The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1881-02-17
FORGOTTEN ARCTIC EXPLORERS.

In the year of our Lord 1907, Henry Hudson
''was set forth at the charge of certain Worship
full Merchants of London, to discover passage
by the North Pole to Japan and China, lie
sailed from Gravesend on Mayday, in the ''shp"
Hopewell his crew consisting of ten men and a
boy, and from the strength of his crew, the size
of his ship may be inferred. His expedition, so
far discovering Northwest passage was con-
cerned, of course, was a failure. The highest
point to which he attained was 500 %, and from
here, he says: 81 land, by reason of the
clearness of the weather, stretching far into
eighty-two degrees, and by the bowling and
showing of the sky, much further; which, when
first saw, hoped TO have had free sea be-
tween the land and ice, and meant to have conf
passed this land by the north, but finding
il was impossible by means of the abundance of
ice cOmpassieg us abOut by the north, and JOIN
ing to the land, and seeing God did bless us with
a wind, we returned, bearing up the helm As
a summing up of the results of the voyage, he
adds: "And this / can assure Mt this present,
that between seventy-etght degrees and half
and eighty-two degrees, by this way there is no
passage"
But this decided expression of opinion on the
part of Herr Hudson does not seem to have car
ried conviction with il, for two years later, "a
voyage set forth by the Right Worshipful
Sir Thomas Smith and the rest of the Muscovey
Company, to Cherry Island, and for a further
discovery to he made toward the North Pole, for
the likelihood of trade a passage that way,
in n ship called the Amity, of burden seventy
tons, in which Jonas Poole was master, having
fourteen men and one hoy The Amity weighed
from Blackwall March l, 1909, and after very
rough and cold passage, made the south part of
SpitZbergen on the 10th of May On the Goth,
being then near Fair Portland, Master Poole
sent of the ships officers ashore. to explore
the country. The officer brought back some
what lOng-winded account of his expedition,
from which, and from his own observations,
Poole concluded: moreover, was certified that
the ponds and lakes We're unfrozen, they being
fresh water, which putteth me in hope of mild
simmer here, after so sharp a beginning rs
have had, and my opinion is such, and l assure
myself that it is so, that passage may soon he
attained this way by the Pole as by any unknown
way whatsoever, by reason the sun doth give
great heat in this climete, and the ice q mean
that freezcth hcre) is nothing so huge as have
seen in seventy-three degrees" But this hope
full view of the matter Master Poole eventually
discovered to he untenable. After twice at
tempting and twice failing 10 get beyond 79o so,
north latitude, ON the 2lst of June he stood to
the southwark, and engaged in the inglorious
occupation of fishing, and having caught
large CARGO returned to London. In 1911, how
ever, he made another venture in the Elizabeth,
a bark of fifty tons, and succeeded ia getting
far north as coz, when further progress was bar
red by the ice. After coastiDg along the icefield
to the southwest for l20 leagues or more, in the
hope of finding an opening 10 the northward, he
finally abandoned the attempt, and retreated to
Spitzbergen, for the purpose of engaging in the
fisheries. This time he did not ''catch large
CARGO on the contrary, he lost his ship in
gale, and this misfortune seems to have qnench-
ed all remaining desire on the part of 'the Right
Worshipful Sir Thomas Smith and the rest of the
Muscovcy Company to engage in scientific dis
coyeries, for by them no other expedition was
set forth toward the North Pole.