295 DISCOVERIES OK 176'9 t& 



west passage, yet were we so far from discovering 

 the impossibility or even improbability of it, that, 

 on the contrary, we returned with clearer and 

 fuller proofs, founded on the only evidence that 

 ought to take place in an inquiry of this nature^ — 

 plain facts and accurate experiments, that evi- 

 dently shew such a passage there may be."* 



SAMUEL HEARNE. 1759 tO 1772. 



The unsatisfactory result of the voyage of the 

 Dobbs and California would appear to have 

 thrown a damp on the ardour of northern dis- 

 covery, which the parliamentary reward, liberal as 

 it was, failed to revive ; and for nearly thirty 

 years no attempt whatever was made by sea, 

 either on the part of government or of individuals. 

 At length, however, the Hudson's Bay Company 

 undertook to make discoveries to the northward 

 by land, partly to look for a large river, on which 

 was said to be the copper mine so often mentioned, 

 and partly to obtain correct geographical informa- 

 tion ; and Mr. Hearne was pitched upon to 

 conduct this expedition. 



He set out from the Fort Prince of Wales on 

 the 6th November, 1759, crossed the Seal River 

 and travelled over the barren grounds ; but the 



* A Voyage to Hudson's Bay, by Henry Ellis, p, 298. 



