43^ Captain James’^ Voyage 
to have fuch a Paffage dlfcovered, and becaufe we 
‘‘ have authentic Proots that the Spaniards have acftually “ 
taken all the Precautions in their Power, to guard ‘‘ 
againft the Englijh coming, by this North- weft Paffage, “ 
into the South Seas. « 
“ As to what he fays of the Coafts being examined as 
far as the Latitude of 66 Degrees, and that all the 
Coafts of America had been fearched, as far as 8o De- “ 
grees, by Englijhmen^ is only in Part agreeable to Facft j “ 
fomc great Navigators, having, indeed, failed fo far, “ 
** and reported that they had examined the Coafts, but “ 
‘‘ it has been fmce found that they had not done this, at “ 
“ leaft, very , accurately ; and that it was very poffible, “ 
and very probable too, that the Streight lay to the « 
Southward of 66 Degrees j neither is this a Matter yet “ 
“ cleared up, for other Sea OfHcers who have been fent 
‘‘ upon this Expedition, have fallen into Captain James's “ 
Sentiments, and upon their Return have reported the ‘‘ 
Coafts thoroughly fearched, and no Streight to be met “ 
with. “ 
The thing, indeed, is natural enough *, for when a “ 
Man has attempted the Difcovery of this Paffage, and “ 
failed, why fhould he not endeavour to confole him-- “ 
felf, by pretending to have difcovered that all former “ 
‘‘ Hopes were in vain, and that in reality there is no fuch “ 
Paffage to be found ? By this he fecures a Reverfion of “ 
Fame, and exchanges one kind of Reputation for “ 
another *, if he cannot be tranfmitted to Pofterity as a 
“ fortunate Man, he may, at leaft, tranfmit the Me- “ 
mory of his Prudence, by which an Error long receiv- “ 
“ ed was detected. But if we fhould ever refolve to be “ 
‘‘ fatisfied, at all Events, of the Truth of the Fa6t, not- “ 
withftanding Difappointments at Sea, it mull be by “ 
“ fixing Colonies upon Hiidfords Bay^ and offering a “ 
“ large Reward to any that fhould have Boldnefs enough “ 
to traverfe the Countries behind the great Lakes, and “ 
“ bring us an Account of them, which would effec- “ 
‘‘ tuaily clear up all our Doubts and Difficulties ; which “ 
till this be done, 'or the Paffage difcovered by Sea, “ 
“ muft remain ftill, and prove, as fatiguing to Pofte- “ 
rity, as they have been to paft and prefent Ages. ‘‘ 
“ But let us now proceed to the reft of his Argu- ‘‘ 
ments. As to the Regularity of the Tides in Hudfon's “ 
Bay\ fubfequent Difeoveries fhew plainly, that not “ 
only no Argument can be drawn from them againft a “ 
Paffage, but quite the contrary •, for Hudfon's Streight^ “ 
at the Entrance, is only thirteen to fourteen Leagues “ 
“ wide, from the South-fide to Refolution IJle *, and a “ 
fmall Channel, fome Leagues wide, to the Northward “ 
of that Hand, in which is no great Current j it runs “ 
in the Entrance about five or fix Miles an Hour, and 
** rifes about eighteen Feet at Spring-Tide. At Cape “ 
Charles^ in the Middle of the Streight, it is about “ 
fifteen Leagues wide, and has there loft nigh half its 
Force. At Cape Biggs, the Weft End of the Streight, “ 
“ it is about twenty Leagues wide, and is ftill more “ 
“ diminifhed in its Heighth and Current ; and when it 
“ enters the Bay at Cary's Swans Neji, it rifes but fix ‘‘ 
Feet. Now it is very reafonable it flrould be diminifh- “ 
“ ed fo ; when it is confidered what Space it has to fill “ 
in its Courfe fo far, for there is a great Bay or Inlet “ 
on the South-weft-fide, within Button's IJle, and fe- “ 
veral others betwixt Cape Charles and Cape Biggs, and “ 
great Inlets on the North-fide •, and the Streight be- “ 
‘‘ ing one hundred and forty Leagues in Length before “ 
it reaches the Bay, it requires a great Current even to “ 
fill the Streight ; when to thefe is added the Space it 
has to fill in the great Bays and Inlets above Mill IJles,- “ 
by Cape Corpfort, and Wejiland's Portland, it may be “ 
eafily conceived to be almoft fpent, before it pafles “ 
ManfeU's IJle and Cary's Swans Nejl, “ 
“ How then is it poffible that a Tide or Current, run- “ 
ning through fo narrow a Paffage, only five or fix “ 
Miles an Hour, which is not above thirty Miles each “ 
Tide, fiaould raife a high Tide, not only for one him- “ 
dred and forty Leagues, befides all the Bays and In- “ 
“ lets on each Side the Streight, and above Mill IJles, but “ 
alfo fill a great Inland Sea, above eight hundred Miles “ 
long, and five hundred broad j and after it is expand- p 
I 
\ 
into Hudfcn’s Bay, Book IL 
I 
gd in the Bayj and the Current loft, fliould be abk. 
to raife a Tide on the Weft and North-weft Side of the 
Bay, from twelve to fixtecn Feet^ nay fometimes to 
twenty-two Feet ? And if Norton and Seroggs are to 
be believed, even to five Fathom, and Occafion fuch 
rapid Currents# as at Brook Cohharn, Marble IJland, 
Wager River, &c. fo as to run there from four to fix 
and feven Miles an Hour, if only filled from Hudjon's 
Streight ; when at the fame Time the Tide flowing 
through Bavis's Streights, which are above forty 
Leagues wide up mto Baffin's Bay, in Latitude feventy 
eight Degrees, does not there exceed five or fix Feet 
any where. Since therefore no other inland Sea has any 
fenfible Tide, and even the Tide in the South End of 
Hudfon's Bay, does not rife above four Feet without a 
ftrong W ind at North ; how can thefe high and rapid 
Tides beat the North-weft Side, without a Communi- 
cation with fome other Ocean than- that which flows 
through Hudfon's Streight ? When it is alfo known 
that a North and North-weft Wind raifes a higher 
Tide on the Weft-fide of the Bay at neap Tides, than 
an Eafterly or South-weft Wind does at Spring-Tides, 
which blows from our Ocean ; does not that almoft 
amount to a Demonftration, without further corobora- 
ting Proofs I And yet of thefe there want not many, as 
the Reader will fee as we proceed in anfwering his 
Reafons. 
“ His fecond Objection is, that no Fiffi, more efpeci- 
ally Whales, are to be met with in thefe Seas, or 
Drift-wood ; whence he infers they have no Commu- 
nication with the Ocean Weft ward. This Objection 
is very juft in itfelf, and well founded, neither can it 
be denied that it proves very ftrongly, that no fuch 
Paffage was to be expeAed near Charlton IJland ; but 
when this is admitted and allowed as a negative Ar- 
gument, it follows that the contrary, vix. the feeing 
Fiffi, more efpecially large ones of the Whale kind, is 
an Indication of fuch an Opening, Paffage or Streight, 
and a Proof that there is a Communication between 
the two Oceans in this Bay. But we know from all 
the later Voyages into tliis Bay, that on the North- 
weft there are abundance of Whales, though it is true 
there are none in other Parts of the Bay \ whence, ac- 
cording to Captain James's Method ofReafoning, it is 
plain llich a Paffage there is ; and as from about fixty 
Degrees to that Inlet, which Captain Middleton called 
lately Wager River, thofe great Fiffi abound moft, it 
is very rational, on the Principles laid down by both 
thefe great Seamen, to conclude that this Paffage is 
fome where thereabouts. Thus it plainly appears, 
that when duly weighed, this ObjeAion extends no 
farther than to the Seas and Country about Charlton 
IJland ; and as it affords a Proof there is no Paffage there, 
it alfo affords a Prefumption that fuch a Paffage there is 
on the North- weft Side of the Bay •, where, for many 
other Reafons, it was moft likely to expedt it. 
“ His next Motive for concluding no Paffage, is the 
■Quantity of Ice, and its driving Eaftward. But, in re- 
fpeA to this, granting him all he lays down, it proves 
nothing. For as to the vaft Quantities of Ice formed 
in that Part of the Bay, where he navigated, no doubt, 
as he obferves, it proceeded from Shole-water, and 
there is as little Doubt that this Ice paffes out at the 
Streights j but this fignifies but little, fmce the very 
fame thing happens in regard to Aiagellan's Streights 
into the South Seas, where no ftronger Signs are to be 
met with than here. I muft, upon this Occafion, ob- 
ferve, that if Magellan's Streights had not been difco- 
vered at once, there might have been as many, and as 
ftrong, Reafons given, why no fuch Paffage fliould have- 
been expeded at the South Pole, as our Author, or any 
other Man, could alledge againft tliis Paffage by the 
North-weft ; which ought certainly to afford us a Cau- 
tion againft too hafty Conclufions upon this Subjed, let 
them be grounded on any Reafons or Authority what- 
ever. For though human Reafon is fufficient to give 
us a juft Senfe of the Wifdom of the Creator, in dif- 
pofmg all Parts of the terraqueous Globe, yet we know 
by Experience, that Reafon is not always capable of 
penetrating 
