EARLY ARCTIC NAVIGATORS. 245 



how early a period in the history of Navigation, we 

 find mention made of Polar expeditions, and still more 

 curious is it to observe how wonderfully successful 

 some of these ancient mariners were, in penetrating 

 to very high latitudes ; especially when we consider the 

 scanty means at their disposal, and the primitive 

 state of shipping and naval science, in those days. 

 It is not our intention to weary our readers with 

 any detailed historical account of Polar expeditions; 

 we may mention however, that so long ago as 1235, 

 the Scandinavian Norsemen had made settlements on 

 the shores of Greenland, as testified by one of their 

 Runic stones bearing that date, found in a cairn in 

 Lat. 73 N. And among the records of early polar 

 voyages, we find that Sebastian Cabot sailed under 

 Sir Hugh Willoughby, May 20, 1553, " for search and 

 discovery." In 1556 Stephen Burrough sailed to the 

 Kara Sea. Frobisher's expedition sailed in 1576, and 

 that of Da vies in 1585. While the renowned naviga- 

 tors, Hudson, first sailed in 1607, and Baffin in 1615, * 

 men whose names, as we know, are still preserved, 

 probably to all time, in the names of " Hudson's Bay" 

 and " Baffin's Bay, " which were respectively so called 

 to perpetuate the memories of these adventurous seamen. 

 Since those days a great number of expeditions have 

 sailed from time to time, in which nearly all the lead- 

 ing naval powers have taken a part, with a view to 

 extend the range of human knowledge in this direc- 

 tion. It is however somewhat disheartening to observe 

 how small are the results which have been obtained 

 in comparison with the outlay, the sufferings, and the 

 losses which have been incurred. 



* Encycl. Brit., Qth Edit., Vol. xix, p. 316, 317. 



