Chapter LXV: Remaining Antarctic Work (1)

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The great object of Antarctic exploration is to discover the outline of the Antarctic continent, and to study its physiography so far as the great ice-cap will admit of such researches. Among those who took an intelligent interest in this important question was the late Duke of Argyll’s father, who had the firmest grasp of the subject and the deepest insight. His view was that our efforts should be directed to discovering the physiography of this continental land previous to its being almost entirely concealed by the ice-cap. In that way alone--combined with series of deep sea soundings radiating from the shores of Antarctica to lands to the north--could its geological history, and possible former connection with other lands, be ascertained. Impressed with these views, we saw that those coasts must be sought where the mountains are more or less clear of the assumed ice-cap. The northern coasts forming the eastern half of the Victoria and all the Enderby Quadrant appeared to be ice cliffs only, and therefore unsuited. It was evident that coasts and mountains with an eastern aspect would alone enable us to obtain the desired knowledge. There are two such eastern coasts. These are the western side of the Ross Sea facing east, and the western side of the Weddell Sea, the coast of Graham Land facing east.

Victoria Land was selected for the first attempt, and a grand result was achieved by Captain Scott in his two expeditions. The great Victorian chain of mountains was traced from the Antarctic Circle to the apex of the quadrant, a distance of 1200 miles. The volcanic region of Ross Island was thoroughly explored. The basaltic irruptions were observed, together with the primitive rocks; the great unaltered formation now known as the “Beacon Sandstone” was discovered, the movements and character of its glaciers were noted, a complete geological survey was made from Granite Harbour to Koettlitz Glacier, and the peaks were measured. To crown all, Captain Scott and Dr Wilson made a large collection of the fossil flora which established the geological period of the rock formation. These fossils weighed 35 lb., but though worn out, and with strength failing fast, the gallant explorers would not leave them, but dragged these records, until they died. There is no more glorious and more touching event in the whole range of polar history.

Captain Scott observed that the Victorian mountains turned in the direction of Graham Land, and this conclusion now has to be proved. A branch seems to run down to the coast and to terminate in the heights of King Edward VII Land, thus enclosing the vast bay filled with Mr Ferrar’s “Ross piedmont.” It would not be surprising to find a minor range branching off to Enderby Land, which Biscoe described as mountainous.

The land and islands with an eastern aspect on the other side of Antarctica were partly explored by Captain Larsen, who made an important voyage down the east coast of Graham Land, and the fossil remains have been collected and described by Nordenskiöld and Gunnar Andersson. Next to Captain Scott’s great discoveries, the work of the Swedes has thrown most light on the former history of Antarctica.

There is something very fascinating in considering the analogy between the Ross and Weddell Seas and their shores on opposite sides of Antarctica. The Victorian Mountains on one side match the Graham Land mountains on the other. The interest is increased by the probability that they form one chain, and by the discovery that there are volcanic rocks peculiar to the Andes which have been found in Graham Land. Then there are the enormous icebergs in both seas pointing to the need for the further study of the wonderful ice-cap which conceals so much of Antarctica from our knowledge.

The Antarctic ice-cap was discovered and explored by Captain Scott, who penetrated into its solitudes for two hundred miles from the mountain range. Dr Mawson has also examined it from another direction. There is little or no interest in travelling over its monotonous surface, but numerous borings would reveal its depth and solid contents, as suggested by the late Sir John Murray. The greatest interest connected with the Antarctic ice-cap is to be found in the study of its glaciers, and of its edges, possibly mighty cliffs like the Ross piedmont, whence the vast icebergs are discharged.

The most important geographical discoveries which remain to be revealed in the Antarctic regions are the coasts and interiors of the Weddell and Ross Quadrants. A great part of the eastern side of Graham Land is still undiscovered, and it is not known whether it is a peninsula or an island. A plan for the exploration of this important area was ably sketched out by Lieut. Barne, but nothing has yet been done. The continuation of the Victorian chain of mountains possibly to Graham Land, 800 miles in length, likewise calls for investigation as a part entirely unknown. An ancient connection between Antarctica and South America may be revealed, when the warm current flowing south down the east side of the latter continent was not diverted but flowed directly into the far south. But these are but a tithe of the problems which Antarctica still offers. There is the enterprise of crossing the mountains to ascertain the character of the much smaller section of the continent in the Ross Quadrant; there is the survey of the southern part of Graham Land; the exploration of the coast to the eastward; the problem of the origins of the great icebergs. The Weddell Quadrant calls for an immense amount of geographical and other scientific work, which would give full occupation for more than one expedition.

In the Ross Quadrant there is a coast line of 1100 miles in extent to be discovered. Captain Scott’s work on King Edward VII Land on one side, Alexander and Charcot Lands on the other, are the boundary posts to this undiscovered Edwardian coast. All we know is that Captain Cook saw land in 71° S., that Bellingshausen sighted Peter Island a little further to the east, and that the Belgian expedition wintered over the continental shelf in about 71° S. The land is probably not a hundred miles further south. The ice-pack floats north from the coast during the navigable season, and in that case a ship might navigate along the Edwardian coast. It is possible that there may be one or more deep indentations, like the Ross Sea, when there would be a coast or coasts facing east whose exploration would throw further important light on the history of Antarctica.

Finally, in the Enderby Quadrant there is the “Challenger Gap” to be explored, so as to complete an examination of the region from Gaussberg to Kempe Land.

Fixed stations for meteorological, magnetic, and tidal observations ought to be established to carry out this excellent and useful work within the Antarctic Circle during a course of years, similar to that which Captain Scott achieved in M’Murdo Sound during four years. In no other part of the Arctic or Antarctic regions have observations been taken in one place for so long a time. But they are needed on other spots all round Antarctica.

There are many true lovers of geographical exploration for its own sake in the present generation, who look upon achievement as its own reward. We may, therefore, hope that the great work initiated by the Societies with such splendid results will be renewed by successors to Scott and Wilson, and that they will again and again raise the standard of duty and useful, if perilous, achievement. For such men there is a note of encouragement and sympathy deep down in the hearts of all true Britons.

CHRONOLOGY OF POLAR VOYAGES AND EXPLORATIONS

I. _Arctic_

II. _Antarctic (including near approaches to Antarctic Circle)_

BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY OF POLAR VOYAGES AND TRAVELS

[_Limited to narratives of general interest, no attempt being made to include special reports and memoirs on scientific results._]

ABRUZZI, DUKE OF THE. Farther North than Nansen; being the voyage of
the _Polar Star_. _Illustrations._ La. 8^o. 1901.

AMUNDSEN, ROALD. The North-West Passage; being the record of a voyage
of exploration of the Ship _Gjöa_, 1903–1907. 2 vols. _Maps and
illustrations._ 8^o. 1908.

BACK, SIR G. Narrative of the Arctic Land Expedition to the mouth of
the Great Fish River ... in 1833–35. _Map and illustrations._
8^o. 1836.

BAFFIN, WILLIAM. The Voyages of W. B., 1612–22. Ed. by Sir Clements
R. Markham. (Hakluyt Society Publication, No. 63.) _Maps and
illustrations._ 8^o. 1881.

BARENTS, WILLEM. The Three Voyages of W. B. to the Arctic Regions
in 1594–96. By Gerrit de Veer. Ed. by Lieut. Koolemans Beynen.
(Hakluyt Society Publication, No. 54.) 2nd ed. _Maps and
illustrations._ 8^o. 1876.

---- Reizen van W. B., Jacob van Heemskerck, Jan Corneliz Rijp, en
Anderen ... verhaald door Gerrit de Veer, uitgeg. door S.P.
L’Honoré Naber. (Werken uitgeg. door De Linschoten Vereeniging,
XIV, XV.) 2 vols. _Maps and illustrations._ La. 8^o. The Hague,
1917.

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Regions.... _Map._ 8^o. 1818.

---- Voyages of Discovery and Research within the Arctic Regions,
from the year 1818 to the Present Time.... _Maps and portraits._
8^o. 1846.

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performed in H.M.SS. _Dorothea_ and _Trent_, 1818. _Map and
illustrations._ 8^o. 1843.

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narrative of the Expedition in H.M.S. _Assistance_ ... 1852–54. 2
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BERNIER, CAPT. J. E. Report on the Dominion Government Expedition to
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and illustrations._ La. 8^o, Ottawa, 1909.

CHRISTY, MILLER. _See_ FOXE, LUKE.

COLLINSON, SIR RICHARD. Journal of H.M.S. _Enterprise_, on the
Expedition in search of Sir John Franklin’s Ships by Behring
Strait, 1850–55.... _Maps and illustrations._ 8^o. 1889.

CONWAY, SIR W. M. and others. The First Crossing of Spitsbergen.
_Maps and illustrations._ La. 8^o. 1897.

---- No Man’s Land: a History of Spitsbergen.... _Maps and
illustrations._ La. 8^o. Cambridge, 1906.

DAVIS, JOHN. The Voyages and Works of J. D. the Navigator. Ed. by Sir
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illustrations._ 8^o. 1748.

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1907.

FOX, CAPT. LUKE. North-west Fox; or, Fox from the North-west
Passage.... _Maps and diagram_, sm. 4^o. 1635.

---- The Voyages of Capt. Luke Fox and Capt. Thomas James in search
of a N.W. Passage. With narratives of the earlier North-west
voyages of Frobisher, Davis, Weymouth, Hall, Knight, Hudson,
Button, Gibbons, Bylot, Baffin, Hawkridge, and others. Ed. by
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vols. _Maps and illustrations._ 8^o. 1894.

FRANKLIN, SIR JOHN. Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar
Sea, in 1819–22. _Maps and illustrations._ 4^o. 1823.

---- Narrative of a Second Expedition ... 1825, 1826 and 1827. _Maps
and illustrations._ 4^o. 1828.

FROBISHER, SIR MARTIN. The Three Voyages of Sir M. F.... By George
Best. Ed. by Sir R. Collinson. (Hakluyt Society Publication, No.
38.) _Maps and illustrations._ 8^o. 1867.

GREELY, GEN. ADOLPHUS W. Three Years of Arctic Service; an account of
the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881–84. 2 vols. _Maps and
illustrations._ La. 8^o. 1886.

---- Handbook of Polar Discoveries. 4th ed. _Maps._ 8^o. 1910.

HAKLUYT, RICHARD. The Principal Navigations ... of the English
Nation.... 3 vols. Sm. Folio. 1599–1600.

[Also reprint in 12 vols. 8^o. Glasgow, 1903–1905.]

HALL, CHARLES, F. Narrative of the Second Arctic Expedition ... to
Repulse Bay, etc., etc., 1864–69. Ed. by J. E. Nourse. _Maps and
illustrations._ 4^o. Washington, 1879.

---- Narrative of the North Polar Expedition, U.S. Ship _Polaris_....
Ed. by Rear-Adm. C. F. Davis. _Maps and illustrations._ 4^o.
Washington, 1876.

HAYES, ISAAC I. The Open Polar Sea:... Voyage of Discovery towards
the North Pole in the Schooner _United States_. _Maps and
illustrations._ 8^o. 1867.

HEEMSKERCK. _See_ BARENTS.

HUDSON, HENRY. H. H. the Navigator. Original Documents.... Collected
... by G. M. Aster. (Hakluyt Society Publication, No. 27.)
_Maps._ 8^o. 1860.

JACKSON, FREDERICK GEORGE. A Thousand Days in the Arctic. 2 vols.
_Maps._ La. 8^o. 1899.

JAMES, CAPT. THOMAS. The Strange and dangerous Voyage of, in his
intended discovery of the North-west Passage into the South
Sea.... _Map._ Sm. 4^o. 1633.

---- _See_ FOX, LUKE.

JOHNSON, HENRY. The Life and Voyages of Joseph Wiggins. _Maps and
illustrations._ 8^o. 1907.

KANE, ELISHA KENT. The U.S. Grinnell Expedition in search of Sir John
Franklin. _Map and illustrations._ New York, 1853.

---- Arctic Explorations: The Second Grinnell Expedition ... 1853–55.
2 vols. _Maps and illustrations._ 8^o. Philadelphia, 1856.

KOLDEWEY, KARL. The German Arctic Expedition of 1869–70. [Translated
from the German.] _Maps and illustrations._ 8^o. 1874.

KOTZEBUE, OTTO VON. A Voyage of Discovery into the South Sea and
Beering’s Straits. 3 vols. _Maps and illustrations._ 8^o. 1821.

LÜTKE, FRIEDRICH. Viermalige Reise durch das nördl. Eismeer ...
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Berlin, 1835.

M’CLINTOCK, SIR LEOPOLD. The Voyage of the _Fox_ in the Arctic Seas.
[Various eds.] _Maps and illustrations._ 8^o. 1859, etc.

M’CLURE, CAPT. ROBERT C. M. _See_ OSBORN, SHERARD.

MARKHAM, ADM. SIR ALBERT H. The Great Frozen Sea.... Voyage of the
_Alert_. _Maps and illustrations._ 8^o. 1878.

MARKHAM, SIR CLEMENTS R. _See_ BAFFIN.

MIDDLETON, CHRISTOPHER. Attempts made for the Discovery of a passage
into the South Seas by the North-west.... (In Harris’s Collection
of Voyages, vol. 2, 1748.)

MIKKELSEN, EINAR. Conquering the Arctic Ice. _Maps and
illustrations._ 8^o. 1909.

---- Lost in the Arctic.... Alabama Expedition, 1909–12. _Maps and
illustrations._ La. 8^o. 1913.

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MÜLLER, G. F. Voyages et Découvertes faites par les Russes le long
des Côtes de la Mer Glaciale. 2 vols. _Map._ Sm. 8^o. Amsterdam,
1766.

MUNK, JENS, and others. Danish Arctic Expeditions, 1605–20. Ed.
by C. C. A. Gosch. 2 vols. (Vol. 2: The Expedition of Capt.
Jens Munk to Hudson’s Bay ... in 1619–20.) (Hakluyt Society
Publications, Nos. 96, 97.) _Maps and illustrations._ 8^o. 1897.

NANSEN, FRIDTJOF. The First Crossing of Greenland. 2 vols. _Maps and
illustrations._ 8^o. 1890.

---- Farthest North.... Voyage of Exploration of the Ship _Fram_,
1893–96. 2 vols. _Maps and illustrations._ La. 8^o. 1897.

---- In Northern Mists: Arctic Exploration in early times. 2 vols.
_Maps and illustrations._ La. 8^o. 1911.

NARES, SIR GEORGE. Narrative of a voyage to the Polar Sea during
1875–76.... 2 vols. _Maps and illustrations._ 1878.

NATHORST, A. G. Två Somrar i Norra Ishafvet. 2 vols. _Maps and
illustrations._ Stockholm, 1900.

NORDENSKIÖLD, BARON A. E. The Voyage of the _Vega_ round Asia and
Europe. 2 vols. _Maps and illustrations._ 8^o. 1881.

OSBORN, CAPT. SHERARD. The Discovery of the North-west Passage by
H.M.S. _Investigator_, by Capt. R. M’Clure, 1850–54. Ed. by Comm.
S. Osborn. _Map and illustrations._ 8^o. 1856.

PARRY, ADM. SIR W. E. Journal of a voyage for the Discovery of a N.W.
Passage ... in 1819–20. _Maps and illustrations._ 4^o. 1821.

---- Journal of a Second Voyage ... in 1821–23. _Maps and
illustrations._ Appendix to same. _Illustrations._ 4^o. 1824.

---- Journal of a Third Voyage ... in 1824–25. _Maps and
illustrations._ 4^o. 1826.

---- Narrative of an Attempt to reach the North Pole ... in 1827.
_Maps and illustrations._ 4^o. 1828.

PAYER, JULIUS VON. New Lands within the Arctic Circle.... Discoveries
of the _Tegetthoff_, 1872–74. 2 vols. _Maps and illustrations._
8^o. 1876.

PEARY, ROBERT EDWIN. Northward over the ‘Great Ice.’ 2 vols. _Maps
and illustrations._ 8^o. 1898.

---- Nearest the Pole. _Maps and illustrations._ La. 8^o. 1907.

---- The North Pole. _Map and illustrations._ La. 8^o. 1910.

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towards the North Pole ... 1773. _Maps and illustrations._ 4^o.
1774.

PURCHAS, SAMUEL. Purchas his Pilgrimes. 4 vols. _Maps and
illustrations._ Folio. 1625.

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Sea in 1846 and 1847. _Maps._ 8^o. 1850.

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_Alexander_. _Maps and illustrations._ 4^o. 1819.

---- Narrative of a Second Voyage in search of a N.W. Passage
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VEER, GERRIT DE. _See_ BARENTS.

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II. ANTARCTIC

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[Also abridged German translation by Gravelius, Leipzig, 1902.]

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---- _Le Pourquoi Pas?_ dans l’Antarctique ... 1908–10. _Map and
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FOOTNOTES

[1] _Névé_ is the upper portion of a glacier, the top layers of which are more nearly in the condition of snow, and in the whole of which much air is mingled with the ice. It is rather frozen snow than ice.

[2] Dr Rink gives a list of 25 discharging glaciers. Of these, beginning from the south, the principal ones are:

(1) Sermilik (near Cape Farewell).
(2) Narsalik.
(3) Godthaab.
(4) Jacobshavn.
(5) Jasiusak (into the Waigat).
(6) Omenak Fjord.
(7) Stor Kangerdlugsuatsiak.
(8) Upernivik.

[3] It takes a very long time for lichens to form. The bones of the ptarmigan which Sir Edward Barry and his party had eaten on Melville Island in 1820 were clean and free from any growth when found 30 years afterwards.

[4] I paid very special attention to the vestiges of these wanderers when I served in those regions. All the articles mentioned were found by myself in 1851.

[5] By Colonel Feilden in 1877.

[6] Found by Dr O. Stolberg. _Nansen_, 11, 72.

[7] _Studies on the Material Culture of the Eskimo in West Greenland_ (Kjøbenhavn, 1915), Morten P. Porsild.

[8] The work of Pytheas was known to Dicaearchus, a pupil of Aristotle, and the date of the voyage was, therefore, probably not later than the time of Aristotle.

[9] The word Thule, in its forms _Thyle_, _Thull_, _Tell_, means ‘a limit’ in ancient Saxon; and we thus have Telemarken in Norway.

[10] Pliny and Diodorus Siculus.

[11] The name of Viking is derived from _Vik_, a bay or creek, and the patronymic _Ing_, i.e. “Children of the bays,” whence they sallied forth as sea rovers.

[12] The _mausar_, which was highly prized, may have been some kind of maple or birch.

[13] According to the Flatey book, Bjarni, the son of Herjulf, was in Norway when his father left Iceland to settle in Greenland. Hearing this when he came to Iceland, he continued his voyage to join his father. He is said to have discovered a new land before reaching his father’s homestead in Herjulfsfjord. This led to the voyage of Leif to visit the newly-discovered land. The two stories in the Hauk book and the Flatey book are so different that they cannot be fitted together, and it is necessary to adopt one and reject the other. That in the Hauk book is the older, the more coherent, and probably nearer to the truth.

[14] Professor Rafn, and those who have followed him, thought _Dagmalastad_ and _Eyktarstad_ denoted hours of the day, and that the former was 8 a.m. and the latter 4 p.m. This gave nine hours for the duration of the shortest day, which would be in latitude 42° 21′ N. But _Dagmal_ and _Eykt_ were points of the horizon, not hours of the day. The Norsemen had no means of knowing the hours. In 1885 Professor Gustav Storm gave the correct interpretation of the passage, and showed that the position must have been south of 49° N., but not far to the south of that latitude. The inhabitants met with by the Norsemen in Markland and called by them Skrællings are held by Tholbitzer to have been Eskimos. In Vinland the natives appear to have been Algonquin Indians.

[15] The different events which, according to the Hauk book, occurred in Karlsefni’s voyage, are scattered over several voyages in the Flatey book, the companions of Karlsefni being made the leaders of separate expeditions at different times. There is a voyage of Thorstein which failed, a voyage of Thorwald who was killed by Skrællings, a voyage of Karlsefni, and a voyage of Fredis in company with two brothers whom he murdered. The two accounts are contradictory as regards some of the details.

[16] The Kakortak ruin was discovered by Hans Egede in 1723. It was visited by Lieut. Graah in 1827 who first described it, with careful measurements. It was again visited by Sir Leopold M’Clintock in 1860.

[17] These are recorded in the Icelandic annals, which commence in 1260. Another series is appended to the Flatey book and dates from 1395.

[18] A Norse festival which falls on April 28th.

[19] In 1246.

[20] July 25th.

[21] _Antiq. Amer._ XXXIX.

[22] The sailing directions of Ivar Bardsen were published in English by Purchas, from a copy which had belonged to Henry Hudson. Rafn, in the _Antiquitates Americanae_, gave the text of an early copy found in the Faroes, with a Latin translation. Mr Major, in his _Voyages of the Zeni_, gives an English translation of the Latin version.

[23] We learn this from a parchment MS., known as the Skalholt Annals, believed to have been written in 1347.

[24] The drawings by Christianised Eskimos of Godthaab which have been printed, and are supposed to represent traditions about their conquest of the Norsemen, merely represent what the Danes told them.

[25] Vigdis M.d. hvilir her glede gud sal hennar.

[26] _Voyages of the Brothers Zeni_, by F. W. Lucas (Stevens, 1897).

[27] There are several astrolabes in the British Museum, one of 1280, another of 1342; one at King’s College, Cambridge (1540); two at Gonville and Caius College, one of early 14th century date, the other, rather later, formerly belonged to Caius himself; one at South Kensington (1374); one at Oriel College, Oxford, in rather bad condition; three at Merton College, one of 1350, another 1571, and a third very heavy one. At Merton there is also a very old quadrant of 12-inch radius, and a small disc of brass with pointers. At the Bodleian there is a Persian astrolabe. Mr Hyett’s astrolabe at Painswick House has 21 stars marked and one ring at the back; 36 festivals are marked. The number of English Saints shows it to be English. The interesting astrolabe which belonged to Sir Francis Drake is at Greenwich, its date is 1572. It belonged to the Earl of Chesterfield, who gave it to the Rev. T. Bigsby in 1783. Mr Bigsby gave it to King William IV, who presented it to Greenwich in 1833.

[28] Father of Sir Philip Sidney, and of Robert, 1st Earl of Leicester of that family.

[29] The first wife of Sir Henry Willoughby, Sir Hugh’s father, was Margaret, daughter of Sir Robert Markham of Cotham. His third wife was Ellen, daughter of John Egerton of Winehill in Cheshire. Sir Henry had four wives. His effigy on the monument at Wollaton has two small wives on each side.

[30] Besides Willoughby there were a master and his mate, six merchants, a master gunner, a boatswain and his mate, a carpenter, a purser, two surgeons, and 20 men.

[31] Moxon (1676) places Willoughby Land near the south-east corner of Spitsbergen. On the map in Harris’s voyage (1748) it is an island half-way between Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya.

[32] I believe this is now in Lord Salisbury’s collection at Hatfield.

[33] Reproduced by kind permission of the publisher, from Dr A. D. de Vries’s _Oud-Holland_ (Binger, 1882).

[34] Found by Purchas among the papers of Hakluyt, v. ante, p. 51.

[35] An excellent English edition of the voyage of Linschoten to the East Indies in two vols. was printed for the Hakluyt Society in 1885; edited by Mr Arthur C. Burnell and Mr Tiele of Utrecht.

[36] Linschoten wrote a very interesting account of this voyage with Tetgales in 1594.

[37] Linschoten’s narrative of this second voyage was published in 1601, the 3rd edition in 1638. On his return Linschoten settled at Enkhuizen and became Treasurer of the town. Here he was the friend of Lucas Waghenaer, author of the best sailing directions of that time. Linschoten published a translation of the _History of the West Indies_, by Acosta. He died in 1611, aged 48. De Veer wrote an account of the proceedings of Barentsz’s ship during the second voyage.

[38] In 1603 Stephen Bennet came to the same island and named it Cherrie Island, after his patron Sir Francis Cherrie, an Adventurer of the Russia Company.

[39] The _schuit_ was a larger boat.

[40] The narrative of Gerrit de Veer was translated and edited for the Hakluyt Society by Dr Beke in 1852. A new edition was edited, at my request, by that gallant young Dutch Arctic officer Koolemans Beynen in 1876.

[41] Another Norwegian Captain named Gundersen reached the Ice Haven of Barentsz in August 1875.

[42] These relics were deposited in the model room of the Naval Department at the Hague.

[43] State Paper Office, _Holland_, lxxvii.

[44] Maldonado, a Spaniard, published an account of a navigable strait, called the Strait of Anian, from the east side of America to the Pacific, coming out north of Cape Mendocino in California.

[45] Chancellor had used the cross-staff. Frobisher had been supplied with a similar instrument called a “ballestilla,” which he used in preference to the astrolabe, both being among the instruments and charts bought at a cost of £47. 0_s._ 8_d._ of Humphrey Cole and others. The cross-staff was described by Gemma Frisius, and Gunter’s was a yard long, with a cross-piece of 26½ inches. The staff, which was of wood, was graduated, and the cross-piece was moved along it until, looking through the sight near the eye, the two objects were covered of which the angle was to be measured. In observing for the latitude the two objects were the sun and the horizon, the angle giving the altitude.

[46] The authorities for the Arctic voyages of Frobisher are first the interesting narrative of George Best (Hakluyt, III) and the narrative of Dionise Settle (Hakluyt, III); Christopher Hall’s account in the Harl. MSS. 167, fol. 165; the Journal of the _Judith_, Harl. MSS. 167, fol 41; Edward Sellman, _Narrative of Thomas Ellis_ (Hakluyt, III); State Papers (Dom., Eliz.). Admiral Sir Richard Collinson edited the _Voyages of Frobisher_ for the Hakluyt Society. There is a well written and painstaking life of Sir Martin Frobisher by the Rev. Frank Jones (Longman, 1878).

[47] Mr Miller Christy very thoroughly investigated the question of the Land of Busse, and wrote an exhaustive monograph on the subject. See Hakluyt Society’s No. XCVI, Appendix B.

[48] The following names were given by Frobisher to places discovered on his voyages:--

1. Beare’s Sound.
2. Best’s Bulwock.
3. Best’s Cape.
4. Best’s Blessing.
5. Dyer’s Sound.
6. Hall Island.
7. Hall Sound.
8. Jackman’s Sound.
9. Fenton’s Fortune.
10. Five Men’s Sound.
11. Jonas Mount.
12. Frobisher Strait.
13. Gabriel Islands.
14. Haidon’s Nests.
15. Hatton Island.
16. Leicester Island.
17. Lok Island.
18. Meta Incognita (name given by the Queen).
19. Mistaken Strait (Hudson’s Strait).
20. Oxford Mount.
21. Queen Elizabeth’s Foreland.
22. Queen’s Cape.
23. Sussex (Countess of) Mine.
24. Sussex (Earl of) Island.
25. Trumpet’s Island.
26. Walsingham Cape.
27. Warwick Mount.
28. Warwick (Countess of) Sound and Island.
29. Winter’s Furnace.
30. Yorke Sound (_in Greenland_).

[49] It must be remembered that Davis was entirely ignorant of the Norse colony and of the Icelandic Sagas, which were only brought to light by Professor Rafn in our own day.

[50] The narratives of the first and third voyages were written by Mr Janes, those of the second by Davis himself. They are all in Hakluyt, and, with the other writings of Davis, have been edited for the Hakluyt Society by Admiral Sir Albert Markham. The present writer’s life of Davis, which records his great services in much more detail than is here possible, was published in 1889.

[51] An account of the contents of _The Seaman’s Secrets_ is given in the present writer’s life of Davis, and it is printed _in extenso_ in Admiral Sir Albert Markham’s _Voyages of John Davis_.

[52] This is now in the Museum at Greenwich.

[53] The following names were given by John Davis in the Arctic regions.

1. Chidley (or Chudleigh) Cape, S. entrance to Hudson Strait.
2. Cumberland (Earl of) Gulf.
3. Darcy Island, Labrador.
4. Desolation Land and Cape, S. Greenland.
5. Dyer Cape, North point of Exeter Sound.
6. Exeter Sound, Baffin Land.
7. Farewell Cape, S. point of Greenland.
8. Furious Overfall, Hudson Strait.
9. Gilbert Sound, Greenland 64° 15′ (Godthaab).
10. God’s Mercy Cape, N. entrance of Cumberland Gulf.
11. London Coast, West Coast of Greenland.
12. Raleigh Mount, Baffin Land.
13. Sanderson His Hope, 72° 12′ N., Baffin Bay.
14. Totnes Road, 66° 40′ N., Baffin Land.
15. Walsingham Cape, Baffin Land.
16. Warwick (Earl of) Foreland, Baffin Land.

[54] A portrait of Sir Thomas Smith was engraved by Simon de Passe, dated 1617. The engraving is bound up in T. Grenville’s copy of the Embassy to Russia and in a book called the _Surgeon’s Mate_, which is dedicated to Sir Thomas. By his wife Sarah, daughter of William Blunt, who married secondly Robert Sidney Earl of Leicester, Sir Thomas had a son, Sir John Smith, who married a daughter of Sir Philip Sidney’s “Stella” and his son Robert married Waller’s “Sacharissa.”

[55] The works of Leonard Digges were edited and published by his son: _Tectonicum_, a book on land-surveying (4to, 1556), _Pantometria_, a geometrical treatise (folio, 1591).

[56] Thomas Digges wrote _Alæ sive Scalæ Mathematicæ_ (4to, 1573), _Arithmetical Military Treatise_ (4to, 1579), _Stvatioticos_, a geometrical treatise necessary for the practice of soldiers (4to, 1590), with an account of the proceedings of the Earl of Leicester for the relief of Sluys, also _Description of the Celestial Orbs_ (1599), and _England’s Defence_ (folio, 1686).

[57] The eldest son, Thomas Digges, succeeded to Chilham and died in 1687. His son Leonard died in 1718 leaving a son Thomas, whose second son West Digges was a celebrated comedian. Chilham was finished in 1616 and the names of Sir Dudley Digges and his wife Mary Kempe are carved over the door.

[58] See the writer’s volume _The Voyages of Sir James Lancaster to the East Indies_, edited for the Hakluyt Society in 1877.

[59] Purchas calls her the _Frost_.

[60] Mount Kakatsiak.

[61] Cape Sophia is Proestefjeld (1170 ft.), just north of Holsteinborg.

[62] Amerdluk Fjord, or Itivdlek, in the opinion of Steenstrup.

[63] In 1881 I first drew attention to a manuscript Report to the King of Denmark in the British Museum, with 4 maps (21 leaves, small 4to). It was printed for the first time in the Hakluyt Society’s volumes on Danish Expeditions. Probably when Hall left Denmark he did not send it in, but took it with him and presented it to James I.

[64] This search was undertaken by the kindness of the late Colonel Chester. In the Parish Register of St Margaret’s, Westminster, Richard, son of John Baffin, was baptised on Sept. 30th, 1603, Joseph, Elizabeth, and William Baffin died of the plague in 1609, and Margaret Baffin, a child, was buried on June 8th, 1612. In the Register of the church of St Thomas Apostle, in the City, there is one entry of the name: Susan, daughter of William Baffin, was baptised on 15th Oct. 1609. This church was burnt in the great fire, and was not rebuilt.

[65] John Gatonby may have been a native of Winestead, for he dedicated his narrative (in _Churchill’s Voyages_) to Sir Christopher Hildyard of that place. Gatonby was a well-known Hull name. I have failed to find any further trace of young Huntriss, the Scarborough lad, though the name still exists in that town.

[66] Incorrectly called Cocken Sound on old maps.

[67] Navigation Instructor and for many years Map Curator to the Royal Geographical Society.

[68] Andrew Barker was an experienced seaman. He was admitted a younger brother of the Hull Trinity House in 1594, and was three times Warden. He presented one of the lights of the stained glass in the East window of the Chapel of the old Trinity House at Hull, a figure of St James the Less. There still hangs in the hall of the House the kayak presented by Barker.

[69] The names given in Greenland by Hall are as follows; those while with the Danish Expedition are marked (D). The persons after whom the places were named are given in brackets.

_Anne Cape_ (D). (_Queen of Denmark_), in sight from Cape Sophia.

_Bell’s River._ (_One of the Venturers_), branch of Godthaab Fjord
corrupted to _Baal_.

_Brunei Cape_ (D). (_Dutch Venturer_), _Burnitt_ on Admiralty Chart
is wrong. Oliver Brunei (see p. 130) was for some time in the
Danish service.

_Christian’s Fjord_ (D). (_King Christian IV_), 66° 25′ N., close to
Cape Anne; is called by Gatonby _King’s Fjord_.

_Cockayne Sound._ (_Sir W. Cockayne_), incorrectly spelt _Cocken_ on
maps, 65° 25′ The modern Sukkertoppen.

_Comfort Cape._ (_Named by Gatonby._)

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The lands of silenceChapter LXV: Remaining Antarctic Work (1)

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