512 The Arctic Expedition. [October, 
covered Jan Mayen’s island, which is generally (but on 
weak grounds) said to have been discovered five years later 
by a Dutchman after whom it was named. Hudson also 
penetrated to a latitude of 80° 23’. In a second voyage 
Hudson discovered the river which bears hisname. Hud- 
son’s Bay was discovered in 1609. In 1612 William Baffin 
and James Hall visited the West Coast of Greenland in order 
to search for a gold mine which was said to have been 
worked by the Danes. Twenty four years later the Danes 
sent out two vessels to the same spot with the same object, 
but they returned laden withiron pyrites. Baffin discovered 
the Bay which bears his name in 1616. Mr. Markham 
points out the curious fact that although the Dutch had es- 
tablished a flourishing whale fishery in Davis’s Strait, the pas- 
sage of the ‘‘ Middle Pack” (that is the great mass of ice in 
the middle of Baffin’s Bay) was not even attempted between 
1616 and 1817. Baffin had himself passed the Middle Pack 
and reached the extreme north of the bay, but no one had 
followed in his footsteps, until in 1817 two whalers success- 
fully passed the Middle Pack, and found an abundance of 
whales in the ‘‘ North Water.” A number of whalers now 
pass the Middle Pack every year. 
We have seen to how great an extent our knowledge of 
Arctic geography is due to the Muscovy Company : 
another company had now arisen in the very heart of the 
Arctic district. A charter was granted in 1670 to the Hud- 
son’s Bay Company, giving them right to all the territories 
drained by rivers falling into Hudson’s Bay, on certain 
specified conditions, one of which was the prosecution of 
geographical research. Expeditions were frequently sent 
out by the Company both for surveying the coast line and 
for the exploration of the interior. In 1741, Captain Mid- 
dleton, who was a sound scientific man, well versed in nau- 
tical astronomy, was appointed by the Admiralty to explore 
Hudson’s Bay. He penetrated to the extreme north, and 
there found a frozen strait, which seemed to cut off all 
communication with more northern seas. A few years 
later the Admiralty offered a reward of £20,000 for the dis- 
covery of a north-west passage, but the attempt, although 
often made, was fruitless. 
In the other direction the Russians had often attempted 
a survey of the Siberian coast, but no European ship has 
ever been forced beyond the Sea of Kara. Our knowledge 
of the Polar Asiatic shore from Behring’s Straits to Novaya 
Zemlya is due to the Russians. The region is barren and 
desolate beyond description, and the ground is frozen for 
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