NORTH POLE. 173 
arid inthe hope of filling his coffers with that precious 
metal, “ the worlhipfull Companies of Mufcovey and the 
Eaft-India Merchants” were fitting out a final! bark of 
forty tons-, called the Hopewell, for the difcovery of the 
north-weft pafl'age, under the direction of the fame John 
Knight who had been matter of the pinnace in the firft 
Danifh expedition. He left Gravefend on the 18th of 
April, 1606 ; and after a long and tedious paffage, defti- 
tute of any incident worth noticing, on the i8th of June 
defended the land of America, rifing like eight iflands, in 
latitude 56. 48. (about Cape Griinington, on the coaft of 
Labrador.) Here a northerly gale came on, which 
brought down fuch vaft quantities of ice, that the little 
bark, being furrounded with it, loft her rudder, and 
Knight found it expedient to haul her clofe into the bot¬ 
tom of the cove, in order to fave the clothes and other 
articles belonging to the crew, the fhip’s ftores, and the 
-provilions. Knight then, with the mate and four others, 
■went on-flvore well armed, to endeavour to find out fome 
more convenient place for repairing the damage which 
their fhip had fuftained. On landing, Knight, the mate, 
and his brother, with one of the crew, went up towards 
the highelf part of the ifland, leaving tw'o of the people 
to take-care of the boat; thefe men waited in vain for 
their return from ten in the morning till eleven at night. 
The next day, a party well armed went in fearch of their 
unfortunate captain and his companions, but they were 
unable to reach the ifland on account of the ice. From 
this time no tidings were heard of the little party, and it 
was then concluded that they had been intercepted and 
/lain by the lavage natives, as thefe people came down af¬ 
terwards and attacked the remainder of the crew with 
great ferocity, fhooting their arrows and purfuing them 
in all direfiions. They had very large boats, full of men ; 
and the narrator thus deferibes their appearance: “ As 
farre as we could judge, they be very little people, tawnie- 
coloured, thin or no beards, and flat-nofed, and man- 
eaters.” 
They now fet about repairing their veffel ; and, after 
great exertion, partially flopped the leak, and fucceeded 
in hanging the rudder; but, on getting to fea, out of the 
ice, they found it neceflary to keep the pump conftantly 
going. They fleered, with a rapid current in their fa¬ 
vour, for Newfoundland; and, after much buffering and 
fatigue, reached Fogo on the 23d of July. They re¬ 
mained here, refitting and refrefhing, for about a month ; 
after which they fet fail on the 22c! of Auguft; and on 
the 24th of September, 1606, landed at Dartmouth. 
The unfortunate iffue of Knight’s voyage does not ap¬ 
pear to have in the leaft difeouraged the merchants of 
London from perfevering in the attempt to difeover a 
nearer paffage to Japan and China; but, as hitherto nei¬ 
ther the north-eall nor the north-weft had held out much 
hope of fuccefs, it was now refolved to try a new route, 
and to fee what could be done by holding a courfe towards 
the North Pole. For this enterprife they fele£led Henry 
Hudfon, an experienced and intrepid feaman, well lkilled 
in the theory as well as pradlice of navigation, and in the 
ufe of nautical inftruments. It deferves to be remarked, 
that he is the firft of the northern navigators, and pro¬ 
bably the firft Englifhman, who made obfervations on the 
inclination or dip of the magnetic needle. This adven¬ 
turous navigator, with ten men and a boy, in a fmall 
bark, whofe name and tonnage have not been left on re¬ 
cord, fet fail from Gravefend on the ill of May, 1607. 
On the 13th of June, Hudfon fell in with land a-head 
and fome ice; the weather became foggy, and the fails 
and fhrowds were frozen. The land was high, and the 
•upper part covered with fnow ; but, being feveral days 
■without an obfervation, Hudfon was doubtful whether it 
was an ifland or part of Greenland. He reckoned his 
latitude to be then about 70. and gave to a headland about 
that parallel the name of Young’s Cape, and to a high 
mount, like a round caftle near it, that of the Mount of 
God's Mercy. This land was evidently that jutting part 
Vol. XVII. No. 1169. 
of the eaft coaft of Greenland which lies to the north¬ 
ward of Iceland. 
On the 22d he was, by obfervation, in lat. 72. 38. N. 
and, on the weather clearing up, he found himfelf about 
twelve leagues from the land. “ It was a mayne high 
land, nothing at all covered with fnow ; and the north 
part of that mayne high land was very high mountaynes, 
but we could fee no fnow on them.” “ It may be ob¬ 
jected againft us as a fault,” continues Hudfon, “ for 
hauling fo wefterly a courfe. The chiefe caufe that 
moved us thereunto, was ohr defire to fee that part of 
Groneland which (for ought that we knew) was to any 
Chriflian unknowne; and we thought that it might as 
well have beene open fea as land, and by that means our 
paffage fliould have beene the larger to the pole.” This 
land, lying in lat. 73, lie named Hold with Hope. Fludfon 
obferves, that this headland, unlike that of Young’s Cape, 
had little or no fnow on it; and that the air, on their 
approach to it, was very temperate to their feeling ; the 
rain fell in great drops, like the thunder-fhowers in 
England. 
From this part of the eaft coaft of Greenland, fo feldom 
approached, he continued to fteer away to the north-eall, 
in the hope of falling in with the body of Neivland, the 
name given by the Dutch to Spitzbergen ; and accord¬ 
ingly, on the 27th, they made this land, then nearly co¬ 
vered with fog, the ice lying very thick along the fhore 
for fifteen or iixteen leagues. They reckoned themfelves 
to be in 78°, and near to Vogel Hoek; and it is remarked, 
that in running along near to the flipre they found no 
great cold, yet there was great (lore of ice to the weft ward, 
which obliged them to Hand to the fouthward between 
the land and the ice. On the ill of July they were em¬ 
bayed in the ice; and, by obfervation, it appeared they 
were then in 78. 42. which made Hudfon conclude they 
were oppofite the great Indraught, into which he after¬ 
wards entered very far, finding no bottom with one hun¬ 
dred fathoms. The next day they obferved in 78. 56. and 
on the 3d in 78. 33. On the 4th, the wind being at north, 
it was very cold, and the Ihrowds and fails were frozen; 
and on the 5th they returned to the mouth of the inlet. 
Having failed about in different courfes to get free from 
the ice, with which the little veffel was frequently befet, 
they had an obfervation on the nth, which gave the lat. 
79.17. Amongtlie ice was much drift-wood. They faw 
plenty of feals, and fome bears, one of which was killed, 
and many of the people made themfelves fick with eating 
the flefh unfalted. 
It was Hudfon’s intention to crofs over from hence, and 
pafs round the fouthern extremity of the land called 
Newland, or Spitzbergen ; but the wind being fouth, and 
coming into a green Jea, which he Hates to be always freeft 
of ice, whereas a blue fea is always molt peftered with ice, 
he flood to the northward, and in 80. 23. faw the land to 
the fouthward. They entered a deep bay, or found, at 
the bottom of which the mate and boatlwain went on- 
fhore, where they found a pair of morfes’ teeth, whale¬ 
bones, deer’s horns, and the foot-marks of other beafts ; 
they alfo met with much drift-wood and ftreams of frefh 
water. “ Here they found it hot on-fhoore, and drunke 
water to coole their thirft, which they alfo commended.*’ 
Hudfon made the northernmoll part of the land then in 
fight to be in about 81. north latitude; but, on attempt¬ 
ing to fail farther north, he faw more land joining to the 
fame, “ trending north in our fight, by meanes of the 
cleerneffe of the weather, ftretching farre into 82 degrees; 
and by the bowing or fhewing of the fkie much farther.” 
On the 3 ill of July, being in want of all manner of ne- 
ceffaries, the weather thick and foggy, and the feafon 
being too far advanced to make further difcovery that 
year, Hudfon bore up in his little bark for his return 
home; and, paflingBear or Cherry Ifland, arrived fafely in 
the Thames on the 15th of September, 1607. 
Having been thus baffled in his attempt to pafs to the 
northward of Spitzbergen, Hudfon was next direfted to 
Y y try 
