Chap. I. and wintering in 
Tides. Secondly, Here are no fmall Fillies, as Cod, 
and very few great ones, which are rarely to be feen, nor “ 
are there any Bones of Whales, Sea-Horfes, or other “ 
great Filh to be found on the Shore, nor any Drift- “ 
Wood. • 
Thirdly, we find the Ice in the Latitude 65 Degrees “ 
30 Minutes, to be lying all over the Sea in Rands, and I 
am moft certain that the Sholes, and Shole Bays, are the 
Mother of it. Had there been any Ocean beyond, it “ 
would have been broke all to Pieces, for fo we found it 
coming through the Strcight into the Sea, to the Eaft- “ 
ward. Fourthly, The Ice feeks its Way to the Eaft- “ 
ward, and fo drives out at Hudfords Str eight *, which I 
have often obferved upon the Hand of Refolution^ and “ 
driving among the Ice in the Streight. Admit there “ 
were a Paffage, yet it is known that it is narrow for one “ 
hundred and forty I.eagues, and infinitely peftered with 
Ice, as everyone has found who has gone that Way ; “ 
comparing therefore fome Obfervations taken at Bantam^ “ 
Gilolo^ and Fir undo ^ in Japan •, and the Diftance between “ 
Japan and the Weftern Part of California •, with the Ob- “ 
fervations taken at Charlton I/land, referring all to the “ 
Meridian of London ; and then the Diftance betwixt the “ 
Meridians of Cape Charles^ and the Weftern Part of Ca-^ 
lifornia^ will be found to be about five hundred Leagues, 
in Latitude 66 Degrees, where yet the Meridians incline ‘‘ 
very much together. To this may be added, that near “ 
about Cape Charles the Variation is 29 Degrees to the “ 
Weft, which is a probable Argument that there is much “ 
Land to the Weftward, and that this Streight muft be ** 
very long, and that you have no Time to pals it, but in “ 
Augufi and September ; when the Nights are fo long, -and “ 
the Weather fo cold, that it will not be bearable. Add to “ 
this, that neither can any great Ships, which are fit for “ 
carrying of Merchandize, endure the Ice, and other Incon- 
veniencies, v/ithout extraordinary Danger. 
Moreover, one thoufand Leagues is fooner failed to the “ 
Southward, and about the Cape de Bona Spefanza^ where 
the W inds are conftant, and that with Safety, than one “ 
hundred in thefe Seas, where you muft daily run the “ 
Hazard of lofing Ship and Lives. Add hereunto that “ 
Comfort for the Sick, or Refrefhment for your Men, “ 
here is none to be had in thefe Quarters. Towards the lat- 
ter End of Augtijl, and in September^ the Weather grows “ 
fempeftuous, and the Winds incline to be Wefterly, that “ 
there will be but fmall Hopes of performing your Voy- “ 
age this Way. But let us, byway of Imagination, en- “ 
large this Streight in this Latitude, and free it of Ice. 
Yet what Advantage in fpeedy Performance will be got 
by this Paflage, if the Winds be withal confidered, to “ 
Japon^ Chinay and the Northern Parts of Afa ? It may 
be the nearer Cut, but in Navigations the fartheft Way « 
about is v/ell known, in fewer Days, to be performed, “ 
yea with leffer Pains, and more Safety of Ship and Goods. “ 
Again to the EaJi-IndieSy and other Parts, where wc have 
the greateft Commerce and Employment of Shipping, the ‘ ‘ 
other Way is as near. « 
What Benefit of Trade might have been obtained in 
thofe Northern Parts of Afta, I will not prefume to fpeak ‘‘ 
ol Holding that there is ,a great Difference betwixt thofe 
Parts, and the Northern Parts of America, whereas I am “ 
fure that there is none in any Place where I have been in “ 
all this Voyage. 
40. Before we proceed to the Account our Au- 
“ thor gives us of his return home, it will be requifite “ 
“ to confider the Force of his Arguments againft the “ 
“ Probability of finding any fuch Paffage; becaufedf “ 
they were as conclufive as he imagined, they muft ab-' “ 
“ folutely prove that all future Attempts of this kind, “ 
are weak and rafh in themfelves, and will appear ab- “ 
** folutely abfurd and ridiculous in their Confequences. “ 
** In this refpe£t, however, we differ from him. And “ 
though we are very far from pretending. That Cap- 
“ tain Jameses Temper might be fo far fowered by Dif- “ 
appointment, as to miftake things difficult for things ' “ 
“ imprafficable ; yet we may have leave to fay, that the “ 
“ want of Succefs in his Voyage, had Ibme Influence on 
his Judgment ; becaufe it is very evident that he “ 
now treated as light and idle Fables, thefe Pcrtu- 
Charlton liland. ' 431 
guefs Relations, which he had fofmerly confidered as 
carrying a great degree of Evidence ; for otherwife 
one can hardly account for his taking up the Opinion 
of a North-weft Paffage, and that fo ftrongly, as tq 
offer his own Service for the Difcovery of that Paffage, 
Let us next then confider the Reafons by which he re- 
futes the Portuguefe Relations. 
“ He fays, Firft, that they proceed from their Vanity; 
next, that they are inconfiftent with Experience ; and^ 
Laftly, that their Maps and Charts are falfe and 
groundlefs, and therefore not to be trufled. With re- 
fpedl to the firft, if what the Portuguefe delivered, 
had been the pure Effedls of a Vain-glorious and boaft- 
ing Temper, their Government would not have fup- 
preffed fuch Relations, but rather have taken Pains to 
difcover their Falffiood, which had been no difficult 
Talk, and would have effeffually anfwered their Pur- 
pofe; for at this Time there was no Nation in the 
World fo much concerned in Point of Intereft, to dif- 
credit- the Belief of a North- weft Paffage, as the Por- 
tuguefe. If, .therefore, the Pilot before-mentioned^ 
publifhed, as perhaps he did, an Account of his Paf- 
fage through this Streight, out of Vanity ; the Court 
need only have fhewn that the Fadt was falfe, as, if it 
had been fo, was in their Power, and it had done their 
Bufmefs ; whereas the calling in, and fuppreffing his 
Book, was a kind of Proofs that what he faid was 
true. As to the Inconfiftency of fuch Accounts, be- 
caufe they do not mention any Hardfhips fuftained in 
the Voyage, or Troubles that they met with from Ice 
and Snow ; we fliould be able to fpeak of them more 
clearly, if we had thofe Accounts, or if we were fure 
that Captain James had himfelf perufed them at large 
any more than we. 
“ But fuppofing the thirig as he ftates it, perhaps we 
ffiall not find any good Caufe to conclude that they 
talked idly, and as if they came in an Engine, becaufe 
they mentioned no fuch Difficulties. It is very poffi-^ 
ble. That Voyages between the fame Places may be 
performed at very different times, and under very dif- 
ferent Circumftances : As for Inftance, the Spaniarfs 
fail from Acapulco to Manilla, in thirteen Weeks ; but 
from Manilla to Acapulco, is commonly a Voyage of 
thirty Weeks; in failing to Cape Breton, in the Sum- 
mer Months, able Seamen fteer one Courfe, but when, 
they go later in the Year, they fteer another ; and by 
this Management they generally avoid any Difficulties 
in either Seafon. 
V^e do not know at what Seafon of the Year the 
Portuguefe Pilot made his Voyage through the North- 
weft Streight, but we know that he failed in a pretty 
high Latitude ; and as he tells us, had a fair Wind 
through the whole Paffage ; if fo, there is nothing im- 
probable in fuppofing that he reached the Streight in 
the fame Time, that the Spaniards make the fame 
Tranfit from the JVeJl to the Eaji Indies, and then 
there is nothing ftrange in his reaching Newfoundland 
in fixteen Weeks, which will account for his arriving 
at Lijhon a Month fooner than the Fleet that came 
home by the Cape of Good Hope -, and if he came 
through the North- weft Streight in the Month of Au- 
guft, which is alfo very probable, he might not be 
much incommoded by the Ice. 
Befides, we know that Captain CanMfhe made the. 
Tour of the Globe, in much lefs Time than any 
other Circum-navigator ; and we find fome Voyages, 
round Cape Horn, much more eafy and fortunate than 
others ; fo that if this Portuguefe Pilot was remarkably 
lucky, the thing is very poffible, and there is no 
Ground at all for denying the Faff, becaufe hitherto 
no other Man has met with the fame Succefs. As to 
falfe Charts and Maps, we are far from denying the, 
Fa6l, but We know another Reafon has been given for 
this, diredlly oppofite to, and yet no lefs probable than, 
that affigned by Captain viz. that by thefe falfe 
Reprefentations they may conceal this Paffage from 
the Knowledge of Strangers, and difeourage them from, 
looking for it. This laft Reafon may be fupported 
by Fadls, becaufe it is apparently againft their Intereft 
