270 Our North Land. 



to an examination of the geological character of that region, and to 

 an investigation of the navigability of its waters. He has been 

 twice through Hudson Strait, and has spent much of his time on 

 the shores of the Bay. I will quote, at length, from his various 

 writings and evidence given by him before Parliamentary com- 

 mittees : — 



* " We now come to consider the practicability of the navigation 

 of Hudson Strait and Bay for the ordinary purposes of commerce. 

 And, first, we must premise that, while the experience of sailing 

 vessels in the past cannot be taken as evidence of what may be 

 accomplished by properly equipped steamships in the future, still that 

 such evidence, fairly considered, is upon the whole very favourable. 

 Since Hudson's discovery of the Bay in 1609-10, about seven hundred 

 and thirty round voyages (all by sailing ships) have been made into it 

 up to the present year. The ships have belonged to the Hudson's Bay 

 Company (or been chartered by them), the British and French navies, 

 expeditions of discovery, and American or other whalers. Out of 

 this large number there have been remarkably few losses, and none 

 at all in the Straits. Considering that the coasts are quite unsur- 

 veyed, the want of charts, beacons, lighthouses, pilots, etc., it must 

 be admitted that this is. a remarkably favourable record. In 1864, 

 two ships belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company were run ashore 

 at the same time in daylight on Mansfield Island. But this was 

 owing to gross carelessness, as the sea was smooth and the vessels had 

 their studding-sails set. The captains were said to have been 

 " visiting '"' on board two American whalers in company with them, 

 but which judiciously kept behind the others, and, seeing their 

 mishap, steered off. At York Factory the dates of the annual arrivals 

 and departures of the Company's ships have been noted for the last 

 ninety-two years, and at Moose Factory for the past one hundred 

 and forty-six years. They show an almost uninterrupted record, 

 extending through these long periods. When so much could be 

 accomplished by old-fashioned, slow-sailing ships for the sake of a 

 limited trade in peltries, what may we expect as possible to be done 

 in order to secure the carrying business of a continent ? 



* " A New Route to Europe. "—Dr. Bell. 



