A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 229 



with a discourse illustrative of the subject, was never made 

 pubhc. 



The persuasion of the feasibility of a north-west passage 

 continued to hold an influence over the public mind so 

 strongly, that in l631, the King (Charles), on representa- 

 tion being made on the subject, gave his commands to 

 Captain Luke Fox to proceed on the inquiry. His Majesty 

 appeared so well satisfied of the practicability of the un- 

 dertaking, that he gave Captain Fox a chart on which the 

 passage was marked, and also a letter written by himself 

 to be delivered to the Emperor of Japan as soon as the 

 Captain had effected his voyage into the eastern seas. 

 Fox, Hke his predecessors, roamed about in Hudson's Bay, 

 unable to find out the expected passage, and returned 

 home without accomplishing his mission, but still certain 

 that a passage could be effected through some yet undis- 

 covered opening in the northern extremity of Hudson's 

 Bay. 



Captain Fox drew his conclusions, to that effect, from 

 the state of the tide in a distance of 250 leagues which he 

 had traversed. " It is inconceivable, " he says, " how 

 such a vast quantity of water should be recalled and re- 

 paired every twelve hours, if it were not fed and supplied 



which accompanies this work, affording a correct view of the coast of Green- 

 land as far as the seventy-seventh degree, including the newly-discovered 

 Linnaean Isles. 



