16 ACCOUNT OF THi: ARCTIC REGIONS. 



to US ; the Spitzbergcii wliaie and seal fislicries, so 

 valuable to tlie couutr}', vvith the trade to Archangel, 

 having arisen out of |;hem. 



SECT. III. 



Remarks on the supposed Communication between 

 the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, by the 

 North- West ; tvifh Hints for condncting Dis- 

 coveries in the Polar Regions. 



The voyages of Davis in the years 1585, 6 and 7, 

 of Hudson in 1610, and of Baffin in 1 61 6, were the 

 source of the greatest part of the discoveries which 

 have been made in the countries situated to the north- 

 ward and westward of the south point of Greenland. 

 To these regions, consisting of what have been cal- 

 led Bays and Straits, the names of these celebrated 

 navigators have been applied. All the voyages, in- 

 deed, since undertaken for discovery in the same 

 quarter, amounting to nearly thirty, have done lit- 

 tle more than confirm the researches of these three 

 individuals, and show how little there was to be 

 found, instead of discovering any thing of moment. 



Though the secret design of some of these voy- 

 ages, was the hope of finding gold or other treasures, 

 or of making an advantageous traffic with the na- 

 tives of any new country which might be found ; 

 yet the ostensible object of almost the whole, was 



