32 DAVIS. BARENTZ. 



the Hinde. They advised Sir Humphrey to shift into 

 the larger vessel. He generously replied in the nega- 

 tive. "I will not," said he, "now desert my little 

 vessel and crew, after we have encountered so many 

 perils and storms together/' 



The Golden Hinde supplied the boat of t te Squirrel 

 with what provisions were necessary, and Sir Humphrey 

 returned in it to that ship. They were then about three 

 hundred leagues on their voyage to England. A vessel 

 of ten tons, laden like the Squirrel, was too small to 

 resist the waves in the Atlantic. On the 9th of 

 September she foundered, and Sir Humphrey perished, 

 when they were in the latitude of England. The Squir- 

 rel was near foundering in the afternoon of the same 

 day she went down ; at which time, and when they 

 were in imminent danger, Sir Humphrey was seen from 

 the Hinde, sitting in the stern of the ship with a book 

 in his hand, and was heard to call out, " Courage, my 

 lads ! we are as near heaven at sea as on land ! ' It 

 was about twelve o'clock at night when the ship went 

 down. 



The three voyages by Davis, in 1585-88, enlarged 

 the limits of research. By the discovery of the strait 

 which still bears his name, he opened the way to Baffin's 

 Bay and the Polar Sea ; he also surveyed a considerable 

 extent of the Greenland coast. Various attempts to 

 find a passage were also made during this century by 

 Spaniards, French, Danes, and Dutch, those of the last- 

 mentioned nation being the most memorable. To avoid 

 the risk of a voyage to India across the ocean, over 

 which Spain claimed the supremacy, they sought for a 

 shorter passage by the north-east. 



The three voyages by William Barentz, 1594-96, 

 afford striking examples of dangers encountered, and 

 manful perseverance in struggling against them. He 



