POLAR REGIONS

Arctic Exploration

The Northwest Passage During the 1570s and 1580s the English had also been sending ships to look for a Northwest Passage. Captain Frobisher (about 1535-1594) left in June 1576 and found a large strait west of Greenland. He thought this was the passage. Later it was shown to be a large bay in Baffin Island. Ten years later another English seaman called John Davis set out in search of the passage. In the course of three voyages he discovered Davis Strait, Baffin Bay and mapped 683 miles (1,100 km) of the Greenland coast. By 1610, Hudson was working for the English again. He sailed on April 17 to explore the strait found by Davis. In June he found Hudson Strait and by autumn had crossed Hudson Bay to James Bay. There he spent the winter. In the spring his crew mutinied because they thought they would die of starvation. They put Hudson, his son, and loyal crewmen in a small boat to fend for themselves. They were never seen again. The mutineers themselves were attacked by Inuit and only eight returned to London. On the voyage home they had to eat candles, grass, and bird skins to stay alive.

F robisher was one of several explorers who searched for the Northwest Passage. Later he fought against the Spanish Armada. But the sailors were not hanged as was usual for mutineers. They were the only ones who knew the way to Hudson Bay. More voyages followed and showed that there was no way out of Hudson Bay to the west. During one of the trips, Lancaster Sound, north of Baffin Island, was discovered. Nobody realized it at the time but this was eventually shown to be the Northwest Passage. The Hudson’s Bay Company The English and Dutch realized that no safe passage was to be found to Cathay by the Arctic. Instead, trade with America became more important to Europe. Hudson’s discoveries had shown a way into Canada for traders. The Hudson’s Bay Company was formed in 1670 and still trades today. H udson (about 1550-1611) was cast adrift by mutineers in 1611 after wintering on his ship in the Arctic. He and his son died near the large bay now named after him.

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