NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 17 



the discovery of a shorter passage to India than 

 that by the Cape of Good Hope, by the north-west. 

 But, notwithstanding the number of expeditions 

 which have been fitted out, the existence of a 

 " north-west passage," is not yet either proved or 

 refuted ; and though much has been done towards 

 the decision of this question, yet so long as any cor- 

 ner of Hudson's Bay or Baffin's Bay remains unex- 

 plored, the question must rest in uncertainty. 



A great number of papers, and some volumes, 

 have been written at different periods, to prove the 

 existence of a north-west passage, some of which 

 certainly possess very considerable merit*. The ar- 

 guments on this subject, given by Henry Ellis, in 

 hi6 account of " A voyage to Hudson's Bay," are, I 

 think, as satisfactory as any I have yet met with. 

 He infers, that such a passage, extending from the 

 northern part of Hudson's Bay, does exist, from the 

 following considerations: From the want of trees 

 on the west side of Hudson's Bay, beyond a certain 

 latitude, — from the appearance of a certain ridge of 

 mountains lying near the same coast, and extending 

 in a direction parallel to it, — from the direct testi- 

 mony of the Indians, which tends to prove, that 



VOL. I. B 



* Besides the papers published by Purchas, Haclduyt, 

 Churchill, and those included in the published voyages of the 

 navigators who have embarked in the discovery, we have 

 works by Pickersgill, Goldson, and others, written exclusive- 

 ly on the subject. 



