequently in great danger from, the floating ice. In one of the small islands they found a tomb, in which were the bones of a dead man, and several implements belonging to the natives, the use of which was explained to them by the captive "salvage"--who taking in his hand one of their country bridles, "caught one of our dogges and hampered him handsomely therein, as we doe our horses; and with a whip in his hand he taught the dog to drawe in a sled, as we doe horses in a coach, setting himselfe thereupon like a guide.” They afterwards found that these people "feede fatte the lesser sort of dogges" to eat as food, and that the larger sort are used to draw their sledges.

In endeavouring to seize a party of natives in Yorke Sound, a skirmish ensued in which five or six of the savages were unfortunately put to death, and two women seized, "whereof the one being

old and ugly, our men thought she had been a devil or some witch, and therefore let her goe; the other being young and incumbered with a sucking child at her backe hiding herself behind the rocks, was espied by one of our men, who supposing she had bene a man, shot through the haire of her head, and pierced through the child's arme whereupon she cried out, and our surgeon meaning to heale her child's arme, applyed salves thereunto. But she, not acquainted with such kind of surgery, plucked those salves away, and by continuale licking with her owne tongue, not much unlike our dogs, healed up the childe's arme." It is stated that they found here sundry articles of the apparel of the five unfortunate men who had been seized by the natives the preceding year, which is the only apology offered for the cruel attack on these people.

By means of their two captives they at length brought about an intercourse with the natives; from whom they understood that the five men were still living, and engaged to deliver a letter to them, which letter was couched in the following words :

"In the name of God, in whom we all believe, who (I trust) hath preserved your bodies and soules, amongst these infidels, I commend me unto you. I will be glad to seeke by al means you can devise for your deliverance, either with force, or with any commodities within my ships, which I will not spare for your sakes, or any thing els

I can doe for you. I have aboord, of theirs, a man a woman and a child, which I am contented to deliver for you, but the man which I carried away from hence the last yeere is dead in England. Moreover you may declare unto them, that if they deliver you not I will not leave a man alive in their countrey. And thus, if one of you can come to speake with mee, they shall have woman or childe in pawne for you. And thus unto God whom I trust you doe serve, in hast I leave you, and to him wee will daily pray for you. This Tuesday morning the seventh of August, 1577.”

either the man,

The men however never appeared, and as the season was far advanced and the general's commission directed him to search for gold ore, and to defer the further discovery of the passage till another time, they set about the lading of the ships, and in the space of twenty days, with the help of a few gentlemen and soldiers, got on board almost two hundred tons of ore. On the 22d August, after making bonefires on the highest mount on this island, and firing a volley for a farewell "in honour of the Right Honourable Lady Anne, Countess of Warwicke, whose name it beareth," they set sail homewards, and after a stormy passage they all arrived safe in different ports of Great Britain, with the loss only of one man by sickness, and another who was washed overboard.*

* Hakluyt's Voyages, vol. iii. p. 32.

MARTIN FROBISHER-Third Voyage. 1578.

The Queen and her court were so highly delighted in "finding that the matter of the gold ore had appearance and made shew of great riches and profit, and the hope of the passage to Cathaia by this last voyage greatly increased," that after a minute examination by the commissioners specially appointed, it was determined that the voyage was highly worthy of being followed up. The Queen gave the name of Meta incognita to the newly discovered country, on which it was resolved to establish a colony. For this purpose a fleet of fifteen ships were got ready, and one hundred persons appointed to form the settlement and remain there the whole year, keeping with them three of the ships; the other twelve were to bring back cargoes of gold ore. Frobisher was constituted admiral and general, and, on taking leave, received from the Queen a gold chain, and the rest of the captains had the honour of kissing her Majesty's hand.

The fleet sailed from Harwich on the 31st May, 1578, passed Cape Clear on the 6th June, and on the 20th of that month discovered west Friesland, which they now named West England; landed and took possession thereof; but the natives abandoned their tents and fled. The fleet then proceeded to Frobisher's strait, giving to the last cliff in sight

of West England, "for a certaine similitude,” the name of Charing Cross. They found the strait choked up with ice, and the bark Dennis, of one hundred tons, received such a blow with a rock of ice, that she sunk instantly in sight of the whole fleet, but the people were all saved. Unfortunately however she had on board part of the house which was intended to be erected for the winter settlers. A violent storm now came on, and the whole fleet was dispersed, some being driven with the ice into the strait, and there shut up, and others swept away among the drift ice into the sea. Their distresses and dangers and sufferings are described in most lamentable terms. And when, at length, they got together again, they were so bewildered by the fog, snow and mist, and so driven about by the tides and currents, the noise of which was equal" to the waterfall of London bridge," that a doubt arose among the masters and pilots of the fleet where they were In this dilemma two of the ships parted company; the rest followed Frobisher to the north-west coast of Greenland, along which he passed to the northward, thinking, or as the writer of the voyage says, pretending and "persuading the fleete always that they were in their right course, and knowen straights." At length, after many perils from storms, fogs, and floating ice, the general and part of the fleet assembled in the Countess of Warwick's Sound in Frobisher's strait,