ai8 



CHAPTER VII. 



OF THE ATTEMPTS WHICH HAVE BEEN MADE TO DISCOVER 

 A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 



So early, it appears, was this subject of navigating the 

 arctic seas entertained, with an expectation of obtaining an 

 intercourse with India in that direction, east or west, that 

 in the year 901, Alfred the Great is said to have engaged 

 a mariner named Other, a native of Heligoland, to survey 

 the coasts of Norway and Lapland, and to discover jf any 

 opening in a north-east direction would admit of a passage 

 to India on that side. The navigator above-mentioned, 

 on his return, gave the monarch an account of the Norwe- 

 gian and Lapland countries, and of the inhabitants, who 

 subsisted by fishing and killing whales. A subsequent 

 inquiry during the reign of the same prince confirmed 

 the accuracy of Other's account. 



In the year 1497, John Cabot, a native of Venice, fired 

 with a desire to imitate the example of Columbus, and 

 encouraged bv the merchants of Bristol, where he then 



