THE 
EDINBURGH 
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL, 
Art. I.— -Observations on the Results of the late Expedition of * 
Captain Parry, including' a View of previous Discoveries 
made in the same direction. By Hugh Murray, Esq. 
F. R. S. E. Author of “ the History of Discoveries in Africa 
and Asia," &c. 
E VE r after the grand era in the history of Navigation, and of 
the World, formed by the discovery of a Western Continent, 
the boundaries of this continent, and its junction with Asia, 
formed objects, that called forth and baffled the mightiest efforts 
of maritime enterprise. These features, hid in the remotest 
depth of both continents, and amid regions subject to the sway 
of perpetual winter, could not be approached unless by the bold- 
est navigators ; and even they, in general, soon thought them- 
selves too happy in effecting their escape. No sphere of exer- 
tion has made a grander display of the prowess and daring of 
British seamen ; for, it is with pride we reflect, that this career 
has been almost exclusively theirs. Britain began, Britain car- 
ried on, and Britain, we trust, will complete the delineation of 
this last unknown boundary of the habitable earth. 
A shorter and more direct route to the East Indies was the 
object of the voyage of Columbus ; and, even after the disco- 
VOL. XI. NO. 22 . OCT. 1824 . r 
