Voyages in Search of The North-West Passage

for the discovery of the North–West Passage, written by John Ja

unhappily given over by accidents unlooked for, which turned the enterprisers from their principal purpose, resolved, after good deliberation, to put down their adventures, to provide for necessary shipping, and a fit man to be chief conductor of this so hard an enterprise. The setting forth of this action was committed by the adventurers especially to th

, named the Moonshine, of Dartmouth. In the Sunshine we had twenty-three persons, whose names are these following: Master John Davis, captain; William Eston, master; Richard Pope, master's mate; John Jane, merchant; Henry Davie, gunner; William Crosse, boatswain; John

s, William Bruton, captain; John

he master drew out a proportion f

t and west-south-west, we put in for Fal

at north, and being f

ry wind, we were forc

aving the wind north and by ea

elve days, and in that space the captain, the master, and I went about all the islands, and the captain did plan out and describ

we departed, the wind b

th ver

0th f

shot twice or thrice; sometimes he missed, and at last shot one and struck him in the side,

fish boiled, and it did e

s, pastime, and all; yet, nevertheless, the master shot at them with a pike, and had well-nigh gotten one, but he was so strong, that he burst off

whale, and every day after

d 18th we saw grea

ide might set them, caused the Moonshine to hoist out her boat and to sound, but they could not find ground in three hundred fathoms and better. Then the captain, master, and I went towards the breach to see what it should be, giving charge to our gunners that at every blast they should shoot off a musket shot, to the intent we might keep ourselves from losing them; then coming near to the breach, we met many islands of ice floating, which had quickly compassed us about. Then w

as if it had been in form of a sugar loaf, standing to our sight above the clouds, for that it did show over the fog like a white liste in the sky, the tops altogether covered with snow, and the

at we were run into a very deep bay, where we were almost compassed with ice, for we saw very much towards the north-north-eas

the master to bear in with the land after him; and before he came near the shore, by the space of a league, or about two miles, he found so much ice that he could not get to land by any means. Here our mariners put to their lines to see if they could get any fish, because there were so many seals upon the coast, and the birds did beat upon the water, but all was in vain: the water about this coast was very black and thick, like to a filthy standing pool; we sounded, and had ground in 120 fathoms. W

nd which did lie east-nort

by reason of the ice, and the better to encourage our men, their allowance was increased. The captain and the master took order that every mess, being five persons, should have half a pound of bread and a can of beer every mo

lock in the morning, directing our course to the north-westward, hoping in

g espied us made a lamentable noise, as we thought, with great outcries and screechings; we, hearing them, thought it had been the howling of wolves. At last I halloed again, and they likewise cried; then we, perceiving where they stood - some on the shore, and one rowing in a canoe about a small island fast by them - we made a great noise, partly to allure them to us and partly to warn our company of them. Whereupon Master Bruton and the master of his ship, with others of their company, made great haste towards us, and brought our musicians with them from our ship, purposing either by force to rescue us, if needs should so require, or with courtesy to allure the people. When they came unto us we caused our musicians to play, ourselves dancing and making many signs of friendship. At length there came ten canoes from the other islands, and two of them came so near the shore where we were that they talke

h one of them, and he kissed my hand, and we were very familiar with them. We were in so great credit with them upon this single acquaintance that we could have anything they had. We bought five canoes of them; we bought their clothes from their backs, which were all made of seal skins and birds' skins; their buskins, their hose, their gloves, all being commonly sewed and well dressed, so that we were fully persuaded that they have divers artificers among them. We had a pair of buskins of them full of fine wool like beaver. Their apparel for heat was made of birds' skins with their feathers on them. We saw among

ast marvellous great abundance of seals sculling together like sculls of small fish. We found no fresh water among these islands, but only snow-water, whereof we found great pools. The cliffs were all of such ore as Master Frobisher brought from Meta Incognita. We had divers shewes of study or Moscovie glass, shining not altogether unlike to crystal. We found an herb growing upon the rocks whose fruit was sweet, full of red juice, and the ripe ones were like currants. We found also birch and willow growing like shrubs low to the ground. These p

wind, and so proceeded towards t

amed Cape Walsingham. So soon as we were come to an anchor in Totnes Road under Mount Raleigh we espied four white bears at the foot of the mount. We, supposing them to be goats or wolves, manned our boats and went towards them, but when we came near the shore we found them to be white bears of a monstrous bigness; we, being desirous of fresh victual and the sport, began to assault them, and I being on land, one of them came down the hill right against me. My piec

on him with boar spears and thrust him in the body, yet for all that he gripped away our boar spears and went towards the water, and as he was going down he came back again. Then our master shot his boar spear and struck him in the head, and made him to take the water, and swim into a cove fast by, where we killed him and brought him aboard. The breadth of his fore foot from one side to the other was fou

, coasting along the shore which lieth

ew proportion, every mess, being five to a mess, should have four pound of bread a day, twelve wine quarts of bee

ge, being in some places twenty leagues broad and in some thirty, altogether void of any pester of ice, the weather very tolerable, and the water of the very colour, nature, and quality of the main ocean, which gave us the greater hope of our passage. Having sailed north-west sixty leagues in this entrance

ople, for we found stones laid up together like

ed two, and about the neck of one of them we found a leathern collar, whereupon we thought them to be tame dogs. There were twenty dogs like mastiffs, with pricked ears and long bushed tails; we found a bone in the pizels of their dogs. Then we went farther and found two

image, a bird made of bone, beads having small holes in one end of them to hang about their necks, and other small things. The coast was very barbarous, without wood

es of the passage, and first found that this place wa

ed of one colour with the

whales in a scull, which they judged to come from a wes

ales came, upon the sudden there came a violent countercheck of a tide from the south

oms, fair, grey, oozy sand, and the farther we run into the westwards the deeper was the wa

and down, the flood coming from divers parts, so as

do, both for the safe guard of their credits and satisfy of the adv

us, so they altered their purpose, and re

ands, and as we coasted the south shore we saw many fair sounds

ry fair sound, and anchored in 25 fathoms of green, oozy sand, where we went on shore, where we had manifest signs of people, where they had made their fire, and laid stones like a

somewhat fair, we departed from this road, p

land of this entrance, directing our course

never a good harbour. That night we put to sea again thinking to search it the next day; but this

goose wing) we set sail, and within two hours after we had sig

ght of England. This night we had a ma

, where we found the Moonshine, being com