ISrORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ^ 



ery, and to offer a few hints for conducting discover- 

 ies in these fro:^en regions. 



I conceive the opinion to be quite incorrect, that 

 if a passage were discovered, it would, probably, be 

 open above half the year ; for, supposing there real- 

 ly be a sea communication, near the parallel of 

 70°, between the southern part of Baffin's Bay, 

 or the northern part of Hudson's Bay and Behr- 

 ing's Strait, it would not only, I believe, (judg- 

 ing from the known situations occupied by the 

 ice, and the known coldness of these regions,) 

 not be open above half the year, but, I ima- 

 gine, it would be at intervals only of years that 

 it would be open at all ; and then, perhaps, for not 

 longer than eight or ten weeks in a season. Hence, 

 as affording a navigation to the Pacific Ocean, the 

 discovery of a north-west passage could be of no ser- 

 vice ; for no one would have encouragement to at- 

 tempt a passage, if the chance of succeeding were so 

 small, for the sake only of the possibility of gaining 

 a few months in an India voyage, when it could 

 always be accomplished in the old way with so much 

 more certainty. Nevertheless, the expectation of 

 improving our geographical knowledge, and the pos- 

 sibility of discovering something which might lead 

 to an extension of our commerce, as well as the pros- 

 pect of discovering more of the nature of several 

 physical phenomena, which are more observable in 

 high latitudes than in any other part of the globe, 

 and of extending our knowledge in the several 



