58 INTRODUCTION TO THE 



M a reward for such first approach, the sum of five 

 " thousand pounds.'' # 



That nothing might be omitted that could facili- 

 tate the success of Captain Cook's expedition, some 

 time before he sailed, in the beginning of the summer 

 of 1776, Lieutenant Pickersgill, appointed com- 

 mander of his Majesty's armed brig the Lion, was 

 ordered " to proceed to Davis's Straits, for the pro- 

 " tection of the British whale-fishers ;" and that 

 first object being secured, he was then " required 

 " and directed to proceed up Baffin's Bay, and ex- 

 " plore the coasts thereof, as far as, in his judgment, 

 " the same could be done without apparent risk, 

 " taking care to leave the above mentioned bay so 

 ** timely as to secure his return to England in the 

 " fall of the year ;" and it was farther enjoined to 

 him, " to make nautical remarks of every kind, and 

 " to employ Mr. Lane (master of the vessel under 

 ** his command) in surveying, making charts, and 



taking views of the several bays, harbours, and 



different parts of the coasts which he might visit, 

 " and in making such notations thereon as might be 

 " useful to geography and navigation." t 



Pickersgill, we see, was not to attempt the dis- 

 covery of the passage. He was directed to explore 

 the coasts of Baffin's Bay, with a view only to bring- 

 back, the same year, some information, which might 

 be a useful direction toward planning an intended 

 voyage into that bay the ensuing summer, to try for 

 the discovery of a passage on that side, with a view 

 to co-operate with Captain Cook, who, it was sup- 

 posed (from the tenor of his instructions) would be 

 trying for this passage, about the same time, from 

 the opposite side of America. 



Pickersgill, obeying his instructions, at least in 

 this instance, did return that year ; but there were 



* See the Statutes at Large, 1776, 16 George III. chap. 6. 

 f From his M6. Instructions, dated May 14. 1776. 





