NORTH POLE. 187 
Into the Great Weftern Ocean, that, by dint of perfuafion, 
felicitation, and importunity, he fucceeded in prevailing 
on the Hudfon’s-Bay Company to fend out two fmall 
veflfels, for the purpofe of examining the eaftern coaft of 
the Welcome to the northward of their fettlements; and 
thefe (hips failed accordingly on this fervice in the year 
1737. It does not appear that any account of their pro¬ 
ceedings was ever publifhed ; but they are fuppofed to 
have reached only to about 6z| of northern latitude, con¬ 
firming however the former reports of Fox, Button, and 
Scroggs, with regard to the fet of the tide from the north¬ 
ward. 
Mr. Dobbs, it feems, was by no means fatisfied with the 
proceedings of thefe two veflels. Indeed, he treats the 
Hudfon’s-Bay Company with very little ceremony, ac- 
cufing them of intentionally preventing, rather than en¬ 
couraging, difeoveries. “ The company,” he fays, “avoid 
all they can making difeoveries to the northward of 
Churchill, or extending their trade that way, for fear 
they (hould difeover a paflage to the weftern ocean of 
America, and tempt by that means the reft of the Englifti 
merchants to lay open their trade, which they know they 
have no legal right to5 which, if the paflage was found, 
would not only animate the reft of the merchants to 
. purfue the trade through that paflage, but alfo to find out 
the great advantages that might be made of the trade of 
the rivers and countries adjoining to the bay, by which 
means they would lofe their beloved monopoly; but, 
though they are fully informed of a fine copper-mine on 
a navigable arm of the fea north-weftward of Whale Cove, 
and the Indians have offered to carry their (loops to it, 
yet their fear of difeovering the paflage puts bounds to 
their avarice, and prevents their going to the mine, which, 
by all accounts, is very rich ; and the Indians, who have 
been often at the mine, fay it is upon a navigable arm of 
the fea of great depth, leading to the fouth-weft, where 
are great numbers of large black fifh (pouting water, 
which confirms the opinion, that the whales feen be¬ 
tween Whale Cove and Wager River all come there from 
the Weftern Ocean, fince none are feen any where elfe in 
Hudfon’s Bay or Strait.” An Account of the Countries ad¬ 
joining to Hudfon's Bay, by Arthur Dobbs, cfq. —There 
can be little doubt that the Hudfon’s-Bay Company were 
for a long time exceedingly jealous of their monopoly; 
and that they not only difeouraged all attempts at northern 
difeovery, but withheld what little information came to 
their knowledge; but of late years, (fays Mr. Barrow in 
a note,) the governors of this company “ have liberally 
communicated whatever information may have beenfent to 
them refpeCting the geography and hydrography of Hud¬ 
fon’s fea and lands adjoining, as Mr. Arrowfmith can 
teftify. That their fervants have not been very aCtive in 
collecting information is quite true; but the fault is rather 
to be aferibed to the individuals than to the company.” 
This is but a cold apology, faint praile. 
It is rather Angular that, after exprefling fo ftrong an 
opinion againft the company, Dobbs (hould have entered 
into a correfpondence with Capt. Middleton, who had for 
many years been in their fervice, and, as would appear, 
not difpofed to go againft their interefts. The faCts, how¬ 
ever, which he obtained from this gentleman confirmed 
his former opinions, and rendered in his mind the exift- 
ence of a paflage into the Pacific quite conclufive. On 
the ftrength of thele faCts he prevailed on the lords of the 
admiralty to appropriate a (hip of the navy for the pur- 
pofes of difeovery, and to give the command of her to 
captain Middleton. Accordingly the Furnace bomb and 
the Difeovery pink were put under his orders, the latter 
being commanded by Mr. William Moor. 
Middleton left England in 1741, and palled the winter 
in Churchill River, in latitude 58. 56. where he unac¬ 
countably was detained till the ift of July, 1742. Leav¬ 
ing this river, he ftood along the coaft to the northward, 
and on the 4th faw Brook Cobharn, which had (fill much 
fnow lying on it. On the toth he was in latitude 63. 5.1. 
longitude 88. 34. the Welcome being here eleven or twelve 
leagues in wddth and full of floating ice, from the upper 
part of which they procured frefh water for the ufe of the 
(hips’ companies. Having got through the ice, he ob- 
ferved, to the northward of Cape Dobbs, another head¬ 
land on the north-weft fide of the Welcome, in lat. 65. 
12. N. Ion. 86. 6. W. beyond which was a fair opening or 
river, fix or eight miles in width, which extended within 
to the width of four or five leagues. Into this opening 
the (hips proceeded to fecure them from the ice, until it 
had difperfed in the Welcome. The entrance into this 
river, called the Wager, lies in latitude 65. 23. The ice 
floated in and out with the flood and ebb tides; but a 
good anchorage was found on the northern fide free from 
the ice in a cove which he called Savage Sound. On the 
15th, a lieutenant with nine men well armed were fent 
in a boat to examine the river; they returned on the 17th, 
having gone as far up as the ice would permit, and until 
they found it to extend from fide to fide. The (hips 
therefore fell down the river on the 21ft, when, from a 
high hill a few miles above the entrance, it was perceived 
that the Welcome was (till full of ice from fide to fide. 
In one of the excurfions up the river it was reported that 
many black whales and other fill), had been obferved, 
whereas none had made their appearance where the (hips 
were anchored, nor below them. This circumftance af¬ 
forded a hope that there might be fome other opening 
into the Welcome than that by which they had entered. 
The lieutenant and the mailer were accordingly again 
fent up with directions to examine all the coves on the 
northern lhore of the Wager. After four days’ abfence 
they returned on the ift of Auguft. They reported that 
they had feen a great many black whales of the whale¬ 
bone kind ; that they had tried every opening they faw ; 
and that they conftantly found the tide of flood coming 
from the eajiward, or in at the mouth of the Wager. This 
put an end to all expectations of finding any outlet from 
the Wager befides that through which they had entered it. 
On the 4th of Auguft the (hips departed out of the river. 
In lat. 65. 38. N. Ion. 87. 7. W. they entered another open¬ 
ing lying north-weft of Wager River, thirteen leagues in 
width ; and on the following day they were in lat. 66.14. N. 
Ion. 86. 28. W. at which place it had narrowed to eight 
or nine leagues. Though the tide came from the east¬ 
ward, the appearance of a fair cape or headland and the 
trending of the land gave the greateftjoy, all believing 
that this cape would prove the north-eaft point of Ame¬ 
rica ; and Middleton therefore gave it the name of Cape 
Hope. 
The next day, when the fog had cleared away, they per¬ 
ceived the land to extend to weftward of north, making 
a deep bay ; and, (landing on towards the bottom of this 
bay, they faw plainly that they could not proceed above 
fix or eight miles farther. On trying the fet of the tide, 
they found it (lack water, and concluded therefore that 
they muft have overfhot the opening to the eaftward, at 
which the tide entered. Here Middleton talks very un¬ 
intelligibly of a frozen fruit to the eaftward of them. On 
the 8th, he fays, that at ten in the morning he went on- 
(hore, taking with him the gunner, carpenter, and his 
clerk, to try if he could find from whence the flood came 
into this (trait or bay. He deferibes the entrance of the 
frozen (trait, among the iflands on the ealt fide, as bear¬ 
ing ealt two leagues; he travelled, he fays, about fifteen 
miles, to the higheft mountain that overlooked the (trait 
and ealt bay on the other fide, and faw the paflage the 
flood came in at; the narrowed part, he fays, of this 
ftrait is four or five leagues, and five, fix, and (even, in 
the broadelt, almoft full of large and fmall iflands, and 
in length about (ixteen or eighteen leagues; to the weft- 
ward it was full of ice, not broken up, but faft in every 
part to the (hoals and iflands in the ftrait. Finding no 
hope in that direction, and the ice not being broken up, 
it was refolved in council to try the other fide of the Wel¬ 
come, from Cape Dobbs to Brook Cobharn, to know if 
1 there 
