Chap. I. 
North-west Passage. 
455 
tions he could take to prevent it ; but it* does not appear 
that he was in any Degree diftreffed for want of Provifions, 
fince he aifures us that befides Deer and other wild Beads, 
there was fuch vaft plenty of Partridges, and other Fowls, 
that they killed upwards of one thoufand eight hundred 
Dozen j and he likewife oblerves, that the Natives filhed 
in their Seal-Skin Boats, without appearing to be much 
incommoded by the rigorous Seafon. Fie, for Caufes 
elfewhere related (efpecially the Tides) concluded a North- 
weft Paffage certain, and thereby reftored the Hopes of 
it, then fallen very low. 
6. The King of Denmark^ believing that the Vicinity 
of his Country gave him greater Advantages than any 
other Europmi Power, refolved to perfed thefe Difcove- 
ries, which the Englijh had begun ; in order to which he 
eaufed two Ships and a Pinnace to be fitted out in 1605, 
under the Command of Captain John Cunningham., a Na- 
tive of Scotland ; with whom one Lindenaw^ a Danifb 
INobleman, was joined in Commiftion ; James Hall, and 
John Knight, both Englijhmen, were Pilots. The Dane 
Very foon returned, but Cunningham proceeded a little 
"Way through Davises Stneights, to a Place called Cun- 
ningham^ s Ford j from whence he brought away a kind 
of Stone, which he took to be Silver Ore *, out of one 
hundred weight of which there were extraded twenty- 
fix Ounces of fine Silver. In 1607 another Ship was 
fent from Denmark, of which James Hall had the Com- 
mand ; but before they had advanced as high as Cun- 
ninghands Ford, the Danijh Seamen mutinied, and forced 
them to return. His Danijlo Majefty, however, perfift- 
ed fo obftinately in this Defign, that he fent for Seamen 
from ISforway and Iceland, fuppofing that they were bet- 
ter able to endure Cold than other People •, and having 
fitted out two Ships for Difcovery, gave the Command 
of them to one Chrijiian Richardfon, a Native of Hol- 
Jiein. Thefe People, however, behaved worfe than the 
Danes had done, for they mutinied before they faw the 
Coaft of Greenland, and fo difappointed that Voyage. 
In 1619 Captain Joh7t Munk undertook this Voyage, and 
arrived fafely at Cape Farewell, in the Latitude of 60 
Degrees thirty Minutes, where, though their T ackle was 
fo frozen, and full of Ificles, that they could not handle 
them ; yet the next Day was fo hot and fultry, that they 
were forced to work in their Shirts. He gave here 
Names to feveral Places in Hudfoyd s Bay, but made no 
great Difeoveries, though he was obliged to winter in 
the Latitude of 63 Degrees 20 Minutes, in a Place 
which has fince retained his Name, on the Weft-fide of 
the Bay before-mentioned. 
The HaYdfhips this Man endured in the long Winter 
he pafled there, are almoft incredible. In the Month of 
May, 1620, he found himfelf alone in a Hut, fcarce 
alive himfelf, and almoft morally certain that all his Ma- 
riners were dead : He colle6ted his Spirits, however, as 
well as he could, crawled out, and found, of all his 
Crew, no more than two left, and thofe in almoft as 
weak a Condition as himfelf j however, they removed 
the Snov/ in fome Places, and finding frefii Herbs un- 
derneath, recovered from the Scurvy by eating them; 
and when the Seafon permitted, and they had cellefted a 
little Provifion, they left their Ship behind them, and 
ventured to return in their Pinnace, with which, after 
overcoming great Difficulties, they fafely arrived in Nor- 
way. This Captain Munk was not only a great Seaman, 
but a very ingenious Mathematician ; and fome Years 
after revived this Defign of finding a North-weft Paf- 
fage, of which he gave fo good an Account to feveral 
, of the Danijh Nobility, and made it fo probable to fome 
of the richeft Merchants in Norway, that they raifed a 
« joint Stock to defray the Expences of his Voyage. 
When all things Were in a Manner ready, Munk him- 
felf was taken off by a very odd Accident. The King 
alked him hov/ he came not to difeover the North-weft 
Paflage the laft Time, upon which he gave him a large 
Account of his Misfortunes. The King told him that 
he had deftroyed a great many Men already, to which 
Captain Munk made a quick Reply, and provoked the 
King to ftrike him over the Stomach with his Cane. This 
Indignity had fuch an Effedt upon the Man’s Spirit,, 
chat as foon as he came home, he obftinately refufed all 
, VoL. ll Num;b. XCVU. , 
■ Refreffiment, and died in two Or three Days. The unfoL 
tunatelftue of this Affair fo difeouraged the that 
we hear nothing more of their Attempts, though it is 
certain, that with refped to fuch Expeditions, they _ en- 
joy much greater Advantages than almoft anyothei Nation. 
7. As long as the Greenland Trade was carried on with 
Advantage to this Nation,- the Endeavours for a Difeoj 
ry were kept up, and a fpecial Committee was appointed 
by the Merchants concerned in that Trade j for drawing 
'inftruaions to the Commanders of fuch Veffels as were 
fent abroad in that Service, and Sir John THolfienhome the 
younger was appointed their Treafurer. , We have a 
great many Letters and Papers tranfmitted to this Com- 
mittee, in the third Part of Purchases Pilgrims, and ot 
thefe there are fome that are very well worth the readings 
It appears from them, that Fhomas Mamnaduke, of Hull,, 
had failed as far as the Latitude of 82 Degrees Norths 
which was to the utmoft Extent of Greenland ; but he 
feems to have kept too near the Shore, which was the 
Reafon that he found himfelf much incommoded by Ice 
whereas if he had kept a little to the Weftward, it is 
allowed that he- would have met with an open Sea. But 
by this Time other Nations began to interfere in the 
Greenlayyd Trade, and the Company found themfelves 
under a Neceffity of having recourfe to the Crown for 
Proteftion and Affiftance, as well for , defending their 
Fifhery, as for profecuting their Difeoveries , and ac- 
cordingly they addreffed themfelves to King Charles I. 
upon both Heads, who very readily granted them all 
that they defired, particularly a Frigate, called the Charles, 
under the Command of Captain Luke Fox ; which, being 
manned and vi6lualled for eighteen Months, failed in 
the Spring of the Year 1631, in order to make Difeove- 
ries towards the North-weft ; and, as he tells us himfelf, 
this was the fixteenth Voyage that had been undertaken 
exprefiy for this Purpofe. 
He traced Frobijher, Hudfon, Davis, Baffin, and But- 
ton, meeting with Whales, much Ice, ^nd toul Weather* 
He built a Pinnace in River Nelfon, where he found feveral 
Remains left there by Sir Fhomas Button. Fie obferved 
abundance of fmall fpruce Firr-Trees on both Sides the 
River, almoft covered with Mofs, and other Sorts of 
Trees, but fmall. The Valleys had good Grafs, Black- 
berries, Strawberries, Vetches, Venifon, ipc. but no 
Natives or Inhabitants to be met with in this Place; tho 
in other Parts of the Sea he faw feveral Savages. Cap- 
tain Jaynes departing from England foon after Captain 
Fox, iipon the fame Defign, they both met, and careffed 
each other, near Poy't Nelfon, in the Month od Aug. 163 1* 
Fox got home before Winter,, and fome time afterwards 
publffhed a large Account of his Voyage, under a pom- 
pous Title, which, however, was never much efteemed ; 
and funk ftill lower, in the Opinion of Mankind, after 
Mr. Jamefs, Voyage was made public, which every 
body allowed to be an excellent Performance, and to have 
all the Merit that could be expected from a Work of that 
kind. 
It appears from hence, that there was a furprizing De- 
gree of Vigilance and Steadinefs in the Condiidt of the 
mercantile Part of the Nation at that Time. They ap- 
plied themfelves to the Study of Navigation and Com- 
merce, as to Sciences capable of railing their^ Fame 
and Reputation, as well as their Fortunes ; and this made 
them jealous of feeing themfelves rivalled, or out-done, 
by any other Nation whatever. The King too had gieat 
Knowledge in thefe Matters, conferred about them with 
the principal Commanders in his Navy, and the moft able 
Seamen throughout his Kingdom ; offering freely what- 
ever Affiftance his Prerogative enabled him to give, and 
encouraging the wealthier Sort of Merchants to continue 
thefe Kinds of Expeditions, by his own Example. It 
was this that became a kind of Law to the Nobility and 
Courtiers, who, in imitation of the King, interefted 
themfelves deeply in Attempts of this Nature, as mani- 
feftly appears by the Names given to Roads, Sounds, 
Bays, Blands, Fieadlands, Promontories, and Coafts in 
HudfoFs Bay, and other Northern Regions, by which the 
Titles of fome noble Families are preferved, which are 
now extinguiftied, and their Memories alfo almoft totally 
forgotten. 
5L 
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