150 THE SEA. 



the top to the bottome." A voyage made by the same navigators in 1616 is principally 

 interesting on account of the discovery of Sir Thomas Smythe's (now-a-days abbreviated to 

 "plain" Smith) Sound. About this period also the pursuit of the whale and walrus was 

 creating great attention from the large profits accruing to the merchants and companies 

 engaged in it. Baffin accompanied an expedition sent out by the Muscovy Company, con- 

 sisting of six ships and a pinnace, and off Spitzbergen they encountered no less than eight 

 Spanish, four French, two Dutch, and some Biscayan vessels. Nevertheless, "the English 

 having taken possession of the whole country in the name of his Majesty, prohibited all 

 the others from fishing, and sent them away, excepting such as they were pleased to grant 

 leave to remain/ 7 Baffin expected that the Spanish would, at all events, have objected to 

 this rather high-handed course, and "fought with us, but they submitted themselves unto the 

 generall." About this period there was a very large number of more or less important 

 voyages made, which may be termed of a mixed character. Although sent out for purely 

 commercial purposes, they were the means of adding something to our knowledge of 

 geography. Baffin made more than one voyage after this, accompanying one whaling 

 expedition which consisted of ten ships and two pinnaces. The results of some of these 

 voyages will be more particularly mentioned when we come to consider the inhabitants of 

 the Sea. 



In 1619 Christian IV. of Denmark sent out an expedition to Greenland, and for 

 northern discovery generally, under the command of Jens Munk, an experienced seaman. 

 The two vessels employed were mainly manned by English sailors who had served on 

 previous Arctic voyages. Munk left Elsinore on May 18th, and a month afterwards 

 made Cape Farewell. He endeavoured to stand up Davis's Strait, but the ice preventing 

 he retraced his course, eventually passing through Hudson's Strait, to which, with the 

 northern part of Hudson's Bay, he attached new names, in apparent ignorance of previous 

 discoveries. He made the coast of America in latitude 63 20', where he was compelled 

 to seek shelter in an opening of the land, which he named Munk's Winter Harbour. To 

 the surrounding country he gave the name of New Denmark. The year being advanced 

 it was now September 7th huts were immediately constructed, and his company were 

 at first very successful in obtaining game partridges, hares, foxes, and white bears. 

 Several mock suns were observed, and on December 18th an eclipse of the moon occurred, 

 during which this luminary was surrounded by a transparent circle, within which was a 

 cross quartering the moon. This phenomenon was regarded with alarm, and as a harbinger 

 of the misfortunes which soon followed. The weather was intensely cold; their wine, 

 beer, and brandy, were frozen, and the casks burst. The scurvy made its appearance in 

 virulent form, and a Danish authority states it was mostly occasioned by the too free use 

 of spirituous liquors. Their bread and provisions became exhausted, and none of them 

 had strength to hunt or seek other supplies. One by one they succumbed, till out of 

 sixty-four persons hardly one remained. When Munk, who, reduced to a skeleton, had 

 remained for some time alone in a little hut in an utterly hopeless and broken-hearted 

 condition, ventured to crawl out, he found only two others alive. But the spring had 

 come, and, making one last effort, they went forth, and removing the snow found some 

 roots and plants, which they eagerly devoured. They succeeded in obtaining a few fish, 



