22 ACCOUNT OF THE ARCTIC llEGIONS. 



branches of natural history, relating to polar coun- 

 tries ; these, together mth the popular feeling of cu- 

 riosity, peculiarly attached to every thing connected 

 with those remote and dangerous regions, are of 

 themselves sufficient to render the examination of 

 those interesting countries, an object worthy of the 

 attention of a great nation. 



The advantages that have already arisen to Bri- 

 tain, from the voyages hitherto undertaken in search 

 of a north-west passage, are the establishment of 

 the Davis' Straits whale-fishery, and of tlie trade of 

 the Hudson's Bay Company ; so that the expence 

 incvu-red, though it has certainly been great and of- 

 ten fruitless, has not altogether been lost to the na- 

 tion. 



The adventurous spirit manifested by our early 

 navigators, in performing such hazardous voyages 

 in small barks, in which we should be scrupulous 

 of trusting ourselves across the German Ocean, is 

 calculated to strike us with surprise and admiration ; 

 while the correctness of the investigations resulting 

 from their laborious exertions, notwithstanding the 

 many disadvantages under which they were conduct- 

 ed, gives us a high opinion of their perseverance and 

 talents. These two remarks are easily illustrated. 

 The famous voyage of Baffin, in which the bay 

 bearing his name was discovered, was performed in 

 a vessel of only 55 tons burden ; that of Hudson, 

 in 'which, also, the bay called by his name was first 



