The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-12-21
Forgotten Arctic Explorers.

IOISOblGH ATCIlC EADIOTeTSs
In the year of our Lord 1907, Henry
Hudson "was set forth. at the charge
ii certain Worshipful Merchants of
London to discover passage by the
North Pole to Japan and China" He
ailed from Gravesend on MAY day in
the " Ship Hopewell, his crew consist
Ing of ten men and boy, and from the
Idrength of his crew the size of the ship
may be inferred. His expedition, so
Lar as discovering a Northwest passage
was concerned, of course was IA failure.
The highest point to which he attained
vas so dogs. % min, and from here,
lie says: 81 saw land, by reason of the
learness of the weather, stretching far
INTO eighty-two dogs, and by the bowling
ind showing of the sky, much further;
which when | first saw l hoped to have
Lad a free sea between the land and
he ice, and meant to have comprised
his land by the north, but now finding
|, was impossible by means of the
bundance of ice comprising us about
Y the north and joining to the land, and
eeing God did blessus with a wind, we
eturned, bearing up the helm" AS a
cumming up of the result of the voy-
ge, he adds: "And this | can assure
t this present, that between seventy
ight dogs. and half and eighty-two
eg., by this way there is no passage. -
But this decided expression OF opinion
n the part of Herr Hudson does not
eem to have carried conviction with it,
or two years later, ga voyage was set
9Th. by the Right Worshipful Sir
fnemas Smith and the rest Of the Mus
covey Company to Cherry Island, and
for further discovery to be made
toward the North Pole, for the likeli-
hood of a trade or passage that way,
in the ship called the Amity, of bur-
den seventy tons, in which Jonas
Poole was master, having four
teen men and one boy" The Amity
weighed from Blackwell, March l,
1909, and after a very rough and cold
passage made the south part of Spitz-
bergen on the 10th of May. On the
10Th, being then near Fair Foreland,
Master Poole sent one of the ships
officers ashore to explore the country
The officer brought back a somewhat
longwinded account of his expedition,
from which and from his own observa-
tons, Poole concluded: moreover, |
was certified that all the ponds and
lakes were unfrozen, they being fresh
water, which putteth me in hope of a
mild summer here after so sharp be-
ginning as | have had, and my opinion
is such, and | assure myself it is so, that
a passage may be as soon attained this
way by the Pole as by any unknown
way whatsoever, by reason the sun doth
give n great heat in this climate, and
the ice q mean that freezeth here) is
nothing so huge as have seen in seven
ty-three degrees" But this hopeful view
of the matter Master Poole eventually
discovered to be untenable. After
twice attempting and twice failing to
get beyond 70 deg. 80 min. north lati-
tude, on the 21st of June he stood to
the southwark and engaged in the in
glorious occupation of fishing, and,
having "caught large cargo re-
turned to London. In 1911, however,
he made another venture in the Eliza.
beth, a bark of fifty tons, and succeeded
in getting as far north as 80 deg, when
further progress was barred by the ice.
After coasting along the ice field to the
puthwest FOR 10 leagues or more, i'll
the hope OF finding an opening to the
northward, he finally abandoned the
attempt and retreated to Spitzbergen
for the purpose of engaging in the fish.
cries. This time he did not catch ga
large cargo;' on the contrary, he lost
his ship in gale, and this misfortune
seems to have quenched all remaining
desire on the part of 1.-THE right wor.
shipful Sir Thomas Smith and the rest
of the Muscovy Company to engage il
scientific discoveries, for by them nc
other expedition was set forth toward
the North Pole.