The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1878-05-30
Early Arctic Explorers.

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Three hundred and twentv-iv. Years
ago, in Nav. 1858. three shin. with
pinnaccs and boats. left CraSnw;cb
amid much enthusiasm. beartr rood
wishes and MANY leave-takinos For
the work for which these sh;ns vere IN.
tended we of the present dav mist re-
gard them as sinoularlv ;ii.adantad
Notwithstanding that thew were
sheathed in lead; mere cookie shells
they were of 100. 12O and On Ems t,e
Edward Bonaventura. the Roma "a
peranza and the Bona Cnnfdent;a.
| commanded by Sir Hucb WiIlsnohhy
and Master Richard Thancellsr and
intended to find q passage bv tbs NORTH
coasts Of Europe and Asia. nv which 70
bring to England the rich and rare
productions Of Cathay and India. Geo.
graphical discovery was then but in its
infancy, q thick veil OF mvsterv sbr,n1d-
ed the greater portion Of h surface of
the earth, rendering exploring ernedi-
tions peculiarly attractive to aadyentur-
Gus spirits eager to face and find ont
the unknown. The field Of adventure
is now becoming rapidlv CONTRACTED !.
indeed, we map out beforehand the
route Of an expedition To almost any
part of the world. The feeling Of AZ
most infinite vastness which must have
possessed the spirits Of those early ex-
plorers is no longer possible. and in the
not very distant future this outlet for
restless energy must be entirely closed.
One is apt sometimes to chafe at the
smallness of the modern world and to
wish he had lived in those early DAYS
when the earth was comparatively
y0ung-when all the world was before
the adventurer ..where to choose.n
When these daring spirits left Green
witch on that May-day 1925 a 400.
amid crowds of c0urtiers, much shout
ing and firing of ordnance, with the
sage counsels of the venerable Sebas-
tan Cabot to guide them in the con-
duct of their expedition, they little
knew the dangers they had to face. In
deed, they had but an inadequate no.
ton of the distance they had to sail, for
the north coast of the Old World was
believed to be only half as long as it
really is. For the greater part of the
expedition the result was disastrous;
all on board the Bona Esperanza and
Bona Confidentia persisted miserably
on the coast of Lapland. Richard
Chancellor, however, after pushing
northward for a considerable distance,
managed to effect a landing near the
site Of Archangel, and made a journey
overland of $500 miles to Moscow,
where he was heartily welcomed by the
Muscovite Court.
In 1856 the attempt to discover a
northeast passage was renewed by
Stephen Burough, in the Searchthrift
pinnace, who succeeded in reaching the
Island of Waigatz. Another expedi-
ton seems to have been sent out by the
Muscovy Company in 1868, with what
result is not known. We have no rec
ord of any other English expedition to
the northeast till 1880, when Arthur
Pet and Charles Jackman were sent
out in the George and William, and
succeeded in reaching the Kara Sea,
through the straight between the Island
of Waigatz and the mainland, now
known as that of Pet or Yugor. Here
they were SO hampered with ice and
fog that they were compelledto return,
the George only reaching England, the
after leaving Drontheim in February,
1881. These fruitless attempts seem
to have satisfied the English merchants
that it was vain to attempt to reach
China and India by this route, and al
though Henry Hudson tried in vain to
reach the goal by sailing right across
the pole early in the seventeenth N