32 
EXPEDITION OF DAVIS, 
no ways entitle to a propriety, further than in the parts where 
they actually settled, and continued to inhabit 
This energetic answer, which was followed by the defeat of 
the Spanish Armada, infused fresh spirit into the English mari¬ 
ners, and several expeditions were fitted out, the chief aim of 
which, were colonial establishments, and the accumulation of 
individual wealth. 
Notwithstanding the failure of the previous expeditions, and 
the ridicule which followed the discovery of the golden mines of 
North America, another expedition to the northern latitudes was 
fitted out by the merchants of London, the command of which 
was intrusted to John Davis, a skilful and courageous seaman. 
He sailed from Dartmouth on the 7th June, 1685, and by the 
middle of July arrived on the western coast of Greenland, to 
which was given the name of the Land of Desolation, on account 
of its cheerless and gloomy aspect. From this coast he stood to 
the north west, and saw land in latitude of 64° 15', the air at 
the time being temperate, and the sea free from ice. This sup¬ 
posed continent however turned out to be a group of islands, pos¬ 
sessing a number of good harbours, in one of which Davis came 
to an anchor, and gave it the name of Gilbert's Sound, in honor 
of his patron, Mr. Adrian Gilbert, the brother of the unfortunate 
Sir Humphrey. On the 1st August, Davis stood to the north¬ 
west, and on the 6th discovered land in latitude 66° 40'. Here 
he anchored under a promontory, to which the name of Mount 
Raleigh was given , the cliffs of which as Davis described “ were 
as orient as gold.” Proceeding to the northward an open strait 
was discovered to the west, from twenty to thirty leagues wide, 
and its navigation unimpeded by ice. This strait was called 
Davis Strait, the name which it bears at the present day. Davis 
now proceeded westward for about 60 leagues, and fell in with 
a cluster of Islands in the middle of the strait. The navigators 
however of those days, notwithstanding the ardent spirit of 
enterprise, for which they have been so highly vaunted by some 
cotemporary writers, appear to have been disheartened by circum¬ 
stances, which a Ross or a Parry would have deemed scarcely 
worthy of their notice. The discovery of a north west passage 
