Chap. I. for difcovering ^ N o R 
acquired thereby. It may be anfwered that this is found- 
ed upon a Suppofition only, to which I anfwer, that it 
is founded upon the fame Suppofition with their Charter ; 
and therefore it was their Duty to look for it, which they 
have not done. But let us now fee what Hopes Captain 
Middleton gave Mr. Dobbs of the finding fuch a Paffage j 
and thefe we fhall give in this Gentleman*s own Words, 
which are as follow. 
4. “ In his Letter to me of October the i8th, 1739, 
“ he fays I was this Year at Churchill Faflory, where Mr. 
“ Norton is Governor •, he was along v/ith Scroggs in the 
‘‘ Year 1722* arid remembers very well, that when they 
“ came to an Anchor in the Welcome, near the Latitude 
“of 65 Degrees, they had twelve Fathom at high 
Water, arid but feven Fathom at low Water •, and he 
“ feems confident, from a View that he took from a Pro- 
montary afliore, that there muft be a clear Paffage. 
“ The Land is very high, and falls off to the Southward 
of the Weft. This Year fome of the Natives, who 
“ came down to treat at Churchill, and had never been 
“ before at any of our Englijh Settlem.ents, informed 
“ him that they frequently traded with Europeans, on 
the Weft Side of America, near the Latitude of Churcb- 
“■ by their Account, which feems to confirm the 
“ tv/o Seas muft meet. ' I remain, iSc. Chrifiopher Mid- 
diet on. 
“ In another of his Letters of the 2 i?i 0^ January, 
1737, he fays, That the Company think it their In- 
*■* tereft, rather to prevent than forward new Difeove- 
“ lies in that Part of the World •, and for that Reafon 
“ they won’t fuffer any of our Journals to be made pub- 
“ lie. All the intimation I am able to give is, that the 
“ Tides rife more with a North and a North-weft Wind, 
“ at neap Tides, than ever the Spring-Tides do at 
“ Churchill o\'M.lbany,Nit\\ a Southerly or Eafterly Wind-, 
and as there is little or no Tide between Mansfield 
“ and Caryls Swans Nefi, nor any in the North, or North- 
“ north-weft of Mill IJles, in that Bay, it muft come 
“ from the Welcome, whicli cannot be far from fome 
“ Weftern Ocean. Alfo in Mr. John Scroggs’s Journal of 
“ 1722, he mentions, that in Latitude 64 Degrees 50- 
“ Minutes, the Tide ebbed five Fathoms, but gives no 
** Account which way, or from whence, the Tide came, 
“ and they all agree that a great many Whales are feen 
in Welcome^. Whereas I don’t remember to have 
“ feen any in other Parts of Hudfon's Bay, and I have 
“ been in , all Parts of it except the Welcome •, all which 
“ are favourable Circumftances. I fliall be glad, at all 
“ times, to Contribute what I can to your Information, 
“ and beg you will believe me to be. Sir, i£c. Chrifiopher 
Middleton. 
“ In another of his Letters of November the 5th, 
“ 1737, he mentions the Company’s having fent out two 
“ Sloops (at my Sollicitation) upon the Difeovery ; they 
“ profecuted their Voyage no farther than Latitude 62 
“ .Degrees 1 5 Minutes North, and returned without 
“ making any new or ufeful Difeovery ; fo far as I can 
“ learn, they found a great many Wands, abundance of 
“ black Vvhales, but no Very great Tides, the higheft 
about two Fathoms, the Flood coming from the 
Northward. 
“ In his Extract from Journal, of Wel- 
“ come, he alfo fays, that he had two Northern 
“ aboard, who had been entertained in the FaCtory all 
“ the foregoing Winter, upon the Account of his Dif- 
“ covery they gave us Information of a rich Copper 
“ Mine that lay near the Surface of the Earth, and faid 
“ they could direCl the Sloop or Ship to lay her Side to 
“ it, where fhe might land very foon. We had feverai 
“ Pieces of Copper brought to Churchill, and made it 
“ evident there is a Mine fomewhere in that Country. 
“ Thefe Indians fketched out the Lands with Charcoal, 
“ upon a Skin of Parchment, before they left the Fac- 
tory , and as far as they went they found it agree very 
well. 
“ He afterwards fays, when they returned, which was 
“ in a Month’s Time, or thereabouts, I examined the 
Officers and Men feverai had been my Scholars, in 
the Winter, to learn Navigation. They told me tliey 
VoL. IL Num5. 99. 
T H-w EST Passage. 44f 
faw nothing at thofe times they were afnore to hinder 
“ their going farther ; for when they were eight or ten 
“ Miles from Whale-bone Point, which bore Eaft-north- 
“ eaft from theiUj they faw an open Sea, and the Land 
“ ftretched away to the Southward of the Weft. This 
“ they faid to Scroggs^ & Face, as foon as they were got 
“ aboard our Ship at Churchill though while they were 
“ under his Command they diffembled it, and faid what 
“ he pleafed to have them. From this, and all other Ac- 
“ counts, it appears there muft be a Paffage for the 
“ Tides, from the Weftern Ocean.” 
W e need not at all wonder, that upon having fuch Lights 
as thefe, Mr. Dobbs refolved to proceedi and to make ufe 
of all his Intereft at the Admiralty Board, to procure fuch 
Affiftance, and fuch Encouragement, to Captain Middle- 
ton, as ffiould appear requifite for carr>ing this Defign 
into Execution. It is very evident that there was nothing 
precipitate, rafh, or hafty, in this whole Proceeding ; but 
Mr. Dobbs aded with all the Caution and Diferetion, that 
in a Matter of fo great Importance to the Public, and of 
fo great Confequence to his own Charader, it became him 
to do. He had advanced as far in this Enquiry, as it 
v/as poffible for a Man to do, without going to HudfoAs 
Bay in Perfon ; and his Acquaintance with Captain Mid- 
dleton feemed fufficient to fupply that Defed , for he was 
allowed to be an excellent Seaman, and therefore a very 
proper Judge of the Probability, or Improbability, of fuch 
a Paffage , he had confidered that Point of his own Ac- 
cord, and as we have ieen before, had colleded Reafons 
fufficient to determine him to believe it probable. He 
had been, not once, but twenty times, at Hudfon's Bay, 
and confequently appeared one of the fitteft Men living, 
to be intrufted with the Diredion of this Difeovery. Mr. 
Dobbs, therefore, aded with Wifdom and Prudence, as 
well as Honour and Gratitude, in recommending him to 
the Admiralty, as the moft proper Perfon to be^cmploy- 
ed in an Expedition for the difcovering a North-Weft Paf- 
fage. All thefe Fads I have related as they appear to me, 
and with the Impartiality becoming an Hiftorian. I have 
no perfonal Knowledge of either of thde Gentlemen, and 
I never fought it, that I might not fall Under any Preju- 
dices, or Prepoffeffions. I report all things as fairly as I 
can, and if there be any Errors or Miftakes, they muft 
proceed, not from any Fault in my Will, but in my Un- 
derftanding. And with this I thought it neceffary to 
acquaint the Reader, as well as that I am not at all a 
Party in this Difpute ; and that my only Motive t6 
meddle therewith, is for his Service. 
5. It was natural for Mr. Dobbs to txpzO: this , Expedi- 
tion fhould meet with fome Checks and Difeouragements^ 
from thofe who were moft capable of promoting it, I 
mean the HudfoAs Bay Company but it is certain that 
he did not exped near fo much Trouble in this Affairj as 
he met with. Speaking of it after the Return of Captain 
Middleton, he throws all the Paffages relating to thi^ 
IVIatter together ; and having firft obferved that this was 
an Undertaking the Company was by their Charter bound 
to promote, goes on in the following Manner i 
“ This, fays 'he, they have not only negleded to do, 
but have concealed the Knowledge or Prefumptions 
they had of it as much as poffible ; and have not 
only chicaned when applied to, but have adually, by 
“ Letter from their Governor, refufed to look for it, 
“ when applied to upon that Account ; and have alfo 
“ difeouraged the Attempts of others^ not only by con- 
“ cealing the Navigation into thofe Seas, by obliging 
“ their Captains, under a Penalty, not to make or pub- 
“ lifti any Charts or Journals of thofe Seas and Coafts, ^ 
“ orVoyages thither, but alfo by putting all the Difficulties 
“ they durft, upon the King’s Ships lately fent upon the 
“ Difeovery having claimed, and taken from Captain 
“ Middleton, an Indian Boy, whom' he had brouo-ht to 
“ England, and having learned the Englijh Twigue, 
“ would have proved a good Interpreter ; and made his 
“ Clerk a Governor of one of their Faftories, to induce 
“ him to leave him, and alfo fent away their Ships a 
“ Month earlier than ufual, to lie in the Orkneys, left he 
“ fhould have gotten any of the Sailors, who had been 
“ gcciiftomed to, and acquainted with, the Navigation j 
- . 5 U “ but 
