V 
 
 it 
 
POSSIBILITY 
 
 ^>r 
 
 APPROACHING THE NORTH POLE 
 
 ASSERTED. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE nOX. DrBARRIXGTOX. 
 
 A NEW EDITION. 
 
 WITH 
 
 AN APPENDIX, 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 PAPERS ON THE SAME SUBJECT. 
 
 AND ON 
 
 COLOJ^EL BEJiUFOr, F. R. S. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH A MAP OF THE NORTH POLE, ACCORDIXG 
 TO THE LATEST DISCOVERIES. 
 
 
 jf^cUi'Worft; 
 
 PUBLISHED BY JAMES EASTBURN Sr CO. 
 AT THE LITERARY ROOMS, BROADWAY, CORNER OF PINE-STREET. 
 
 ABRAHAM PAUL, PRINTER. 
 
 1818. 
 
PKEFACE. 
 
 ^'V^'^^^ 
 
 i HE interesting nature of the subject to which the 
 following Papers relate, would, at any time, justify 
 their republication ; but at the present moment they 
 derive an additional value from the expedition which 
 is now preparing to explore the Arctic Regions. 
 Whether the extended boundaries of geographical 
 science, aided by the local information which it is 
 said has been communicated by those who are em- 
 ployed in the Greenland Fisheries, will secure the 
 success of this enterprise, it is impossible to antici- 
 pate ; but, as Englishmen, we must naturally wish, 
 that discoveries, which were first attempted by the 
 adventurous, spirit and maritime skill of our country- 
 men, should be finally achieved by the same means. 
 
 As early as the year 1527, the idea of a passage to 
 the East Indies by the North Pole was suggested by 
 a Bristol Merchant to Henry VIII; but no voyage 
 seems to have been undertaken for the purpose of 
 
JV PREFACE. 
 
 navigating the Circumpolar Seas till the commence- 
 ment of the following century, when, in 1607, an ex- 
 pedition was fitted out, at the expense of certain Mer- 
 chants of London. To this attempt several others 
 succeeded at different periods, and all of them were 
 projected and carried into execution by private indi- 
 viduals. The adventurers did not indeed accomplish 
 the object they exclusively sought, that of reaching 
 India by a nearer route than doubling the Cape of 
 Good Hope ; but though they failed in that respect, 
 the fortitude, perseverance, and skill which they mani- 
 fested, exhibited the most irrefragable proofs of the 
 early existence of that superiority in naval affairs, 
 which has progressively elevated this country to her 
 present eminence among the nations of Europe. 
 
 At length, after the lapse of above a century and a 
 half, this interesting question became an object of 
 royal patronage, and the expedition which was com- 
 manded by Captain Phipps, afterward Lord Mul- 
 grave, in 1773, was fitted out at the charge of Go- 
 vernment. It will add to the value of the following 
 pages when it is known, that the author of them was 
 the first proposer of this memorable voyage ; and that 
 in consequence of his representations, as to the prac- 
 ticability of circumnavigating the Pole, the Royal So- 
 ciety made their application to Lord Sandwich, then 
 at the head of the Admiralty, which led to the 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 appointment of the expedition for exploring those 
 regions. 
 
 Though Captain Phipps found it impossible to pene- 
 trate the wall of ice, which extended for more than 
 twenty degrees between the latitudes of 80'' and SI**, 
 the opinions of Mr. Barrington upon the possibility 
 of proceeding farther, under different circumstances, 
 remained unshaken. With indefatigable assiduity 
 thereibre he began to collect every fact connected 
 with the subject; and as he accumulated his mate- 
 rials he read them to the Royal Society. This mass 
 of written, traditionary, and conjectural evidence, he 
 afterward published, in the year 1775; and it cannot 
 be denied that its republication at the present moment 
 is at least appropriate, independently of the intrinsic 
 value which must always attach to the researches of 
 so acute and ardent an inquirer. 
 
 The Publishers, however, are happy in being per- 
 mitted to add to the value of these Tracts, by subjoin- 
 ing, as an Appendix, some Papers upon the same 
 subject by Colonel Beaufoy, F. R. S. The attention 
 of that gentleman was turned to the practicability of 
 reaching the North Pole, from Spitzbergen, during 
 winter, by travelling over the ice and snow in sledges 
 drawn by rein deer. He therefore transmitted vari- 
 ous queries, to which he received answers from Rus- 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 sians who had wintered in those remote islands. The 
 information thus elicited is exceedingly curious, and 
 much of it may be most advantageously employed by 
 those who are about to brave the dangers and incle- 
 mencies of that dreary climate. 
 
 In order to render the present volume as complete 
 as possible, an entirely new Map of the North Pole 
 is prefixed, drawn from the best authorities, and with 
 the Pole in the centre, so as to exhibit the utmost de- 
 gree of latitude which has hitherto been approached. 
 Under all these circumstances, it is hoped the Work 
 will find a favourable reception. Its claims, indeed, 
 are of no dubious nature ; for it is the production of 
 persons eminent for their scientific attainments. Sub- 
 sequent discoveries can alone impair its value. Till 
 the ardour of well-directed enterprise shall disclose 
 what yet remains unexplored, the exposition of our 
 actual knowledge, and the speculative deductions of 
 enlightened theory, cannot be unacceptable to the 
 lovers of geographical research. 
 
 March I.IHIK 
 
 I 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE FOLAU TRACTS. 
 
 HONOURABLE DAINES BARRINGTON. 
 
 The following Tracts, relative to the possibility of 
 near approaches to the Pole of our own hemisphere, 
 as likewise of a communication between the Atlantic 
 and Pacific Oceans in any Northern direction, were 
 first published in 1775 and 1776. 
 
 I now think it right again to print them, because 
 they contain many w ell attested facts with regard to 
 reaching high Northern Latitudes, which are not to 
 be found elsewhere, and have a tendency to promote 
 geographical discoveries. I am very ready to admit, 
 indeed, that the purposes of commerce can never be 
 answered by the great uncertainty of a constant pas- 
 sage (even when such communication is discovered) 
 in seas which are so frequently obstructed by the ice 
 packing in vast fields. I find likewise, that since the 
 Resolution and Endeavour returned from their last 
 voyage, many conceive a North East or North West 
 Passage to be impracticable, because. our ships, in 
 
Vlll PREFACE TO THE 
 
 two successive years, were not able to penetrate be- 
 yond 71°, by impediments of ice. Besides, however, 
 that the ice packing in particular situations varies 
 often in different years, both these attempts were 
 made in the month of August, which I flatter myself to 
 have proved, is the very season of the year when the 
 ice, breaking up on the coast, is floating in every 
 direction, and consequently often packs in masses 
 of an immense extent. 
 
 These vast fields of ice, indeed, often are dispersed; 
 but who hath, or indeed should have, the fortitude of 
 waiting for this accident, whilst he is already in a high 
 Northern Latitude, and the winter is fast approach- 
 ing ? If the ice, however, should thus pack in April 
 or May, (which I conceive it would not, as little must 
 be left to float from the preceding summer,) yet as the 
 warm weather is then increasing from day to day, the 
 navigator would wait with some degree of patience 
 till his ship may be released from this temporary ob- 
 struction. The situation of the discoverer, under 
 these circumstances, may be compared to a traveller 
 passing over a large tract of sea sand, when the tide 
 is flowing or ebbing. In the first instance he spurs 
 his horse, because the sea may be expected at his 
 heels; in the latter he proceeds with great compo- 
 sure, as every instant he loses in point of time the sea 
 is farther removed. 
 
 Others again have despaired of a Northwest Pas- 
 sage, from Captain Pickersgill not having succeed- 
 ed in his attempt for this purpose during the year 
 1776.* 
 
 '^' la the Lion armed brig. 
 
foLar tracts. It 
 
 This voyage was intended for two purposes (at 
 least as I have been informed ;) the first to protect 
 some of our whale fishers on the coast of West Green- 
 land from the Americans then in rebellion; and the 
 second (if the time after this service permitted) to 
 join Captain Cook, should he have been so fortunate 
 as to have accomplished his passage from the Pacific 
 Ocean, wlien he would probably have returned to 
 England by Davis's Straits. 
 
 This plan seems to have been very well laid, but 
 that persevering navigator was delayed at the Cape 
 by Captain Clark's ship not arriving till a considera- 
 ble time time after his own reaching that place of ren- 
 dezvous, and in the farther progress of his voyage by 
 adverse winds, which drove liim to the Friendly Isl- 
 ands instead of Otahcite, so that he did not make his 
 attempt of a passage till 1777. 
 
 Captain Pickersgill did not leave Scilly till the 10th 
 of June, 1776, and consequently, whatever obstruc- 
 tions he met with from floating or packing ice, might 
 be reasonably expected when he readied the coast of 
 West Greenland. It appears, however, by what I 
 shall copy from the conclusion of his Journal on the 
 31st of August, that he did not find these to be consi- 
 derable, and that after the trial his hopes of a pas- 
 sage were very sanguine. 
 
 "I shall conclude with a few observations on this 
 part of the world, (sc. Greenland) and so terribly re- 
 presented by people, who, in order to raise their own 
 merit, make dangers and difficulties of common occur- 
 rences, merely because the places are unknown, and 
 there is little or no probability of their being ever 
 
 2 
 
X PREFACE TO THE 
 
 contradicted. I do not mean this as a personal reflec- 
 tion ; but having discoursed with many of the masters 
 of Greenland vessels, as well as their employers, and 
 heard such dreadful stories of those countries, I can- 
 not help remarking it as tending to mislead those w^ho, 
 from a laudable principle, would be benefactors to 
 their country, but are deterred from it by these mis- 
 representations. I shall communicate observations on 
 the ice, the atmosphere, the land of Forbislier, and 
 the probability of a JS'orthwcst Passage, in a short time.''^* 
 
 This, however, hath unfortunately been prevented 
 by Captain PickersgilPs death; but the Astronomer 
 Royal, who communicated Captain PickersgilPs Jour- 
 nal to the Royal Society, hath informed me by letter, 
 " That he had often heard this navigator express 
 himself as well assured of a Northwest Passage; 
 adding, that* he received accounts of it from the 
 inhabitants on the side of Davis's Straits, and that it 
 was directly Northwest, very different from Baffin's 
 track. 
 
 " Captain Pickersgill likewise thought, that the best 
 method to find the passage was to get out early ^ before the 
 ice broke away in the upper part of Davis^s Straits^ 
 
 It thus appears, that the last attempts of a North- 
 west Passage ended with the officer's employed 
 thereon being thoroughly persuaded, that it was not 
 only practicable, but highly probable. 
 
 As the late geographical discoveries have given 
 such general satisfaction, I have little doubt but that 
 they will be farther prosecuted when a peace takes 
 
 * Phil. Trans, for 1778, part ii. p. 1063. 
 
POLAR TRACTS. XI 
 
 place, and shall therefore here venture to throw out 
 my poor thoughts with regard to the yet remaining 
 desiderata for the more perfect knowledge of the 
 planet which we inhabit. When we are informed by 
 proper trials, that the attempt in any particular direc- 
 tion cannot succeed, we shall then be as much at rest 
 as with regard to Lunar oceans or continents, if such 
 there be. 
 
 I have mentioned in the following Tracts, that the 
 Parliamentary rewards given for approaching within 
 one degree of the North Pole are not likely to pro- 
 duce the efTects intended, because the Greenland 
 whale ships are all ensured ; if they were therefore to 
 go beyond the common fishing latitudes, it would be 
 such a departure from the voyage ensured, that they 
 would not be able to recover, if accidents happened 
 in such a deviation. 
 
 I am informed, however, that there are some vessels 
 employed in time of peace by government, to prevent 
 smuggling on the Northern Coast of Scotland. These 
 ships might be instructed, when, a promising wind 
 blows from the Southward, to proceed as far North 
 as the ice will permit. The crew of such a ship would 
 be encouraged by expectations of the Parliamentary 
 reward; and though one attempt might fiil, another 
 might succeed. The expense to the public would be 
 trifling, whilst the smugglers would not know how 
 soon the ship might return to its station. 
 
 Our Commodore upon the Newtbundland stntion 
 might also send a vessel at a small expense, to exyjlore 
 all the Northern part of Hudson's Bay, with which we 
 are so imperfectly acquainted at present. 
 
 
Xll PREFACE TO THE 
 
 Such attempts during peace might take place al- 
 most every summer; and I should suppose that this 
 scientific and opulent nation would never hesitate 
 (whilst there is the least dawning of hopes) to send 
 proper vessels occasionally to make farther trials 
 both of a Northwest Passage by Baflin's Bay, and a 
 Northeast beyond Nova Zembla. 
 
 The coast of Corea, the Northern part of Japan, 
 and the Lequieux Islands, should also be explored ; 
 the cheapest, and perhaps the best, method of doing 
 this, would be to employ a vessel in the India Com- 
 pany's service, which might be victualled at Canton. 
 
 Thus much with regard to discoveries, or better 
 knowledge of the more unfrequented parts of the 
 Northern Hemisphere. 
 
 The desiderata in that of the South seem to be the 
 following : — 
 
 To make the complete circumnavigation of New 
 Holland, so as at least to be better acquainted with 
 some parts of the coast of this immense island , a ves- 
 sel for this purpose might be victualled at the Cape 
 of Good Hope, or Canton : nor is the voyage a dis- 
 tant one, when compared with those of Captain Cook. 
 New Guinea also should be better explored. 
 
 We scarcely know more of the islands of Tristan 
 da Cunha than their Longitude and Latitude ; but 
 their interior parts should be examined. Not vastly 
 distant is Sandwich Land, which many on board Cap- 
 tain Cook supposed to be a vast continent. It may 
 be objected, indeed, that if it is so, it will turn out to 
 be a continent of ice and snow ; I am not here, how- 
 ever, recommending discoveries for the purpose of 
 
^ 
 
 POLAR TRACTS, Xlll 
 
 commerce, but for the improvement of geogra- 
 phy. 
 
 I should conceive, that a voyage either from the 
 Cape or Brazil would easily give opportunity of effec- 
 tuating both tliese purposes. 
 
 Perhaps, whilst discoveries by sea are thus dwelt 
 upon, e'lcouragement should be given to travellers by 
 land, for procuring better information with regard to the 
 central parts of Asia, Africa, and America. In short, 
 let us endeavour to know as much as we may of our 
 globe ; nor should this be considered as a vain and 
 trifling curiosity, though no benetits to commerce may 
 result from these inquiries. 
 
INSTANCES OF NAVIGATORS 
 
 WHO HAVE REACHED 
 
 HIGH NORTHERN LATITUDES. 
 
 Read at a Meeting of the Royal Society, 
 MAY 19, 1774. 
 
 — -^^^ 
 
 As I was the unworthy proposer of the Voyao;e to- 
 wards the North Pole, which the Council of the Royal 
 Society recommended to the Board of Admiralty, I 
 think it my duty to lay before the Society such intel- 
 ligence as I have happened to procure with regard to 
 navigators having reached high Northern Latitudes ;* 
 because some of these accounts seem to promise, that 
 we may proceed farther towards the Pole than the 
 very able Officers, who were sent on this destination 
 last year, were permitted to penetrate, notwithstand- 
 ing their repeated efforts to pass beyond eighty de- 
 grees and a half. 
 
 * It is well known that there are many sach accounts in print, 
 hut to these I need not refer the Society. 
 
16 ON APPROACHING 
 
 I shall begin, however, by making an observation 
 or two with regard to the Greenland Fishery, which 
 will in a great measure account for our not being able 
 to procure many instances of nearer approaches to 
 the Pole than tlie Northern parts of Spitzbergen. 
 
 Fifty years ago, such apprehensions were enter- 
 tained of navigating even in the loose, or what is 
 called sailing ice., that the crews commonly continued 
 on shore,* from whence they only pursued the whales 
 in boats. 
 
 The demand, however, for oil increasing, whilst 
 the number offish rather decreased, they were obliged 
 to proceed to sea in quest of them, and now, by expe- 
 rience and adroitness, seldom suffer from the obstruc- 
 tions of ice.f 
 
 The masters of ships, who are employed in this 
 trade, have no other object but catching whales, 
 which, as long as they can procure in more Southern 
 Latitudes, they certainly will not go in search of at 
 a greater distance from the port to which they are to 
 return : they, therefore, seldom proceed much beyond 
 eighty degrees North Latitude, unless driven by a 
 strong Southerly wind or other accident. 
 
 Whenever this happens, also, it is only by very 
 diligent inquiries that any information can be procur- 
 ed ; for the masters, not being commonly men of sci- 
 
 * There were houses still standing on Spitzbergen, where the 
 Dutch used to boil their train oil. — Marten's Voyage, p. 24. See 
 also Callander, vol. iii. p. 723. 
 
 t These particulars I received from Captain Robinson, whom I 
 shall have hereafter occasion to mention. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 17 
 
 ence, or troubling their heads about the improvement 
 of geographical knowledge, never mention these cir- 
 cumstances on their return, because they conceive 
 that no one is more interested about these matters 
 than they are themselves. Many of the Greenland 
 masters are likewise directed to return after the early 
 fishery is over, provided they have tolerable success ; 
 so that they have no opportunity of making disco- 
 veries to the Northward. 
 
 To these reasons it may be added, that no ships 
 were perhaps ever sent before last summer with ex- 
 press instructions to reach the Pole, if possible, as 
 most other attempts have been to discover a North- 
 east or Northwest Passage, w hich were soon defeat- 
 ed by falling in with land, or other accident. 
 
 Having thus endeavoured to show that the instan- 
 ces of ships reaching high Northern latitudes must 
 necessarily be rare, 1 shall now proceed to lay before 
 the Society such as I have been able to hear of since 
 the voyage towards the North, Pole was undertaken 
 during last summer. 
 
 When this was determined upon, and mentioned in 
 the newspapers, it became matter of conversation 
 amongst the crews of the guard-ships ; and Andrew 
 Leekie, an intelligent seaman on board the Albion 
 (then stationed at Plymouth,) informed some of the 
 officers that he had been as far North as 84i°. 
 
 When he was asked farther on this head, he said 
 that he was on board the Reading, Captain Thomas 
 Robinson, in 1766, and that, whilst he was shaving 
 the Captain, Mr. Robinson told him, that he had 
 probably never been so far to the Northward before, 
 
 3 
 
18 ON APPROACHING 
 
 as they had now reached the above-mentioned degree 
 of latitude. 
 
 Having happened to hear this account of Leekie's, 
 on my return to London this winter, I found out Cap- 
 tain Robinson, who remembered his having had this 
 conversation with Leekie ; but said, that he was mis- 
 taken in supposing that they had reached Mh° North 
 latitude, as they were only in 82F. 
 
 Captain Robinson then explained himself, that he 
 had at this time computed his latitude by the run 
 back to Hakluyt's Headland in twenty-four hours ; 
 from which, and other circumstances mentioned in 
 my presence before two sea-otiicers, they told me 
 afterward, that they had little or no doubt of the 
 accuracy of his reckoning. Mr. Robinson likewise 
 remembers that the sea was then open, so that he hath 
 no doubt of being able to reach 83°, but how much 
 farther he will not pretend to say. 
 
 This same Captain, in the ship St. George, was, on 
 the 15th of June, 1773, in North latitude SV 16', by 
 a very accurate observation \^ ith an approved Had- 
 ley's quadrant, in which he also made the proper 
 allowance for the refraction in high Northern lati- 
 tudes ; at which time seeing some whales spouting to 
 the Northward, he pursued them for five hours, so 
 that he must have reached 81i, when the sea was 
 open to the Westward and East Northeast as far 
 as he could distinguish from the mast-head. His 
 longitude was then 8° East from the meridian of 
 London. 
 
 Captain Robinson is a very intelligent seaman, and 
 liath navigated the Greenland Seas these twentyyears. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 19 
 
 except during the interval that he was employed by 
 the Hudson's Bay Company* 
 
 I could add some other, perhaps interesting, parti- 
 culars, which I have received from Captain Robin- 
 son, with regard to Spitzbergen and the Polar Seas; 
 I will only mention, however, that he thinks he could 
 spend a winter not uncomfortably in the most North- 
 ern parts we are acquainted with,t as there are three 
 or four small settlements of Russians in this country, 
 for the sake of the skins of quadrupeds, which are 
 then more valuable than if the animal is taken in 
 summer. 
 
 The next instance I shall mention of a navigator, 
 who hath proceeded far Northward, is that of Captain 
 Cheyne, who gave answers to certain queries drawn 
 up by Mr. Dalrymple, F.R.S. in relation to the Polar 
 Seas, and which were communicated last year to the 
 Society. 
 
 Captain Cheyne states, in this paper, that he hath 
 been as far as North latitude 82° ; but does not spe- 
 cify whether by observation or his reckonings though 
 
 * He lived during this winter in Queen-street, near Greenland 
 Dock, Rotherhithe ; he hath sailed, probably, by this time on the 
 Greenland Fishery. With regard to his having been in North lati- 
 tude 81° 30', in June, 1773, he can prove it by his Journal, if 
 that evidence should be required. 
 
 t See the Narrative of eight sailors, who wintered in Greenland 
 A. D. 1630, and who all returned in health to England the ensuing 
 summer. — Churchill's Voyage, vol. iv. p. 811. 
 
 They did not see the sun from the 14th of October till the 3d of 
 February. By the last day of January, however, they had day- 
 light of eight hours. They wintered in North latitude. 77 — 1**. — 
 Ibid. 
 
20 ON APPROACH ING 
 
 from many other answers to the interrogatories pro- 
 posed, it sliould seem that he speaks of the latitude 
 bj observation. Unfortunately Captain Cheyne is at 
 present on the coast of Africa, so that farther infor- 
 mation on this head cannot be now procured from 
 him. 
 
 Whilst the ships destined for the North Pole were 
 preparing, a most ingenious and able Sea-Officer, 
 Lieutenant John Cartwright, told me, that twelve 
 years ago he had been informed of a very remark- 
 able voyage made by Captain Mac-Callam as far 
 nearly as 84° North latitude. 
 
 This account Mr. Cartwright had received from a 
 brother Officer, Mr. James Watt, now a Master and 
 Commander in the Royal Navy, who was on board 
 Captain Mac-Callam's ship. 
 
 I thought it my duty to acquaint the Admiralty with 
 this intelligence, who would have sent for Mr. Watt, 
 but he was then employed on the coast of America. 
 
 On his return from thence, within the last month, 
 Mr. Cartwright introduced a conversation with regard 
 to Captain Mac-Callam's voyage, when Mr. Watt re- 
 peated all the circumstances which he had mentioned 
 to him twelve years ago ; after which Mr. Cartwright, 
 thinking that I should be glad to hear the particulars 
 from Mr. Watt himself, was so good as to bring him 
 to my chambers, when I received from him the fol- 
 lowing information. 
 
 In the year 1751 Mr. Watt, then not quite seventeen 
 years of age, went on board the Campbeltown of 
 Campbeltown, Captain Mac-Callam, which ship was 
 at that time employed in the Greenland Fishery. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 21 
 
 It seems, that, during the time the whales are 
 supposed to copulate, the crews of the Greenland 
 vessels commonly amuse themselves on shore. 
 
 Captain Mac-Callam, however, (who was a very 
 able and scientific seaman,) thought that a voyage to 
 the North Pole would be more interesting ; and that, 
 the season being a fine one, he had a chance of pene- 
 trating far to the Northward, as well as returning be- 
 fore the later fishery took place. He accordingly pro- 
 ceeded without the least obstruction to 83i°, when the 
 sea was not only open to the Northward, but they 
 had not seen a speck of ice for the last three degrees, 
 and the weather at the same time was temperate ; in 
 short, Mr. Watt hath never experienced a more plea- 
 sant navigation. 
 
 It need be scarcely observed, that the latitude of 
 83i° was determined by observation, as the great ob- 
 ject of the voyage was to reach the Pole ; the Captain, 
 therefore, the Mate, and young Mr. Watt, determin- 
 ed the latitude from time to time, both by Davis and 
 Hadley's quadrants: to this I may add, that their 
 departure and return were from and to Hakluyt's 
 Headland. 
 
 When they were advancing into these high North- 
 ern latitudes, the Mate complained that the compass 
 was not steady, on which Captain Mac-Callam desist- 
 ed from his attempt, though with reluctance ; know- 
 ing that if any accident happened, he should be? 
 blamed by his owners, who would be reminded cer- 
 tainly by the Mate of the protests he had made 
 against the ship's proceeding farther Northward. 
 
tl2 ON APPROACHING 
 
 Several of the crew, however, were for prosecuting 
 their discoveries, and Mr. Watt particularly remem- 
 bers the chagrin which w^as expressed by a very 
 intelligent seaman, whose name was John Kelly; 
 Captain Mac-Callam, also, after his return from that 
 voyage, hath frequently said, in the presence of Mr. 
 Watt and others, that, if the Mate had not been faint- 
 hearted, the ship possibly might have reached the 
 Pole. 
 
 Both Captain Mac-Callam and the Mate are now 
 dead, and it is rather doubtful whether the ship's 
 Journal can be procured. 
 
 It remains therefore to be considered what may be 
 objected to the credibility of this very interesting 
 account. 
 
 I have stated, that Mr. Watt was not, at the time 
 this voyage took place, quite seventeen years of age ; 
 but I have also stated, that he observed himself (as 
 well as the Master and Mate) from time to time. Is 
 it therefore more extraordinary he should remember 
 with accuracy, that, two and twenty years ago, he 
 had been in North latitude 83i°, than that, at the same 
 distance of time, he might recollect that he had been 
 at a friend's house, which was situate eighty-three 
 miles and a half from London ? Or rather, indeed, is 
 not his memory, with regard to this high latitude, 
 much more to be depended upon, as the circumstance 
 is so much more interesting, especially as Mr. Watt 
 was even then of a scientific turn ? 
 
 To this I may add, that it being his first voyage, 
 and so remarkable an one. Mr, Watt now declares 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 23 
 
 that he remembers more particulars relative to it, 
 than perhaps in any other since that time : other sea- 
 officers have hkewise told me, that the circumstances 
 of their first voyages are most fresh in their memory, 
 the reason for which is too obvious to be dwelt 
 upon. 
 
 If Mr. Watt's recollection however is distrusted, 
 this objection extends equally to Captain Mac-Cal- 
 lam's frequent declarations, that, if the apprehensions 
 of the Mate had not prevented, he might possibly 
 have reached the North Pole : and how could he have 
 conceived this, unless he had imagined himself to 
 have been in a very high Northern latitude ? 
 
 But it may be possibly said, that this voyage 
 took place above twenty years since, and that there- 
 fore, at sucli a distance of time, no one's memory 
 can be relied upon. 
 
 It is true indeed, that Mac-Callam made this at- 
 tempt in 1751 ; but Mr. Watt continued his services 
 the following year in a Greenland ship, and therefore, 
 traversing nearly the same seas, must have renewed 
 the recollection of what he had experienced in the 
 preceding voyage, though he did not then proceed 
 farther than North latitude 80^ 
 
 This, however, brings it only to 17.52; but I have 
 already stated, that within these twelve years he 
 mentioned all the particulars above related to his 
 brother-officer. Lieutenant Cartwright. 
 
 Mr. Watt also frequently conversed with Captain 
 Mac-Callam about this voyage after both of them had 
 quitted the Greenland ships; Mr. Watt rising regu- 
 larly to be a Master and Commander in His Majesty'p 
 
"24 ON APPROACHING 
 
 service, and Captain Mac-Callam becoming Purser 
 of the Tweed Man of War. 
 
 It so happened, that in the year of the expedition 
 against Bellisle, Mr. Watt, Captain Mac-Callam, and 
 Mr. Walker (commonly called Commodore Walker, 
 from his having commanded the Royal Family pri- 
 vateers in the late war,) met together at Portsmouth, 
 when they talked over the circumstances of this 
 Greenland voyage, which Mr. Walker was interested 
 in, by having been the principal owner of the Camp- 
 beltown. 
 
 Mr. Watt and Captain Mac-Callam met also eleven 
 years ago in London, when they as usual conversed 
 about the having reached so high a Northern lati- 
 tude. 
 
 1 now come to my last proof, which I received from 
 the late Dr. Campbell, the able continuator and revi- 
 ser of Harris's Collection of Voyages. 
 
 In that very valuable compilation. Commodore 
 Roggewein's circumnavigation makes a most material 
 addition, some of the most interesting particulars of 
 which w ere communicated by Dr. Dallie, w^ho was a 
 native of Holland,* and lived in Racquet Court, Fleet 
 Street, about the year 1745, where he practised 
 physic. 
 
 Dr. Campbell went to thank Dallie for the having 
 furnished him with Roggewein's Voyage, when Dallie 
 said, that he had been farther both to the Southward 
 and to the Northward than perhaps any other person 
 who ever existed. 
 
 * He was a grandson of Dallie, who was author of a book, much 
 esteemed by the Divines, entitled "De Usu Patrum,^^ 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 25 
 
 He then explained himself as to the having been 
 in high Southern latitudes, by sailing in Roggewein's 
 fleet ;* and as to his having been far to the North- 
 ward, he gave the following account : — 
 
 Between fifty and sixty years ago it was usual to 
 send a Dutch ship of war to superintend the Green- 
 land fishery, though it is not known whether this 
 continues to be a regulation at present. 
 
 Dr. Dallie (then young) was on board the Dutch 
 vessel employed on this service ;t and, during the 
 interval between the two fisheries, the Captain deter- 
 mined, like Mr. Mac-Callam, to try whether he could 
 not reach the Pole; and accordingly penetrated (to the 
 best of Dr. Campbell's recollection) as far as North 
 latitude 88°, when the weather was warm, the sea 
 perfectly free from ice, and rolling like the Bay of 
 Biscay. Dallie now pressed the Captain to proceed ; 
 but he answered, that he had already gone too far 
 by having neglected his station, for which he should 
 be blamed in Holland : on which account, also, he 
 would suffer no Journal to be made, but returned as 
 speedily as he could to Spitzbergen. 
 
 There are undoubtedly two objections, which may 
 be made to this account of Dr. Dallie's, which are, 
 that it depends not only upon his own memory, but 
 that of Dr. Campbell, as no Journal can be produced, 
 for the reason which I have before stated. 
 
 * Roggewein reached South latitude 62° 30'. — See Harris. 
 
 t Dr. Campbell does not recollect in what capacity he served ; 
 but, as he afterward practised physic, he might probably have 
 been the surgeon. 
 
 4 
 
26 ON APPROACHING 
 
 The conversation, however, between Dr. Campbell 
 and DaHie, arose from the accidental mention of 
 Roggewein's voyage to the Southward; and can it 
 be supposed that Dallie invented this circumstantial 
 narrative on the spot, without having actually been in 
 a high Northern latitude ? 
 
 If this be admitted to have been improbable, was 
 he not likely to have remembered with accuracy 
 what he was so much interested about, as to have 
 pressed the Dutch Captain to have proceeded to the 
 Pole? 
 
 But it may be said, also, that we have not this 
 account from Dallie himself, but at second-hand from 
 Dr. Campbell, at the distance of .thirty years from 
 the conversation. 
 
 To this it may be answered, that Dr. Campbell's 
 memory was most remarkably tenacious, as is well 
 known to all those who had the pleasure of his 
 acquaintance ; and, as he hath written so ably for the 
 promotion of geographical discoveries in all parts of 
 the globe, such an account c^uld not but make a 
 strong impression upon him, especially as he received 
 it just after the first edition of his compilation of 
 voyages. 
 
 No one easily forgets what is highly interesting to 
 him ; and, though I do not pretend to have so good a 
 memory as Dr. Campbell, I have scarcely a doubt, 
 but that, if I should live thirty years longer, and 
 retain my faculties, I shall recollect with precision 
 every latitude which I have already stated in this 
 Paper. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 27 
 
 What credit, however, is to be given to all these 
 narratives is entirely submitted to the Society, as f 
 have stated them most fully, with every circumstance 
 which may invalidate, as well as support them ; and, 
 if I have endeavoured to corroborate them by the 
 observations which I have made, it is only because I 
 believe them. 
 
 It should seem upon the whole of the inquiries on 
 this point, that it is very uncertain when ships may 
 proceed far to the Northward of Spitzbergen ; and 
 that it depends, not only upon the season, but other 
 accidents, when the Polar Seas may be so free from 
 ice as to permit attempts to make discoveries.* 
 
 Possibly, therefore, if a King's officer was sent 
 from year to year on board one of the Greenland 
 ships, the lucky opportunity might be seized, and the 
 Navy Board might pay for the use of the vessel, if it 
 was taken from the whale fishery, in order to pro- 
 ceed as far as may be towards the North Pole. 
 
 DAIXES BJlRRTJ^GTOJ\\ FES. 
 
 * Captiiin Robinson hath informed me, that nt tlie latter end of 
 last April a Whitby Ship was in North latitude 80°, without having 
 been materially obstructed by the ice. Captain Marshall was also 
 off Hiikluyt's Headland so e;irly as the 25th April, without observ- 
 ina: much ice. 
 
ADDITIONAL PROOFS, ^c. 
 
 Read at a Meeting of the Royal Society. 
 DEC. 22, 1774. 
 
 As I happened to have collected many additional 
 facts since my paper, containing Instances of Naviga- 
 tors who had reached high Northern latitudes, was 
 read before the Society in May last, I shall take the 
 liberty to state them according to chronological 
 order; together with some general reasons why it 
 may be presumed, that the Polar Seas are, at least 
 sometimes, navigable. 
 
 I think it my duty to do this, not only because I 
 was the unworthy proposer of the Polar voyage in 
 1773, which was recommended by the Council of the 
 Royal Society to the Board of Admiralty; but be- 
 cause it would not redound much to the credit of the 
 Society, if they planned a voyage to reach the North 
 Pole, if possible, when a perpetual barrier of ice 
 prevented any discoveries in the Spitzbergen seas to 
 the Northward of 801°, which is not a degree beyond 
 the most common station of the Greenland fishers. 
 
 I must here, however, repeat, that no one is more 
 entirely satisfied than myself of the great abilities, 
 perseverance, and intrepidity, with which the offi- 
 
30 ON APPROACHING 
 
 cers, who were sent on this destination, attempted to 
 prosecute their discoveries ; but I conceive, from the 
 arguments and facts which will follow, that they 
 were stopped by a most unfortunate barrier of ice 
 (of great extent indeed) but which was only tem- 
 porary and not perpetual. 
 
 If such a wall of ice hath been constantly fixed in 
 this latitude, and must continue to be so, there is an 
 end to all discoveries to be made to the northward 
 of Spitzbergen ; but if it is only occasional, the 
 attempt may be resumed in some fortunate year* 
 
 The point therefore being of so much importance 
 to geography, I hope the Society will pardon me, if I 
 more fully enter into the subject than I did in my 
 former Paper. 
 
 The English have long taken the lead in geogra- 
 phical discoveries. One of our ships of war is lately 
 returned, after having penetrated into the Antarctic 
 Circle ; and is it not rather a reflection upon a scien- 
 tific nation, that more is not known with regard to 
 the circumpolar regions of our own hemisphere, than 
 can be collected from maps made in the time of 
 Charles I. especially when the run from the mouth of 
 the Thames to the North Pole is not a longer one 
 than from Falmouth to the Cape de Verd Islands ? 
 
 Though I have the honour to be a Fellow of a 
 Society instituted for the promotion of Natural 
 
 * Upon the first return of the king's ships from the Polar Voyage, 
 this notion of a perpetual barrier of ice at North latitude 80^" had 
 prevailed so much, that some very distinguished philosophers of 
 this country had shown thoughts of proceeding to the Pole over the 
 ice, in such a wind boat as the Dutch have sometimes made use of. 
 
THE NORTH POLE- 31 
 
 Knowledge, the prejudices of an Englishman are so 
 strong with me, that I cannot but wish the discoverie3 
 to be made in the Polar Seas may be achieved by 
 my countrymen ; but, if we are determined to aban- 
 don the enterprise, science is to be honoured from 
 whatever quarter it iflay come, and it hath therefore 
 given me great satisfaction to hear, that Mons. de 
 Bougainville is soon to be sent on discoveries to the 
 Northward* 
 
 In the outset of my former Paper, I said I should 
 not trouble the Society with any instances of naviga- 
 tors having reached high Northern Latitudes, which 
 had appeared in print. During tlie course of this 
 summer, however, I have happened to find three 
 such accounts, which were never before alluded to, 
 and which are extracted from books that are not 
 commonly looked into, or at least often consulted 
 upon points of geography. 
 
 When the Royal Society was first instituted, it was 
 usual to send queries to any traveller who happened 
 to reside in England, after having been in parts of 
 the world which are not commonly frequented.! 
 
 In the year 1662-3, Mr. Oldenburgh, the Secretary 
 of the Society, was ordered to register a Paper, 
 entitled, " Several Inquiries concerning Greenland, 
 answered by Mr. Grey, who had visited those parts.'' 
 
 * I have since been informed, that this intended voyage wa? 
 dropped, by the French Minister for the marine department being 
 changed. 
 
 t Richard Hakhiyt rode two hundred miles to hear the Narrative 
 of Mr. Thomas Butt's Voyage, temp. Henry VIII. from England t© 
 Newfoundland.-— Hakluyt, part iii, p. 131. 
 
32 ON APPROACHING 
 
 The 19th of these queries is the following : — 
 
 " How near any one hath been known to approach 
 the Pole?" 
 
 Answer. " I once met, upon the Coast of Green- 
 land, a Hollander, that swore he had been but half 
 a degree from the Pole, showing me his Journal, 
 which was also attested by his mate; where they had 
 seen no ice or land, but all water."* 
 
 After which Mr. Oldenburgh adds, as from himself, 
 " This is incredible."! 
 
 It may not be improper, therefore, after mentioning 
 this first instance of a navigator's having approached 
 80 near to the Pole, to discuss upon what reasons 
 Mr. Oldenburgh might found his very peremptory 
 incredulity. 
 
 * Mr. Boyle mentions a similar account, which he received from 
 an old Greenland Master, on the 5th of April, 1675. — See Boyle's 
 Works, vol. ii. p. 397 to 399, folio. The whole of this Narrative 
 is very circumstantial, and deserves to be stated at length. The 
 title is " Experiments and Observations made in December and 
 January, 1662." 
 
 t See Dr. Birch's History of the Royal Society, vol. I. p. 202. 
 These queries are nineteen in number, to which the answers are 
 very circumstantial. I had an opportunity of reading them over to 
 three very intelligent masters of Greenland ships, who confirmed 
 every particular. One circumstance I think it right to take notice 
 of, though it does not immediately relate to the point in discussion, 
 which is, that there are coals in Spitzbergen, by which seven of 
 Mr. Grey's crew were enabled to bear the severity of the winter, 
 having been left behind by an accident. One of the Greenland 
 Masters, to whom I read Mr. Grey's answers, confirmed this par- 
 ticular ; saying, that he had burnt himself Spitzbergen coals, and 
 that they were very good. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 33 
 
 Was it because the fact is impossible upon the 
 very stating it ? 
 
 This puts me in mind of the disbelief which is 
 generally shown to a passage in Pliny, even after the 
 actual fact hath shown not only the possibility, but 
 easy practicability of wliat is alluded to. Pliny in- 
 forms us,* that Eudoxus, flying the vengeance of king 
 Lathyrus, sailed from Arabia, and reached the Straits 
 of Gibraltar: yet no one scarcely will believe this 
 account of Edoxus's navigation, notwithstanding this 
 course is so often followed. 
 
 Was it because no Englishman had then been so 
 far to the Northward ? 
 
 It is very easy, however, to account why such 
 attempts should rather be made by the Dutch than 
 the English in the infancy of the Greenland Fishery. 
 
 The southern parts of this country were discovered 
 by Sir Hugh Willoughby, A. D. 1553 ; after which no 
 English ships were sent on that coast for nearly fifty 
 years. In the beginning of the last century, however, 
 a competition arose between the English and Dutch 
 with regard to the Whale Fishery, and the English 
 drove the Dutch from most of the harbours, under 
 the right of first discoverers,! in which they were 
 
 * Lib. ii. chap. Ixvii. 
 
 t It is also assigned, in the Supplement to Wood and Marten's 
 Voyages, p. 179, 8vo. 1694, as a reason why the Enghsh nSver 
 proceeded farther than 78° on the East Coast of Spitzbergen, because 
 the Dutch were commonly superior on that side of the Island. 
 
 Robert Bacon, of Crowmers in Norfolk, was the first discoverer 
 also of Iceland. — See the Itinerary of William of Wnrcepter, p. 311 . 
 8vo. Cambridge, 1778. 
 
 5 
 
34 ON APPROACHIi\« 
 
 supported by royal instructions ; so that the Dutch 
 were obhged to seek for new stations, whereas the 
 Enghsh were commonly in possession of the Green- 
 land Ports, which they considered as their own.* 
 
 Did Mr. Oldenburgh disbelieve the Dutchman's 
 relation, because ice is frequently met with to the 
 Southward of North latitude 80° ? 
 
 Ice is commonly seen upon the great bank of New- 
 foundland, and the harbour of Louisburgh is often 
 covered with it, which is only in North latitude 46" ; 
 yet Davis and Baffin have penetrated, under nearly 
 the same meridians, beyond 70°. 
 
 I will now suppose the tables changed between the 
 two hemispheres of our globe, and that a Southern 
 discoverer, meeting with ice upon the banks of New- 
 foundland, returns to his own hemisphere fully im- 
 pressed with the impossibility q^ proceeding much to 
 the Northward of North latitude 46° ; would not his 
 countrymen be deceived by the inferences which 
 were drawn from what had been observed in the seas 
 of the Northern hemisphere ? 
 
 Bouvet, in 1738, sailed to 53° Southern latitude, 
 and in a meridian 5° to the West of the Cape of Good 
 Hope, in which situation he fell in with floating ice; 
 after which he did not proceed any farther. Our 
 two ships of war, lately sent upon discoveries to the 
 Southward, however, have been some minutes witliin 
 
 * See Purchas, passim. Whilst these disputes continued, the 
 Dutch often sent ships of war to protect their Greenhind traders, 
 which accounts for Dr. DaUie's sailing in such a vessel to 88'', as I 
 have stated in my former Paper. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 35 
 
 the Antarctic Circle, upon a no very distant meridian 
 from that in which Bouvet sailed. 
 
 Must the fact be disbelieved because all the ice in 
 the Polar seas comes from the Northward ? But this 
 is not so, as Mr. Grey informs us,* that the South- 
 east wind brings the greatest quantity of ice to the 
 coasts of Spitzbergen ; which indeed is highly proba- 
 ble, as this wind blows from those parts of the Icy 
 sea into which the great rivers of Siberia and Tar- 
 tary empty themselves.f My own poor conception, 
 with regard to the floating ice in the Spitzbergen 
 seas, is, that these masses come almost entirely 
 from the same quarter, as it is so difficult to freeze 
 any large quantity of salt water. These pieces of 
 ice, therefore, beina once launched into the Icy 
 Sea, are dispersed by winds, tides, and currents, in 
 every direction, some of them being perhaps carried 
 to very high Northern latitudes, from which they are 
 again wafted to the Southward. 
 
 But allowing, for an instant, that all the ice may 
 come from the Northward, must not then an open sea 
 be left in the higher Northern latitudes, from which 
 these masses of ice are supposed to have floated ? 
 
 Was it because the more one advances towards 
 the Pole, vegetation invariably is diminished ? — But 
 this is not the fact. 
 
 * Dr. Birch's History of the Royal Society. 
 
 t The ice is said to be never troublesome in the harbour of New- 
 port (Rhode-Island, North America ;) because no fresh water rivers 
 empty themselves by this port ; whereas the harbour of New-York 
 (though much to the southward) is often obstructed by the ice, 
 which floats down from Hudson's river. 
 
36 ON APPROACHING 
 
 Nova Zembla, situate only in North latitude 76% 
 produces not even any sorts of grass ;* so that the 
 only quadrupeds which frequent it are foxes and bears, 
 both of which are carnivorous. In the Northern 
 parts of Spitzbergen, on the other hand, they have 
 reindeer, which are often excessively fat; and Mr. 
 Grey mentions three or four plants, which flower 
 there during the summer.t 
 
 Was it because no one had ever conceived it poa- 
 pible to proceed so far as the Pole ?J 
 
 Thorne, however, a merchant of Bristol, had made 
 such a proposal in the reign of Henry VIII ; and I 
 shall now also show, that not only Mr. Oldenburgh's 
 contemporaries continued to believe such a voyage 
 to be feasible, but many great names in science who 
 lived after him. 
 
 Wood sailed on the discovery of a Northeast pas- 
 sage to Japan in* 1676; and, in the publication of his 
 voyage, he hath stated the grounds upon which he 
 conceived such a voyage to be practicable; the 
 strongest of all which, perhaps, is the relation of 
 Captain Goulden, with regard to a Dutch ship having 
 reached North latitude 89". Though this account 
 hath often been referred to, I do not recollect to have 
 seen it stated with all the circumstances which seem 
 
 * Purchas, vol. i. p. 479. 
 
 t Dr. Birch's History of the Royal Society, vol. i. et seq, 
 1 A Map of the Northern Hemisphere, published at Berlin (under 
 the direction of the Academy of Sciences and Belles Letters,) places 
 a ship at the Pole, as having arrived there according to the Dutch 
 accounts. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 37 
 
 to establish its veracity beyond contradiction : I shall 
 therefore copy the very words of Wood.* 
 
 "Captain Goulden, who had made above thirty 
 voyages to Greenland, did relate to His Majesty, 
 that, being at Greenland some twenty years before, 
 he was in company with two Hollanders to the east- 
 ward of Edge's Island :t and that the whales not 
 appearing on the shore, the two Hollanders were 
 determined to go farther Northward, and in a fort- 
 night's time returned, and gave it out that they had 
 sailed into 'the latitude 89", and that they did not 
 meet with any ice, but a free and open sea ; and that 
 there run a very hollow groicnX ^ea, like that of the 
 Bay of Biscay. Mr. Goulden being not satisfied with 
 the bare relation, they produced him ibur Journals 
 out of the two ships, which testiticd the same, and 
 that they all agreed within four minutes."§ 
 
 * Moxon's account of a Dutch ship having been two denrecs be- 
 yond the Pole was also much rehed upon by Wood, which hath 
 never been printed at large, but in a now very scarce tract of Mox- 
 on's, and in the second volume of Harris's Voyages, p. 396. lu 
 confirmation of this very circumstaticial and interesting nai'rative, I 
 have only to add, that Moxon was hydrographcr to Charles II. and 
 hath published several scientific treatises. — See the Catalogue of 
 the Bodleian Librar3\ 
 
 t Edge's Island was discovered, A. D. ICIG, by Captain Thomas 
 Edge, who had made ten voyages to those seas. — See the Supple- 
 ment to the Northeast Voyages, 8vo. London, 1694. Whyche's 
 Island, so called from a gentleman of that name, w;is discovered in 
 the following year. — Ibid. 
 
 I Grown Sea, is the expression in the original. " Which is not 
 practicable in these tempestuous high grown seas." — Dr. Halley, in 
 his Journal, p. 45. 
 
 § Wood's Voyage, p. 145. — Wood's Vo3'age was published by 
 Smith and Wulford, Printers to the Royal Society in 1694, together 
 
38 ©N APPROACHING 
 
 Havins: thus slated Wood's own words, it should 
 seem, that they who deny the authenticity of the 
 relation must contend, that the crews of both these 
 Dutch ships entered into a deliberate scheme of 
 imposing upon their brother Whale Fishers, and had 
 drawn up four fictitious Journals accordingly, because 
 so many are stated to have been produced out of the 
 two T^hips to Captain Goulden, whilst each of them 
 varied a ^ew minutes in the latitude ; whereas, if they 
 had determined to deceive Captain Goulden and his 
 crew, the Journals would probably have tallied ex- 
 actly. I must beg leave also to make additional 
 observation on the account as stated by Wood, whicli 
 is, that the Dutch ships only went to the Northward, 
 in search of whales, but did not give it out that they 
 intended to make for the Pole, which, if they had 
 done, it might possibly have been an inducement to 
 carry on the deception by forgeries and misrepre- 
 fcentations. To this it may likewise be added, that 
 the Dutch are not commonly jokers. 
 
 I have already remarked, that Wood makes this 
 account one of the principal reasons for his undertak- 
 ing the Northeast passage to Japan. Wood therefore 
 (Mr. Oldenburgh's contemporary) was not a disbe- 
 liever before his voyage, of the possibility of reach- 
 ing so high a Northern latitude, nor of any of the cir- 
 cumstances stated in this Narrative. 
 
 But Captain Wood is not a single instance of such 
 credulity, as, the very year before he sailed on his 
 
 Tvith Sir John Narboroiigh's, Marten's, and other Navigators. The 
 book is dedicated to Pepys, Secretary to the Admiralty ; and he is 
 complimented therein for having furnished the materials. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 39 
 
 Yojage, we find in the Philosophical Transactions for 
 1675* the following passage : — '• For it is well known 
 to all that sail Northward, that most of the Nortlioni 
 coasts are frozen up many leagues, though in the 
 open sea it is not so, wo, nor wider the Pole itself^ unless 
 by accident." In which passage, the having reached 
 the Pole is alluded to as a known fact, and stated as 
 such to the Royal Society. 
 
 Wood indeed, after not being able to proceed 
 farther than North latitude 76°, discredits in the lump 
 all the former instances of having reached high 
 Northern latitudes, in the following words : — 
 
 "So here the opinion of William Barentz was con- 
 futed, and all the Dutch relations,'}" which certainly 
 are all forged and abusive pamphlets, as also the 
 relations of our countrymen."]: 
 
 Injustice, however, to the memoirs of both English 
 and Dutch Navigators, I cannot but take notice of 
 these very peremptory and ill-founded reflections, 
 made by Wood: and which seem to be dictated 
 merely by his disappointment, in not being able to 
 effect his discovery. 
 
 Wood attempted to sail in a Northeast direction 
 between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, but was 
 obstructed by ice, so that he could not proceed 
 farther than the West coast of Nova Zembla, in North 
 
 * No. 118. 
 t The Dutch made three voyages for the discovery of the North- 
 east Passage in three successive years, the third being in 1596, 
 which last was by the encouragement of a private subscription only. 
 •^See Gerard de Veer, p. 13. folio. Amsterdam, 1609. 
 
 t Wood's Voyage, p. 181. 
 
40 ON APPROACHING 
 
 latitude 7G°. Tliinking it, therefore, prudent to 
 return, he at once treats as fabulous, not only the 
 ideas of that most persevering seaman, William 
 Bareiitz, but likewise all other accounts of ships 
 having reached high Northern latitudes. Now that 
 the ice, which obstructed Wood in North Latitude 
 76", was not a perpetual, but only an occasional bar- 
 rier, appears by the Russians having not only dis- 
 covered, but lived several years in the island of 
 Maloy Brun, which lies between Spitzbergen and 
 Nova Zembla, and extends from North latitude 
 77° 25' to 78° 45'.* The Dutch also sailed round the 
 Northern Coast of Nova Zembla, and wintered on the 
 Eastern side in 1596.t 
 
 As for Wood's treating all discoveries towards the 
 Pole, from the Northern parts of Spitzbergen, as 
 fabulous, he had not the least foundation, from what 
 he had observed on his own voyage, for this un- 
 merited aspersion upon their veracity; because, if 
 
 * See the English Translation of Professor Le Roy's account of 
 this Island, p. 85, 8vo., London, 1774, printed for C. Heydinger. 
 As also the Sieur de Vaugondy's Essai d^une Carte Polaire Arctique, 
 pubhshed in 1774, who represents this Island as extending from 
 North latitude 77° 20' to 78° 3C/, its longitude being 60" East from 
 Fero. 
 
 t See the Map of the circumpolar regions, which accompanies 
 Wood's Voyage. The Northern point of Nova Zembla, in this Map, 
 is in 77° nearly. There were factions in Holland with regard to 
 the method of discovering the Northeast Passage. Barentz, insti- 
 gated by Plancius, the geographer, was for making the trial to the 
 North of Nova Zembla ; the other two ships, which sailed on that 
 expedition of discovery, were to attempt passing the Weygatz. — 
 Recueil des Voyages au Nord. torn. iv. Linschoten's Preface. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 41 
 
 Wood's barrier between Spitzbergen and Nova 
 Zerabla, in North latitude 76°, had been perpetual, 
 what hath this to do with the course of a ship sailing 
 from the Northern parts of Spitzbergen upon a me- 
 ridian towards the Pole ? 
 
 I caj;inot, however, dismiss Wood's Voyage without 
 making some further remarks on his concluding, that 
 the obstructions which he met with in North lati- 
 tude 76° were perpetual. 
 
 Almost every« voyage to seas in which floating ice 
 is commonly to be found, proves the great difp^rence 
 between the quantities, as well as size, of these 
 impediments to navigation, though in the same lati- 
 tude and time of the year. 
 
 Davis, in his two first voyages to discover the 
 Northwest Passage, could not penetrate beyond 
 66'^; but in his third voyage, in 1587, he reached 
 72° 12.* 
 
 In the year 1576, Sir Martin Frobisher passed the 
 Straits (since called from their first discoverer) 
 without any obstructions from ice ; in his two fol- 
 lowing voyages, however, he found them in the same 
 month, to use his own expression, "• in a manner shut 
 up with a long mure of ice.'"t 
 
 In the year 1611, Baffin proceeded to 81°, and 
 thought he saw land as far as 82^1 to the Northeast 
 of Spitzbergen, which is accordingly marked in one 
 
 * See Hakluyt, and Purchas, vol. i. p. 84. 
 
 t Purchas, ibid. 
 
 I See also the Supplement to Wood and i\Iarten's Voyae-es, in the 
 8vo. publication of 1694, in which Point Purchas is stated to be in 
 North Latitude 82°. 
 
 G 
 
42 ON APPR0ACHIN6 
 
 of Purchas's Maps. During this voyage he met, near 
 Cherry Island, situate only in 74° North latitude, 
 two banks of ice; the one forty leagues in length, 
 the other one hundred and twenty ; which last would 
 extend to twenty-five degrees of longitude in North 
 latitude 76°, where Wood fixes his barri^. ^ 
 
 It need therefore scarcely be observed, that such 
 a floating wall of ice, one hundred and twenty 
 leagues long, by being jammed in between land, or 
 other banks of ice, might afford an appearance 
 indeed of forming a perpetual barrier, when, perhaps, 
 within the next twenty-four hours, the wall of ice 
 might entirely vanish. 
 
 Of the sudden assemblage of such an accumula- 
 tion of ice, I shall now mention two, rather recent, 
 instances, 
 
 I have been very accurately informed, that the 
 late Colonel Murray happened to go, in the month of 
 May, from one of our Southern Colonies to Louis- 
 burgh, when the harbour was entirely open ; but, on 
 rising in the morning, it was completely filled with 
 ice, so that a wagon might have passed over it in 
 any direction.* 
 
 * On the 19th of December, 1759, the Potowmack, in a part 
 where it was two miles broad, and nearly in North Latitude of only 
 38°, was frozen entirely over in one night, when the preceding day 
 had been very mild and temperate. — Burnaby's Travels through 
 North America, p, 59. 
 
 Camden, in his Annals of Elizabeth, asserts, that Davis reached 
 83*, where the Straits, called afier him, were narrowed to forty 
 leagues. — See Camden, anno 1585, We have not since been able 
 to proceed so far to the Northward. 
 
tWe north pole. 43 
 
 I have also received the following account from an 
 officer in the Royal Navy, who was not many years 
 ago on the Newfoundland station. 
 
 In the middle of June the whole Straits of Bellisle 
 were covered in the same manner with the harbour 
 of Louisburgh, and for three weeks together a car- 
 riage might have passed from one shore to the other ; 
 but during a single night the ice had almost entirely 
 disappeared. Such is the sudden accumulation of 
 ice, in latitudes twenty-four and thirty degrees to the 
 Southward of Wood's situation. 
 
 Linschoten asserts, that being in the Straits of 
 Weygate, the last day of July, he was told by the 
 Samoieds on that coast, that in ten or twelve days 
 afterward the ice 'in the Straits would be all gone, 
 though they were then quite blocked up with it. 
 When he repassed these Straits afterward, on the 
 13th of August, he found not the least vestige of it, 
 so quickly do these huge masses dissolve after they 
 once begin to thaw.* 
 
 On the other hand, Callander admits, that by 
 accumulation of floating ice places are now inacces- 
 sible which were not formerly so, and instances the 
 Eastern Coast of .Greenland, as also Frobisher's 
 Straits-t Kergulen, in his account of Iceland, like- 
 wise mentions, that the sea between Iceland and 
 Greenland was entirely closed during the whole 
 summer of 1766. 
 
 I shall now endeavour to show, that Dr. Halley 
 was no more incredulous with regard to the pos- 
 sibility of reaching high Northern latitudes, than 
 
 * Callander'6 Preface, p. 38. t Ibid. 
 
44 ON APPROACHING 
 
 Captain Wood was before the ill success of hii 
 voyage on discovery. 
 
 Mr. Miller, in his Gardener's Dictionary, hath the 
 following passage, under the article Thermometer : — 
 • *' Mr. Patrick has fixed his thermometer to a scale 
 of 90°, which are numbered from the top downward, 
 and also a moveable index to it. The design of this 
 is to show, how the heat and cold is changed from 
 the time it was last looked upon, according to the 
 difforent degrees of heat and cold in all latitudes. 
 As by the trial of two thermometers, which have been 
 regulated abroad ; the one by Dr. Halley, in his late 
 Southern voyage ; and the other by Captain Johnson, 
 in his voyage to Greenland ; the first hath a heai 
 under the equinoctial line, and the other a degree of 
 cold in 88° of North latitude." 
 
 I have taken some pains to find out a more full 
 account of this voyage of Captain Johnson's; but 
 have only met with the following confirmation of it 
 perhaps : — 
 
 " I have been assured, by persons of credit^ that an 
 English Captain, whose name was Monson, instead 
 of seeking a passage to China between the Northern 
 countries, had directed his course to the Pole, and 
 had approached it within two degrees, where there 
 was an open sea, without any ice."* 
 
 As the Captain Monson mentioned in this passage, 
 reached exactly the same degree of latitude with 
 Captain Johnson, I should rather think, that this is 
 the same voyage j especially, as it is well known, 
 
 * See M. de Buflfon's Natural History, vol. i,,p. 215. 4to, 
 
THE NORTH POLE. i5 
 
 that the French writers seldom trouble themselves 
 about the orthography of foreign names. 
 
 If this, however, should not be the case, it must 
 be admitted to be an additional instance of a ship's 
 having reached North latitude 88", as well as JNIons. 
 de BufTon's giving credit to such relation.* 
 
 Havjng therefore not been able to pick up any 
 other circumstances in relation to Captain Jolm- 
 son's voyage, I shall now state what seems to be fairly 
 deducihle from the passage, which I have copied 
 from Miller's Gardener's Dictionary. 
 
 Dr. Halley made his voyage to the Southward in 
 1700; on the return from which, he probably em- 
 ployed Patrick, as the most eminent maker of weather 
 glasses,t to graduate a thermometer according to the 
 heat he bad experienced under the equator. It was 
 very natural, therefore, when such a point of heat 
 was to be marked upon the instruinent, to make the 
 scale either for high Southern or Northern latitudes. 
 
 It should seem, then, that Dr. Halley had procured 
 Captain Johnson (who was Master of a Greenland 
 
 * To tills list of credulous persons (as pcrh-ips they may be con- 
 sidered by some,) I shall bei;; leave to add the names of Maclaurin 
 and Dr. Campbell. The former of these was so persuaded of the 
 seas being open quite to the Pole, that he hath not only advised this 
 method of prosecuting discoveries, but, as I have been told, was 
 desirous of going the voyage himself. 
 
 t I have been informed, that his shop was in the Old Bailey, and 
 that he died about Miy years ago. Patrick was a great ringer, and 
 some of the most celebrated peals were invented by him, more than 
 fifty years ago. He styled himself, in his advertisements, Torri- 
 cellian Operator. — Sir John Hawkins's History «f Music, vol. iv. 
 p. 154. 
 
46 ON ArrROACiiiNG 
 
 ship) to carry a thermometer on his voyage to Spitz- 
 bergen, and that he fortunately was able to reach so 
 high a degree of latitude as 88®. 
 
 If the thermometer had been calculated only for 
 imaginary degrees of heat and cold, it would have 
 been marked for the Equator and the Pole ; whereas 
 it was only regulated for 88" of North latitude, which 
 Captain Johnson therefore had as clearly reached, 
 as Dr. Halley had the Equator. 
 
 At all events, Patrick's Thermometer must have 
 been made under Dr. Halley's inspection ; and would 
 he have permitted it to be marked for 88° of North 
 latitude, according to Captain Johnson's voyage, if 
 he had disbelieved his narrative ? 
 
 My third and last instance, from any printed 
 authority, but in a book which is not commonly to be 
 met with, is that of Captain Alexander Cluny, as by 
 a map engraved under his direction, the very spot i« 
 marked to the Westward of Spitzbergen, and in 
 somewhat more than 82° of North latitude, where he 
 saw neither land nor ice.* 
 
 Before I proceed, however, to state several other 
 instances of reaching high northern latitudes, which 
 have never appeared in print, and which I have col- 
 lected since my last Paper on this head, I must beg 
 the indulgence of the Society, whilst I lay before 
 
 * See the American Traveller, 4lo. London 1769; as also, the 
 Sieur de Vaugondy's Essai d'une Carle Polaire Arctique, published 
 in 1774; in which, however, he lays down this spot from Cluny's 
 Map, in little more than 81°, whereas it is fully in 82**. The Ion* 
 gitudc of this spot is 30° East from Fero. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 47 
 
 them some additional reasons why the Polar Seas 
 may be conceived to be navigable.* 
 
 Speculative geographers have supposed, that there 
 should be nearly the same quantity of land and sea 
 in both hemispheres, in order to preserve the equi- 
 librium of the globe. 
 
 It is possible, hideed, that this may be accounted 
 for by the Antarctic seas being more shallow than 
 those near the North Pole ; as we do not know this, 
 however, by the actual soundings, but are informed 
 by Captain Furneaux, that there is no land*even as 
 far as the Antartic Circle, upon the meridian in which 
 he sailed, as alsoi that no land was observed during 
 the course of his circumnavigation in 55*^ South lati- 
 tude at a medium, it seems necessary, as the quan- 
 tity of land so greatly preponderates in the Northern 
 hemisphere, that from North latitude 80^° to the Pole 
 itself must be chiefly, if not entirely, sea.f 
 
 Let us now consider, whether such a sea is proba- 
 ble, at all times, in a state of congelation. 
 
 * I have received a letter from the Rev. Mr. Tooke, Chaplain (o 
 the Factory at St. Petersburgh, dated December 30, 1774, which 
 he concludes in the following manner : — " I have a fact or two to 
 communicate, which seem to indicate, if not to a certainty, yet at 
 least to a degree of probability, that the sea is open to the Pole the 
 year throughout ; but my paper will not hold them." From the 
 accuracy with which several other interesting particulars arc stated 
 in this letter, I have great reason to regret, that I have not an op- 
 portunity of laying the facts alluded to before the Public, with all 
 their circumstances, as I suppose that Mr. Tooke's information 
 came from Arcliangel Seamen. . 
 
 t It is not known that Captain Cook also found very little land 
 during his persevering attempts to the Southward. 
 
4U ox APPROACHING 
 
 I do not know, whether it hath been settled "by 
 thermometrical observations, that there is any mate- 
 rial diiTerence between the heat under the Equator, 
 and that which is experienced within the Tropics ; 
 most travellers complain indefinitely of its excess in 
 such latitudes. 
 
 As this point, therefore, seems not to have been 
 settled by the thermometer, let us have recourse to 
 what is found to be the freezing point upon mountains, 
 situate almost under the Equator, and compare it 
 with the same height on the Peak of Teneriflfe, which, 
 being in North latitude 28°, is five degrees to the 
 Northward of the Tropical limits. , 
 
 The French Academicians suppose, that the 
 
 freezing point, at which all vegetation ceases, and 
 
 ice takes place, commences on Cotopaxi, at 1411 
 
 toises above the level of the sea ; or, by our measure, 
 
 • at the height of about a mile and three quarters.* 
 
 Mr. Edens, on the other hand, hath given us a very 
 particular account of what he observed in going to 
 the top of Teneriflfe ;t and so far from seeing snow 
 or ice (except in a cave) his coat was covered, during 
 the night, with dew, at the very summit j which, 
 
 * Cotopaxi is the highest mountsiln of the Ancles, at least in the 
 neighbourhood of Quito. Tlie plain of Carabuca, from which it 
 rises, is 1023 toises above tlie level of the sea, and the height of 
 the mountain above this plain is 1268 toises, making together 2291 
 toises. If 880 toises therefore are deducted from 2291, 1411 
 toises become the height of the freezing point upon this mountain. 
 — See Ulloa's Account of South Anaerica. 
 
 t Philosophical Transactions Abridged, vol. v. p. 147. Sprat's 
 History of the Jloyal Society. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 49 
 
 according to Dr. Heberdeii's computation, is 15,396 
 feet high, or wants but 148 yards of three miles.* 
 
 Now, as it is thus settled, that the Peak of Tene- 
 riffe is nearly three miles high, which exceeds by 
 .jiore than a mile the height of the freezing point on 
 Cotopaxi, situate under the Equator, it should seem 
 that there is no particular difference between the heat 
 under the Equator and within the Tropics ; for if it 
 is urged, that Teneriffe is more surrounded with sea 
 than Cotopaxi, it must on the other hand be recol- 
 lected, that this mountain is situate rf to the North- 
 ward of the Tropic, at the same time that the sum- 
 mit exceeds the freezing point on Cotopaxi by more 
 than a mile; both which circumstances should ren- 
 der it colder than the freezing point on Cotopaxi. 
 
 The inference to be drawn from this comparison 
 seems to be, that, as the heat varies so little between 
 the Equator and the Tropical limits, it may differ as 
 little between the Arctic Circle and the Pole. 
 
 Nothing hath been supposed to show more strongly 
 the wisdom of a beneficent Creator, than that every 
 part of this globe should (taking the year throughout) 
 have an equal proportion of the sun's light. 
 
 It is admitted, that the equatorial parts have rather 
 too much heat for the comforts of the inhabitants, 
 and those within the Polar Circles too little ; but, as 
 we know that the Tropical limits are peopled, it 
 should seem that the two Polar Circles are equally 
 
 * See Hawkcpworth's voyages, vol. ii. p. 12. Goats also reach 
 the very summit, which must be in search of food, as they do not 
 bear cold well. 
 
 7 
 
^ ON APPROACHING 
 
 destined for the same purpose ; or if not for the 
 benefit of man, at least for the sustenance of certain 
 animals. 
 
 The largest of these, in the whole scale of Crea- 
 tion, is the whale ; which, though a fish, cannot live 
 long under water, without occasionally raising its 
 head into another element, for the purpose of respi- 
 ration :* most other fish also occasionally approach 
 the surface of the water. 
 
 If the ice therefore extends from North latitude 
 80^° to the Pole, all the intermediate space is denied 
 to the Spitzbergen whales, as well perhaps as to 
 other fish. And is that glorious luminary, the sun, 
 to shine in vain for half the year upon ten degrees of 
 latitude round each of the Poles, without contributing 
 either to animal life or vegetation ? for neither can 
 take place upon this dreary expanse of ice. 
 
 If this tract of sea also is thus rendered improper 
 for the support of whales, these enormous fish, which 
 require so much room, will be confined to two or 
 three degrees of latitude in the neighbourhood of 
 Spitzbergen; for all the Greenland Masters agree, 
 that the best fishing stations are from 79° to 80°, and 
 that they do not often catch them to the Southward. 
 
 I will now ask, if the sea is congealed from North 
 latitude 80i° quite to the Pole, when did it thus begin 
 to freeze, as it is well known, that a large quantity of 
 
 * " Sometimes the ice is fixed, when thei'e are but few whalea 
 seen, for underneath the ice they cannot breathe." — Martens's Voy- 
 age to Spitzbergen. 
 
 The whales, likewise, are supposed to come from the North ; but 
 how can this be, if there is an incrusted sea over them ? 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 51 
 
 sea water is not easily forced to assume the form of 
 ice ?* Can it be contended, that ten degrees of the 
 globe round each Pole were covered with frozen sea 
 at the original creation ?t And if this is not insisted 
 upon, can it be supposed, that, when the surface of 
 the Polar Ocean first ceased to be liquid, it could 
 have afterward resisted the effects of winds, currents, 
 and tides? 
 
 I beg leave also to rely much upon the necessity 
 of the ice's yielding to the constant reciprocation of 
 
 * " There are three kinds of ice in the Northern Seas. The 
 first is Hke melted snow, which is become partly hardened, is 
 more easily broken into pieces, less transparent, is seldom more 
 than six inches thick, and, when dissolved, is found to be intermixed 
 with salt. This first sort of ice is the only one which is ever formed 
 from sea water. 
 
 " If a certain quantity of water, which contains as much salt a* 
 sea water, is exposed to the greatest degree of cold, it never becomes 
 firm and pure ice, but resembles tallow or suet, whilst it preserves the 
 taste of salt, so that the sweet transparent ice can never be formed 
 in the sea. If the ice of the sea itself, therefore, contined in a 
 small vessel without any motion, cannot thus become true ice, much 
 less can it do so in a deep and agitated ocean."' The author hence 
 infers, that all the floating ice in the Polar Seas comes from the 
 Tartarian Rivers and Greenland, as I have before contended. — See 
 a Dissertation of Michel Lomonosof, translated from the Swedish 
 Transactions of 1752. Collection Academique, tom. xi. p, 5. et seq., 
 4to. Paris, 1772. The Dissertation is entitled, " £)c VOrigine des 
 Mollis de Glace, daiis la Mcr du JVord." 
 
 t If there had been a fixed barrier of ice from the time of the 
 creation, extending from 80i** to the North Pole, the height of such 
 ice must have been excessive, by the accumulation of frozen snow 
 from winter to winter. Martens therefore observes, that the ice 
 mountains in Spitzbergen are constantly increasing by the snow and 
 rain which falls freezing, and which seldom melts at the top. — P. 43. 
 
52 ON APPROACHING 
 
 the latter; because no sea was ever known to be 
 frozen but the Black Sea, and some small parts of the 
 Baltic,* neither of which have any tides, at the same 
 time that the waters of both contain much less salt 
 than those of other seas, from the great influx of 
 many fresh water rivers. For this last reason, it may 
 likewise be presumed, that the circumpolar seas are 
 very salt, because there is probably no such influx 
 beyond North latitude 80°, Spitzbergen itself having 
 no rivers. 
 
 Having thus given some general reasons, why the 
 sea should not be supposed to be frozen in the ten 
 highest degrees of latitude, I shall now proceed to 
 lay before the Society several instances, which I 
 have lately collected, and which prove that it is not 
 so covered with ice considerably to the North of 80i°. 
 
 I shall, however, previously make two observ- 
 ations ; the first of which is, that every instance of 
 exceeding North latitude 801°, as much proves that 
 there is no perpetual barrier of ice in that latitude, as 
 if the navigator hath reached the Pole. The second 
 is, that as four experienced Greenland Masters 
 have concurred in informing me, that they can see 
 what is called the blink of the ice'\ for a degree before 
 
 * To these perhaps may be added the White Sea. 
 
 t This is described to be an arch formed upon the clouds by re- 
 flection from the packed ice. Wheie the ice is fixed upon the sea, 
 you see a snow white brightness in the skies, as if the sun shined, 
 for the snow is reflected by the air just as a fire by night is, but at a 
 distance you see the air blue or blackish. Where there are many 
 small ice fields, which are as meadows for the seals, you see no 
 Uistre or brightness of the skies. — Martens's Voyage to Spitzbergen. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 53 
 
 them, they never can be off Hakluyt's Headland, 
 which is situate in 79° 50', without observing this 
 eflfect of the ice upon the sky, if there was a per- 
 petual barrier at 80?°, which is not much more than 
 half a degree from them, when in that situation. 
 Now Hakluyt's Headland is what they so perpetually 
 take their departures from, that it hath obtained the 
 name of The Headland by way of pre-eminence. 
 
 This mountain also is so high, that it can be dis- 
 tinguished at the distance of a degree ; in such 
 instances, therefore, which I shall produce, that do 
 not settle the latitude by observation, whenever the 
 reckoning depends upon the approach or departure 
 from this Headland, the account receives the ad- 
 ditional check of the mountain's being increased or 
 diminished gradually \o the eye of the observer. 
 
 My second previous remark shall be, with regard 
 to all instances of reaching high Northern latitudes, 
 for Avhich the authority of the Ship's Journal may be 
 required, that it is almost impossible to procure this 
 sort of evidence, except the voyages have been 
 recent ; not only for the reasons F have given in my 
 former Paper, but because I find, that if the Ship's 
 Journal is not wanted by the owners in a year or two 
 (which seldom happens) it is afterward considered 
 as waste paper. 
 
 Without the least impeachment also of the know- 
 ledge in navigation of the Grecnhind Masters, when 
 they are in the actual pursuit of fish, they do not 
 trouble themselves about their longitude or latitude ; 
 they are not bound by their instructions to sail to any 
 particular point, and their only object is to catch as 
 
34 ON APPROACHING 
 
 many whales as possible ; the ship's situation there- 
 fore, at such time, becomes a matter of perfect indif- 
 ference. It will appear, however, that they not only 
 keep "their reckonings, but observe, when they are 
 not thus employed in fishing. 
 
 Having made these previous remarks, I shall now 
 proceed to lay before the Society such instances of 
 navigators having penetrated beyond 801°, as I have 
 happened to procure since the reading of my former 
 Paper on this subject, in May last. 
 
 James Hutton (then belonging to the ship London, 
 Captain Guy) was, thirty years ago, in North latitude 
 81 2°, as both the Captain and Mate informed him; 
 but did not observe himself A very intelligent sea- 
 oflficer was so good as to take from him this account, 
 together with the following particulars, which per- 
 haps may be interesting to Greenland Navigators. 
 
 Hutton hath been employed in the Whale Fishery 
 nearly these forty years, during which he hath been 
 several times at the Seven Islands, and the Waygat 
 Straits. In some of these voyages the sea hath been 
 perfectly clear from ice, and at other times it hath 
 set in so rapidly towards the Waygat,* as to obhge 
 the vessels which happened to be thereabouts to 
 force all sail possible to escape being inclosed. 
 
 This hardy old tar likewise supposes that he hath 
 been farther up the Waygat than perhaps any person 
 now living; for he was once in a ship which attempted 
 
 * The Weighgatt is so called from the wind which blows through 
 this Strait, (weihen, to blow) because a strong Southwest wind 
 blows out of it. Another name for it is Hindelopen.'^-^ee Martens's 
 Voyage, p. 27. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 55 
 
 to pass through it, nor did the Master desist, till they 
 shoaled the water to three fathoms, when the sea 
 was so clear, that they could distinguish the bottom 
 from the deck. 
 
 Mr. John Phillips, now Master of the Exeter, but 
 then Mate of the Loyal Club, in the year 1752, 
 reached North latitude 81^ and several minutes by 
 observation, which circumstance was confirmed by 
 another person on board the Exeter last summer, on 
 her return from the Greenland Fishery. Captain 
 Phillips added, that it was very common to fish in such 
 latitudes. 
 
 Mr. George Ware, now living at Erith in Kent, 
 served as chief Mate in the year 1754, on board the 
 Sea Nymph, Captain James Wilson, when, at the 
 latter end of June, they sailed through floating ice 
 from 74° to 81°; but having then proceeded beyond 
 the ice they pursued the whales to 82° 15', which 
 latitude was determined by Mr. Ware's own ob- 
 servation. 
 
 As the sea was now perfectly clear, as far as he 
 could distinguish with his best glasses, both Mr. 
 Ware and Captain Wilson had a strong inclination to 
 push farther towards the Pole; but the common 
 sailors hearing of such their intention, remonstrated, 
 that if they should be able to proceed so far, the ship 
 would fall into pieces, as the Pole would draw all the 
 iron-work out of her. 
 
 On this Captain Wilson and Mr. Ware desisted, as 
 the crew had these very singular apprehensions; 
 especially as they had no whales in sight to the 
 Northward, which alone would justify the attempt to 
 
56 ON APPROACHING 
 
 their owners.* It need scarcely be observed, how- 
 ever, that the notion which prevailed among the 
 crew shows, that the common seamen on board the 
 Greenland ships conceive, that the sea is open to the 
 Pole ; they would otherwise have objected on account 
 of the ice being supposed to increase. It should 
 seem also, that the practicability of reaching the 
 Pole is a point which they often discuss among 
 themselves. 
 
 In this same year and months Mr. John Adams (who 
 now is master of a flourishing academy at Waltham 
 Abbey, in Essex) was on board the Unicorn, Captain 
 Guy, when they anchored in Magdalena Bay,t on 
 the Western coast of Spitzbergen and North latitude 
 79° 35'. 
 
 They continued in this Bay for three or four days, 
 and then stood to the Southward, when the wind 
 tireshening from that quarter, but the w eather foggy, 
 they proceeded with an easy sail for four days, 
 expecting to meet with fields of ice, to which they 
 might make fast ; but they did not encounter so much 
 as a piece that floated. On the fifth day the wind 
 veered to the Westward, the weather cleared up, and 
 Mr. Adams had a good observation (the sun above 
 the Pole)J by which he found himself three degrees 
 
 * This circumstance of not seeing any whales in that direction 
 accounts for Captain Guy's desisting, in the following instance, from 
 sailing to the Northward, as also in many others which I shall have 
 occasion to state. 
 
 t The Greenlaiid Masters mo«t commonly call this Bay Mac- 
 Helena. 
 
 I The old navigators to these parts call this a South Stni . 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 57 
 
 to the Northward of Hakluyt's Headland, or in North 
 latitude 83°. 
 
 Captain Guy now declared, that he had never 
 been so far to the Northward before, and crawled 
 up to the maintopmast head, accompanied by the 
 chief mate, whilst the second mate, together with Mr. 
 Adams, went to the foretopmast head, from whence^ 
 they saw a sea as free from ice as any part of the 
 Atlantic Ocean, and it was the joint opinion of them 
 all, that they might have reached the North Pole. 
 
 The ship then stood to the Southward, and twelve 
 iiours afterward Mr. Adams had a second good ob- 
 servation (the sun beneath the Pole) when their lati- 
 tude was 82° .3'. In both these observations, Mr. 
 Adams made an allowance of 5' for the refraction, 
 which, he says, was his captain's rule, who was now 
 on his fifty-ninth or sixtieth voyage to the Greenland 
 Seas. 
 
 In the year 1756, Mr. James Montgomery, now a 
 merchant in Prescot-Street, Goodman's Fields, but 
 then Master of the Providence, followed the whales 
 during the month of June, till he reached North lati- 
 tude 83°, by observation. Another Greenland Mas- 
 ter informs me, that he remembers well the ice packed 
 much to the Westward, but that the sea was open to 
 the Northward during that summer. 
 
 In 1762, David Boyd, then mate of the brig Betsy, 
 was driven by a gale of wind from 79° to 82°, odd 
 minutes, by observation; during all which time he 
 was beset in ice. A Greenland Master has likewise 
 told me, that he recollects many other ships were 
 
 8 
 
55 ON APPROACHING 
 
 driven to the Northeast from their fisliing stations 
 during that season. 
 
 Mr. Jonathan Wheatley, now Master of a Green- 
 land ship, was in 1766 off* Hakluyt's Headland,* 
 whence, not meeting with success, he sailed North- 
 west to 8H°, in which latitude he could see no ice in 
 any direction whatsoever from the mast head, though 
 there was a very heavy sea from the Northeast. 
 
 Mr. Wheatley also informs me, that whilst he was 
 off" the coast of Greenland, three Dutch Captains told 
 him, that a ship of their nation had been in 89*, and 
 they all supposed, that the sea in such a latitude 
 might be as free from ice as where they were fishing. 
 This account probably alludes to the Dutch man of 
 war, on board of which Dr. Dallie happened to be, 
 the circumstances of which voyage I have stated in 
 my former Paper. 
 
 This same Captain is so thoroughly persuaded of 
 being able to approach the Pole, that he will attempt 
 it whenever an opportunity offers of doing it, without 
 prejudice to his owners. On such a voyage of dis- 
 covery, he would not wish a larger vessel than one 
 of ninety tons,t nor more than ten hands. I find, 
 indeed, that this is the size of the ships in which 
 most of the early navigators attempted to proceed far 
 to the Northward. 
 
 * He was then on board a ship called the Grampus. 
 
 t Clipperton reached China in a bark not much exceeding ten 
 tons, as did also Funnell, in another such vessel. — Callander, vol. 
 iii. p. '223. 
 
THE NORTH POLK. 
 
 ^ 
 
 In 1769, Mr. John Thevv, now Master of a Green- 
 land Ship called the Rising Sun, was in North lati- 
 tude 82°, and one hundred leagues to the West of 
 Hakluyt's Headland. The circumstances by which 
 he supposed himself to have been in this situation, 
 were stated to me in the presence of a very able sea 
 officer, who told me afterward that he was perfectly 
 satisfied with the accuracy of his account. 
 
 Captain John Clarke, of the Sea. Horse, at the 
 latter end of June, 1773, sailed from the Headland 
 North Northeast to 8U°, which he computed by his 
 run from the Headland in eighteen hours, having lost 
 sight of it. At this time there was an open sea to the 
 Northward, and such a swell from the Northeast, 
 that the ship would not stay, being under her double 
 reefed topsails, whilst the wind blew fresh. 
 
 During this run from the Headland, Mr. Clarke fell 
 in with Captain Robhison in 81° 20', whom I men- 
 tioned in my former Paper as having reached 81^ 
 in the same month and year, by a very accurate 
 observation. 
 
 This same Captain Robinson, on the 28th of June 
 last, passed by Hakluyt's Headland, lying off and on 
 for several days, during which he was sometimes a 
 degree to the Northward of it, and till the 20th of 
 July following, there was no obstruction to his pro- 
 ceeding Northward ; to which, however, he had no 
 inducement, as he caught two large whales in this 
 latitude.* 
 
 * The* Second Part of Martens's Voyage (who received certain 
 queries from the Royal Society) begins almost by saying, "We 
 sailed to the 81«t degree, and no ship ventured farther that year," 
 vh. 1671. 
 
60 OS APPROACHING 
 
 Captain John Reed, of the Rockingham, also in 
 July last, pursued some whales fifteen leagues to the 
 Northward of the Headland, and confirms Captain 
 Robinson's last account, by saying, he could then see 
 no ice from his mast head. 
 
 Captain Reed was brought up in the Greenland 
 fishery, and remembers well, that whilst on board his 
 father's ship, the Thistle, the mate told him, that 
 they had reached 81° 42', when there was indeed a 
 good deal of ice, but full room to sail in any direction. 
 Mr. Reed likewise hath informed me, that about 
 fifteen years ago, a Dutch Captain (whose name was 
 Hans Derrick) told him, whilst they w ere together in 
 the Greenland Seas, that he had been in North lati- 
 tude 86° when there were only some small pieces of 
 floating ice to be seen. Hans Derrick moreover 
 added, that there were then five ships in company, 
 which took, one with another, eighteen small whales. 
 I have great reason to expect several other instan- 
 ces of the same kind, in a short time, from the dif- 
 ferent ports of this kingdom where there is any con- 
 siderable Greenland trade: I shall not, however, 
 trouble the Society with them, till I know whether 
 they would wish any farther information on this head. 
 I shall now recapitulate the different latitudes 
 which have been reached by the several navigators 
 whose names I have mentioned in this and my 
 former Paper. I shall also take credit for nearly a 
 degree to the Northward of their several situations, 
 because the blink or glare of the packed ice is to be 
 distinguished at this distance, when the weather is 
 tolerably fair. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 61 
 
 Captain John Reed 8U* 45'. 
 
 Captain Thomas Robinson (for three weeks 
 
 together) 81°. 
 
 Captain John Phillips 01 odd mi. 
 
 James Hutton, Jonathan Wheatley, Thomas 
 
 Robinson, John Clarke (four instances) 81° 30'. 
 
 Captain Cheyne and Thew (two instances) . 82°. 
 
 Cluny and David Boyd (two instances) . . 82° odd mi. 
 
 Mr. George Ware 82° 15' 
 
 Mr. John Adams and Mr. James Montgomery 
 
 (two instances) 83°. 
 
 Mr. James Watt, Lieutenant in the Royal 
 
 Navy - 83° 30'. 
 
 Five ships in company with Hans Derrick . . 86°- 
 
 Captain Johnson and Dr. Dallie (two instan- 
 ces ; to which, perhaps, may be added 
 Captain Monson, as a third) 88". 
 
 Relation of the two Dutch Masters to Captain 
 
 Goulden* 89°. 
 
 Dutch relation to Mr. Grey 89° 30'. 
 
 DAIJ^ES BARRIJS^GTO.V, F.R.S. 
 
 * This instance, however, hath before been relied upon, though 
 never, perhaps, circumstantially stated, but by Captain Wood. 
 
POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 January 8, 1775. 
 
 XlAVING procured the three following instancey 
 befoce the reading of my Paper was finished, it may 
 not be improper to add them in a Postscript. 
 
 In Harris's Voyages* is the following passage : — 
 " By the Dutch Journals they get into North latitude 
 08° 56', and the sea open." 
 
 I have, within these few days, asked Dr. Campbell, 
 the very able compiler of these voyages, upon what 
 authority he inserted this account ? who informs me, 
 that he received it from Holland about thirty years 
 ago, as being an extract from the Journals produced 
 to the States General in 1665, on the application for 
 a discovery of the Northeast passage to Japan, which 
 was frustrated by the Dutch East-India Company. 
 
 In the Journal des Sgavans^ for the month of October 
 1774,t is likewise the following paragraph: — 
 
 " To these instances, produced by Mr. Barrington" 
 (of navigators having reached high Northern lati- 
 tudes,) " our countrymen" {viz. the Dutch) " could 
 add many others. An able officer in the English 
 service hath in his custody the Journals of a Green- 
 land ship, wherein he hath remarked, that in the 
 month of May he had penetrated as far as 82^ 20', 
 when the sea was open." 
 
 "^ Vol. ii. page 453. \ Part ii. pasro. 50'^. 
 
64 
 
 ON APPROACHING 
 
 My third and last instance is that of Captain 
 Bateson, who sailed in 1773 from Liverpool, in a 
 ship called the Whale, on the Greenland Fishery, 
 and who, on June 14, reached North latitude 82° 15', 
 computed by his run back to Hakluyt's Headland,* 
 As this happened so recently. Captain Bateson (as 
 well as many of the olher Masters, whose accounts I 
 have before mentioned) hath his Journal to produce, 
 if it should be required. 
 
 This seems to be the strongest confirmation of both 
 Captain Robinson and Captain Clarke's having been, 
 during this same year and month, in 8H°; as also of 
 their having met each other in 81° 20', according to 
 what I have already stated. 
 
 I must not lose this same opportunity of laying 
 before the Society the information whicli I have just 
 now received from M. de Buffon, in relation to what 
 I have cited from his Natural History of Captain 
 Monson's having reached North latitude 88°, " as he 
 was fold by persons of credit.'''' 
 
 Upon my taking the liberty to inquire, who those 
 persons of credit ivere ? M. de BufTon refers me to Dr. 
 Nathan Hickman, M'ho, in 17:]0, travelled as one of 
 Dr. Ratcliflfs fellows ;t and who supposed that Cap- 
 tain Monson's Journal might have been at that time 
 procured in England. M. de Buflfon also recollects, 
 that a Dutchman was then present, and confirmed 
 the account. 
 
 * His inducement to proceed so far North was the pursuit of whales. 
 I have shown the extracts from Captain Bateson's Journal to a very 
 able sea officer, who is perfectly satisfied with the accuracy of it. 
 
 t He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1730. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 65 
 
 ADDITIONAL PAPEKS 
 
 FROM 
 
 HULL. 
 
 VV HILST I was waiting in expectation of several 
 additional instances of Dutch ships, which had been 
 in high Northern latitudes, I received the followino; 
 answers to certain Queries relative to the Greenland 
 Seas from a very eminent Merchant of Hull, and 
 which he is so obliging as to permit me to lay before 
 the public. 
 
 D. B . 
 
 March 31, 1775. 
 
 --»>©«- 
 
 I. 
 
 FROM CAPTAIN JOHN HALL, 
 
 OF 
 
 THE KING OF PRUSSIA. 
 
 First Query. How near hath any ship approached 
 the Pole } 
 
 Answer. I have known ships go into the latitude 
 ©f 84° North, and did not hear of any difficulty they 
 
 9 
 
(JG ON APPROACHING 
 
 met with ; but it is not often that the ice will permit 
 
 them to go so far North. 
 
 N. B. On inquiring of Captain Hall what ships he 
 had known proceed so far? He replied, they 
 were some Dutch ships he heard had done so, 
 but loiew no particulars. 
 
 Second Q. When are the Polar Seas most free 
 from ice ? 
 
 A. The seas are most incumbered with ice from 
 about the 1st of September to the 1st of June follow- 
 ing; and, in consequence, between the 1st of June 
 and September, the ice lieth farthest from Spitz- 
 bergen. And I know no other precaution to be taken, 
 respecting the Pole, than that they must watch the 
 opportunity when the ice lieth farthest from the land. 
 
 Third Q. How far to the Southward have you 
 iirst seen ice? 
 
 A. In the space of twenty years I have twice 
 known that we met with the ice in the latitude of 
 74° 30' North, and could not find a passage to the 
 Northward till the month of July, and then got into 
 tlie latitude of 78° with much difficulty, in running 
 through the openings of great bodies of ice; and 
 some years we find a passage to the latitude 79 and 
 80° North, without much difficulty from the ice. Some 
 years I have known ships go round the North part of 
 vSpitzbergen, and so come out between Nova Zembia 
 and the South part of Spitzbergen ; but this passage 
 is seldom to be found free from ice. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. G7 
 
 Fourth Q. From what quarter is the wind coldest 
 whilst off Spitzbergcn? 
 
 A. Northerly and East Northeast winds are most 
 frosty; but snow and frost we have very common 
 with all winds, except during part of June, July, and 
 August. If the winds be Southerly the weather is 
 milder, but subject to snow, sleet, and thick weather. 
 The winds, currents, and the ice, are very variable. 
 
 The opinion of the old seamen is, that we may 
 proceed farther North than ever has been yet 
 attempted ; but this must be done with caution. An 
 opportunity is to be watched for in those seas. The 
 most likely time for such discoveries to be made is in 
 the months of July and August, when the ice is most 
 commonly farthest from the land ; but some years not 
 to be found open at all from the land. And when it 
 is open, they must observe the ice to lay a long way 
 from the North part of Spitzbergcn ; for I ha^ c 
 known ships that made attempts to go to the North- 
 ward, and before they returned back the it^ set in 
 with the land, so that they have been obliged to 
 leave the ships to the East of Spitzbergcn. 
 N. B. The ice always sets in with the land the back 
 
 of the year. 
 
 n. 
 
 FROM CAPTAIN HUMPHRY FORD, 
 
 Ol 
 
 THE MANCHESTER. 
 
 First. I was once as high as the latitude SV 30' 
 North, in the ship Dolphin of Newcastle, in the year 
 
68 ON APPROACHINe 
 
 1759 or 60, and have been several times since as high 
 as the latitude 81° in the ships Annabella and Man^ 
 Chester, in which latitude I never met with any un- 
 common circumstances, but such as I have met with 
 in the latitudes 75, 76, 77, 78, and 79°; if lo the 
 Westward, I was commonly incumbered with- large 
 quantities of ice. 
 
 Second. I suppose that the Greenland Seas are 
 most incumbered with ice in the months of Decem- 
 ber, January, February, and March ; for in the latter 
 part of April, and the first of May, the ice generally 
 begins to separate and open ; and in the months of 
 June and July we generally find the Greenland Seas 
 most clear of ice. 
 
 Third. The only precaution to be taken, in order 
 to proceed towards the Pole, is to fit out two strong 
 ahips that are handy and sail fast, well equipped, and 
 secured* in the manner of those that are generally 
 sent to Greenland on the Whale Fishery. Such 
 ships should be manned with about forty able seamen 
 in each, and victualled for about eighteen months or 
 two years, and be entirely under the command of 
 some expert, able, and experienced seaman, who has 
 frequented those seas for some time past. They 
 should sail from England about the middle of April, 
 in order to be in with the edge of the ice about the 
 10th of May, when it begins to separate and open. 
 
 Fourth. There is not the least reason to suppose, 
 that the seas to the West, Northwest, and North of 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 69 
 
 Spitzbcrgen are covered with permanent and per- 
 petual ice, so as never to be opened by the operation 
 of tJie winds ; for daily experience shows us, that a 
 Northerly wind, when of any long duration, opens 
 and separates the ice, so as to admit the ships going 
 amongst it in sundry places to a very high latitude, if 
 attempted. 
 
 N. B. 1 never was to the Eastward of Spitzbergen; 
 but am of opinion, that the ice is much the same 
 there as to the North and Northwest of Spitz- 
 bergen. 
 
 I generally find, that Northerly winds bring frost 
 and snow ; on the conti'ary, Southerly winds bring 
 mild weather and rain ; but none of those winds 
 appear to be periodical, except close in with tlie 
 land, called Fair Foreland, where I gf'nerally find 
 the winds in the months of June and July to blow 
 mostly from South Southwest, and very often exces- 
 sive strong. 
 
 It is my o})inion. by observing the above, that in 
 some years ships might sail very nigh the Pole; if 
 not, tlie impracticability must arise from the large 
 quantity of ice that lies in those seas. 
 
 III. 
 FROM CAPTAIN RALPH DALE, 
 
 OF 
 
 THE ANN AND ELIZABETH. 
 
 1 am willing to give you my opinion, in regard to 
 the Queries received of yon, so far as my observa- 
 tions will justify. 
 
70 ON APPROACHING 
 
 First. In the year 1773, I sailed North 81°, when 
 I was much incommoded with large fields of ice, but 
 the air was not sensibly different there from what I 
 found it a few jiiore degrees Southerly. 
 
 Second. I have for many years used the Green- 
 land Fishery ; and have, by experience, found those 
 seas the least incumbered with ice betwixt the fore- 
 part of May till July. 
 
 Third. The same year I sailed to the latitude 
 above mentioned, I found in May, to the West of 
 Spitzbergen, a fine open sea, the wind then blowing 
 Southwest, and the sea (as far as I could observe 
 from the mast-head) was little incumbered with ice, 
 which fully convinced me that there was a probability 
 of proceeding to a very high latitude. 
 
 Fourth. I have observed, that let the wind blow 
 from what quarter it will, it is at times impregnated 
 with frost, snow, &c. ; but when most so I am not 
 able to determine. As for rain, I do not recollect 
 ever seeing any there. The weather I have generally 
 found mildest when the wind blows Southerly. As 
 for periodical winds, I do not suppose there are any 
 in Greenland. 
 
THE NORTH POLF,. 71 
 
 IV. 
 
 FROM CAPTAIN JOHN GREENSHAW. 
 
 e 
 
 In regard to the Queries sent to me, all I have to 
 say is, that if a passage to the North Pole is ever to 
 be accomplished, my opinion is, it must be obtained 
 by going betwixt Greenland and Nova Zembla, as I 
 myself have been to the Westward of Greenland, and 
 reached so far to the Northward as 82*' of North lati- 
 tude, and to the Nortli and Northwest of that, found 
 nothing but a solid body of ice : my opinion, there- 
 fore, is, that it is impossible ever to obtain a passage 
 that way. Captain John Cracroft, in the South Sea 
 Company's time,* was once so far as 83** North lati- 
 tude, and to the Northward of Greenland, and met 
 with nothing but a solid field of ice. And in regard 
 to the winds and weather, it freezes continually; but 
 the wind from the Southward dotii commonly bring 
 rain and thick foggy weather, which is chiefly in the 
 latter end of June and July. If you are to the North- 
 ward and Westward of Greenland the wind from the 
 Northwest and North Northwest, doth always open 
 the ice ; but at the same time, if it come to blow 
 any time from that quarter, packs it close in with the 
 land ; and the winds from the Southward have the 
 contrary ellect. 
 
 * The South Sea Company sent a small DUQiber of ships, for 
 about nine years, on the Greenland Fishery. 
 
72 ON APPROACHIXO 
 
 THE QUERIES ANSWERED 
 
 BY 
 
 ANDREW FISHER, 
 
 MASTER OF A GREENLAND SHIP AT HULL, 
 
 Who has been txcentij-four voijages from England to the Greenland Sefrn. 
 
 First. Said Andrew Fisher says, that in the year 
 1746, being on board the ship Ann and Ehzabeth 
 from London, on a voyage to the Greenland Seas, ho 
 steered from Hakluyt's Headland in Spitzbergen 
 North and Northwest in clear water till they were in 
 latitude 82"* 34', where they met with a loose pack of 
 ice, and made their fishery, or otherwise they might 
 have got through that loose ice, and doubt not, but 
 that they might have gone considerably farther 
 North; they returned, however, in clear water to 
 Spitzbergen. 
 
 Second. Best seasons of the year are, to be at or 
 near Spitzbergen from the 15th of May to the 1st of 
 June, though the years differ, and the laying of the 
 ice exceedingly : some years it is not possible to get 
 North of 80'' ; at other times you may meet with very 
 little ice, which is chiefly o\^ ing to the weather in 
 winter, and the winds in April and May. 
 
 Third. There is not any reason to suppose, that 
 there is any permanent ice, either North or West of 
 Spitzbergen, so far as 90°; and it hath been always 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 73 
 
 found, by able and experienced navigators, that 
 there is not near the quantity of ice, nor so liable to 
 set fast to the North of Spitzbergen, as there is to 
 the South of 80° as far as 74°, owing to the continent 
 of America (called Gallampus Land by the sailors) 
 and Spitzbergen, which makes a narrow passage in 
 proportion to what it is to the North of Spitzbergen. 
 The land of America is sometimes seen by our 
 Greenland Traders from latitude 74° to 76°; and, as 
 it is not seen any farther North, is supposed to round 
 away to the Northwest, which makes it imagined by 
 many, that there is not any land near the Pole. 
 
 Fourth. South winds bring most snow; North 
 winds bring frost ; but that is in the month of April 
 and two-thirds of May; after that time, to the 1st or 
 10th of July, it is in general mild, fine, clear, sunshine 
 weather, and winds variable ; after that again, often 
 thick fogs and high winds. 
 
 Fifth. It is very possible, by steering North or 
 North Northeast by the ship's compass, (if it can be 
 so contrived as to have the card on the needle steady, 
 and the winds prove favourable,) with a little perse- 
 verance, a ship may get near the Pole, if they do not 
 meet with rocks. 
 
 VI. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 In the year 1766, trade being dull, I fitted a 
 rihip at my sole expense to the Greenland Seas ; and 
 
 10 
 
74 ON APPROACHING 
 
 the said ship returned with one fish, eleven feet bone. 
 Finding the trade could be conducted belter in pri- 
 vate hands than a company's, I was induced to send 
 a second ship in 1767, and as I had other concerns 
 in shipping, thouglit it most prudent (being brought 
 up to the sea, and having made an easy fortune from 
 it) to go a voyage to the Greenland Seas, to see with 
 my own eyes what chance there might be of making 
 or losing a fortune. So sailed from Hull the 14th 
 day of April, in my ship British Queen, m ith an old 
 experienced Master, and on the 24th and 25th of 
 April was in the latitude of 72°, catching seals amongst 
 great quantities of loose ice. As we did not choose 
 to stay in that latitude, we made the best of our way 
 North ; and after saihng through loose ice, which is 
 commonly the case, about the 6th of May we were 
 as far North as latitude 80"^ (which is near what the 
 Masters call afisking latitude) and about fifteen leagues 
 West of Hakluyt's Headland. I found the farther 
 North the less quantity of ice ; and from the inquiry 
 I made, both from the English and Dutch, which was 
 very considerable, there is a great probability of 
 ships going to the Pole, if not stopped by meeting 
 land or rocks. Jt appeared to me, that the narrowest 
 place in those seas was betwixt Spitzbergen and the 
 American shore, where the current is observed to 
 come always from the North, which fills this narrow 
 place with ice, but in general loose and floating in 
 the summer, though I believe congealed and perma- 
 nent in winter. Those from whom I inquired inform- 
 ed me, that the sea was abundantly clearer to the 
 North of Spitzbergen, and the farther North, the 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 75 
 
 clearer. This aeems to prove a wide ocean and a 
 great opening to the North, as the current comes 
 from thence, that fills this passage as aforesaid. The 
 best method of reaching the highest latitude, in my 
 opinion, is, to hire two vessels of about two hundred 
 and fifty tons burthen each, and if done on a frugal 
 scheme, the same ships might be fitted for the whale 
 fishery, and premiums given both for tlie use of the 
 ship and crew, in proportion to their approach to the 
 Pole, which, for many circumstances that may inter- 
 vene, might be two or three years before they could 
 complete their wishes. And it is more likely they 
 might make their fishery sooner than to the South- 
 ward; as, if they met with ice, the fish would be 
 undisturbed ; if clear water and a good wind, they 
 very soon might reach the Pole. What I mean by 
 two vessels is, one to foresail the other at the dis- 
 tance of three or four leagues, as the latter may 
 avoid the dangers the first might run into ; and to be 
 always ready, on seeing and hearing proper signals, 
 to aid and assist, and by that means secure a retreat. 
 I am also of opinion, that such ships being sent on 
 discoveries are much more likely to succeed than his 
 Majesty's ships and officers. The above hints I have 
 pointed out for your consideration ; and, if I can be 
 of any farther service, may command, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your most humble Servant, 
 
 SAM. STANDIDGE 
 
 HulhMarrh4, Ml't. 
 
76 O.N APPROACHING 
 
 I take this opportunity of laying before the Public 
 the following letter from Captain Marshall, Master of 
 a Greenland ship, to Captain Heath of the 41st 
 Regiment, who formerly made two voyages to 
 Spitzbergen. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 In compliance with your request of Wednes- 
 day last, I acquaint you, that six years ago I was as 
 high as 82° 30' North latitude, by observation, which 
 is the highest I have ever been in ; at that time I was 
 Mate of the Royal Exchange Greenlandman, of New- 
 castle. I do not know of any one who has been in a 
 higher degree ; but it has been reported at Newcastle 
 (with what truth I cannot say) that Captain Green- 
 shaw, of London, had told his friends, that he had 
 been as high North as 04°. 
 
 The Dutch, I have been informed, have proceeded 
 to 83° 30'; but I have it only by hearsay. 
 
 In respect to your second Query, I remember, that 
 about five years since, when I was Master of the 
 above-mentioned ship, I was in 81° North latitude, 
 by observation, when there was a clear sea to the 
 Northward, as far as the eye could reach from the mast 
 head ; and I could not help observing to my people, 
 that if it had happened that we were then upon dis- 
 covery, we might have had a fine run to the North, 
 as the wind blew fresh at South. The like clear sea 
 i have observed sevieral times during the time I have 
 been in the Greenland service, which is now about 
 twenty-one years. I have no doubt but that a navi- 
 gator might reach a higher latitude than I have been 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 77 
 
 in, provided he was well acquainted with the cur- 
 rents and the ice, (for much depends thereon,) and 
 took the advantage of a favourable season. 1 liavc 
 remarked, that when the frost has been severe in 
 England, and to the Southward,* there has been a 
 great deal less ice to the Northward the ensuing sum- 
 mer than usual ; and the weather has been remarka- 
 bly fine in Greenland. I have, for this reason, great 
 expectations that the approaching season will pro- 
 duce a successful fishery, and that it will also aflford 
 an opportunity for a trial to reach the Pole.t 
 
 But the greatest difficulty attending a navigator in 
 very high latitudes, is how to get back again, for. 
 should he be beset there in the ice, his situation 
 would be very dangerous ; for he miglit be .detained 
 a long time, if not for the whole winter. I speak this 
 from experience, for I was once beset for three 
 months, and was given up for lost, and with difficully 
 got out. 
 
 * I conceive that this arises Iroat the ice becoming of a greater 
 thickness during such severe winters, and consequently cannot be ?o 
 soon broken up, or observed by the Greenland ships, which return 
 to the Southward, before the ice can have floated to them in thp 
 Spitzbergen Seas. 
 
 t I am sorry to have been informed, since the Bill for promoting 
 Discoveries passed, that the attempts to penetrate to the Northward 
 will not be so frequent as I had flattered myself; because, most of 
 the Greenland vessels being ensured, if any accident should happen 
 to a ship which is not prosecuting the Whale Fishery, the owner* 
 will not be entitled to recover. 
 
78 ON APPROACHING 
 
 Any farther information in respect to the land, the 
 curt'ents, ice, or other particulars, you may wish to 
 have, I shall very readily communicate it, and am, 
 Sir, 
 
 Your very humble Servant, * 
 
 JAMES MARSHALL. 
 
 j\'o. 5, Spring-Street, Shadwell, 
 
 February 25, 1776. k 
 
 Captain Heath, to whom I am indebted for this 
 communication, also informs me, that on the 15th 
 of December, 1777, he minuted the following particu- 
 lars from a person employed in the whale fishery. 
 
 "That being on board the Prince Frederick of 
 Liverpool in 1765, commanded by James Bisbrown, 
 he reached the latitude of 83° 40', where he was 
 beset in ice for three weeks, to the Southward, but 
 that he saw, during this time, an open sea to the 
 North." 
 
 The Astronomer Royal having been so good as to 
 furnish me with the following memorandum, which he 
 made at the time it bears date, I here subjoin it, as 
 a well-authenticated instance of a navigator's having 
 reached 841° of Northern latitude. 
 
 "Mr. Stephens, who went many voyages to the 
 East Indies, and made much use of the lunar method 
 of finding the longitude, in which he is very experts 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 79 
 
 tells me, this 16th of March, 1773, that he was form- 
 erly two voyages on the Greenland fishery ; that, in 
 the second, in the year 1754, he was driven oflTSpitz- 
 bergen, together with a Dutch ship, by a South 
 Southeast wind. North Northwesterly by compass into 
 latitude 84|°, or within 5i° of the Pole, in which lati- 
 tude he was near the end of the month of May. They 
 saw no land after leaving Hackluyt's Headland (or 
 the Northernmost part of Spitzbergen,) and were 
 back in the month of June. Did not find the cold 
 excessive, and used little more than common cloth- 
 ing; met witif but little ice, and the less the far- 
 ther they went to the Northward : met with no drift- 
 wood. It is always clear weather with a North wind, 
 and thick weather with a Southerly wind ; neverthe- 
 less they could take the sun's altitude for the latitude 
 most days. The sea is quite smooth among the ice, 
 as in the river Thames, and so they also found it to 
 the North of Spitzbergen. Met with no ice higher 
 than the ship's gunnel. Imagines it would hardly 
 have been colder under the Pole than the}'^ expe- 
 rienced it; although he thinks the cold rather 
 increased on going Northward. Thinks the currents 
 are very variable, and have no certain or constant 
 direction. Says he has often tasted the ice, when 
 the sea water has been let to run or dry off it, and 
 always found it fresh. That the sea water will freeze 
 against the ship's bows and rigging, but he never 
 saw it freeze in the ship. That it never freezes in 
 the pumps. A little piece of ice detained under a 
 large piece of ice, when it gets loose from it and 
 comes up to the surface of the water, is very danger-^ 
 
80 ON APPROACHING 
 
 ous, it emerging with a force which will sometimes 
 knock a hole in the bottom of the ship. The Dutch 
 ship which was driven with theirs from Spitzbergen, 
 ran against a large piece of ice, and was lost, the 
 ships being then separated to a considerable dis- 
 tance. The winds in these seas are generally 
 Northerly ; the Southerly winds are commonly damp 
 and cold." 
 
 Having thus stated the memorandum as I received 
 it from Dr. Maskelyne, I shall now make some obser- 
 vations on the contents. 
 
 It appears by the preceding pages, that, in this 
 »ame year, viz. 1754, both Mr. Ware and Mr. Adams* 
 sailed to 821° and 83° during the month of June, and 
 both of them conceived that they might have reached 
 the North Pole. 
 
 Mr. Maister, by letter from Hull, dated February 
 24, 1777, hath procured me the following information 
 from a friend of his, who, at my desire, inquired at 
 Whitby with regard to any ships having reached high 
 Northern latitudes. 
 
 " Captain Brown of the Freelove says, that, in the 
 year 1770, he was certainly in 82° North latitude, 
 when the water was clear. Captain Cole also of the 
 Henrietta says, that in 1776, he was near the latitude 
 of 81° North, and after he was certain of being in that 
 latitude, he was, with strong Southeast gales, drove 
 for three days to the Northward, but as he had thick 
 
 * See the Probability of reaching the North Pole, p. 42. &c. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 81 
 
 weather, the distance was uncertain. In the course 
 of this drift he met with nothing but loose ice." 
 
 It appears also by the above account, that Mr. Ste- 
 phens had proceeded as far as 84-2°, the sea being 
 open to the Northward a month earlier in this same 
 year. 
 
 From this, and other facts of the same kind, 
 I cannot but infer, that the attempt should be made 
 early in the season; if I am right also in what 1 have 
 before supposed, that the ice, which often packs near 
 the coasts of Spitzbergen, comes chiefly from the 
 rivers, which empty themselves into the Tartarian 
 sea, it seems highly probable, that this is the proper 
 time of pushing to the Nortliward, as the ice in such 
 rivers cannot be then completely broken up. What 
 other ice therefore may be seen at this time is proba- 
 bly the remains of what was disembogued during the 
 preceding summer. 
 
 Another proof of this arises from what happened in 
 1778, for the Carcase and Race Horse were obstruct- 
 ed at 80i°, by an immense bank of ice, during part 
 of the months of July and August; but four Green- 
 land Masters were a degree farther to the North- 
 ward during the months of May and June, in the 
 same year.* 
 
 No one winters in Spitzbergen, but some few Rus- 
 sians, from whom however we have not been informed 
 what happens during that season, though it should 
 
 * See the Probability of reaching the North Pole, p. 4. 45. 4G 
 and 57. 
 
 11 
 
82 oi\ APi'iioACHiive 
 
 seem, from the observations of Barentz, those of the 
 Russians in Maloy Brun, and a ship having pushed into 
 the Atlantic from Hudson's Bay during the midst of 
 December,* that the Northern Seas are then navi- 
 gable. 
 
 For the same reason, probably, Clipperton,t who 
 passed the Straits of Magellan in the midst of winter, 
 saw no ice, which is so frequently met with at mid- 
 summer by those who sail to the Southward of Cape 
 Horn. 
 
 I take this opportunity of recapitulating the years 
 since 1746,J during which it appeai-s, irom the in- 
 stances I have stated, that the sea to the North 
 of Spitzbergen hath been open, so as to permit 
 attempts of approaching the Pole, which will shoAv 
 that such opportunities are not uncommon, and it is 
 hoped that they will be more frequently embraced, 
 from a parliamentary reward of five thousand pounds 
 being given to such of his majesty's subjects as shall 
 first penetrate beyond the 89th degree of Northern 
 latitude; the bill for which purpose hath already 
 passed both Houses of Parliament.§ 
 
 * See the Probability of reaching the North Pole, ]). 83. 
 
 t Frezier was as far South as 5Q° in the middle of May, and saw 
 no ice, though he speaks of a Southeast wind as cold. — See Callan- 
 der's Collection of Voyages, vol. iii. p. 4G1. 
 
 I Viz. 1746, 1751, 1752, 1754, 175G, 1759, 1763, 1765, 1766, 
 1769, 1771, and 1773. 
 
 § By the same bill, a reward of twenty thousand pounds is given to 
 such of his majesty's subjects as shall first discover a communication 
 between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, in any direction what- 
 soever of the Northern Hemisphere. 
 
THE NORTH POLE- 83 
 
 As it appears, by the two first collections of in- 
 stances, that I have had mucli conversation with 
 the officers of the Royal Navy, as well as masters 
 of Greenland ships, about a Polar Voyage, 1 shall 
 now state several hints which have occasionally 
 dropped from them, with regard to prosecutuig 
 discoveries to the Northward. 
 
 The ship should be such as is commonly used in 
 the Greenland Fishery, or rather of a smaller size, 
 as it works the more readily when the ice begins to 
 pack round it. 
 
 There should, on no account, be a larger com- 
 plement of men than can be conveniently stowed in 
 the boats, as.it sometimes hapjiens, that the Green- 
 land vessels are lost in the ice; but the crews 
 generally escape by means of their boats. The 
 crew also should consist of a larger proportion of 
 smiths and carpenters than are usually put on board 
 common ships. 
 
 As it may happen, that the crews in boats may be 
 kept a considerable time before they can reach 
 either ship or shore, there should be a sort of 
 aAvning, to be used occasionally, if the weather should 
 prove very inclement. 
 
 As it is not wanted that the boats should last many 
 years, it is advised, that they should be built of the 
 lightest materials, because, on this account, they 
 are more easily dragged over the packed ice.* 
 
 * Genpral Oglethorpe informs me, that the Dutch vessels on the 
 Greenland Fishery have three boats fastened on each side of the 
 fhip, which may be sufficient to contain the whole crew in case of 
 
81 ON APPROACHING 
 
 As it is possible, also, that the crew may be 
 obliged to winter in the Arctic Circle, it is recom- 
 mended, that the ship should be ballasted with coals. 
 
 That there should be a framed house of wood on 
 board, to be made as long as possible, for the oppor- 
 tunity of exercise within doors.* 
 
 That there should be also a Russian stove, as a 
 fire in a common chimney does not warm the room 
 equably. 
 
 It appears, by the accounts of the Dutch, who 
 wintered in Nova Zembla,t as well as the Russians, 
 who continued six years in Maloy Brun, that during 
 this season there are sometimes days of a tolerable 
 temperature ; snow shoes, therefore, should be pro- 
 vided, as also snow eyes, not to lose the benefit of 
 air and exercise during such an interval.f The 
 
 accidents ; and that the early discoverers had always what was called 
 a ship in quarters on board, which might be put together when a 
 creek, &c. was to be explored. He also advises, that the saiUng of 
 the two ships, to be sent in concert on discoveries, should be pre- 
 viously tried, as there should not be too great a disparity in that 
 circumstance. 
 
 * On the Labrador Coast, the furriers raise a wall of earth all 
 round their huts, as high as the roof, which is found to contribute 
 much to warmth within doors, so as to want little more heat than 
 arises from the steam of lamps. Such wall is commonly three feet 
 thick. 
 
 t The Russian Heretics, of the old faith, as they are stjded, 
 sometimes winter in Nova Zem^bla.-r-Account of Maloy Brun. 
 
 I A barrelled organ, which plays a few country dances, might 
 amuse during the dark months, as also be of use in the first inter- 
 course with the savages, music being a sort of universal language ; 
 and Sir Francis Drake, for that reason, carried out musicians with 
 him. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 85 
 
 beard, likewise, should be suffered to grow on the 
 approach of winter, from which the Russian Cou- 
 riers are enabled to support the severity of the 
 open air. 
 
 Russian boots, and the winter cap of the furriers 
 of North America, are also recommended ; but re- 
 course should not be had to this warmest clothing 
 upon the first approach of winter, for by these means 
 the Russians do not commonly endure cold so well as 
 the English ; because, when the weather becomes 
 excessively severe, they cannot well add to their 
 warmth. 
 
 When the weather is very inclement, leads for the 
 hands, dumb-bells, and other such exercises, should 
 be contrived for within-doors. 
 
 In order to prevent the scurvy, likewise, frequent 
 use of the flesh-brush is recommended, as also occa- 
 sionally a warm bath, from which James's crew 
 received great benefit, when they wintered on Charl- 
 ton Island. 
 
 With regard to the pro,visions, I shall here insert a 
 method of curing meat, communicated to me by 
 Admiral Sir Charles Knowles, the good effects of 
 which both himself and others have frequently expe- 
 vienced.* 
 
 * So soon as the ox is killed, let it be skinned and cut up into 
 pieces, tit for use, as quick as possible, and salted whilst the meat is 
 hot ; for which purpose have a sufficient quantitj^ of saltpetre and 
 bay salt pounded together, and made hot in an oven, of each equal 
 parts ; with tliis sprinkle the meat, at the rate of about two ounces 
 to the pound. Then lay the pieces on shelving boards to drain for 
 twenty-four hours; which done, turn them and repeat the same 
 
86 ox AFPROACHIN^^ 
 
 The flour should be kihi-dried, and put into tight 
 barrels which are capable of holding liquids.* Flour 
 thus preserved and packed hath been perfectly good 
 for more than three years, without the least appear- 
 ance of the weevils. 
 
 To make the best use of flour thus preserved, 
 there should be both a biscuit-maker and an oven on 
 board. 
 
 With regard to liquors, a large quantity of shrub 
 from the best spirits and fruits is recommended, 
 which should also be made just before the voyage 
 takes place ; the stronger the spirits, the less stowage. 
 
 operation, and let tliem lay for twenty-four hours longer, by which 
 time the salt will be all melted, and have penetrated the meat, and 
 the juices be drained off. Each piece must then be wiped dry with 
 clean coarse cloths, and a sufficient quantity of common salt, made 
 hot likewise in an oven, and mixed (when taken out) with about oner 
 third brown sugar. The casks being ready, rub each piece well 
 with tliis mixture, and pack them well down, allowing half a pound 
 of the salt and sugar to each pound of meat, and it will keep good 
 several years. 
 
 N. B. It is best to proportion the casks or barrels to the quantity 
 consumed at a time, as the more seldom the meat is exposed to the 
 air the better. The same process does for pork, only a larger 
 quantity of salt, and less sugar ; but the preservation of both equally 
 depends on the meat's being hot when tirst salted. Sir John Nar- 
 borough salted young seals, and Sir Richard Hawkins many barrels 
 of penguins, both of which are said to have been wholesome and 
 palatable : fish likewise caught at the approach of winter, might be 
 so cured, or indeed preserved by the frost without any salt. Cap- 
 tain Cook's precautions need not be here alluded to. 
 
 * Woodes Rogers observes in his voyage, that the water, wliich 
 he" had brought with him from England, on his arrival at Juan 
 Fernandez, was all spoiled by the casks being bad.-Callander, iii. 
 p. 259. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 87 
 
 Dampier preferred Vidonia to other wines, on 
 account of its acidity ; and perhaps old hock might 
 answer still better. 
 
 I should stand in need of many apologies, for hav- 
 ing suggested these hints to Northern Discoverers, 
 had I not received them from officers of the Royal 
 Navy, as well as Greenland Masters, and eminent 
 physicians; if any of these particulars, however, 
 would not have been otherwise thought of upon 
 fitting out the ship for such a voyage, and should be 
 attended with any good effects, it will become my 
 best excuse. 
 
 In order also to promote such a voyage of dis- 
 covery, I should conceive, that extending the Parlia- 
 mentary reward of twenty thousand pounds by 18 
 Geo. II, cap. 17, for the passage to the Pacific Ocean 
 through Hudson's Bay, to a Northern communication 
 between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in any 
 direction whatsoever, might greatly contribute to the 
 attempting such an enterprise. 
 
 To this another incitement might perhaps be added, 
 by giving one thousand pounds for every degree of 
 North latitude, which might be reached by the adven- 
 turer, from 8.5° to the Pole, as some so very perempto- 
 rily deny all former instances of having penetrated 
 to such high latitudes. An act hath accordingly 
 passed for the first of these purposes ; and, for the 
 second, with this variation, that a reward of five 
 thousand pounds is given only for approaching within 
 a degree of the Polo. 
 
 I shall conclude, however, in answer to their incre- 
 dulity, by the following citation from Hakluyt: — 
 
88 ON APPROACHING 
 
 "Now, lest you should make some account of 
 ancient writers, or of their experience, who travelled 
 before our times, reckoning their authority amongst 
 fables of no importance, I have, for the better assur- 
 ance of those proofs, set down part of a discourse 
 written in the Saxon tongue, and translated into 
 English by Mr. Nowel, servant to master Secretary 
 Cecil, wherein is described a navigation, which one 
 Ochter made in the time of king Alfred, king of West 
 Saxe, anno 871 ; the words of which discourse are 
 these: 'He sailed right North, having always the 
 desert land on the starboard, and on the larboard the 
 main sea, continuing his course till he perceived the 
 cop-st bowed directly towards the East, &c.' Where- 
 by it appeareth, that he went the same way that we 
 do now yearly trade by St. Nicholas into Muscovia, 
 which no man in our age knew for certainty to be 
 sea, till it was again discovered by the English in the 
 time of Edward VI. 
 
 " Nevertheless, if any man should have taken this 
 voyage in hand, by the encouragement of this only 
 author,* he should have been thought but simple, 
 
 * Perhaps the same sea is alluded to in the following line of 
 Dionysius : — 
 
 Tlovrov j«.£V xaXsaa-t, sr£3-?sye7«, x^eviav, ti. 
 
 as the name of Frozen can scarcely be applied to that of the Baltic. 
 
 As for the Thule of the ancients, about which so many conjec- 
 tures have been made, it seems most clearly to have been Ireland, 
 from the manner in which Statins addressed a Poem to Crispinus, 
 whose father had carried the Emperor's commands to Thule : — 
 — — tu disce patrem, quantusque nigrantem 
 Fluctibus occiduis,fessoq. Hyperione Thulea 
 Intravit mandaia gerens. 
 
THE NORTH POLE^ 8$ 
 
 considering that this navigation was written so many 
 years past, in so barbarous a tongue, by one only 
 obscure author ; and yet in these our days, we find 
 by our own experience his reports to be true." 
 
 It should also seem, from other parts of the same Poem, that this 
 General had crossed from Scotland to the North of Ireland, oT 
 Thule :— 
 
 Quod si te magno tellus franata parenti 
 
 Accipiat, quantum ferus exultabit Araxes ? 
 
 Quanta Caledonios attollet gloria campos ? 
 
 Cum tibi longsevus referet trucis incola terrae, 
 
 Hie fuetus dare jura parens, hoc cespite turmas 
 
 Affari ; nitidas speculas, castellaque longe. 
 
 Aspicis ? ille dedit cinxitque haec moenia fossA. 
 
 Statius, v. 14. 
 Crispinus's father, therefore, must have resided some time in Scot- 
 land, from whence he went to Thule or Ireland, for the Hebrides 
 (the only land to the West except Ireland) could not have been of 
 sufficient consequence for the Emperor's commission, or the fortifi- 
 cations alluded to ; besides that the expression offessoqite Hyperione 
 implies, that the land lay considerably to the Westward. 
 
 12 
 
THOUGHTS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 PROBABILITF, EXPEDIEJ^CF, ^XD UTILITT 
 
 OF 
 
 DISCOVERING A PASSAGE 
 
 BY 
 
 THE NORTH POLE.* 
 
 X HE possibility of making discoveries in this way, 
 (that is, by steering directly North,) though npw 
 treated as paradoxical by many, was not, as will 
 hereafter appear, formerly looked upon in that 
 light, even by such as ought to be reputed the pro- 
 perest judges. There have been a variety of causes, 
 that, at different times, have retarded undertakings 
 of the utmost importance to the human species. 
 Among these we may justly consider the conduct of 
 some great philosophers, who, as our judicious Veru- 
 1am wisely 'observes, quitting the luminous path of 
 experience to investigate the operations of nature by 
 their own speculations, imposed upon the bulk of 
 
 * I have lately received these reflections from a learned friend, 
 who is now deceased, and who permitted me to print them, though 
 not to inform the public to whom they are indebted for this very 
 valuable rommunication. 
 
 D. B 
 
Si2 ON APPROACHING 
 
 mankind specious opinions for incontestable truths j 
 which, being propagated by their disciples through a 
 long series of years, captivated the minds of men, 
 and thereby deprived them of that great instrument 
 of science, the spirit of inquiry.* In succeeding 
 ages a new impediment arose, from the setting up 
 profit as the ultimate object of discovery ; and then, 
 as might well be expected, the prefening the private 
 and particular gain of certain individuals to the 
 general interests of the community, as well as to 
 the interests of the whole world, in the extension 
 of science. This it was that induced the States 
 General, at the instance of their East India Company, 
 to discourage all attempts for finding a Northeast 
 passage, and to stifle such accounts as tended to 
 show that it was practicable. We may add to 
 thdse, the sourness of disappointed navigators, who 
 endeavoured to render their own miscarriages proofs 
 of the impracticability of any like attempts. This 
 was the case of Captain Wood, who was shipwrecked 
 upon Nova Zembla, and who declared, that all 
 endeavours on that side were, and would be found 
 vain ; though Barentz, w ho died there in a like expe- 
 dition, affirmed, with his last breath, that, in his own 
 opinion, such a passage might be found. 
 
 That the earth was spherical in its form Avas an 
 opinion very early entertained, and amongst the 
 learned generally admitted. It seemed to be a plain 
 deduction from thence, that a right line, passing 
 
 * Baconi Opera, torn. iv. p. 100; ct alibi passim. But these pas- 
 sages may be found collected in Shaw's Abridgment of Bacon's 
 Works, vol. ii. p. 62. 
 
THE NORTH POtE. 93 
 
 through the globe, would terminate in two points 
 diametrically opposite. Plato is thought to be the 
 first who spoke of the inhabitants (if such there were) 
 dwelling at or near those points, by the name of 
 Antipodes. This doctrine occasioned disputes among 
 philosophers for many ages ; some maintained, some 
 denied, and some treated it as absurd, ridiculous, 
 and impossible.* Whoever will examine impartially 
 the sentiments of these great men, weigh the con- 
 trariety of their opinions, and consider the singularity 
 of their reasonings, will see and be convinced how 
 unsatisfactory their notions were, and discover from 
 thence, how insufficient the subtle speculations of the 
 human understanding are towards settling points like 
 these, when totally unassisted by the lights of ob- 
 servation and actual experience. 
 
 The division of the globe by zones being agreeable- 
 to nature, the ancients distinguished them very pro- 
 perly and accurately into two frigid, the Arctic and 
 Antarctic Circles ; two temperate, lying between 
 those circles and the tropics ; and the torrid zone 
 within the tropics, equally divided by the equinoctial. 
 But judging from their experience of the nature oi 
 the climates at the extremities of the zone which 
 they inhabited, tliey concluded, that the frigid zones 
 were utterly uninhabitable from cold, and the torrid 
 from intolerable heat of the sun. Pliny laments very 
 pathetically upon tliis supposition, that the race o<' 
 • 
 
 * Lucr. de Natura Rcrum, lib. i. ver. 1063 ; Cicer. Acad. Qiia)>(. 
 fib. iv. ; Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. ii. cap. 65 ; Pli)«l de Farip in Orbf» 
 Lunae ; Macrob. dc Somn. ?cip. lib. ii. 
 
u 
 
 ON APPROACHING 
 
 mankind were pent up in so small a part of the earth. 
 The poets, who were, also no despicable philoso- 
 phers, heightened the horrors of these inhospitable 
 regions by all the colouring of a warm and heated 
 imagination;* but we now know, with the utmost 
 certainty, that they were entirely mistaken as to 
 both. For within the Arctic Circle there are coun- 
 tries inhabited as high nearly as we have discovered ; 
 and, if we may confide in the relations of those who 
 have been nearest the Pole,t the heat there is very 
 considerable, in respect to which our own navigators 
 and the Dutch perfectly agree. In regard to the 
 torrid zone, we have now not the least doubt of its 
 being thoroughly inhabited ; and, which is more 
 wonderful, that the climates are very different there, 
 according to the circumstances of their situation. In 
 Ethiopia, Arabia, and the Moluccas, exceedingly 
 hot ; but in the plains of Peru (and particularly at 
 
 * Cicero in Somnium Sciopinis ; Virg. Georg. lib. i. ; Ovidii Met. 
 lib. i. ; Tibullus Panegyr. ad Messalam, lib. iv. ; Plin. Hist. Nat. 
 lib. ii. cap. 68; Pomp. Mela de Situ Orbis, lib. i. cap. 1 ; Claud, 
 de Raptu Proserpinae, lib. i. 
 
 t That the earth had inhabitants, even under the Poles, seems to 
 have been believed by many at the latter end of the sixteenth cen- 
 tur}', from the following lines : — 
 
 " Fond men ! if we believe that men do live 
 Under the zenith of both frozen poles ; 
 Thongh none come thence advertisements to give, 
 Why bear we not the hke faith of our souls ?" 
 
 Sir John Oavis's Nosce te ipsum. 
 
 Probably written in 1596, from a cgmpliment to Lord Keeper Eger- 
 ton on his first recei^^ng the Great Seal. 
 
 D. B 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 95 
 
 Quito) perfectly temperate, so that the inhabitants 
 never change their clothes in any season of the year. 
 The sentiments of the ancients therefore in this 
 respect are a proof how inadequate the faculties of 
 the human mind are to discussions of this nature, 
 when unassisted by facts. 
 
 The Pythagorean system of the universe, revised 
 and restored near two hundred and fifty years ago 
 by the celebrated Copernicus, met with a very diffi- 
 cult and slow reception, not only from the bulk of 
 mankind, for that might have been well expected, 
 but even from the learned ; and some very able 
 astronomers attempted to overturn and refute it.* 
 Galileo Galilei wrote an admirable treaties in its 
 support, in wliich he very fully removed most of the 
 popular objections.t This, however, exposed him 
 to the rigour of the inquisition, and he was obliged 
 to abjure the doctrine of the earth's motion. Our 
 noble philosopher, the deep and acute Lord Veru- 
 1am, could not absolutely confide in the truth and 
 certainty of the Copernican System; but seems to 
 think, that its facihtating astronomical calculations 
 was its principal recommendation, as if this had not 
 
 * Amongst the most considerable of these was John Baptist Ric- 
 cioli, who published his J mage: 'um JVovujn with this view. Yet 
 afterward, in his Aslronomia Reformata, he found himself obliged to 
 have recourse to the doctrine of the earth's motion, that he might 
 be able to give liis calculations with a proper degree of exactness. 
 
 t This celebrated work of his was entitled, Dialog/d dc Sistemi di 
 Tolnmco, e di Copcrnico. This is much better known to the learned 
 world by a Latin translation, which so clearly proved the superiority 
 of the Copernican System, that the only means of refuUng it was by 
 the censures of the Church. 
 
96 <&N APPRO ACrilKG 
 
 been also a very strong presumption at least, if not a 
 proof, of its veracity.* It was from this consideration 
 that the church of Rome at length thought fit so far 
 to relax in her decisions, as to permit the maintain- 
 ing the earth's motion in physical and philosophical 
 disquisitions. But Sir Isaac Newton, who built upon 
 this basis his experimental philosophy, hath dispersed 
 ail doubts on this subject, and shown how the most 
 sublime discoveries may be made by the reciprocal 
 aids of sagacity and observation. On these grounds, 
 therefore, all inquiries of this nature ought to pro- 
 ceed, without paying an implicit submission to the 
 mere speculative notions even of the greatest men; 
 but pursuing steadily the path of truth, under the 
 direction of the light of experience. 
 
 It may be urged, in excuse of the ancients, and 
 even of our ancestors of former times, that, as thejr 
 were unassisted by facts, they could only employ 
 guess and conjecture, and that consequently their 
 conclusions were from thence erroneous. But to 
 waive the visible impropriety of deciding in points, 
 xvhere observation was so obviously necessary with- 
 out its direction ; let us see whether this plea of alle- 
 viation may not be controverted in both cases. 
 Cornelius Nepos reports, that some Indians being cast 
 on shore in Germany w ere sent by a prince of the 
 Suevi to Quintus Metellus Celer, then the Roman 
 proconsul in Gaul.f A very learned writer, in dis- 
 
 * Shaw's Abridgment of Bacon's Works, vol. ii. p. 21. where 
 the Doctor endeavours to defend this opinion. 
 
 t Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. ii. cap. 67. 
 
THE XORTH POLE. 97 
 
 cussing this point, hath shown, that it was possible 
 for these Indians to have come by two different routes 
 into the Baltic. He thinks, however, that it is very 
 improbable they came by either, and supposes, that 
 they were either Norwegians, or some other wild 
 people, to whom, from their savage appearance, they 
 gave the name of Indians.* But though this observa- 
 tion may well enough apply to tlie Romans, who at 
 that time had.no knowledge of these Northern peo- 
 ple, yet it is not easy to conceive that the Suevi 
 could fall into this mistake ; or, if they did not, that 
 they should .tttempt to impose upon the Romans. It 
 appears incontestably, that, in the time of King Alfred, 
 the Northern sons were constantly navigated upon 
 the same motives they are now; tliat is, for the sake 
 of catching whales and sea-horses.t Nicholas of 
 Lynn, a Carmelite Friar, sailed to the most distant 
 islands in the NortI), and even as high as the Pole. 
 He dedicated an account of his discoveries to King 
 Edward the Tliird, and was certainly a person of 
 great learning, and an able astronomer,^ if we may 
 
 * Huet Histoire de Commerce, et de la Navigation des Anciens, 
 p. 631. 
 
 t See Barrington's Translation of Orosius from the Anglo-Saxoa 
 of King Alfred, part ii. p. 9. 
 
 I Leland. Comment, de Script. Britan. cap. 370 ; Bale, vi. 23 ; 
 Pits, p. 505. His description was intituled Inventio Forttmata ; 
 besides which, he wrote, amongst other things, a book, De Mnndi 
 Revolutione, which possibly may still remiiin in the Bodleian Library. 
 This Friar, as Dr. Dee .isserts, made five voyages into these North- 
 ern parts, and left an account of his discoveries from the latitude 
 of 51° to the Pole. 
 
 13 
 
9y O.N Al'l'ROAClII.VG 
 
 believe the celebrated Chaucer, ^vho, in his Treatise 
 on the Astrolabe, mentions him with g;reat respect. 
 
 After Columbus discovered America, under the 
 auspices of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Sovereigns 
 of Europe, and especially Henry the Seventh, turned 
 their thoughts towards, and gave great encourage- 
 ment to, discoveries. Mr. Robert Thorne, w ho resided 
 many years as a merchant in Spain, and who was 
 afterward mayor of Bristol, wrote a letter to Henry 
 the Eighth, in which he strongly recommended a 
 voyage to the North Pole. He gave his reasons 
 more at large in a long Memorial to our ambassador 
 in Spain, which show him to have been a very judi- 
 cious man, and for those times a very able cosmogra- 
 pherj and accompanied this Memorial with a map 
 of the world, to prove the practicability of his pro- 
 posal.* Though this project of his was not attended 
 to, yet a variety of expeditions were made for disco- 
 vering a passage by the Northwest, and others by the 
 Northeast, into the South seas on the one side, and 
 into the Tartarean ocean on the other, until at length 
 both were declared impracticable by Captain James 
 and Captain Wood; soured by their own miscar- 
 riages, and being strongly persuaded, that, as they did 
 not succeed, none else could. But even these unsuc- 
 cessful voyages were not unprofitable to the nation 
 upon the whole, as they opened a passage to many 
 lucrative fisheries, such as those in Davis's Straits, 
 
 * Hakluyt's Voyages, vol. i. p. 212—220. The letter to Dr. 
 Ley, who was the King's Ambassador in Spain, is dated A. D. 
 1527. This Mr. Thome's father was engaged, with others, in the 
 discovery of Newfoundland. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 99 
 
 Baffin's Bay, and on tlie coast of Spitzbergen. 
 Besides this, they laid open Hudson's Straits and Bay, 
 with the coast on both sides, which have been alrea- 
 dy productive of many advantages, and which, in 
 process of time, cannot fail of producing more, in 
 consequence of our being in possession of Canada, and 
 being thereby sole master of those seas and coasts. 
 
 It is, however, very remarkable, that notwithstand- 
 ing the views, both of our traders and of such great 
 men as were distinguished cncouragers of discove- 
 ries, the ablest seamen (who without doubt are the 
 best judges) were still inclined to this passage by 
 the North, such as Captain Poole, Sir William Mon- 
 son,* and others ; and this was still the more remark- 
 able, as they^ were entirely guided therein by the 
 lights of their own experience, having no knowledge 
 of Mr. Thome's proposal, or of the sentiments of 
 each other. From the reason of the thing, however, 
 they uniformly concurred in the motives they sug- 
 gested for such an undertaking. They asserted, that 
 this passage would be much shorter and easier than 
 any of those by the Northwest or Northeast ; that it 
 would be more healthy for the seamen, and attended 
 with fewer inconveniences ; that it would probably 
 open a passage to new countries ; and, finally, that 
 the experiment might be made with very little hazard, 
 at a small expense, and would redound highly to our 
 national lionour, if attended with success. It may 
 be then demanded, wliy it has not hitherto been at- 
 tempted, and what objections liave retarded a scheme 
 
 * Naval Tracts, p. 435, 
 
100 ON APPROACHING 
 
 SO visibly advantageous ? These objections, as far 
 as they can be collected, are the fear of pcrie^lli^g J)y 
 excessive cold, the danger of being blockc^d up in 
 ice, and the apprehension that there could be no 
 certainty of preserving the use of the compass under 
 or near the Pole. 
 
 In respect to the first, we have already mentioned, 
 that the ancients had taken up an opinion, that the 
 seas in the frigid zone were impassable, and the 
 lands, if there were any, uninhabitable. The phi- 
 losophers of later ages fell into the same opinion, and 
 maintained that the Poles were the sources and prin- 
 ciples of cold, which of course increased and grew 
 excessive in approaching them.* But when the 
 lights of experience were admitted to guide in such 
 researches, the truth of this notion came to be ques- 
 tioned, because from facts it became probable, that 
 there might be a diversity of climates in the frigid 
 as well as in the torrid zone. Charlton Island, in 
 which Captain James wintered, lies in the bottom, 
 that is, in the most Southern part of Hudson's Bay, 
 and in the same latitude with Cambridge, and the 
 cold there was intolerable. The servants of the 
 Hudson's Bay Company trade annually in places ten 
 degrees nearer the Pole, without feeling any such 
 inconvenience. The city of Moscow is in the same 
 latitude with that of Edinburgh, and yet in winter 
 the weather is almost as severe there as in Charlton 
 
 * In the lan2;uage of those times, the Pole was styled Primnm 
 Frigidum ; and it was by such groundless phrases that men pre- 
 tended to account for the operations of nature, without giving them^ 
 selves the trouble of experimental inquiries. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 101 
 
 Island. Nova Zemhla hath no soil, herbage, or ani- 
 mals ; and yet in Spitzbergen, in six degrees higher 
 latitude, there are all three ; and, on the top of the 
 mountains in tlie most Northern part, mon strip them- 
 selves of their shirts that they may cool their bodies.* 
 The celebrated Mr. Boyle, from these and many 
 other instances, rejected the loLig-received notion, 
 that the Pole was the principle of cold. Captain 
 Jonas Poole, who in 1610 sailed in a vessel of seventy 
 tons to make discoveries towards the North, found 
 the weather warm in near 79° of latitude, whilst 
 the ponds and lakes were unfrozen, which put him 
 in hopes of finding a mild summer, and led him to 
 believe, that a passage might be as soon found by the 
 Pole as any other way whatever; and lor this reason, 
 that the sun gave a great heat there, and that the ice 
 was not near so thick as what he had met with in 
 the latitude of 73°.t Indeed, the Dutchmen, who 
 pretend to have* advanced within a degree of the 
 Pole, said it was as hot there as in the summer at 
 Amsterdam. 
 
 In these Northern Voyages we hear very much of 
 ice, and there is no doubt that vessels are very much 
 hindered and incommoded thereby. But after all, it 
 is, in the opiriion of able and experienced seamen, 
 more formidable in appearance than fatal in its 
 effects. When our earliest discoveries were made, 
 and they reached farther North than we commonly 
 sail at present, it was performed in barks of seventy 
 
 * Sec Marden's Account of Spitzbergen, p. 105. 
 t Purchas's PilgriiBS, vol. iii. p. 702. 
 
102 ON APPROACHING 
 
 tons, with some trouble, no doubt, but with very little 
 hazard. At this day it is known, that in no part of 
 the world there are greater quantities of ice seen 
 than in Hudson's Bay, and yet there is no navigation 
 safer, the company not losing a ship in twenty years, 
 and (he seamen, who are used to it, are not troubled 
 with any apprehensions about it. It is no objection 
 to this, that we hear almost every season of ships lost 
 in the ice on the Whale fishery; for these vessels, 
 instead of avoiding, industriously seek the ice, as 
 amongst it the whales are more commonly found than 
 in the open sea. Being thus continually amongst the 
 ice, it is no wonder that they are sometimes surround- 
 ed by it; and yet the men, when the ships are lost, gene- 
 rally speaking, escape. But in the seas near the Pole, 
 it is very probable there is little or no ice, for that is 
 commonly formed in bays and rivers during winter, 
 and does not break up and get into the sea till the 
 latter end of March, or the beginning of April, when 
 it begins to thaw upon the shores. It is also, when 
 formed, very uncertain as to its continuance, being 
 broken and driven about by the vehemence of the 
 winds. As a proof of this we have an instance of a 
 vessel frozen in one of the harbours of Hudson's Bay, 
 which, by the breaking of the ice, drove to sea, and, 
 though it was Christmas, found the Straits quite free 
 from ice,* which are frequently choked with it in May 
 and June, and made a safe and speedy passage home. 
 AH our accounts agree, that, in very high latitudes, 
 there is less ice. Barentz, when his ship was frozen in 
 
 * Mr. Dobb's Account of Hudson's Bay, p. 69, 70. 
 
 J 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 
 
 ■iM 
 
 Nova Zembla, heard the ice broken with a most 
 horrible noise by an impetuous sea from the North, 
 a full proof that it was open. It is the invariable 
 tradition of tlie Samoides and Tartars, who live 
 beyond the Waygat, that the sea is open to the 
 North of Nova Zembla all the year ; and the most 
 knowing people in Russia are of the same opinion. 
 These authorities ought certainly to have more 
 weight than simple conjectures. 
 
 The notion, that approaching to a passage under 
 the Pole would destroy the use of the compass, is a 
 popular opinion without any just grounds to support 
 it. For it presumes that the needle is directed by 
 the Pole of the World ; which it certainly is not, as 
 appears from the needle's variation, and even the 
 variation of that variation, which, if this notion was 
 true, could never happen. In Sir Thomas Smith's 
 Sound in Baffin''s Bay, the variation was found to be 
 56° Westward, the greatest yet known. Captain 
 Wood is very clear upon this point, and maintains, 
 that no danger was to be apprehended from this 
 cause.* Those who asserted, that they had advanced 
 within a degree of the Pole, estimated the variation 
 there at five points of the compass. Captain Wood, 
 in stating the account given of tlie Dutch seamen's 
 voyage by Captain Goulden, omits one very material 
 point, of which we are informed by Mr. Boyle, which 
 is, that one of the Dutch captains coming over to 
 England, Captain Goulden carried him to some of 
 the Northern Company, who were perfectly satisfied 
 
 * Wood's Voyage for the Discovery of a Northeast Passage, 
 p. 13i) 
 
104 ON APPROACHING 
 
 as to the truth of his relation.* On the whole, there- 
 fore, whether we respect reason or facts, there are 
 no just grounds for apprehensions on this head, more 
 especially as there are other means by which the 
 true situation of a vessel might be determined, and 
 file difficulty, if any arose, would be but of very 
 short continuance. But as such a voyage could not 
 fail of affording many new lights in respect to astro- 
 nomy and geography, so in this respect also it must 
 necessarily ascertain fully what is at present only 
 matter of doubt and conjecture. 
 
 As notions long received acquire from thence a 
 degree of credit due ' only to truth ; and as new 
 opinions, contrary to these, and in other respects 
 perhaps extraordinary in themselves, meet from these 
 causes with slow and difficult belief, however they 
 may appear to be supported by arguments, authori- 
 ties, or facts, (which it is presumed have been freely 
 and fairly urged in the present case, to a. degree that 
 may at least entitle the matter to some attention) 
 let us now proceed one step farther. This shall be 
 to show, that what seems to be so repugnant to the 
 common course of things {viz. that near the North Pole 
 the cold should relax, and the ice be less trouble- 
 some) is perfectly conformable to the laws of nature, 
 or, which is the same thing, to the will and wisdom 
 of our great Creator. If this can be proved, there 
 can be no farther dispute as to the possibility of this 
 
 * See the honourable Mr. Boyle's History of Cold, in respect to 
 this and a multitude of other curious particulars, which show with 
 how much industry and care he struggled to deliver truth from vul- 
 gar errors and fiction. 
 
THE NORTH POLft. 106 
 
 passage ; more especially when it shall also appear, 
 that this aiTords a full solution of all the doubts that 
 have been suggested, and at the same time clearly 
 accounts for, and effectually confirms, the facts and 
 reasonings deduced from them, which have been 
 already advanced upon this subject. To come then 
 at once to the point. 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton, who it is universally allowed 
 was equally accurate, cautious, and judicious, in his 
 philosophical decisions, hath demonstrated clearly, 
 that the figure of this our earth is not spherical, but 
 of an oblate spheroidal form, the diameter at the 
 equator being the greatest, and at the axis the least 
 of all the lines that can pass through the centre. 
 He also determined, by a most curious calculation, 
 the proportion of these diameters to be as two 
 hundred and thirty to two hundred and twenty-nine. 
 These sentiments of his have been experimentally 
 verified by the means which he also pointed out, viz. 
 observing the motipn of pendulums in very different 
 latitudes, and the actual measurement of a degree at 
 the Equator and under the Arctic Circle. This last 
 evidently proved the depression of the earth's sur- 
 face towards the Pole, which no doubt gradually 
 increases. The very learned and sagacious Dr. 
 Hooke asserted, in one of his lectures, and brought 
 very strong reasons to show, that there is nothing 
 but sea at the Poles.* These points then, being 
 maturely considered, will be found to militate ia 
 iavour of a free passage this way, and at the same 
 
 * Hooke's Posthumous Works, p. 351. 
 14 
 
106 ON approachln'g 
 
 time give much light into other things that have been 
 advanced in the course of this inquiry, by showing 
 the true causes of those facts that, at first sight, have 
 appeared to many very strange and unaccountable. 
 For example, if there be no land near the Pole, then 
 there can be no bays in which ice can be formed to 
 interrupt the navigation. Again, the rays of the sun, 
 falling on so flat a surface, and being continually 
 reflected from the water, must afford a great degree 
 of heat to the air. At the same time this will 
 account for the sun's being seen by the Dutch in 
 Nova Zembla a fortnight earlier than he should have 
 appeared, according to astronomical calculations.* 
 Many other circumstances might be mentioned, but 
 these will doubtless occur to the intelligent, and 
 therefore it is unnecessary to dwell longer upon 
 them. 
 
 The great injustice of rejecting opinions, on ac- 
 count of their appearing, at first sight, paradoxical, 
 or somewhat inconsistent with notions commonly 
 received, having been clearly shown, and the mis- 
 chievous consequences flowing from it by various 
 instances pointed out; the foundation of this con- 
 jecture, that there may be a passage near the Pole, 
 having been fairly stated, the popular objections to 
 it clearly removed, the general advantage that might 
 be expected from thence placed in a proper light, 
 and the consistence of all the circumstances relative 
 thereto, with the established course of nature, having 
 been also rendered evident; there can be nothing 
 
 * See Purchas, vol. iii. p. 409, 500. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 107 
 
 more looked for respecting this matter merely in the 
 light of a philosophical speculation. ' But if sup- 
 porting this had been the only motive, these reflec- 
 tions had not employed the time of the writer, or 
 trespassed so long upon the reader's patience. What 
 then remains? To demonstrate, that, as the pos- 
 sibility, practicability, and facility, of such an under- 
 taking have been insisted upon, its national utility 
 should be shown to deserve consideration ; and that, 
 as it is an object of the greatest importance to the 
 public welfare, its execution should be no longer 
 delayed. There is unquestionably no country in 
 Europe so well situated for such an enterprise as 
 this. The trauttlt from Shetland to the Northern 
 parts of Asia would, by this way, be a voyage only 
 of a few weeks. The inhabitants of these islands 
 and of the Orkneys are, and have been for many 
 years, employed in the Greenland Fisheries, and 
 the natives of these isles are the persons mostly 
 sent to the establishments in Hudson's Bay. By 
 these means they are inured to cold, to ice, and 
 hard living, and are consequently the fittest for 
 being employed in such expeditions. When this 
 shall be once executed w ith success, it will necessa- 
 rily bring us acquainted with new Northern countries, 
 where ordinary clothes and other coarse woollen 
 goods will probably be acceptable, new channels of 
 commerce would be thereby opened, our navigation 
 extended, the number of our seamen augmented, 
 without exhausting our strength in settling colonies, 
 exposing the lives of our sailors in tedious and dan- 
 gerous voyages through unwholesome climates, or 
 
108 ON APPROACHING 
 
 • 
 
 having any other trade in prospect than of exchang- 
 ing our native commodities and manufactures for 
 those of other countries. This, if it could be brought 
 about, would, in the first instance, convert a number 
 of bleak and barren islands into cultivation, connect 
 them and their inhabitants intimately with Britain, 
 give bread to many thousands, and by providing 
 suitable rewards for manj^ different species of indus- 
 try, encourage population^ and put an easy and 
 effectual period to the mischiefs and scandal of 
 emigrations. The benefits derived from these dis- 
 coveries, and the commerce arising from them, will 
 necessarily extend to all parts of our dominions. For 
 hoM'^ever fit the poor peuple of those islands may be 
 for such enterprises, or however commodious the 
 ports in their countries may be found for equipping 
 and receiving vessels employed in these voyages, yet 
 the commodities, manufactures, &c. must be furnished 
 from all parts of the British empire, and of course be 
 of universal advantage. These, as they are true, 
 will it is hoped appear just and cogent reasons for 
 wishing, that a project, which has dwelt in the 
 mouths and memories of some, and in the judgment 
 and approbation of a few, from the time of Henry 
 the Eighth, should be revived, and, at length, for 
 the benefit of his subjects, carried into effect, under 
 the auspices of George the Third. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 109 
 
 I have mentioned in the preceding sheets* that I 
 expected some additional instances of Dutch ships, 
 which had been in high Northern latitudes ; but, 
 though I delayed the publication for some weeks, 
 they did not arrive time enough to appear with the 
 others. I have however since received them 
 from Professor Allamand of Leyden, F.R.3., by 
 means of Mr. Valltravers, F.R.S., &c., and take 
 the earliest opportunity to lay them before the 
 pubhc, as a valuable addition to the former 
 papers. 
 
 TO THE HONOURABLE DAINES BARRINGTON. 
 sm. 
 
 Having ma^e some inquiries (agreeable to y©ur 
 desire) from Professor Allamand, of Leyden, F.R.S. 
 with regard to Dutch Navigators, who have reached 
 high Northern latitudes; he has been so kind to 
 send me the following account, drawn up by Captain 
 William May, a .very distinguished and experienced 
 eea-officer in the Dutch service, which begins with » 
 letter from Mr. John Walig to his owners, who has 
 been master of a Greenland ship ever since the year 
 .1740. 
 
 I am, ^c. 
 
 ROD. VALLTRAVERS^. 
 
 ** In the addi^oaal papers from Hull, p. 65. 
 
110 ON APPROACHING 
 
 " TO MESS. NIC. AND JACOB VAN STAPHORST. 
 
 "^ IlelJer, Jan. 3, 1775^ 
 
 « In answer to your letter of the 22d of Decem- 
 ber concerning the question, whether we have been 
 nearer to the Pole than 80^°, I must inform you, that 
 we have been often to 81", near the Seven Isl- 
 ands, to the Northward of the Northeast Land, and 
 some have been in 82°, but then not clear from 
 ice, in which they drove about. I never heard of 
 any discoveries made there, as they have always been 
 fishers, who, driving- with the ice to the Northward, 
 leave that direction upon getting room ; and when 
 now and then the sea has been free from ice, that 
 has happened commonly in the months of June and 
 July. In 1763, I spoke with a Scotch Captain in 
 Greenland, who told me he had been to 83°, that the 
 sea was then free from ice, but that he had made no 
 discoveries, without mentioning any more particulars, 
 for we ask after nothing but whales. When I spoke 
 to him it was in July, and then we could get no 
 farther North than 79° 30' for the ice. In short, we 
 can seldom proceed much higher than 80F, but 
 almost always to that latitude, for it seems that the 
 conjunction of the currents often fastens the ice there. 
 I fished last year from 80° 25' to 80° 35', according to 
 the land we made afterward. 
 
 ^' But in the year 1707, Captain Cornelius Gillis, 
 having gone without any ice far to the Northward of 
 81°, sailed to the North of the Seven Islands, pro- 
 ceeded from thence East, and afterward Southeast, 
 remaining to the ^East of the Northeast Land, when 
 
THE NORTH POLE. Ill 
 
 coming again to latitude 80° he discovered about 
 twenty-five miles* East from the country to the North- 
 east very high lands, on which, as far as we know, 
 no body has ever been. As to the season when the 
 Spitzbergen seas may be expected to be free from 
 ice, I believe, according to my observations, that the 
 most open sea to the Northward generally happens 
 in the month of September, but then the nights begin, 
 and make the navigation dangerous. 
 
 " I am, &:c. 
 
 « JOHN WALIG." 
 
 * Fiftf en to a degree, at the Equator. 
 
A SHORT 
 
 ACCOUNT OF NAVIGATORS, 
 
 WHO HAVE REACHED 
 
 HIGH NOliTHERN LATITUDES * 
 
 >^<^« 
 
 I WENT to Amsterdam the 26th of March, being the 
 most ptoper time to make the desired inquiries, and to 
 obtain information from all the commanders that were 
 to depart this year to Greenland; for then you meet 
 six, eight, and more together, in houses where they 
 enlist their men. I am, however, sorry to mention, 
 that but few of those commanders keep journals 
 when they are near, or in the ice ; but, notwithstand- 
 ing this, the accounts they give carry with them such 
 an air of truth, from being confirmed by minute cir- 
 cumstances, and corroborated by so many witnesses, 
 tliat tliese relations (I verily believe) may be de- 
 pended upon as well as some journals. I particu- 
 larly applied myself, however, to those to whom a 
 great number of voyages had given experience, and 
 (contrary to my expectations) met with men of can- 
 
 * This account was drawn up by Captain William May, in the 
 service of the States, at the desire of Professor Allamand of Leyden. 
 —See p. 7G. 
 
 15 
 
114 ON APPROACHING 
 
 dour and penetration. I thought it proper likewise, 
 to take the following extract of a Journal, it showing 
 the common form in which some of them are kept. 
 
 Translation of a part of a Journal, kept on hoard the Vrovo Marta^ 
 Commander Martin Breet. 
 
 N. B. The sun's altitudes were taken with an octant, 
 and twelve minutes allowed for the snn's semi- 
 diameter, refraction, and dip of the horizon ; the 
 longitude from Teneriffe; the miles fifteen to a 
 degree at the Equator ; the bearings with a com- 
 pass unrectified. 
 
 The 22d of April, 1771, sailed from the Texel for 
 Greenland. 8th of May, latitude, according to the 
 run, 70° 33', longitude 19° 22'; saw the first ice. 
 
 13th ditto, latitude 74° 50', longitude 24° 35'; met 
 with a border of ice. 
 
 14th ditto, latitude by observation 75° 44', longi- 
 tude 26° 13'; came against some ice. 
 
 15th ditto, latitude 76° 13', longitude 25° 40'; saw 
 Spitzbergen, the South Cape; bore East Northeast 
 fourteen miles. 
 N. B. Drove about in the ice ; made fast to a field. 
 
 25th ditto, in the morning saw the North Foreland. 
 Northeast by East, latitude 79° 12', longitude 20° 40'. 
 
 26th ditto, longitude by observation 79° 10'. 
 
 27th ditto, against the ice. 
 
 28th ditto, passed through some Ice. 
 
 29th ditto, got fast in the ice ; saw two ships sail- 
 ing pretty freely in the East Northeast. 
 N. B. In the ice till the 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 1 15 
 
 7 til of June, got more room ; beat to the Southward, 
 and made fast to a field ; saw land in the East North- 
 east, distance fourteen or fifteen miles ; supposed it 
 the Quade Hoek, latitude by obsenation 79° 58'; 
 made fast to the ice till the • 
 
 11th June, at noon; a violent storm, wind South- 
 west, latitude by observation 80° 19'. In the night, 
 drove towards the coasts, for it blew too hard to carry 
 sail. 
 
 12th ditto, in the morning, laid fast in the ice, 
 the storm continued, and the ship so much pressed 
 by the ice, that we were obliged to unhang the 
 rudder. 
 
 13th ditto, hard pressed by the ice, latitude by 
 observation 80° 29'. Remained pressed by the ice 
 till the 
 
 1 8th ditto, latitude by observation 80° 50' ; the ship 
 not moveable. 
 
 19th ditto, latitude by observation 80° 57'; the ice 
 in great motion. 
 
 20th ditto, fast in the ice again, latitude by 
 observation 80° 58'; calm till the 
 
 24th ditto, began to blow a storm; got some room 
 in the ice. 
 
 25th ditto, having got more room we advanced. 
 
 26th ditto, locked up again. 
 
 27th ditto, saw the land, namely, the Dorre Hoek, 
 South by East half East, and the Vlakke Hoek, East 
 Southeast ; lay beset till the 
 
 29th ditto, latitude by observation 80° 16. 
 
 30th ditto, wind Northeast. 
 
116 ' OS ArruoACiiiNG 
 
 1st of July, saw water in the West Southwest, 
 which we had not seen for many days. In tlie after- 
 noon got more room. 
 
 2d ditto, worked our way through as much ice as 
 we could, wind East Northeast, towards the evening 
 North ; made fast to a field. 
 
 3d ditto, at noon, saw the land, being the Robbe 
 Bay, bearing Southwest by West about one mile. 
 
 I have left out many little circumstances respecting 
 the wind, tides, &c., as thinking the above sufficient for 
 ascertaining the latitudes, and to show the method in 
 which many of the Greenland Masters keep their 
 Journals. That year seems to have been favourable 
 for getting more to the North ; for, notwithstanding 
 Mr. Breet met with so much ice, from the latitude of 
 79'' 30' to that of 80° 58', Captain Jan Klaas Castri- 
 cum, in the ship the Jonge Jan, at that very time of 
 the year, and nearly in the same longitude, reached 
 81° 40', by the medium of several observations with 
 forestaffs, where he fished with success, in company 
 with Witje Jelles, who sailed from Hamburgh, and 
 found but little ice. There were likewise two 
 English ships, who sailed so far to the North, that 
 Castricum lost sight of them from the 'mast head, 
 which two ships returned in something more than two 
 days, and the Captains came on board of Castricum,* 
 and assured him, that they had been to upwards of 
 
 * Captain Castricum neither asked their names, nor those of their 
 ships ; all that he knew was, he said, if he remembered right, they 
 failed from England. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 117 
 
 83°, and could have gone much farther, as they had 
 no obstructions from ice, but finding no whales they 
 returned. I spoke at the same time with other com- 
 manders, who, having been in sight of those ships, 
 confirmed Castricum's account. 
 
 Six of the oldest Masters assured me (amongst 
 whom were John Walig, Klaas Keuken, and J. Klaas 
 Castricum,) that they had known, from 1730 to 1742, 
 an old English commander, whose name was Krick- 
 rack J* it was his custom between the fisheries, if not 
 obstructed by ice, to sail to the Northward; and 
 some of them affirm, that when they have been at an 
 anchor in Brandcwyns Bay, he once stayed away 
 ten, and at another time twenty days, before his re- 
 turn, and they are very sure that he reported (and 
 they have reasons to believe him) that he had been 
 two degrees, and even more. North of the Seven 
 Islands. All I could farther learn of this Mr. Krick- 
 rack was, that in 1740 he was jn the only ship sent 
 from England ; that for several voyages he had the 
 same ship's company; that in or about 1742 he had 
 the command of a transport, on board of which ho 
 lost his life by a musket ball : they were certain that 
 he kept Journals, out of which they think much light 
 might be obtained. 
 
 The greatest part of the Dutch commanders live 
 at the Helder. Mr. Walig and others assured me. 
 that the most Northern voyage then ever heard oi'. 
 and on which they could with certainty depend, was 
 
 * From 1736 to 1740, most of the Masters of English Ships, fittcit 
 out for the Greenland Trade, were Dutchmen. 
 
118 ON APPROACHING 
 
 that of Jacob Schol in 1700, who had been so far 
 North, that on his return he sailed with a fresh gale 
 of wind, due South, forty-eight hours, and then fell 
 in with the Seven Islands ; he consequently had been 
 (reckoning that run at only four Dutch miles an hour, 
 which they thought too little) in upwards of 84* North 
 latitude. As Mr. Schol was an inhabitant of the Hel- 
 der, they told me that they would strive to procure 
 me his papers from his heirs ; and, if I mistake not, 
 they said that they had actually seen those papers 
 in their younger days. 
 
 Finding that Mr. Van Keulen had put down (in his 
 chart) the land discovered by Captain Gillis, men- 
 tioned in Mr. Walig's letter, I went to him, to see on 
 what foundation he had placed that discovery ; but 
 as those papers could not be found, I applied to Mr. 
 Walig, who told me, that Mr. Cornelius Gillis had 
 been an inhabitant of the Helder; that Walig, 
 together with Mr. Keuken, Mr. Baske, and others, 
 since dead, had often examined Gillis's papers, maps, 
 &:c., and found that he was an enterprising man, and 
 very accurate in his remarks and charts ; that his 
 grandson had his Journals and other Papers in his 
 possession; and his granddaughter, who was mar- 
 ried to an officer of Walig's ship (who had formerly 
 been a commander) had his charts, some of which 
 that officer generally took with him, in order to cor- 
 rect them. I begged hard to have them, if only for 
 twenty-four hours ; and next morning Mr. Walig put 
 into my hands the original draughts of all the dis- 
 coveries Mr. Gillis ever made with regard to Spitz- 
 bersjen, excepting some particular drawings of bays 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 119 
 
 and views of land, with permission to keep them in 
 my possession till Mr. Walig's return from Green- 
 land ; copies of which are here annexed,* and Mr. 
 Walig promised to procure me, if possible, all the 
 papers of that old commander, before he left the 
 Texel, which I hope to receive in a few days, and 
 shall not fail in sending over every thing I find mate- 
 rial. Asking what particulars Mr. Walig and others 
 remembered out of those papers, they gave the fol- 
 lowing account. That Mr. Gillis passed more than a 
 degree to the Northward of the Seven Islands, with- 
 out any hinderance from ice ; that he proceeded East 
 for some leagues with an open sea, then bent his 
 course Southeast, and afterward South ; saw in the 
 latitude of 80°, to the East, very high land; run 
 through the East coast of the Northeast land, and 
 entered the Waygat Straits ; came to an anchor in 
 Lamber Bay, and took two whales, and from thence 
 proceeded to the Texel. . Mr. Baske gave also an 
 account of his uncle's having, in company with three 
 ships, entered Way gats from the North, and advanced 
 as far as the same bay, but found too much ice to get 
 through, of which the other three, being young com- 
 manders, made a trial. The North passage, how- 
 ever, on their return being shut, and it being the 
 beginning of September, they made preparation to 
 leave their ships, in order to get over land to Smee- 
 renberg, but the ice luckily giving way, they got out 
 to the Northward. Mr. Baske. who is a curious man. 
 
 * These were copies of the draughts of the different coasts of 
 Spitzbergcn, of which Captain Gillis hath taken accufate 9Tjirv<^ys. 
 
120 ON APPROACHING 
 
 promised me, amongst other things, his thermome- 
 trical observations, which, by the conversation I 
 had about them, I have reason to think will be 
 accurate. 
 
 After having passed six mornings with a great 
 number of our commanders quartered in different 
 houses, I find, that scarcely a year had passed but 
 some of them have been to 81° North, but rarely 
 found the seas free from ice. 
 
 This is all the information I have been able to pro- 
 cure during my short stay at Amsterdam, which I 
 would have prolonged, if a call to the Hague had 
 not prevented me. I can only add, that waiting upon 
 Mr. Boreel, that gentleman promised that he would 
 order a search- to be made for the Journals of those 
 ships, which were formerly employed in protecting 
 our Greenland fisheries. 
 
 I must, however, not forget to mention a particular 
 that Mr. Van Keulen acquainted me with. He had, 
 at his house last summer, a conversation with a Rus- 
 sian, who had passed the winter last year in Spitz- 
 bergen, and gave him the following account. That 
 being in the utmost distress, for want of eatables, on 
 the North coast, he made a trial to get with his boat 
 towards the middle of the island, by means of the 
 Bay of Wyde Bay in Gillis's map, into which he pro- 
 ceeded, till to his great surprise, he fell into Wybe 
 Jansz's Bay, and so came out to the South of Spitz- 
 bergen ; but he had taken no notice of the depths of 
 water. Being questioned as to that particular, he 
 said he was very sure that he did not pass through 
 the Waygat€. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 121 
 
 In all my conversations with our Greenland com- 
 manders, I never failed to ask which course they 
 would take to reach high Northern latitudes; the 
 result was, that they would never seek it to the 
 Westward of Spitzbergen, but run out to the North, 
 from the West coast of Nova Zembla ; Mr. Baske's 
 reasons and those of other commanders were, 
 1st, That all the Western coasts of the Northern 
 countries were, for the most part, free from ice, 
 occasioned by the Avinds and tides chiefly coming 
 from the East, which experience proves. 
 2d, That the ice comes originally from the Tartarian 
 rivers ; for, that the sea never freezes but where it 
 is calm, and at the same time a great quantity of 
 snow falls. 
 3d, That near the Seven Island, navigators often 
 meet with a great Northeast Swell, which proves, 
 that at such time the sea, to a considerable distance 
 to the Northeast, is not locked up by the ice. 
 4th, That the drift wood could not come to the 
 Northward of Spitzbergen, in case the seas be- 
 tween the North of x\sia and that island were fro- 
 zen; whereas a great quantity of that wood is 
 driven on the North coast of Iceland, which is a 
 demonstration that the currents come from the 
 Northeast. 
 5th, That in some of the trees the marks of the axe 
 were very plain, and the colour of the wood so 
 fresh, that they -certainly had not been six months 
 in the sea. 
 6th, That some whole trees appeared with buds 
 thereon, which they think could not have remained 
 
 16 
 
122 ON ArP<lOACHl>«i 
 
 I 
 
 80 fresh, if the trees had been a year in the salt 
 water. 
 
 7th, That the East of Greenland was now discovered 
 to the latitude of 79^°, that it probably extended 
 farther to the North Northeast, which they look 
 upon to be the cause of the stoppage of ice be- 
 tween that coast and Spitzbergen, and the reason 
 why they never find a Northwest or Northerly 
 swell. 
 
 8th, That generally all ships, which had once got to 
 the North as far as 82", met with little or no 
 obstructions from the ice ; and more arguments to 
 the same purpose. There were some, however, 
 Avould rather make the trial between Spitzbergen 
 and the land discovered by Mr. Gillis. 
 
 N. B. They knew nothing of the Papers read before 
 the Royal Society. 
 
 TO ROD. VALLTRAVERS, ESQ. &c. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 Professor Allamand, being very desirous 
 that the inclosed might be sent to you as soon as pos- 
 sible, has obliged me to draw up with haste the above 
 account of the informations I received at Amsterdam. 
 In reading it over and comparing it with my notes, I 
 find no fault as to the facts related, whatever there 
 may be in the manner in which it is drawn up ; in 
 case the whole or any part of it should be thought 
 worth publishing, I hope you will be so good as to 
 have it corrected.* 
 
 * This hath been done in some trifling particulars, relative 
 merely to the style, a« Captain May is nQt a native of England. 
 
THE NbRtn I'OLE. 12^3 
 
 I could have made it more circumstftrttial, as my 
 notes are very full, in particular with regard to the 
 reasons our commanders gave for not making the 
 trial to the West of Spitzbergen, &c. 
 
 I am informed, that Mr. De Bougainville intends 
 to go by the way of Nova Zembla* 
 I am, with profound respect, 
 Sir, 
 Your most obedient humble Servant, 
 
 WILLIAM MAY. 
 
 Leydeii, Jipril \\th, 1775. 
 
 Thus do the Dutch seamen, employed in the 
 Greenland fishery, agree with our own countrymen, 
 in never having so much as heard of a perpetual bar- 
 rier of fixed ice, to the Northward of Spitzbergen, in 
 80T°,t which indeed is one of their most common 
 latitudes for catching w hales, whilst all of them sup- 
 pose the sea to be generally open in those parts, and 
 many of them proceed several degrees beyond it. 
 
 I shall only add, that, in my former pamphlet,^ I 
 have mentioned a fact or two I had reason to expect 
 from the Rev. Mr. Tooke, Chaplain to the factory at 
 Petersburgh, which he conceived would strongly 
 prove that the sea is open to the Pole, and which I 
 
 * This voyage of discovery, however, did not take place, 
 t One of them indeed says, that the ice frequently packs in that 
 latitude, which he supposes to arise from the meeting of two 
 ••'irrents. 
 
 \ Page 47, note. 
 
124 ON APPROACHING 
 
 have since received in a letter from him dated the 
 26th of May last. 
 
 Mr. Tooke hath been assured by several persons, 
 who have passed the winter at Kola in Lapland, that 
 in the severest weather, whenever a Northerly wind 
 blows, the cold diminishes instantly, and that, if it 
 continues, it always brings on a thaw as long as it 
 lasts. 
 
 He hath also been informed by the same authority, 
 that the seamen, who go out from Kola upon the 
 whale and morse fisheries early in March (for the sea 
 never freezes there,) throw off their winter garments 
 as soon as they are from fifty to one hundred wersts* 
 from land, and continue without them all the time 
 they are upon the fishery, during which they expe- 
 rience no inconvenience from the cold, but that, on 
 their return (at the end of May,) as they approach 
 land, the cold increases to such a severity, that they 
 suffer greatly from it. 
 
 This account agrees with that of Barentz, whilst 
 he wintered in Nova Zembla,t and of the Russians in 
 Maloy Brun ; the North wind cannot therefore, during 
 the coldest seasons of the year, be supposed to blow 
 over ten degrees of ice. 
 
 Governor Ellis indeed, whose zeal in prosecuting 
 the attempt of discovering the Northwest passage 
 through Hudson's Bay is so well known, hath sug- 
 gested to me an argument, which seems to prove the 
 
 * Three wersts make two miles. 
 
 t See Thoughts on the Probability, &c., of reaching the North 
 Pole. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 125 
 
 absolute impossibilily of a perpetual barrier of ice 
 from SOh" to the Pole. 
 
 If such a tract hath existed for centuries, the 
 increase, in point of height, must be amazing in a 
 course of years, by the snoAv, which falls during the 
 winter, being changed into ice, and which must have 
 formed consequently a mountain perhaps equal to the 
 Peak of Teneriffe.* Now the ice which sometimes 
 packs to the Northward of Spitzbergen, is said com- 
 monly not to exceed two yards in height. 
 
 D. B . 
 
 * Mr. De Luc observes also, that the ice upon the Glaciers is 
 always increasing. — See lii? interesting observations on those moun- 
 tains of Switzerlnml. 
 
OBSERVATIONS 
 
 FLOATING ICE, 
 
 If HICK IS rOUND J\ 
 
 HIGH NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN LATITUDES. 
 
 ISlNCE the return of the King's ships from voyages 
 of discovery, both in high Northern and Southern lati- 
 tudes, I have found that it hath been a disputed point, 
 whether the ice which they have met with was formed 
 chiefly from the salt or fresh water. I should rather 
 conceive that this doubt must have arisen from what 
 is mentioned by the great Mr. Boyle, in his experi- 
 ments on heat and cold ; or from an observation of 
 M. Adanson, at the end of his voyage from Senegal, 
 because from the quantity of ice merely (at least to 
 the Northward^ the early navigators never conceived 
 that it was produced from sea water. 
 
 In full proof of this, not to state the opinion of 
 several others on the same head, I shall content 
 myself with citing that of Sir Martin Frobisher, who 
 is well known to have made three successive voyages 
 to Greenland, with a farther intent of discovering the 
 Northwest passage from Europe to the Pacific ocean. 
 
128 ON APPROACHING 
 
 In the second voyage of this celebrated navigator, 
 he observes : — 
 
 "We found none of these islands of ice salt in 
 taste, whereby it appears that they were not of the 
 ocean water congealed, which is always salt, but of 
 some standing or little moving lakes; the main sea 
 freezes not, and therefore tliere is no Mare Glqciaky 
 
 In his third voyage he most anxiously repeats this 
 same opinion, and in still stronger terms, so that 
 what he hath thus laid down was not an occasional 
 observation merely, but what he had much reflected 
 upon, and found to be confirmed by his experience 
 in those Northern seas * 
 
 This opinion of Sir Martin Frobisher's seems not 
 to have been disputed by any one, till the time of 
 Mr. Boyle, who observes, that there are several in 
 Amsterdam, who used to thaw the ice of sea water 
 for brewing, and then cites Bartholinus De JVivis urn. 
 '-'• De glacie ex aqua marina, certiim est si resolvatur, sal- 
 sum saporem deposuisse, quod non ita pridem expertus est 
 Clarissimus Finkius in glaciei frustis, ex ptortu nosfro 
 aHaiisy^ 
 
 I shall not now criticise either what falls from Mr. 
 Boyle himself, or from Bartholinus, though it is very 
 clear that the ice alluded to by both must have pro- 
 bably been formed from fresh water, either in the 
 rivers or lakes, which empty themselves into the Zuy- 
 
 * See Hakluyt, vol. ii. p. G2 and 67. In 1776, Mr. Marshall, 
 Capt-ain of a Greenland ship, was so good as to bring me a bottle of 
 water, which was melted from ice found floating in the Spitzbergen 
 seas, £^nd which had not the least saline taste. 
 
 t Boyle's Works, vol. ii. p. 264. folio. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 129 
 
 der Sea, because I shall hereafter contradict the 
 assertion of Bartholinus, by the actual experiment, 
 which I have tried myself during the late hard frost. 
 
 To do justice indeed to Mr. Boyle, he afterward, 
 upon more mature consideration, shows it to be his 
 opinion, agreeable to that of Sir Martin Frobisher, 
 that the fresh water obtained from ice floating in the 
 sea proves it could not have been formed from the 
 ocean, "because the main sea is seldom or ever 
 frozen."* 
 
 The next author who supposes that congealed sea 
 water is by this process rendered sweet to the taste, 
 is M. Adanson, who informs us, that, upon his return 
 from Senegal in 1748, he carried two bottles of sea 
 water, taken up on the coast of Africa, from Brest to 
 Paris, which, during an intense frost, was so frozen 
 as to burst the bottles, and the tontents afterward 
 became palatable.f 
 
 To this fact I shortly answer, lither that the bot- 
 tles were changed, or otherwise that M. Adanson 
 does not mention the circumstance by which the taste 
 of the sea water was thus altered upon its being dis- 
 solved. Mr. Nairne hath been much more accurate 
 in stating his experiments with regard to the freezing 
 sea water, in a paper read before the Royal Society 
 on the 2d of February, 1776, as he mentions, that, 
 in order to clear the ice from any brine which might 
 adhere to it, he washed it in a pale of pump water for 
 a quarter of an hour, after Avhich he informs the 
 
 * Boyle's Works, vol. ii. p. 302. 
 
 t Voyage an Senegal, p. ino. 
 
 17 
 
130 Ox\ APPROACHING 
 
 Society, that to his palate it was perfectly free from 
 any taste of salt. 
 
 This is most undoubtedly the fact, but Mr. Nairne 
 does not seem to be aware from what circumstance 
 the ice thus melted had become freshwater;* and 
 indeed I must admit, that upon the first experiment 
 which 1 made with regard to freezing sea water, I 
 deduced the same inference that he hath done, having 
 washed it in fresh water for the same reason that he 
 did, viz. to get rid of the brine which might adhere 
 to the surface of the ice. 
 
 To determine, therefore, whence this freshness in 
 the thawed ice might arise, I placed a large piece of 
 what remained frozen (without being washed at all 
 
 * As Mr. Nairne, in his letter to Sir John Pringle, says, that one 
 of his great reasons fdir trying these 'experiments was to determine 
 whether the ice, which floats in the Northern seas, is formed from 
 the salt water or not, he^herefore should have thawed the ice pre- 
 cisely under the same circumstances with the sea water adhering, as 
 the navigators take it up. The truth is, that, if the piece of ice 
 formed from sea water is at all large, the adhering salt water can 
 scarcely effect the taste at all ; and I have melted the central parts 
 of a pretty large mass, which became very salt after dissolution, 
 though entirely detached from the sea water in which it had been 
 frozen. "In the severe frost last January {viz. 1775,) some salt 
 water, being set abroad, froze into an ice, which was not solid but 
 porous, the hollows being filled with the saltest part of the water, 
 for the ice when drained was quite fresh. The salt water being again 
 set abroad, froze as before, what remained still unfrozen was now 
 become exceeding salt, but the ice drained and dissolved was littJc 
 if at all brackish ; by this experiment, if another time more full^ 
 repeated, it may be found to what degree the saltness of water may 
 be increased, by continuing to freeze away the fresh water." — Mr. 
 Barker in Phil. Trans, vol. Ixvi. p. ii. 1776. p. 373. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 131 
 
 in pump water) to be dissolved before the fire, which 
 tasted very salt, as one might naturally suppose. 
 
 The weather continuing to be very severe, I froze 
 more sea water, repeating the experiment of freshen- 
 ing it or not, by leaving or not leaving it in pump 
 water, which always turned out uniformly to be the 
 same ; and the reason of which is the following : — 
 
 When sea water is frozen, it does not form ice 
 similar to that from fresh water, being by no means 
 so solid or transparent, as it consists of thin lamina? 
 or plates, between which the brine is deposited, and 
 if the ice is accurately examined, the small portions 
 of brine between the plates may be easily distin- 
 guished. If this brine therefore is removed, the 
 lamina? of ice when dissolved, becomes sweet to the 
 taste, but, if thawed together, with the brine inter- 
 cepted between the lamina;, the taste is salt, nor can 
 the ice be considerably divested of the brine, by 
 merely leaving it to drain. 
 
 Having satisfied myself thus far from the freezing 
 sea water by the natural cold, and under the com- 
 mon circumstances of exposing it to the air in small 
 china cups, I applied to Dr. Higgins to prosecute 
 these trials with his more ample apparatus, and 
 knowledge of chymistry ; who was immediately so 
 good as to suggest and try the following experiments, 
 which will throw farther light upon this subject.* 
 
 * It would be great injustice to Mr. Lomonosoflf, a Swedi:*!! 
 rhymist, not to mention that he seems to have tried experiments 
 similar to those which I have made myself, and found the result to 
 be as I have stated it. Collection Academique, torn. xi. p. 5. et seq. 
 4to. Paris, 1772. — See also the Probability of reaching the North 
 Pole discussed. 
 
132 ON APPROACHING 
 
 "January 2d,* 1776. A gallon, Winchester mea- 
 sure, of sea water, which I had fresh imported from 
 Mr. Owen in Fleet-Street, was placed in a shallow 
 dish of Welsh ware, glazed yellow; the depth of the 
 water was three inches and a half in this shallow 
 dish, which I marked A, and placed on a brick wall 
 eight feet high above the ground behind my house. 
 This wall on the Eastern side faces the gardens 
 belonging to five or six houses in the same street with 
 mine ; and on the Western side of it is the area 
 between my house and the elaboratory ; and West- 
 ward of my area is the garden of Messrs. Wedgwood 
 and Bentley, which I believe is forty feet wide, 
 bounded on the West by high buildings. 
 
 " At the same time 1 placed another gallon of the 
 same sea water in a glass body. The column of 
 water in this vessel was about thirteen inches high, 
 about six inches diameter at the base, and about 
 three inches at the mouth of the vessel. I placed 
 this body with the sea water close by the vessel 
 marked A; so that both were equally distant from 
 the adjoining houses; and after marking the glass body 
 B, I covered the vessels A and B with glass basons 
 in such a manner, that the air might communicate 
 with the surface of the water, but rain or snow might 
 be excluded. 
 
 "A Thermometer was placed between these 
 vessels. 
 
 " From the 2d to the 7th of January, the mercury 
 in the thermometer stood, at various times, as low as 
 
 * Mr. Nairne began his experiments at the latter end of this 
 month. 
 
THf: NORTH POLE. 133 
 
 oV of Fahrenheit; and Thames water, in shallow 
 wooden vessels, placed on the ground, near the wall 
 above-mentioned, was often frozen to the thickness 
 of a crown piece. But an earthen oil jar containing 
 twenty gallons of Thames water, and a like jar con- 
 taining twenty gallons of distilled water, and each 
 covered with a pewter dish, preserved the water 
 contained in them from freezing during this interval. 
 
 " About the 7th of January, the mercury in the 
 course of twenty-four hours did not rise above 31°, 
 but sometimes sunk to 30°. Ice was formed in the 
 vessel marked A, but none in the vessel marked B. 
 Ice was at the same time formed in the great jars 
 containing Thames water and distilled water; and to 
 a thickness much greater in the Thames water than 
 in the water distilled. The ice obtained from the 
 vessel A was all formed on the surface of the water ; 
 and consisted of thin lamina) adhering to each other 
 weakly, and intercepting in their interstices a small 
 portion of water, which was saline to the taste. 
 This ice, beaten gently with a glass pestle to divide 
 the laminae, then drained, and then washed in dis- 
 tilled water, tasted like the ice of fresh water; and 
 being placed in a glass funnel before a culinary fire, 
 so that the water might drain off as soon as formed, 
 it dissolved in half an hour, and not in less time, 
 although the thermometer placed at the same dis- 
 tance close to the funnel rose to a hundred and sixty; 
 and the side of the funnel next to the fire was hot to 
 the like degree, as nearly as could be ascertained by 
 the touch. The water of the ice thus melted was 
 fresh and palatable, and measured half a pint. 
 
134 ON APPROACHlMti 
 
 " From the 9th of January to the 11th inclusive, 
 the mercury rose some days to forty, and during 
 three or four hours on other days it sunk and re- 
 mained at thirty, and sometimes for an hour or less 
 it sunk to twenty-nine. But it did not remain at 
 thirty during any of these days for more than four or 
 five hours, unless at the hours of rest, when no ob- 
 servation was made. During this period, a thin coat 
 of ice, like the former, was produced on the water 
 in the shallow vessel A ; but no ice was formed in 
 the vessel B. 
 
 " January 12, the thermometer pointed for several 
 hours between thirty-one at the highest, and twenty- 
 nine at the lowest. A thick crust of ice, of the 
 texture before described, was formed in the vessel 
 A. This ice, broken, washed, and dissolved, became 
 fresh water, measuring a pint or more. This quan- 
 tity of ice, placed in a funnel before a fire, in the 
 circumstances already described, was not all dis- 
 solved in an hour and ten minutes. No ice was 
 formed in the vessel B.* 
 
 " January the 13th at night, and 14th in the morn- 
 ing, the thermometer sunk for some hours below 
 twenty-seven, and did not rise during sixteen hours 
 above twenty-eight. The water in the vessel A, 
 remaining after the foregoing congelations, was 
 frozen to the thickness of a quarter of an inch in 
 
 * " The foregoing observations were committed to writing on 
 the days when they were respectively made, but the day of the 
 month was not then accurately noted. It may therefore be found 
 that I have placed some of the foregoing temperatures a day before 
 «r after that on which they were observed." 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 135 
 
 the centre, and three quarters of an inch in the cir- 
 cumference ; but no ice was formed at any greater 
 depth in the water. This ice, hke the former, was 
 laminated, and when bruised and washed, it formed 
 fresh water to the quantity of three pints. 
 
 " On the same day, viz. 14th of January, in the 
 morning, the thermometer pointing below twenty- 
 seven, the Thames water in the great jar was frozen 
 to the thickness of three or four inches, if not more, 
 contiguous to the jar and the surface. The distilled 
 Thames water in the other jar was frozen to the 
 thickness of two inches, or thereabouts, and con- 
 tiguous to the jar and surface of the water ; and the 
 sea water in the glass body marked B was for the 
 first time frozen. On the surface, and in the centre 
 of this surface, the ice was half an inch thick ; at the 
 circumference it was an inch thick ; and from the 
 circumference and surface the ice formed contiguous 
 to the glass, in such a manner, that the crust was an 
 inch thick near the glass and surface ; but as it pro- 
 ceeded downwards towards the wider part of the 
 glass, it tapered to an edge, terminating within an 
 inch of the bottom of the vessel. 
 
 " Thus all the ice was formed on I lie surface and 
 contiguous to the glass, and was tliickest where the 
 vessel was narrowest ; that is the quantity of ice was 
 inversely as the diameter of the vessel. This ice 
 r(?sembled that obtained in the shallow vessel in its 
 laminated structure and sponginess, and in its enve- 
 loping a portion of the salt water, with this difference 
 only, that the lamina* shot vertically, and from the 
 circumference, inclining towards the centre, not di- 
 
136 ON APPROACHING 
 
 rectly, but so as to form with the centre an angle ot 
 about fifteen degrees. This ice, bruised and washed, 
 melted to a pint and a half of pleasant fresh water. 
 The time and heat were nearly the same as I de- 
 scribed above. 
 
 " Mr. Barrington, at this and former periods ob- 
 served, that the separation of the laminae of the ice 
 bj bruising accelerated the effect produced by 
 washing ; that is, the extrication of the intercepted 
 brine. 
 
 " January the 19th at night, the mercury in the 
 thermometer sunk to twenty-six. The sea water, 
 remaining after the foregoing congelations in the flat 
 dish marked A, was frozen so far, that only a pint 
 remained fluid at the bottom. This ice was in all 
 respects like the former portions. Bruised, washed, 
 and melted, as on former occasions, it gave a quart 
 of fresh water. At the same time the water in B was 
 frozen in the manner before described, but in a 
 larger quantity, and some laminae of ice shot close to 
 the glass as far as the bottom of the vessel. This ice 
 bruised and washed as formerly, and placed before 
 the fire in a glass funnel, melted in a heat of a hun- 
 dred and sixty, in an hour and a half, to one quart 
 of fresh water. 
 
 " January the 20th, the mercury, which stood at 
 twenty-seven in the morning, and fell to twenty-six 
 towards twelve o'clock, fell in a few hours to twenty- 
 four, and, before nine at night, fell to twenty-three. 
 Only a thin coat of ice was formed on the water in 
 A, which I did not disturb, expecting it to freeze 
 deeper during the night. The water in the vessel 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 137 
 
 B was frozen to some thickness at the surface, and 
 contiguous to the sides of the glass body, but not at 
 the bottom. Expecting a stronger congelation, I 
 suffered this also to stand until the next morning, and 
 consequently could not determine the quantity of ice 
 formed in it, otherwise than by feeling near the 
 surface, whereby I presumed the quantity of ice to 
 be equal to that last obtained, and formed in the 
 same manner. 
 
 " January the 21st in the morning, the thermome- 
 ter pointed to twenty-eight. The thin crust of ice, 
 observed on the preceding night, did not appear to 
 be increased or diminished in the vessel marked 
 A. The lamina; of this ice adhered so weakly, that 
 the whole crust could not be raised without breaking. 
 This ice, bruised and well washed, dissolved to near 
 half a pint of water, brackish to the taste. And the 
 same day, in the morning, the ice in B was removed, 
 bruised, and washed ; it melted to a pint or more of 
 fresh water." 
 
 " From the 21st to the 26th of January, the water 
 in the vessel marked B was frozen twice, and the ice 
 formed each time was bruised and washed, and 
 melted to fresh water, both portions measuring one 
 pint or more. 
 
 " F'rom the 26th of January at sun set, to the 27th 
 at eleven o'clock in the morning, the mercury in the 
 thermometer stood, at the usual hours of observation, 
 between twenty and eighteen. The water remaining 
 after the foregoino; conscelations in B was frozen so 
 far, that only half a pint remained fluid. The ice, 
 
 18 
 
138 ON APPROACHING 
 
 bruised, washed, and dissolved, tasted a little brack- 
 ish, and measured one pint and a half. 
 
 " On the 28th of January the mercury stood in the 
 morning and until four o'clock in the afternoon be- 
 tween twenty-two and nineteen, and before eleven 
 o'clock at night it sunk to seventeen. Very little ice 
 was formed in the vessel B ; and what was formed 
 very easily crumbled or fell to small flakes in at- 
 tempting to take it out. I therefore suffered it to 
 remain in the liquor until the morning. 
 
 " On the 29th of January the mercury stood be- 
 tween twenty and twenty-two until six o'clock ; and 
 between twenty and nineteen, from six until twelve 
 at night. The quantity of ice, formed on the pre- 
 ceding day, was not notably augmented or diminished; 
 bruised, washed, and melted, it yielded two ounces 
 of water, brackish to the taste, in a greater degree 
 than any of the foregoing portions which were 
 washed. 
 
 " On the 30th of January, finding that the tempera- 
 ture of the preceding evening, of the night, and of 
 this day, which was between nineteen and twenty- 
 one, had caused no notable congelation in the small 
 quantity of water remaining in B ; finding also that 
 the residue of the water in A admitted of no farther 
 congelation worth notice; and considering that the 
 slender laminae of ice, lately formed in these waters, 
 melted to salt water, and consequently that no farther 
 congelation, capable of separating the fresh water 
 from the brine, even with the assistance of washing, 
 could take place ; I mixed the concentrated brine in 
 A with that in B, and found both scarcely measured 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 139 
 
 a wine pint ; some small crystals were found in the 
 bottom of both vessels, which sunk in the brine, and 
 were to the taste sea salt. It is hence evident that 
 some sea salt is formed in crystals by the concentra- 
 tion produced by cold acting gradually, and causing 
 congelation only on the surface of the water, or not 
 affecting that part of it w^hich is contiguous to the 
 bottom of the vessel. 
 
 " The quantity of these crystals of sea salt was 
 about two grains. I poured them together with the 
 water into a china plate, set in a sand heat, and, by 
 crystallization, obtained sea salt and the other saline 
 contents of sea water, in a dry form, near two ounces, 
 avoirdupois. 
 
 " Now, as this quantity of sea water (that is, two 
 gallons) taken on our coast, generally yields about 
 seven ounces of saline matters, it appears, that two- 
 thirds or more of the sea salt, and bitter salts of sea 
 water, are intercepted in the ice of the successive 
 congelations, and are washed away by fresh water, 
 applied as above-mentioned. Hence we learn that 
 sea water may be freshened by freezing, provided 
 the brine enveloped between the laminae of its ice be 
 washed away. And in cold countries salt might be 
 prepared from sea water at a very moderate expense ; 
 for by freezing shallow ponds of this water, by turn- 
 ing the ice to drain off the brine, and when the brine 
 is reduced to a twentieth part or less by evaporation, 
 very little evaporation and fuel will be necessary 
 towards the formation of the salt.* But all the salt 
 
 * " Wallcrius say;', this art if practised in the Northern coun- 
 tries." 
 
140 ON APPROACHING 
 
 of the sea water employed Mill not be obtained, 
 because the greater part of it will be retained be- 
 tween the laminae of the ice, which must be re- 
 jected ; and the concentration by freezing cannot 
 be advantageously carried farther than is above 
 expressed, because at that degree of concentration 
 the cold, and the time necessary to cause farther 
 congelations, must be very considerable, as will the 
 waste of salt likewise, since the ice is then strongly 
 saline. 
 
 " A small portion of the ice, taken at various times 
 from B since the 26th of Jaimary, was not washed, 
 but only left to drain in a funnel ; and each portion 
 thus drained during five or six days, being separately 
 dissolved, tasted strongly of salt, although the like 
 ice, which was bruised and washed, yielded fresh 
 water. This proves that washing removes the inter- 
 cepted brine ; and that this brine does not separate 
 by draining. 
 
 " January the 20th, at eight o'clock in the evening, 
 the thermometer pointing at twenty-three, in the open 
 air where the thermometer stood, T mixed snow with 
 smoking spirit of nitre, and placed in the mixture a 
 glass half pint tumbler full of sea water ; and at the 
 same time placed the thermometer in the mixture. 
 In two minutes the mercury sunk out of the tube 
 quite into the globe. The scale extends only twenty- 
 five degrees below of Fahrenheit ; wherefore I 
 could not determine how many degrees lower it 
 would have sunk on a more extended scale. In five 
 minutes some slender laminae of ice began to shoot 
 from the circumference of the water, and adhered to 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 141 
 
 the glass. The whole water was not frozen in less 
 than an hour, at which time the mercury in the ther- 
 mometer rose to twenty degrees below 0. Having 
 another mixture of the same kind ready made, I 
 briskly removed the tumbler with the ice it contained 
 into the fresh mixture, which, like the former, sunk 
 the mercury into the globe. 
 
 " The ice of sea water is more opaque than that of 
 fresh water, when both arc naturally congealed. 
 For the elastic fluid in common water forms bubbles 
 only in the central parts of the water last frozen; 
 but the ice of sea water consists of alternate parts of 
 ice and brine ; the density of which being unequal, 
 and the matter of them being also dissimilar, light 
 cannot be freely transmitted, but is partly reflected 
 and refracted, according to Sir Isaac Newton's ideas 
 of light. 
 
 " In the experiment last mentioned, the ice was 
 commonly opaque ; and when it was exposed to the 
 fresh frigoriflc mixture, it became like a mass of snow 
 compressed, having a snowy whiteness and opacity, 
 perfect nea: the surface, but not perfect toward the 
 bottom. 
 
 " The tumbler, with the ice it contained, was kept 
 in this last mentioned mixture an hour, when the 
 mercury denoted that no farther degree of cold could 
 be given by this mixture. The tumbler was then 
 placed in snow until the next day, to preserve the 
 ice for farther observation. Nothwithstandins; the 
 extreme cold to which it had been so long exposed, 
 and the cold medium in which it was placed, the ice 
 was not solid like that of fresh water, but, on the 
 
142 ox APmoACHivG 
 
 contrary, could easily be cut through the centre of 
 the mass with a knife. The ice tasted equally of salt 
 through the whole mass, in the same manner as a 
 like quantity of sea water. Bruised briskly, washed 
 as already described, and melted, it yielded fresh 
 water to the quantity of four-fifths of the water frozen; 
 wherefore in washing very little ice was dissolved 
 whilst the salt water intercepted in the ice wag 
 removed. 
 
 " Mr. Barrington having observed that an artificial 
 freezing commences from the bottom and sides of the 
 mass of water placed as usual in the frigorific mix- 
 ture, but that natural freezing commences on the 
 surface and proceeds downward ; and it occurring to 
 me that the specific gravity of incongelable brine is 
 greater than that of the congelable water ; and, con- 
 sequently, that this greater specific gravity favours 
 the separation of brine from the ice of sea water, 
 when the freezing commences on the surface of sea 
 water, and may be an impediment to the separation 
 ©f the incongelable brine from the ice artificially 
 Ibrmed in the sea water, when the congtllation pro- 
 ceeds from the bottom upwards : on these considera- 
 tions it seemed that the foregoing experiments indi- 
 cate, that ice formed in sea water cannot, when 
 melted, become fresh water, unless it be washed in 
 fresh water; but do not fully prove, that ice formed 
 on the surface only, and proceeding slowly down- 
 wards, in sea water, may not consist of fresh water, 
 and be freed from brine, by reason of the specific 
 gravity of brine and other unnoticed circumstances. 
 Therefore, on the 21st of January, at two o'clock. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 143 
 
 when the mercury stood in the open air at twenty- 
 nine, I made the following experiment, with a view 
 to determine whether sea water, frozen <irtifioially 
 from the surface downwards in the manner performed 
 by nature, would not yield ice of a solid texture 
 capable of melting to fresh w ater without washing, 
 merely by draining ; which must take place in moun- 
 tains of ice, if any are formed in the Northern Sea; 
 because, ice being specifically lighter than water, 
 and the access of congealed water being at the base, 
 the portions first frozen will be raised above the water 
 by succeeding portions frozen, and thus a mountain 
 of ice may be raised, whose mass and height above 
 water will be to the massive base immersed in water, 
 inversely as the specific gravity of ice is to that of 
 water. 
 
 "I placed therefore a gallon of sea water in a 
 glazed earthen vessel, whose diameter was one third 
 greater than the depth of the water. In this water I 
 slung a thin glass bason, cut from a bolt head, capa- 
 ble of containing near tw^o quarts of water, in such 
 manner that it might be immersed two inches deep 
 in the sea water. The vessel containing the sea 
 water was surrounded with snow. I then filled the 
 bason, which was suspended in the sea water, with 
 snow pressed down with a glass pestle, and poured 
 into the snow the usual quantity of strong nitrous 
 acid. 
 
 "In fifteen minutes some crystals of ice were formed 
 on the interior glass bason, in the part where it was 
 contiguous to the surface of the sea water. In three 
 hours the whole bottom of the bason, containine; the 
 
144 ON APPROACniXG 
 
 frigorific mixture, was coated with ice, the thickness 
 of which was half an inch or less at the bottom of 
 the bason, increasing to three-fourths of an inch at 
 the part which corresponded with the surface of the 
 water. 
 
 "I easily separated it entire from the bason, 
 found it somewhat firmer in its aggregation than the 
 ice slowly formed by natural freezing, and not com- 
 posed of laminae like this latter, but similar in tex- 
 ture to the salt water frozen by artificial cold applied 
 in the usual manner. I placed it on a heap of snow, 
 where it remained to drain upwards of six hours, but 
 still was wet to the touch on the surface, and in the 
 fresh surfaces of the fractured parts. I then placed a 
 part of it in a glass funnel before the fire, to melt, 
 and found the water strongly saline to the taste, but 
 not near so saline as equal parts of sea and river 
 water mixed. 
 
 " Another portion of this ice, which was wrapped 
 tip in filtering paper, and left to drain on a heap of 
 dry snow during four days, when melted, was saline 
 to the taste, and not sensibly diflferent from that 
 which had drained only six or seven hours. Whence 
 it appeared, that ice formed in the sea water, in cir- 
 cumstances similar to those which attend natural 
 congelation, is, nevertheless, saline to the taste. 
 
 " The several portions of water obtained in the 
 foregoing experiments, from the washed ice of the 
 sea water in A and B, being preserved in glass stop- 
 per bottles, ^ere not examined. Although they 
 were fresh to the taste, it appeared by the quantity 
 of luno, cornea., which they all formed with saturated 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 145 
 
 nitrous solution of silver, that they were strongly 
 impregnated with marine salt, comparatively with 
 Thames and New River water, examined in the like 
 manner. 
 
 " Mr. Harrington observing, that salt in water is an 
 impediment to the congelation of that water, pre- 
 sumed, that salt in water would accelerate the thaw- 
 ing of ice immersed in it ; and that in equal tempe- 
 ratures ice would be tha^ved in sea water sooner 
 than in fresh water. I therefore made the following 
 experiment. 
 
 "January the 20th, when the thermometer pointed 
 to twenty-three, about nine o'clock at night, I placed 
 five ounces and half a drachm, avoirdupois, of 
 Thames water in a half pint glass tumbler ; and the 
 like quantity of the same water distilled in another 
 half pint glass tumbler of equal figure and capacity 
 with the foregoing. The tumblers were placed on 
 the wall formerly described, and left there covered 
 with glass until eleven o'clock next morning. 
 
 " In the mortiing, at eleven o'clock, the thermome- 
 ter pointed to twenty-eight. The water in both tum- 
 blers was frozen quite through, and formed masses of 
 ice, transparent as crystal in every part, except the 
 centre, and near the bottom, which parts were ren- 
 dered opaque to the thickness of half an inch, by a 
 number of air bubbles locked up in the ice. The 
 distilled water had been kept several days in the jar 
 above described, whose mouth was only covered 
 with an inverted pewter dish. 
 
 "Into a glass tumbler, capable of holding a Win- 
 chester pint or more 1 put a wine pint of Tharaeg 
 
 19 
 
146 ON APPROACHING 
 
 Water; and into another tumbler of the same figure and 
 capacity, I poured a pint of sea water concentrated, 
 bj freezing one fourth of it, the better to represent 
 sea water of the great oceans, Avhich are not affected 
 by rivers so much as the sea water used in these 
 experiments must be, as it was taken up near the 
 North Foreland. The sea water was thus concen- 
 trated for these farther reasons : first, that the effect 
 of salt in the water might be more conspicuous dur- 
 ing the thawing of the ice ; and secondly, to prevent 
 the first portions of ice thawed from diluting the salt 
 water to a degree which never is found in the ocean. 
 I reduced the sea and the Thames water, contained 
 in these tumblers, to the same temperature exactly, 
 in the open air ; then taking hold of each by the sum- 
 mit of the glass above the water, I carried them into 
 my study, and placed them on a carpet fifteen feet 
 equally distant from the fire, and three inches from 
 the wainscot of the wall opposite the fire, and equally 
 distant from a door on one side, and a window, 
 which extends within fourteen inches of the floor, on 
 the other. The tumblers containing the frozen water, 
 were immersed in a large pan of hot water, close 
 to each other, and near the centre of the pan, 
 the water rising to the height of the ice in the 
 tumblers ; after a few minutes the ice was thrown 
 out, by inverting the glasses on clean paper. The 
 two pieces of ice were equal in size, figure, and 
 weight; the weight of each being five ounces 
 avoirdupois. 
 
 " The moment before the ice was taken out of the 
 tumblers, I found the temperature of the sea and 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 147 
 
 fresh water, placed as above-mentioned, to be equal, 
 and exactly thirty-four ; the temperature of the air in 
 that part of the room being forty-six. I plunged the 
 pieces of ice immediately, one in the sea water, the 
 other in the fresh Avater. It was at this instant two 
 o'clock in the afternoon. In ten minutes the tempe- 
 rature of the sea water was thirty-two, that of the 
 fresh water was thirty-three and a half In half an 
 hour the sea water raised tlie mercury to thirty-three 
 the fresh water raised it to thirty-four and a half 
 
 " At this instant, viz. half an hour past two o'clock, 
 I took both the pieces of ice at the same time, 
 weighed them briskly, and replaced them in their 
 respective vessels at the same instant. Of the ice 
 placed in the sea water, half an ounce was dissolved; 
 of the ice placed in the fresh water, only four 
 drachms and a half were dissolved. 
 
 " From half an hour past two o'clock until six I 
 frequently changed the position of the tumblers, 
 making one take the place of the other. At six, the 
 temperature of the sea water was thirty-six, that of 
 the fresh water was thirty-seven and a half In the 
 manner already mentioned, the ice was at this time 
 weighed and replaced. Of the ice in sea water 
 Ihree cfunces and four drachms were dissolved ; of 
 that in fresh water, only two ounces and eight 
 drachms. 
 
 " It is observable, that the sea water was a degree 
 and a half colder, ever since the immersion of the 
 ice, than the fresh water, acted on by the like mass 
 of ice, and placed in the like circumstances ; and 
 nevertheless the ice was dissolved much quicker in 
 
148 ON APPROACHING 
 
 the colder sea water. The quicker solution of the 
 ice in sea water was evidently the cause of the 
 greater degree of cold preserved in it during four 
 hours ; and it already appeared, that salt water is a 
 more powerful solvent of ice than fresh water in the 
 like temperature. And, agreeable to Mr. Barring- 
 ton's suggestion, the matter which impedes the con- 
 gelation of water must of course facilitate the thaw- 
 ing of ice. The nitrous acid furnishes us with 
 another striking instance to this effect ; for no cold 
 can be produced to freeze the water in it ; and a red 
 hot ladle cannot thaw ice placed in it, so quickly as 
 ice is thawed by nitrous acid. 
 
 " At ten o'clock, or in eight hours after the pieces 
 of ice were first placed in the sea and Thames water, 
 the temperature of the sea water was thirty-nine, 
 that of the Thames water only thirty-eight. At this 
 time, of the ice in sea water four ounces eight 
 drachms w«re dissolved ; of the ice in Thames water, 
 four ounces only were dissolved. The sea water 
 being at this period warmer than the Thames water, 
 corresponds with the small portion of ice remaining 
 in it, compared with that remaining in the fresh 
 water. The temperature of the room in the place 
 where the tumblers stood, being, by reason' of the 
 fire kept constantly in it, forty-four or forty-five, for 
 the last six hours. 
 
 " In twelve hours, or at two oVlock in the morn- 
 ing, the temperature of the room near the vessels of 
 water being nearly the same as formerly described, 
 the temperature of the sea water was forty, the tem- 
 perature of the fresh water was thirty-nine. Four 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 149 
 
 ounces fifteen drachms of the ice in salt water were 
 dissolved, only one drachm remaining; four ounces 
 ten drachms of the ice in fresh water were dissolved, 
 only six drachms remaining. 
 
 " At the end of the thirteenth hour, after the im- 
 mersion of the masses of ice in the fresh and in the salt 
 water, that is, at three in the morning, the tempera- 
 ture of the room was forty-five near the place where 
 the tumblers stood. The temperature of the open air 
 was thirty-one. The ice in the sea water was melted. 
 The quantity of ice remaining in the fresh water was 
 one drachm, wliich, in fifteen minutes more, was 
 entirely melted. 
 
 " At this period, when the ice in the fresh water 
 was melted, that is, a quarter of an hour past three, 
 the mercury stood at forty in the fresh water, in the 
 salt water it stood at forty-one. In a quarter of an 
 hour after this, the mercury stood at forty-two in the 
 salt water, and at forty-one in the fresh water. In a 
 quarter of an hour more, the temperature remained 
 unalterable in the salt and fresh water, although the 
 temperature of the air between and near the vessels 
 was forty-five, and the vessel on the right was placed 
 on the left, and replaced several times. And both 
 vessels were at all times equidistant fom the wain- 
 scot, which was perfectly close, as were the boards 
 of the floor also. 
 
 " In a quarter of an hour more, the temperature of 
 the air near and between the tumblers remained 
 forty -five ; the temperature of the fresh water was 
 scarcely forty-two ; the temperature of the salt water 
 was forty-two and a half. 
 
150 ON APPROACHING 
 
 " In a quarter of an hour more, the temperature of 
 the air between the tumblers being forty-four and a 
 half, the temperature of the salt water was forty- 
 three ; the temperature of the fresh w ater was some- 
 what more than forty-two. It was now past four 
 o'clock in the morning, on Monday the 22d of 
 January. I went to bed, leaving the tumblers in the 
 position described. 
 
 '"It was observed, during the foregoing and other 
 experiments, and it is visible, from the experiments 
 related, that fire, in diffusing itself from warm bodies 
 to contiguous cold bodies, proceeds slowly ; that cold 
 bodies do not acquire the temperature of the warmer 
 medium in which they are immersed so soon as is 
 commonly imagined, but, on the contrary, require a 
 considerable time for that purpose ; and this time is 
 directly as the diameter of the cold body. 
 
 " It was inferred from these experiments, that a 
 temperate body, like water, placed in a cold medium, 
 as in air, cooled to thirty or thirty-one of Fahrenheit, 
 requires many hours before it acquires the tempera- 
 tin-e of the surrounding medium, and before a conge- 
 lation commences ; and that the time necessary for 
 the commencement of the congelation is directly as 
 the mass and shortest diameter of the water, and the 
 progress of the congelation is inversely as the depth 
 ©f the water. 
 
 ''• It was also observed, that as much of a given 
 mass of water was frozen in five hours in a tempera- 
 ture of twelve degrees below the freezing point, as 
 was frozen in one hour in a temperature, fifty degrees 
 
THE NORTH POLK. 151 
 
 below the freezing point ; and that long duration of 
 the temperature between twenty and thirty-two is, 
 towards the congelation of water, equivalent to inten- 
 sity of cold, such as is marked 0, and below 0, in 
 Fahrenheit, but of short duration. 
 
 " It was moreover observed, that water in thick 
 jars covered was not frozen, when water in open 
 vessels was frozen ; that water included in massive 
 vessels of wood, or surrounded by any matter except 
 water, to some thickness, preserved its temperature, 
 and resisted congelation, longer than the like quan- 
 tity of water exposed to the cold air; and that water 
 in thick vessels was not frozen so soon as a like 
 quantity of water in thin vessels of like matter, figure, 
 and capacity. It was thence inferred, that fire does 
 not so quickly pervade thick bodies as it does thin 
 bodies; and that fire pervades water more freely 
 than it does solid bodies, and sooner diffuses itself 
 from water to air, than from any other body contain- 
 ing water to air. 
 
 " Thence it followed, that in reasoning on the phe- 
 liomena of congelation, the masses of water, the 
 duration of cold temperature in the atmosphere, and 
 the masses of other matter surrounding water, arc to 
 be considered. Deep rivers and lakes do not freeze 
 so soon as shallow rivers and lakes. Larse bodies 
 of water are never frozen in any temperature of 
 short duration ; but shallow waters are often frozen 
 in the summer. 
 
 "It need not be presumed, that certain lakes 
 which are never frozen, communicate with subterra- 
 neous fires, or hot mineral streams; or that thev are 
 
152 ON APPROACHING 
 
 impregnated with matter which impedes congelation: 
 but it is rather to be presumed, that as fire slowly 
 pervades, enters, or quits bodies, the time necessary 
 for its diffusing itself from deep lakes to the cold 
 atmosphere is greater than ever such temperature of 
 the atmosphere continues without intermission below 
 the freezing point. 
 
 " By the like reasoning applied to masses of earth 
 and other matter, which are not so quickly pervaded 
 by fire as water is, we can conceive why deep wells 
 and springs at or near their issuing from the earth 
 are not frozen in this climate, even when navigable 
 rivers are ice-bound. We also understand why the 
 main pipes, buried in our streets, retain the water 
 fluid, when the pipes leading from these to the 
 houses, and crossing the area of each house, are 
 choked with ice ; and why hay bands twisted round 
 these small pipes prevent the freezing, &c. 
 
 " On these grounds it is presumed, that no consider- 
 able congelation ever takes place in the sea, because 
 this is the greatest and deepest mass of water we 
 know of; because it is always in motion, and commu- 
 nicates with the water of temperate climates ; because 
 sea water is not so easily frozen as fresh water; 
 because the ice found in the sea is solid, and in 
 transparency not different from the ice of fresh water; 
 and, lastly, because this floating ice, which is met 
 with by navigators, both in high Northern and South- 
 ern latitudes, when melted, is palatable to the taste ; 
 whereas the ice formed from sea water is very saline, 
 if it be thawed without having been washed in fresh 
 water. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 153 
 
 " It *is also presumed, that in the deep Northern 
 seas the water near the surface will be found warmer 
 than that near the bottom at the approach of sum- 
 mer ; and will be found colder near the surface than 
 at the bottom in the first month of the cold season, 
 for the reasons already expressed : and in like man- 
 ner, that, during the first six or eight hours of a frost 
 in England, the water in any deep lake will be found 
 colder near the surface than at the bottom, but that 
 the water at the bottom will be found colder than 
 that near the surface in twenty-four hours after a 
 thaw, provided the air be temperate, or nearly so." 
 
 It having been proved, from what hath been already 
 urged, as well as by the preceding experiments of 
 Dr. Higgins, that the floating ice, which is observed 
 both in high Southern and Northern latitudes, cannot 
 be probably formed from sea water, it may be thought 
 incumbent upon me to show how such quantities can 
 be supplied from springs, rain, or frozen snow. 
 
 The rivers, which are always found at certain 
 intervals in any large tract of land, undoubtedly sup- 
 ply considerable part of such ice ; but there are not 
 wanting other sources from which these floating 
 masses may be produced. 
 
 The larger and higher ice islands* I conceive to 
 be chiefly formed on shore, after which they arc 
 
 * Mr. Wales olieerves, that in the islands of ice, near Gcorsia 
 Auptralis and Sandwich Land, there are strata of dirty ice, %vhich 
 irrefragably proves their having been formed on the land. — Remarks 
 tm Dr. Forster's Account, &c. 8vo. London, 1778, p. 106. 
 
 With regard to the formation of ice islands, see likewise Captain 
 Took'? Voyage, vol. ii. p. 213 and ?10; Mho mnceives them to 
 
 20 
 
154 
 
 ON APPROACHING 
 
 undermined by the rills and melted 9no\\-, cfu'ring the 
 summer, of whieh we have an accurate account 
 in the late voyage towards the North Pole.* 
 
 arise from congealed snow and sleet in the valley's. Captain Cook 
 also supposes, that the ice cliffs, at the end of these valleys, often 
 project a great way into the sea, when they are sheltered from the 
 violence of the Avind, p. 242. 
 
 * " Large pieces frequently break oflf from the ice-bergs, and 
 ftUl with great noise into the water : we observed one piece which 
 had floated out ir)to the bay, and grounded in twenty-four flUhoms ; it 
 AViis fifty feet high above the surface of the water, and of the same 
 beautiful colour as the ice-berg." p. 70. 
 
 I have likewise been favoured with the following account of ice- 
 islands on the coast of Labrador, from Lieutenant John Cartwright, 
 of the Royal Navy, to whom I have not only this obligation. — See 
 the Probability of reaching the North Pole, p. 8. 
 
 " Dear Sir, " Thursday, Feb. 28, 1776. 
 
 " In conformity with my promise of yesterday, I now send you. 
 as nearly as I can recollect, my brother's account (who hath resided 
 four years on the Labrador coast) of the formation of those great 
 masses of frozen snow, seen annually in very great numbers on the 
 Northern coast of America, and by mariners usually called Islands 
 of ice. 
 
 " Along the coast of Labrador, the sea, in winter, is frozen to a 
 great distance from the land. The Northwest is the prevailing and 
 coldest wind. The snow, carried by this or any other Westerly 
 winds over the clilfs of the coast, falls becalmed upon the ice at the 
 foot of the said cliffs, drifting up to the very tops of them, although, 
 many of them arc not inferior to that of Dover, or those about Lul- 
 worth. The current of the strong V/estern winds having passed 
 these precipices, takes its course downwards into the undisturbed 
 air below ; but it is not until it arrives at some distance from the land, 
 that it can be felt on the surface of the sea. Having the frozen sur- 
 face of the sea for abase, and the precipice for a perpendicular, an 
 hypothenuse is made by the descending direction of the wind. The 
 inclosed triangle, be the cliffs ever so high, will be filled with snow ; 
 because the top^i of the adjoining ^ills being quite naked, are 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 155 
 
 Others, which happen to have projected over the 
 sea, may have had their foundations so sapped by 
 the waves during a storm,* as to have lost their sup- 
 entirely swept clear of snow by the violence of the storm?, and what 
 would otherwise have lain there is carried to the leeward of tlie 
 hills, and under the shelter of the cliffy, where it is deposited in 
 infinitely greater quantities than it would fall in without such a 
 cause. The hypothenuse of such triangle is frequently of such a 
 slope as that a man may walk up or down without difficult}'. By 
 frequent thaw*, and the occasional fill of moisture interrupting the 
 frost, during the first parts of the winter, the snow will, in some small 
 degree, dissolve, by which means it only acquires a greater hardness 
 when the frost returns ; and during the course of that rigorous sea- 
 son it generally becomes a very compact body of snow ice. In the 
 spring of the year the icy base gives way, and its burden plunges 
 into the sea, sometimes entire, sometimes in many fragments. As 
 the depth of water in many parts is forty, fifty, one liundred fathoms, 
 and upwards, close to the shore, these bodies of ice, vast as is their 
 bulk, will frequently float without any diminution of their contents, 
 although the very large ones do often take the ground, and sometimes 
 are not sufficiently reduced by either the penetration of the sea and 
 the rain water, or of a whole summer's sun, to get at hberty again 
 before another winter. 
 
 " The above relation, which my brother gives from his own ob- 
 servation, in North latitude 52" 15', accounts very naturally and 
 easily for the formation of that surprising number of the vast pieces 
 of ice which is annually seen on the Labrador coast, and considerably 
 to the Southward. 
 
 " John Cartwright." 
 
 * " The sea has washed underneath the ice cliffs, as high as the 
 Kentish Forelands, and the arches overhanging, support mountains 
 of snow, which have lain since the creation." — Wood's Voyage, 
 p. 20. 
 
 " Cuncta gelu, cannque npternDm grandine tecta, 
 Atque aevi glaciem cohibent, riget ardua montis 
 .^-^therii facics, siirgcntique obvia Phoobo, 
 Duratas nesoit fiamini- nioUire pruinas." 
 
 Silius Italicus, lib. iii. 1, 480. 
 
156 ON ArPROACHING 
 
 port ; whilst others again may have been reft from 
 the mass to which they before adhered by the expan- 
 sive power of the frost. * 
 
 Great part of the field, or lower ice, I take to be 
 formed by the snow falling on the sands left bare for 
 six hours (from half ebb to half flood) w hich imme- 
 diately dissolves upon touching the sands, and, before 
 the tide returns, becomes solid ice ; part of these 
 pieces are by the wind, or tide, again returned to the 
 same sands, where they again meet with another 
 store of ice, formed during another six hours, which, 
 in the course of a winter, must, by packing, accumu- 
 late to immense masses. That this is not mere con- 
 jecture, but the fact, I appeal to Captain James's 
 account of what he himself was witness of whilst he 
 wintered at Charlton Island, in Hudson's Bay.f 
 
 Now, if we examine a globe, we shall find, that 
 fi'om sixty to seventy degrees of Northern latitude 
 more than half its circumference is land, which is 
 open to a Northern Sea, from which large tract of 
 coast much greater quantities of floating ice may be 
 derived than have ever been met with by navigators, 
 without being obliged to suppose that any part of it 
 is formed from sea water. 
 
 But it may be said, that our late enterprising navi- 
 gators to the Southward have also met with as great 
 
 * " The rocks along Ihe roast burst with a report equal to that of 
 artillery, and the splinters are thrown to an amazing distance." Mr. 
 Wales, in Philosophical Transactions, vol. Ix. p. 125. 
 
 t For Captain James's accoimt, see Boyle, vol. ii. ; as also Har- 
 ris, vol. ii. p. 420. where it is considerably abridged, and differs in 
 some few circumstances. It is stated, however, that in few hours 
 the snow thus frozen will be five or six feet thick. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 157 
 
 a quantity of ice in the opposite hemisphere, without 
 scarcely discovering any land. 
 
 To this I answer, that their circumnavigation was, 
 at a medium, about 57° degrees of Southern latitude, 
 though they made pushes greatly to the Southward 
 in three points, and in one of these to 71° 10'. In 
 the other instances, as far as 67° and 67° 30'. 
 
 There is consequently a very large space in which 
 there may be many a frozen region, which they have 
 not had any opportunity of discovering. If, for exam- 
 ple, a navigator from the Southern was sent upon 
 discoveries to the Northern hemisphere, and Europe, 
 as well as Asia and North America, having been sunk 
 by eartliquakes, was to report that he had circum- 
 navigated at 55° North latitude at a medium ; made 
 pushes even to 71° in difierent directions, without 
 seeing a>iy continent ; and that therefore there was 
 no land to the North of r^b"^ his countrymen would 
 be much deceived by such report, because Den- 
 mark, Norway, Sweden, Muscovy, Tartarian Asia, 
 and part of North America, continued in their 
 present situation. 
 
 Besides, however, the ice which may come from 
 Terra del Fuego^ Captain Cook hath discovered two 
 frozen islands between Cape Horn and that of Good 
 Hope, which were covered with ice and snow.* 
 
 * Hence whatever land is discovered to the South of this latitude 
 must produce ice. There is also a large tract of land, named in 
 some maps the Gulf of St. Sehasticm, which is not for distant from 
 Georgia Australis, and which possibly may have escaped Captain 
 Cook. This great navigator also conceives, that the ice floats from 
 70" South, and is detached by accidents from land lying to the 
 
158 ON APPROACHING 
 
 The first of these, situate in 54% is called Georgia 
 ^^ustmlis ; and the second, Sandwich Land^ in 59% 
 which appeared so large, to some eyes, that it was 
 conceived to be part of a continent* 
 
 It is believed also, that no ship hath been beyond 
 48" to the Southward of New Zealand ; and from the 
 coldness of the most Southern of these large islands, 
 I cannot but suspect that there is a considerable tract 
 of land between it and the Pole. 
 
 Having thus endeavoured to account how the float- 
 ing ice which is met with may be supposed to be 
 formed from snow or fresh water ; I cannot but risk 
 another conjecture, that the time of the year at which 
 attempts are commonly made to make discoveries 
 towards the two Poles (though favourable in many 
 other circumstancest) is probably the season when 
 the greatest quantity of floating ice will be observed. 
 
 South of that parallel, as the currents in the Antarctic seas always set 
 to the North, — Cook's Voyage, vol. i. p. 268. 
 
 Captain Furneaux in 1744, passed between Georgia Australis and 
 Sandwich Land (rather supposed a continent,) without seeing either 
 of these new discoveries, though the mountains on both are remark- 
 ably high, particularly those in Sandwich Land, one of which, by 
 severed, was considered to equal TenerifTe. 
 
 Captain Furneaux could not have been well more than two 
 degrees from either of these countries. — See his Track in the lately 
 published map. 
 
 * See Captain Cook's Voyage, vol. ii. p. 230 ; where he supposes 
 land near the South Pole, chiefly opposite to the Southern Atlantic, 
 and Indian Oceans, as on those meridians ice is found as far North as 
 48". It is in this tract of Southern land that Cook supposes the ice to 
 be chiefly formed, which is met with in the Southern Oceans. — Ibid. 
 
 t Viz. The nights being shorter, and the rigging not being 
 so subject to being frezen. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 
 
 159 
 
 This seems to follow as a necessary consequence 
 from the push being never made before midsummer, 
 and often a month later, wliich is precisely the time 
 when the ice begins to break up in the fresh water 
 rivers, &c. 
 
 I have accordingly minuted down, from several 
 voyages in high Northern latitudes, the day on which 
 the navigators first mention seeing the floating ice. 
 
 The result of which is as follows : — 
 
 Sir Martin Frobisher on the 23d of June, — Ilack- 
 luyt, vol. ii. p. 77. 
 
 Davis in his first voyage, July 19th. In his third, 
 July 2d.— Ibid. p. 99. 
 
 , Pet and Jackman on the 13th of July. — Ibid. p. 
 447. 
 
 Burrow on the 21st of July. — Ibid. p. 277. 
 
 Governor Ellis, July 5th. — Voyage to discover th<» 
 Northwest passage, p. 127. 
 
 " The shores of Hudson"'s Bay have many inlets or 
 friths, which are full of ice and snow, and frozen to 
 the ground. These are broke loose, and launched 
 into the sea, by land floods, during the months of 
 June, July, and August." — Ibid. 
 
 " The first floating ice, which is observed on the 
 coast of Labrador is a joyful presage to the inhabil- 
 »ants of the approach of summer." — Lieutenant Cur- 
 tis, in Philosophical Transactions. 
 
 "The ice begins to break up the 18th of June." — 
 Danish account of Greenland. — Voyages miJS'ord^ vol. 
 i. p. 167. 
 
160 ON APPROACHING 
 
 "The lakes of Lapland continue frozen on June 
 the 24th." — Linschoten's Voyage, ibid. vol. iv. 
 
 " On the 5th of July, the sea on two sides is ob- 
 served to be covered with ice." — Ibid. p. 187. 
 
 Wood sees the first ice in North latitude 75° 59', on 
 June 22. 
 
 On the 17th of August vast pieces of floating ice. — 
 Ibid. 
 
 " In the month of August the French observe, on 
 the Labrador coasts, mountains of ice as high as the 
 ships." — Boyle's Works, vol. ii. p. 303. 
 
 "On June 16th, a river in Hudson's Bay breaks 
 up." — Mr. Wales, in Philosophical Transactions, 
 vol. Ix. p. 126. 
 
 " The mouth of the Lena is not open till the middle 
 of August." — Observations Geographiques^ par M. Engel, 
 p. 229. 
 
 With regard to the ice which may be observed in 
 Southern latitudes, I shall only take notice, that Sir 
 Francis Drake, Feuillee, and Clipperton, passed 
 Cape Horn, or the Straits of Magellan, during the 
 month of December, without mentioning ice,* from 
 which it should seem that it breaks up chiefly during 
 the months of January, February, and March, answer- 
 ing to our July, August, and September.f 
 
 * See Callander's Voyages under these three articles. 
 
 t It may possibly brealc up in some years earlier, perhaps Ih 
 December ; but some time must be allowed for its floating to the 
 North, as far as the latitude of Terra del Fuego. From the instances 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 1 61 
 
 Three Dutch ships, which sailed on discoveries 
 with Commodore Roggewein, 1721, met with much 
 ice to the South of Cape Horn in the middle of 
 January. The Author of the Narrative afterward 
 makes this observation : " Those mountains of ice, 
 which are seen in the latitude of Cape Horn, prove 
 that there is land towards the Southern Pole, it 
 being certain that this ice cannot be formed in the 
 ocean, though the cold is so severe."* 
 
 But it may, perhaps, be said, that the ice which 
 breaks up in June, July, and August, or during the 
 correspondent months in the opposite hemisphere, 
 may remain floating for years without being much 
 dissolved. 
 
 To this I will not take upon myself to say that 
 some such islands, when very large, may not con- 
 tinue more than a year; but I should conceive this 
 not to be very common. Storms and other accidents 
 must probably break them into small masses which 
 will quickly be thawed ; as that able geographer and 
 promoter of discoveries, Mr. Bailiff Engel, obser^ es, 
 that if a piece of ice is fastened by a cord and let 
 down into the sea, it is presently melted.f 
 
 Mr. Wales also informs us, that he supposes most 
 of these islands of ice are soon wasted, in the folio w- 
 
 cited, it appears that the earliest floating ic# which is seen in the 
 Northern hemiijphere is not observed sooner than the 16th of June, 
 whilst in much the greater part mention is not m-ide of it till July. 
 
 * Histoire de r Expedition de trois Vaisseaux, ^c. Hague, 17,"9, 
 p. 81. 
 
 t See Observations Geographiques, p. 224. 
 21 
 
162 ON APPROACHING 
 
 ing words : " The truth is, their motion and dissolu- 
 tion are apparently so Aery quick, that I am of opin- 
 ion it must be a pretty large island which is not 
 dissolved in one summer."* 
 
 How soon likewise does the ice disappear, which 
 is discharged from our own rivers into the sea, after 
 our most intense frosts ? 
 
 1 have omitted stating the degree of cold at which 
 the sea water I exposed to the air began to be frozen, 
 and cannot now recover the memorandum which I 
 made at the time. I am pretty confident, however, 
 that the mercury had sunk only to twenty-seven. 
 
 But though congelation thus took place at five 
 degrees below the freezing point, it is proper that 
 I should state some other circumstances attending 
 the experiment. 
 
 The sea water which I used came from the North 
 Foreland, which is at the mouth of the Thames, and 
 consequently, not being the same with that of the 
 ocean, was more easily frozen. 
 
 Besides this, the quantity was so small as not to 
 cover a thin china bason deeper than an inch, both 
 which particulars contribute greatly to the more 
 speedy formation of ice ; it need scarcely be men- 
 tioned also, that the liquid to be frozen was in a 
 quiescent state. 
 
 How much a, considerable degree of motion im- 
 pedes congelation, may be inferred from what may _ 
 be observed in every river ; for as high as the tide 
 hath any force, I doubt much whether any ice is 
 
 * Philosophical Transactions, vol. Ix. p. 112. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 16'3 
 
 scarcely ever formed in the fair open channel, during 
 our most intense frosts. 1 attended to the Thames, 
 in this respect, during the late severity of the weather, 
 and it seemed to^me that all the ice floated down 
 from the upper parts of the river ; but packing after- 
 ward between the lighters, occasioned the formation 
 of very large masses. 
 
 I have little doubt, from these circumstances, but 
 that the open sea, if it be frozen at all, must require 
 a much more intense cold than twenty-seven ; allow- 
 ing however any greater degree of cold in the high 
 latitudes, it seems deducible, from the experiments 
 of Dr. Higgins, that sea water cannot be frozen into 
 a solid state, if compared with that of ice formed 
 from the water of rivers; nor will such ice when 
 melted become palatable, unless it hath been pre- 
 viously washed in fresh water. 
 
 Hence it seems almost to be demonstration, that 
 the floating ice met with by navigators, being both 
 solid and sweet to the taste after dissolution, cannot 
 be produced from the water of the ocean.* 
 
 I will venture also to insist, that if such ice was 
 actually frozen from the ocean, it must very quickly 
 be melted, because, as it must consist of detached 
 lamina; intercepting the brine, the sea would soon 
 insiimate itself between the interstices, so as to cause 
 its dissolution. If any ice, therefore, should be form- 
 ed in those parts of bays which are land locked, 
 
 * The ice taken up by Captaia Cook, during his circumnavigation 
 in high Southern latitudes, was sohd and transparent : being placed 
 also on the deck for the salt water to drain off, the ice became whole- 
 some and palatable water. 
 
164 ON APPROACHING THE NORTH POLE. 
 
 have little or no tide, and receive considerable 
 quantities of fresh water, when such ice is wafted 
 fairly out to sea, I should conceive that it must dis- 
 appear in a very short time. * 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 — -tt^^^' — 
 
 PAPERS 
 
 ON 
 
 APPROACHING THE NORTH POLE 
 
 AND ON 
 
 A NORTHWEST PASSAGE. 
 
 RY 
 
 COLONEL BEAUFOY, F.R.S. 
 
 The Papers are extracted from Thomson's Annuls of Philosophy, by permission 
 of Colonel Bcaufoy. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 QUERIES 
 
 RESPECTING 
 
 THE PROBABILITY OF REACHING, 
 
 FROM 
 
 The Island of Spitzbergen, the J^orth Pole, 
 
 BY MEANS OF 
 
 REIN-DEER, DURING THE WINTER ; 
 
 AND 
 
 ANSWERED 
 
 BY 
 
 PERSONS WHO WIJ^TERED THERE. 
 
 ISOME years past I was impressed with the idea of 
 the possibility of reaching the North Pole from Spitz- 
 bergen, during the winter, by travelling over the ice 
 and snow in sledges drawn by rein-deer. There- 
 fore, with the view of determining how far this plan 
 was practicable, I sent several Queries, and re- 
 quested Answers to them from Russians, who were 
 at that time living at Archangel, and had wintered 
 in those remote islands. Those Queries, together 
 with the Answers, are as follow, as I learn from con- 
 
168 ON APPROACHING 
 
 versation that the practicability of such a journey, 
 conducted in a similar manner, is entertained by 
 well-informed persons ; and, before a plan is put in 
 execution, it is desirable to know what has been 
 previously done on the same subject. The 31st and 
 33d seem contradictory, probably from some error in 
 translating the Questions into Russ, or the Answers 
 into English. 
 
 1. Query. How many settlements have the Rus- 
 sians on the island of Spitzbergen, and which is the 
 most Northerly ? 
 
 Answer. There are neither settlements nor fixed 
 inhabitants in Spitzbergen, except those fishermen 
 who go there in quest of fish, and likewise of those 
 animals from Megen, Archangel, Onega, Rala, and 
 other places bordering the White Sea, in vessels 
 from sixty to one hundred and sixty tons. They sail 
 from the above-mentioned places, those for the sum- 
 mer fishery in the beginning of June, and those for 
 the winter in June and July. They arrive on the 
 West side of Spitzbergen, and commonly return 
 home, the former some year in September, and the 
 latter the next year in August and September. They 
 winter in the Gulfs of Devil Bay, Clock Bay, Ring 
 Bay, Crus Bay, German Island, Magdalene Bay, and 
 to the Northward in Liefde Bay, and others. The 
 farthest North our fishermen ever have sailed to is 
 Liefde Bay, and from thence in small boats as far 
 as Nordoster Island. 
 
 2. Q. At what time of the year does the winter 
 commence ? 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 169 
 
 A. The winter generally sets in about the latter 
 end of September and beginning of October. 
 
 3. Q. Is it ushered in by storms ? and is any one 
 wind particularly productive of them ? 
 
 A. The winter sometimes sets in with winds from 
 the North, North Northwest, and Northwest; and 
 sometimes commences with calm weather, hard frosts 
 accompanied with snow. 
 
 4. Q. Is the weather, generally speaking, calm in 
 winter, or are the winds high ? 
 
 A. The winds are very high and frequent ; so 
 that two-thirds of the winter may be said to be 
 boisterous. 
 
 5. Q. What quantity of snow do you suppose falls 
 annually ; that is, to what depth on the ground ? 
 
 A. On even places the snow is from three to five 
 feet deep ; but the winds drive it from place to place, 
 so as sometimes to render all passage impracticable ; 
 and on the coasts between the hills there are moun- 
 tains of ice, occasioned by the pressure of the waters 
 and drift of snow. 
 
 6. Q. Are the storms of snow frequent, and of 
 long; duration ? 
 
 A. The storms of snow are very frequent, con- 
 tinuing for two, three, and four days, and sometimes 
 for as many weeks ; but the latter do not occur 
 above once or twice in a year. 
 
 7. Q. Is the cold much more severe at Spitzber- 
 $ren than at Archangel ? Has the des-ree ever been 
 ascertained bv the thermometer? If it has, what 
 was it ? 
 
 22 
 
170 ON APPROACHING 
 
 A. From the fishermen's remarks, the cold is 
 more severe at Spitzbergen than at Archangel ; but 
 the degree is not known, as the people who go there 
 have no thermometers. 
 
 8. Q. Is the cold ever so intense as to render 
 going abroad dangerous ? 
 
 A. The cold is never so severe as to hinder 
 the fishermen, they being accustomed to it, from 
 exposing themselves ; but sometimes the winds and 
 drifts of snow confine them to their huts. 
 
 9. Q. Admitting it to be so, by what exercise do 
 the Russians keep off the scurvy ? 
 
 A. When the last-mentioned weather is an ob- 
 stacle to their leaving their huts, they keep off the 
 scurvy by the exercise of throwing the snow from off 
 and around their huts, which from stormy weather 
 are often buried ; and in order to get out, they are 
 then obliged to make a passage through the roof. 
 They likewise oppose the distemper by making use 
 of a particular sallad or herb, which grows there on 
 stones, and with which they generally provide them- 
 selves in due time against winter; but sometimes, 
 from necessity, they are obliged to dig through the 
 snow for it. Some of it they eat without any pre- 
 paration; and a part they scald with water, and 
 drink the liquid. They also carry with them for the 
 same purpose, as a preventative, a raspberry, called 
 in Russia moroshka, wliich they preserve by baking 
 with rye flour, which they eat ; and when pressed, 
 drink the juice. They also take fir tops with them, 
 which they boil; and the water they drink as an 
 antidote likewise against the scurvy. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. l7l 
 
 10. Q. In what manner are the huts construcled ? 
 A. The huts the people use, they always lake 
 
 with them in their vessels, and on their arrival there 
 put them together. They are constructed of thin 
 boards, and in the same manner as the peasants' 
 houses here. They likewise generally taJke bricks 
 with them for building their stoves ; but when they fall 
 short, clay found there is made use of in their stead. 
 Their largest hut, which is erected in the neighbour- 
 hood of their vessels, boats, &c., is from twenty to 
 twenty-j[ive feet square, and serves as a station and 
 magazine ; but those huts the men erect who go in 
 quest of skins are only from seven to eight feet 
 square, and in the autumn are carried along the 
 shores in boats, and put up at distances from each 
 other of ten to fifty Russian versts. They take the 
 necessary provisions with them for the whole winter 
 to serve two or three men, as many generally occupy- 
 ing each hut. 
 
 11. Q. What fuel have they, and in what manner 
 are their huts heated ? 
 
 A. The fuel commonly used for heating their huts 
 is wood, which they likewise bring with them in their 
 vessels, and land at the station hut. In autmnn the 
 necessary quantity for heating the aforesaid small 
 huts is conveyed in boats, or on small hand sledges, 
 to the destined places. They often meet with wood 
 there too, thrown by the sea on the shores. 
 
 12. Q. On what kinds of provisions do the Rus- 
 sians subsist during the winter ? 
 
 A. The provisions they subsist on during the win- 
 ter consist in rye flour (of which they make bread,) 
 
172 ON APPROACHING 
 
 salt beef, salt cod, and salted halibut, butter, oat 
 and barley meal, curdled milk, peas, honey, linseed 
 oil ; all which they bring to Spitzbergen with them, 
 and divide the same proportionably by weight to 
 each man. Their employers allow them provisions 
 for one year and a half, besides which the fishermen 
 kill wild-lion deer in winter, and birds in summer, 
 which are experienced to be excellent food, and very 
 healthy. ' 
 
 13. Q. Do they chiefly use spirituous or malt 
 liquors ? 
 
 A. They chiefly drink a liquor called tmas, made 
 from rye flour and water. Malt and spirituous 
 liquors are entirely excluded and forbidden by their 
 employers, to prevent drunkenness, as the Russians, 
 when they had it, drank so immoderately that work 
 was often neglected entirely. 
 
 14. Q. When in the open air, how do they defend 
 themselves ? 
 
 A. They defend themselves from the rigour of the 
 weather by a covering made of skin, above which 
 they wear another made of the skin of rein-deer, 
 called kushy, and wear boots of the same. 
 
 1 5. Q. Do they not use masks, and omit the prac- 
 tice of shaving? 
 
 A. They use no masks, nor do they shave ; but they 
 wear a large warm cap, called truechy^ which covers 
 the whole head and neck, and most part of the face. 
 They also wear gloves of sheep-skin. 
 
 16. Q. Do the inhabitants cross the country dur- 
 ing the winter } 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 173 
 
 A. There are no inhabitants, as said before ; but 
 the fishermen who are there for a time, do go over 
 from one island to the other of small distances. 
 
 17. Q. How do they travel, at what rate, and how 
 carry the necessary stock of provisions for their sub- 
 sistence during the journey ? 
 
 A. They travel on foot ; that is, on snow skaits, 
 and draw their food after them in small hand sledges ; 
 but those who brina; dosfs with them make use of the 
 same. AVhen travelling, snow is their drink. Horses 
 or rein-deer would be of no use to them for the con- 
 veyance of their provisions ; nor have they any. 
 
 18. Q. By what means do they procure water; 
 and is it by melting snow, or do they find springs ? 
 
 A. They use spring water when it is to be had. 
 often take it from lakes, and from necessity, some- 
 times dissolve snow; but it seldom happens that they 
 are in want of fresh water, because they commonly 
 pitch on those places where it is to be mot with. 
 
 19. Q. Is not the ice so firmly consolidated as to 
 render all passage across it from one island to the 
 other perfectly safe during winter ? 
 
 A. The ice at Spitzbergen is well consolidated : 
 and in some places the flakes run to a great height, 
 one on another, which makes even the passage on 
 foot very difficult; other places are quite smooth, 
 except those gulfs which run into the land about 
 twenty versts, where the ice is continually floating 
 and drifting; but travelling with horses or rein-deer 
 is quite impossible. 
 
 20. Q. Is not the ice rendered smooth by the 
 interstices being filled up with snow ? 
 
174 OW APPROACHING 
 
 A. As before said, the ice is made smooth by the 
 snow filling up the inequalities. 
 
 21. Q. Does any danger arise either in crossing 
 ihe land or the ice, from the drifting of the snow ? 
 
 A. They do not journey in winter, as beforemen- 
 tioned, except to islands at trifling distances ; and a 
 traveller is in much danger if surprised by a sudden 
 gale of wind, accompanied by drifts of snow ; he is 
 
 obliged to lie down, covering himself with his , 
 
 and remain so secured till the hurricane is over ; but 
 when it continues for any length of time, the poor 
 wretch often perishes. 
 
 22. Q. What degree of light is there in winter.'* 
 A. The fishermen do not know what the degree 
 
 of light may be in winter ; indeed, they are ignorant of 
 the meaning of the term : however, they say that from 
 the latter end of October to the 12th of January the 
 sun does not appear above the horizon, which causes 
 a continual darkness, and obliges them always to 
 keep a light in their huts by burning train oil in 
 lamps ; but as soon as the sun makes its appearance, 
 the days increase very rapidly. 
 
 23. Q. What difference does the absence of the 
 moon occasion ? Are the stars in general brilliant ? 
 Can you see to read when the moon is under the 
 horizon ? 
 
 A. From the appearance of the moon in her 
 second quarter to her decline in the last, the nights 
 are very luminous, and the stars extraordinarily light 
 both day and night. In the gloom of winter the peo- 
 ple keep time from the position of certain stars. 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 175 
 
 When the moon is below the horizon, it is impossible 
 to read. 
 
 24. Q. Is the Aurora Borealis very brilliant ; and 
 in what part of the horizon is it seen ? 
 
 A. In the dark time of winter the Aurora Borealis 
 is commonly seen most strong in the North, and ap- 
 pears very red and fiery. 
 
 25. Q. Does it appear possible to cross the ice 
 in winter to the North Pole ? If it does not, what 
 are the obstacles ? 
 
 A. The likelihood of a passage to the North Pole 
 does not seem probable to the fishermen, as they 
 have not had an opportunity to attempt it ; and, from 
 their observations, think all passage impossible, as 
 the mountains of ice appear monstrously large and 
 lofty. Some of the ice is continually drifting about ; 
 so that in many places water is discerned. Those 
 who have been on the most elevated parts of Nord- 
 oster Island declare, that, as far as it is visible, 
 open water is only seen ; but to what distance it 
 may continue so, it is impossible for them to ascer- 
 tain, as an attempt for the discovery has never 
 been made ; but seemingly it is practicable to bring 
 the fuel and provisions in vessels to the Nordoster 
 island. 
 
 26. Q. If the passage should be deemed practi- 
 cable, in what manner should it be attempted ; and 
 what means of conveying fuel and provisions appear 
 to be the best ? 
 
 A. As the fishermen think all passage impractica- 
 ble, it is not in their power to give any answer to 
 this demand. 
 
176 ON APPROACHING 
 
 27. Q. Might not three different huts, constructed 
 like those in which the people of Spitzbergen live, 
 together with a sufficient quantity of provisions in 
 each for half a dozen of people, be conveyed on 
 sledges, and be left at the different distances of two 
 hundred, of four hundred, of six hundred miles, 
 North of Spitzbergen, as places of deposit for the 
 assistance of those who shall undertake the journey ? 
 
 A. Such huts might be built, and placed on shore, 
 as said in the tenth article, at a convenient distance 
 from their vessels ; but as for conveying them ready 
 built to the distances proposed appears to the people 
 an impossibility. 
 
 28. Q. What number of persons and rein-deer, 
 or of dogs, would be requisite for conveying the huts .'* 
 
 A. From the mountains of ice and great falls of 
 snow, neither dogs nor rein-deer w ould be able to 
 to draw loads ; for the fishermen themselves, to be as 
 light as possible, go on snow skaits. 
 
 29. Q. At what price per man for each day's 
 journey would the people of Spitzbergen, if they 
 think the adventure practicable, be likely to under- 
 take the conduct of the sledges.'* 
 
 A. As, in the last reply, the fishermen show it is 
 not convenient there to draw with dogs or rein-deer, 
 therefore no price can be said. 
 
 30. Q. Are there any persons in Archangel who 
 have formerly resided in Spitzbergen who would 
 engage in the business ? and are there any who would 
 be willing, in company with two Englishmen, to 
 attempt on this plan a passage to the North Pole ? 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 177 
 
 A. As there are not, nor ever were, any natives 
 of Spitzbergen, none therefore can be resident in 
 Archangel : however, many men may be met with 
 here who have wintered there ; but as they have 
 never made an attempt to go to the Pole, they cannot 
 undertake the conduct of the business. Notwith- 
 standing, if an Englishman should determine on the 
 endeavour, some people might be met with who 
 would perhaps, with an English ship's company, 
 engage themselves. 
 
 31. Q. In the spring, have flights of birds ever 
 been observed to direct their course North of Spitz*- 
 bergen ? 
 
 A. It has been always experienced by those who 
 have been at the most northerly parts of Spitzbergen, 
 that in the spring a great number of wild geese, 
 ducks, and other birds, take their flight farther North. 
 
 32. Q. What animals and birds have they during 
 the summer, and what species winter on the island ? 
 
 A. In Spitzbergen they have wild rein-deer, white 
 and blue foxes, and white bears, which remain con- 
 tinually on the island ; but geese, ducks, &c. are 
 only there in summer. 
 
 33. Q. Those which quit Spitzbergen on the 
 approach of winter, in what month do they generally 
 emigrate, and to what point of the compass ? 
 
 A. All the before-mentioned birds on the ap- 
 proach of winter, that is, in the lafter end of Sep- 
 tember, fly to the Southward, and return again in the 
 latter end of April. 
 
 N. B. The 31st and 3.3d Answers do not appa- 
 rently agree. 
 
 23 
 
# 
 
ON 
 
 THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE 5 
 
 THE INSULAR FORM OF GREENLAND. 
 
 i HE reign of his present Majesty will ever be 
 famous for the encouragement given to science ; but 
 in no branch has the King's gracious patronage been 
 more conspicuous than in the discoveries made by 
 different circumnavigators, especially by the immor- 
 tal Cook. Considering the inducement and encour- 
 agement held out by our monarch for exploring the 
 Northern Parts of the globe, and the number of ships 
 annually fitted out from the different ports of the 
 United Kingdom for Davis's Straits, Baffin's Bay, 
 and Spitzbergen; it may appear very remarkable 
 that no new discoveries are made, or old verified, or 
 any voyage extended to a higher latitude than 81° 
 North. The King's wish of promoting discoveries in 
 this part of the world is evident from Lord Mul- 
 grave's expedition, and more especially from the Acts 
 of Parliament promising a reward of twenty thousand 
 pounds to any of his Majesty's subjects who shall 
 Jail through any passage between the Atlantic and 
 
180 OiS APPROACH LNO 
 
 Pacific Oceans to the Northwards of latitude 52^ 
 North, and also from a reward of five thousand 
 pounds to any British ship that shall approach within 
 one degree of the North Pole. To what cause, then, 
 can be attributed the indifference and apathy of those 
 commanders of Greenland ships who, having been 
 unsuccessful in the fishery, might be supposed to have 
 it in their power to defray the expense of the outfit 
 by sailing to the West or the North, with the view 
 of claiming one of the above rewards ? It cannot be 
 said with justice that the masters of our Greenlanders 
 are either deficient in skill, or indifferent to dis- 
 covery; for among them, as in other professions, 
 men are found of superior talent and of enterprising- 
 spirits. The paradox will, however, be solved by 
 referring to the subjoined oath,* which effectually 
 excludes every conscientious person from endeavour- 
 ing to carry into execution the scientific views of the 
 Legislature in passing what may, without impro- 
 priety, be named the Discovery Act. When this 
 last Act was passed, it is probable the former Act 
 
 * The following is a copy of the oath taken by the master, and also 
 
 by the owner, of Greenland ships : " Master of the ship 
 
 ttiaketh oath, that it is really and truly his firm purpose, and deter- 
 mined resolution, that the said ship shall, as soon as license shall 
 be granted, forthwith proceed so manned, furnished, and accoutred, 
 on a voyage to the Greenland seas, or Davis's Straits, or the seas 
 adjacent, there in the now approaching season to use the utmost 
 endeavours of himself and his ship's company to take whales, or 
 other creatures living in the seas, and on no other design, or view 
 of profit, in this present voyage, and to import the whale fins, oil, 
 and blubber thereof, into the port of Sworn at the Custom 
 
 •House." 
 
THE NORTH POLE, IRI 
 
 for promoting Northern discoveries did not occur to 
 the framers. I remember some years past that a. 
 learned and scientific Member of the House of Com- 
 mons was so much struck with the discouraging 
 effect of the oath, that it was his intention to have 
 brought forward a clause enabling the masters of 
 Greenland ships to prosecute discoveries as well ae 
 to catch fish ; and it was owing to accident that a 
 clause of the above nature was not introduced. This 
 omission, however, it is hoped, may yet be supplied 
 at no distant period, and Greenland voyages, con- 
 ducted as they are by seamen best qualified for such 
 an undertaking, be made subservient to the exploring 
 of the Northern regions. 
 
 It may farther be observed, navigating among the 
 ice being in itself a science, men regularly brought 
 up to the sailing and working of ships in the Arctic 
 Circles should be selected for such service, in pre- 
 ference to those accustomed to navigate the more 
 temperate parts of the globe. It follows, therefore, 
 that if at any future period it should be the intention 
 of government to promote Northern discoveries, it 
 would be advisable, both for economy and the 
 greater probability of success, to hire one of the 
 Greenland vessels and crew, sending on board as 
 many scientific and philosophical men as are deemed 
 requisite. The following statement was sent me 
 some years past by Captain Brown, an able and 
 expert seaman, regularly brought up in the whale 
 fishery, who was willing to undertake the exploring 
 Baffin's Bay, or endeavouring to approach the North 
 Pole. He mentioned, that, though in BaiEn'ip Bay he 
 
182 ON APPROACHING 
 
 had frequently run to the Westward, he had never 
 got sight of land in that direction; which implies thp 
 Northern part of America may be much contracted. 
 Brow^n, unfortunately, was killed at one of the Sand- 
 wich Islands : — 
 
 ^'Jan. 16, 1789. 
 *' SIR, 
 
 " I shall begin fitting out the first of next month 
 for Davis's Straits ; and should you wish to explore 
 Baffin's Bay, I shall be glad to have timely notice, 
 that I may prepare a larger stock of provisions, pro- 
 Tide presents for the Indians, and several other arti- 
 cles which will be necessary for that voyage. It will 
 be proper for the bounty to be paid by the Treasury, 
 or the Custom House Oath altered; and I think, 
 when you peruse the subjoined account of expenses, 
 you will not think my requisition of five hundred 
 pounds per month, for two ships, extravagant. I only 
 desire it to be paid from the time of leaving the 
 fishery in 72° North till we return to Cape Farewell; 
 and no payment to be made unless it shall satisfacto- 
 rily appear the utmost has been done to explore Baf- 
 fin's Bay, Lancaster Sound, &c. The expense 
 government would possibly incur would be very 
 trifling; but as underwriters will not ensure such 
 voyages, the owners should be indemnified, and the 
 value of the ships ascertained by the surveyor who 
 values the transports, against the enemy, and other 
 extra risks. 1 have perused all the Northern voyages, 
 and shall perfect myself in lunar observations. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 " WILLIAM BROWN.' 
 
THE NORTH POLE, 
 
 183 
 
 ^}p Butterworth, three hundred and ninety-two Totis,* Boats, and 
 forty-eight Men. 
 
 1 Master 
 I Surgeon 
 1 Chief Mate . 
 1 Carpenter . 
 1 Carpenter's Mate 
 1 Second Mate 
 1 Boatswain . 
 1 Skim-man . 
 1 Cooper 
 
 7 Harpooners, at 50s. each 
 1 Cook 
 
 7 Boat steerers, at 40s. each 
 7 Line coilers, at 32s. Cd. each 
 1 7 Men, at 30s. each 
 
 ♦18 Men's wages 
 
 Men's provision, at 30s. each 
 
 Wear and tear, 392 tons, at 5/. per ton 
 
 £268 7 G 
 Cabin allowances, presents for Indians, extra liquor, and other 
 cncouragcment for the people, cannot be estimated at less 
 than 31/. 12s. 6d. per month, making a total of 300/. 
 Brig Lyon one-third less expense. 
 
 As experiments are making on the length of the 
 penduhun in the Orkneys, it is highly desirable that 
 scientific men be sent for the same object in one of 
 the Greenland ships to Spitzbergen ; and at the con- 
 clusion of the fishery they might return in the same 
 vessels. 
 
 Per Month 
 
 £. *. 
 
 d. 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 3 10 
 
 
 
 3 10 
 
 
 
 3 10 
 
 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 
 2 10 
 
 
 
 17 10 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 11 7 
 
 
 
 25 10 
 
 
 
 98 7 
 
 6 
 
 72 
 
 
 
 98 
 
 
 
 * A vessel of the above tonnage with a risirg floor is the best adapted for thii ser- 
 vice, as it La* a sufflcieut iiionieutuin among the loose ice, and is easily managed. 
 
184 ©N APPROACHINifl 
 
 Every Greenland vessel should be furnished with 
 an artificial horizon ; of which the first and best is a 
 shallow cylinder of wood four inches diameter in the 
 clear, and three-tenths and a half deep, into which, 
 by means of an ivory funnel, is poured quicksilver. 
 To prevent the mercury from being ruffled by the 
 wind, two glass planes are placed over it, whose 
 surfaces are parallel, and forming an angle with each 
 other of 90°; and if this be not sufficient protection 
 when the mercury is agitated by wind, or any heavy 
 object passing near, a circular piece of glass is 
 floated on the quicksilver. The second (invented, I 
 believe, by the late Mr. Adams, of Edmonton) is a 
 plane concave glass four inches in diameter, and 
 ground to a long radius. It is fitted into a metallic 
 box, with its concave side downwards. This box, 
 when wanted, is nearly filled with spirits, leaving a 
 bubble ; and by means of three screws, this bubble is 
 brought into the centre of the glass. On one side of 
 the box is a small thumb screw, to be taken out when 
 filling, that the air may escape. This screw should 
 not be made of iron, because it will corrode. If this 
 instrument be well made, and pains taken in the 
 levelling, it may be depended on to two minutes, 
 which gives an error of one minute of altitude. 
 Neither of these artificial horizons can be used when 
 the altitude of the object exceeds 67°. 
 
 It would be extremely curious to ascertain the 
 extent of the variation of the compass in Baffin's Bay. 
 Captain Brown found it to be 79° 42' West, in lati- 
 tude 72° 46' North ; (see the Annals of Philosophy, 
 Tol. vii. p. 14.) and there being an increase from Cape 
 
 "^ii 
 
THE NORTH POLE> 185 
 
 Farewell to this latitude, it is not impossible, that in 
 higher latitudes the augmentation may continue, until 
 the needle loses its polarity ; which extraordinary 
 declination of the compass (peculiar to this part of 
 the world) is so remarkable, that, were a vessel sent 
 for no other purpose than of making magnetical ob- 
 servations, both the time and money Avhich might be 
 bestowed on the expedition would be advantageously 
 employed for the advancement of science. The 
 variation of the compass in latitude 70° 17' North, 
 and longitude 163° 24' West, is 30° 28' East; and in 
 latitude 70° 58', and longitude 54° 14' West, is 74° 
 West ; whence it appears, that in nearly the same 
 parallel of latitude, and in a difference not exceed- 
 ing 109° 10', or about one thousand six hundred 
 and eighty-five geographical miles of longitude, 
 there is a difference in the variation amounting to 
 84° 42'. It would also be a desirable discovery to 
 ascertain whether on going to the Westward it would 
 be found that the variation gradually decreases to 
 the point of no variation, and afterward gradually 
 increases ; or whether its return be not by a sudden 
 jump from West to East. Observations on points of 
 this description, accompanied with remarks on the 
 depth, temperature, and saltness of the sea, and with 
 a meteorological journal, would contain much in- 
 teresting and valuable information, and throw great 
 light on the natural phenomena of these unexplored 
 res^ions. 
 
 The depth of the sea in Baffin's Bay has been 
 determined beyond doubt by Brown to be more than 
 a mile. It is not unusual in April (the lime the 
 
 21 
 
186 ON APPROACHING 
 
 Greenland vessels arrive in Davis's Straits) for Fah- 
 renheit's thermometer to stand at 10" or 22° below 
 freezing. 
 
 Considerable diversity of opinion prevails respect- 
 ing the form of Greenland, which is conjectured by 
 some to bend to the Westward, and, joining the 
 continent of America, to form the vast and supposed 
 gulf of Baffin's Bay; by others, to be one large 
 island ; and by a third class, to be a cluster of islands 
 intersected by a variety of channels running from sea 
 to sea, but so blocked up with ice as to render the 
 passage between them impracticable. In a journal 
 before me it is mentioned that a strong current sets 
 round Cape Farewell to the Northwest, and that the 
 water breaks for several miles. It appears probable, 
 therefore, from this circumstance, that Greenland 
 does not consist of a multitude of islands ; because 
 in that case the current would have taken its direc- 
 tion between them, instead of flowing round the ex- 
 tremity of the land. The junction of Greenland with 
 North America appears to me to be likewise impro- 
 bable, from the following reasons : first, that Brown 
 (as already mentioned) never saw the Western land ; 
 next, that Hearn in his travels arrived at the sea, 
 seals having been seen by him : and, thirdly, that 
 Mackenzie, whose travels lie to the Westward of 
 Hearn's course, came to the mouth of a large river, 
 which also emptied itself into the Arctic Ocean : 
 and, lastly, from the great probability that the im- 
 mense quantity of drift wood found in Baffin's Bay, 
 on the Coast of Labrador, and on the Northwest 
 Coast of America, has been deposited there after 
 
THE NORTH POLE. 187 
 
 being brought down by Mackenzie's River, and 
 driven to the East and West, and afterward South- 
 ward, according to the direction of the winds and 
 currents : all which circumstances combine, in my 
 opinion, to furnish a ground of belief that North, as 
 well as South America, is surrounded by the ocean ; 
 and that the Northwest Passage is to be sought about 
 latitude 72°. That Greenland is an island seems 
 also to be highly probable, from the quantity of drift 
 wood found on the Coast of Iceland ; for it is much 
 more natural to suppose that trunks of trees found 
 in that part of the world are carried off from the 
 Northern extremity of America, and driven round 
 the North of Greenland, than that, being floated from 
 the mouths of the Obi, Lena, and other great rivers 
 of Russia, they should pass Nova Zembla, round the 
 North Cape, to the prodigious distance of 20° West 
 longitude. 
 
 Cape Farewell, the Southern extremity of Green- 
 land, according to the Requisite Tables, is in lati- 
 tude 59° 38' 00" North, and longitude 42° 42' 00" West. 
 By observations in my possession, it is in latitude 
 59° 42' North, and longitude 45° 16' West. 
 
 THE END.