X 
INTRODUCTION. 
the expedition accordingly. I was fortunate 
in finding an opportunity of sailing with 
Captain Scoresby, who was proceeding from 
Liverpool in command of the Greenland ship, 
the Baffin. The merits of Captain Scoresby, 
as an arctic navigator, are too generally 
acknowledged to need the aid of my testimony 
to his skill and intrepidity ; and I regarded it 
with reason as no trifling advantage in the pro- 
jected voyage, that my observation would be 
assisted by the fruits of his talents and experi- 
ence. 
Such were the circumstances under which I 
performed the voyage to Greenland, detailed 
in the following pages. In submitting my 
narrative to the indulgence of the public, I 
have studiously endeavoured to offer a plain 
and faithful statement of every occurrence of 
moment which fell under my notice. Con- 
siderations will thus be suggested for removing 
the obstacles and for diminishing the dangers 
which have so frequently led to failure in the 
whale-fishery; and I trust that if, from inability 
