The Sun.
London, England, 1833-10-25 00:00:00

NORTH WEST PASSAGE.

The following is the copy of a letter from Cap-
tain Ross to a gentleman of Shetland :

" On hoard the Isabella of Hull, Baffin's
Hall, 17th Sept., 1833.
" My Dear Si,r—l am sure you will be glad to learn
that lam still numbered among the living.' 1 avail
myself of the opportunity of a ship bound to your hospi-
t.ble island, to send you these few lines. Our voyage
has been most eventful and interesting, and although it
has ended in the loss of our little vessel, which we have
been obliged to leave frozen up in a harbour which we
discovered, we trust that, when the important discoveries
we have made and our sufferings are taken into consi-
deration, no one concerned will be suffered to lose on this
Occasion. Our endeavours have, indeed, been completely
successful, but in a very different way from what had been
anticipated. We found land instead of water, and have
unquestionably proved that there is no N.W. passage to
the Southward of 70 North, or by Prince Regent's Inlet.
Our discoveries may he said to consist in the establish.
went of no passage to the Southward of 74, the disc every
of a large inhabited tract of land, between lat. 69 and 72,
and an isthmus, which divides the Eastern from the
Western sea, only five miles in breadth, and the discovery
of the true position of the Magnetic Pole. We have
existed on the provisions landed from the Fury, and last
winter lived in a snow-house on Fury beach. On the
26th August last we were picked up by my old ship the
Isabella, in the Fury's boats. We have only lost three
men. I need scarcely add that our constitutions have
had a severe blow, but we have all wonderfully recovered
since we got on board the Isabella, where we were most
kindly received."

Mr. Editor,—As the return of Captain Ross will
excite a great deal of conversation, you must excuse
me in calling your attention to an Essay of Dr.
Franklin's, entitled " Nautical Affairs," which seems,
most astonishingly to me, to have escaped observa-
tion. The subject to which I allude is a portion of
the essay, entitled " North-west Passage."

I shall trouble you with the extract, in case you
should not have his works at hand
" NORTH-WEST PASSAGE.

" Notwithstanding the many fruitless attempts that
have been made to discover a north-west passage into the
South Sea, it would seem that this important geographical
question is not yet fully decided ; for at a meeting of the
Academy of Sciences at Paris, held on the 13th of No-
vember last, M. Bauche, first geographer to the King,
read a curious memoir concerning the north-west passage.
M. de Mendoza, an intelligent captain of a vessel in the
service of Spain, charged with the care of former esta-
blishments favourable to the marine, has made a careful
examination of the archives of several departments. There
he has found the relation of a voyage made in the year
1598 by Lorenzo Herrero de Maldonada. There it ap-
pears that, at the entry into Davis' Straits, north lat. 60
degrees and 28. of longitude, counting from the first
meridian, be turned to the west, leaving Hudson's Bay
on the south, and Baffin's Bay on the north. Arrived at
lat. 65. and 297., he went towards the north by the
Straits of Labrador, till he reached 76. and 278. ; and
finding himself in the icy sea he turned south-west to
lat. 60. and 235., where he found a strait which separates
Asia from America, by which he entered the South Sea,
which he called the Straits of Anian.
" This passage ought to be, according to M. Bauche,
between William's Sound and Mount St. Elias. The
Russians and Captain Cook have not observed it, because
it is very narrow. But it is to be wished that this im-
portant discovery should be verified, which has been
overlooked for two centuries, in spite of the attempts
which have been made on these coasts.

" M. Bauche calls this passage the Straits of Ferrer."
Thus far Dr. Franklin, and in my humble opi-
nion this little detail ought to be put frequently
before the public; and I dare say that, by a careful
investigation the above-mentioned narrative, and the
contemporaneous history of the discovery, might be
obtained through the Spanish authorities, in order
to authenticate its publication.-1 am, Mr. Editor,
yours very respectfully,
'F. Iv.

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