1040 A fucctnB Avtount of Book III. 
To this I beg Leave to add another Confideration, 
which will carry the Thing much farther. The great- 
eft Philolbphers have differed, at leaft heretofore, about 
the Origin of Rivers ; but in this I think they all 
agree, that as Rivers fall at length into the Sea, fo 
from thence they are in a great Meafure derived, whe- 
ther by fecret or fubterraneous Paffages, and the Per- 
colation of Waters through the Earth, by the conden- 
ling of Vapours, or the falling of Rain. I fay, which 
ever of thefe Ways we fuppofe Springs, Fountains, and 
Rivers, to arife, or by a Conjunftion of them all, ftill 
the Vicinity of the Sea is neceffary j and it is obferved, 
that the Size of Rivers depends, in a great Meafure 
upon the Extent of the Country thro* which they run, 
and of the Difpofition of the Seas in refpe6l to that 
Country of which Amerka is a very pregnant Inftance, 
for that Continent having a vaft Ocean on each Side 
the American are the largeft in the World. 
If therefore the Continent of Amerka fhould be fo ex- 
tended as to ioin to that Land which was lately feen by 
Captain Behrings and before him by others, it would 
not be eafy to conceive how fuch a Continent as this 
Ihould be furniftied, in any Proportion, Vv^ith Rivers, 
in as much as there would be but a narrow Sea between 
that and AJia, and its Diftance from thofe that we ftile 
the North-Seas, would be prodigioufly great. But if 
the Cafe, as I flippofe it to be, is quite otherwife, and 
the Space between the two Continents is a great Ocean, 
interfpers*d with Iflands of different Sizes, then the Dif- 
pofition of this Part of the Globe will correfpond per- 
fectly well with the Difpofition of other Parts, and thefe 
Countries may be at once as rich, as beautiLl, and as 
pleafant, as any that are hitherto known, either in the 
Old World, or in the New. 
Thus I have affigned two probable Reafons in Fa- 
vour of this Paffage, or rather, 1 have fupported one 
good Argument by another ; for in Reality, this fecond 
Reafon is no more than affigning the Reafon of the 
firft. When we fay that the Globe is fo difpofed as to 
form a Ballance between Land and Sea, becaufe this 
feems to be neceffary, or at leaft expedient to preferve 
the Equability of the Earth’s diurnal Motion, we give 
a Reafon that refpefts the World in general ; but when 
we fay that Continents muft be of a moderate Size, in 
order to render them convenient Habitations for Men, 
we give a Reafon that accords to, and agrees with every 
known Portion of the Globe, and confequently is more 
capable of being thoroughly examined and perfeblly un- 
derftood. I might add to this, as perfectly confiftent 
and agreeable to my Notions, the Obfervations made by 
thofe who were laft fent to difcover in Hudfon*&-B^y ; 
who finding the Rivers there fliort in their Courfe, and 
of no great Breadth, very judicioufiy concluded chat 
the Country could not be very broad, or the Rivers of 
a greater Length that fell into the South-Sea. I fay, I 
might infift upon this, but as I have promifed to dwell 
only upon new Arguments, I fhall concent my felf with 
the bare Mention of it. 
From poffible and probable Arguments, we will 
proceed, with the Reader’s Permiffion, to fuch as ac- 
tually prove a Paffage, for fuch there are, and thofe 
likewife new, and hitherto not infilled upon. It was 
long ago obferved, that the Tides in the Northern Parts 
of Hudfon^s-'^2iy were fo high, as put it out of Doubt 
that they could not be propagated from the Atantlkk 
Ocean ; it was then pretended by thofe who oppofed 
the Sentiment of there being a North-weft Paffage ; 
that thefe extraordinary Tides w^ere raifed from a Corn® 
munication with Baffin‘s Bay and Davis's Streights ; in 
Anfwer to which, it has been fhewn, that the Tide in 
the Welcome rofe 1 7 Feet, and not above 9 Feet in 
Davis's Streights j from whence it is juflly concluded, 
that fuppofing fuch a Communication, it would by no 
Means prove what it is brought to prove, becaufe the 
Effedl would be then fuperior to what is fuppofed to 
produce it. 
Thus, I fay, the Cafe has hitherto flood in reference 
to the feveral Opinions that have been advanced upon 
this Subjedl. For my Part, upon mature Deliberation, 
i am iflciined to a Sentiment different from all thefe 5 
for I think that there is a Communication between Hud~ 
y^w’s'Bay and D^zwi’s Streights, and that the Height of 
the Tides in the latter is not otherwife to be accounted, 
for, than by allowing a free Paffage into the South- Seas 
near the W elconie. I fhall endeavour to prove this to 
fuch as are Judges of the Thing, and well acquainted 
with the Fads, in very few Words. Captain Baffin^ 
in his Letter to Sir John Wolftenholme^ obferves, that 
the Tides in Davis's Streights keep an equal Courfe, 
and rife to about eight or nine Feet. Now this being the 
Faft, I lay it is impoflible that this Tide fhould come 
from the Atlantkk Ocean ; for at Cary Sward sNeji it rifes 
but fix Feet, and therefore in Davis's Streights ouo-ht 
not to rife above three or four. Neither is it at ail likely 
that it fhould come from any Northern Ocean ; for up- 
on the Coaft of Nova Zemhla the Tide rifes but one 
Fathom, or fix Feet, and not above half fo high at 
Spitzbergen. ° 
This equal and regular Tide therefore up Davis's 
btreights, declining gradually till it rifes only a fincyle 
Foot in Baffin's Bay, is as much out of the ordinary 
Courfe of Things, as the high Tides in the Welcome. 
As therefore fuch extraordinary Effedls muft have a 
proportionable Caufe, and as we have hitherto looked 
on e^ry Side for fuch a Caufe in vain, it remains that 
a Paffage by the North- weft into the South-Sea, is that 
Caufe, for that will fully and perfedlly account for both 
thele Appearances. It ought, according to the known 
Caw ot Tides, to make them in the Welcome at the 
1 ime in which they are found to rife, and if they are 
propagated from Hudfon's-^^^y by any Communication 
into Davis's Streights, they may very well enter from 
the Southward, that is, through fome Paffage on the 
WeftTide of Davis's Streights, and ought to rife and 
to decreale in the very Manner which they are found 
to do ; and if this will not pafs for an adual Proof of 
a North-weft Paffage, I am at leaft intitled to exped: 
irom him who denies it, to give a more fatisfadory 
Account than I have done, of the Tides both in the 
Welcome and in Davis's Streights, for till this is done, 
I fliall continue to look upon this Argument as unan- 
fwerable. 
As to the common Affedation of treating this Matter 
as a Chimera, and behaving towards thofe who think it 
otherwife, as if they were either very credulous or vi- 
fionary People, ready to rely upon any Authority, or 
apt to be led away by whatever has fo much as the 
Appearance of an Argument. I muft fay, that it is 
either an infolent, or difingenuous Way of treatino- 
them. Inlolent, if it comes from thole who have not ever 
looked into the Merits of the Caufe, or are not com- 
petent Judges if they have ; or difingenuous, if being 
competent Judges, they haughtily rejed: an Opinion 
fupported by ftrong Reafons, without deigning to re- 
fute thofe Reafons, which they ought to do if they are 
able, and if they are not able, they ought to confefs 
itc 
But I now haften to a Conclufion, and fo to leave the 
Reader in Poffeflion of all the Arguments that I can 
offer hirn in Support of this, which I am not afhamed 
to own, is a favourite Opinion, becaufe I look upon it as 
equally tending to promote the Honour of Science, the 
^Welfare of Mankind, the Extenfion of Commerce 
in general, as well as the Glory and Good of this Coun- 
try in particular. How far foever this latter Confide- 
ration may move us, who have, or ought to have, an 
extraordinary Zeal for whatever may turn to the Bene- 
fit of the Place of our Birth, yet I prefume it cannot be 
fuppofed that foreign Writers can lie under any Influ- 
ence or Biafs of this Kind, and therefore J fhall crave 
Leave to mention a very Angular Matter of Fad, in- 
certed by the very curious, and no lefs learned Father 
Charlevoix, in his Chronological Series of Difeoveries, 
prefixed to the firft Volume of his Hiftory and Deferip- 
tion of Japan ; in which he tells us, that in the Year 1609, 
he has read in fome Memoirs, that a certain Ship 
failing from the Port of Acapulco, in the Kingdom of 
New Spain, in order to proceed in the ufual Courfe to 
the Manilas, being an annual Ship, was furprized ai- 
moft as foon as Ihe was out of Port by a Tempeft, 
