TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
WILLS EARL OF HILLSBOROUGH,
&c.&c.&c.
ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SECRETARIES OF STATE,
FIRST LORD COMMISSIONER OF TRADE AND PLANTATIONS,
ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S MOST HONOURABLE
PRIVY COUNCIL, AND F.R.S.
TheDiscovery of a North-west Passage having deserved the particular Attention of that great Minister of State SirFrancis Walsingham, with the Approbation of the greatest Princess of that Age, I presumed to ask the Permission to inscribe the following Sheets, on the same Subject, to your Lordship, wrote with no View of setting any further Expeditions on Foot, or with respect to any particular System, but as a candid and impartial Enquiry, to shew the great Probability there is of a North-west Passage. The Importance of the Subject, treated with the greatest Regard to Truth, are the only Pretensions I have to merit your Patronage.
Your Lordship will appear, to the latest Posterity, in the amiable Light of being zealous for the Glory of his Majesty, the Honour of the Nation, for promoting thecommercial Interests, the Happiness of his Majesty's Subjects in general, and of those inAmericain particular. I therefore have the most grateful Sense of your Benevolence and Humanity in condescending to grant me this Favour, as it will be known for Part of that Time that I had the Honour to be
YOUR LORDSHIP'S
MOST HUMBLE AND
OBEDIENT SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
TheOpinion of there being a North-west Passage between theAtlanticandSouthern Oceanhath continued for more than two Centuries; and though the Attempts made to discover this Passage have not been attended with the desired Success, yet in Consequence of such Attempts great Advantages have been received, not by the Merchant only but by the Men of Science. It must be a Satisfaction to the Adventurer, though disappointed in his principal Design, that his Labours have contributed to the Improvement of Science, and the Advancement of Commerce.
There was a Generosity with respect to the Discovery of a North-west Passage, or a Respect to the great Abilities of those who promoted the various Undertakings for making such Discovery, to the Crown which patronized them, and the Estates of the Kingdom who promised a most munificent Reward to such who should compleat such Discovery, that those who were of a contrary Opinion treated the Subject with a becoming Decency. But the Censures that have been of late made by our Countrymen, and more particularly by Foreigners, our Ancestors have been treated as so many Fools, or infatuated Persons, busied to compleat an impracticable and a merely chimerical Project, and are accused by a foreign Geographer to have proceeded so far as to forge a fictitious Account under the Title of a Letter of Admiralde Fonte. That the Iniquity of theEnglishWriters is not such (neither was ever known to be such) nor, was it in their Inclination, could they so easily deceive the World; and theFalshood of this Assertion could be no otherway made apparent than by considering such Letter with a just Criticism, and examining the Circumstances relating thereto. Though the present Age may not pay much Regard to these Censures, yet if they are passed unnoticed, might hereafter be considered as Truths unanswerable at the Time those Censures were made. Therefore to do Justice to the Character of our Ancestors, to the present Age in which such great Encouragement hath been given to these Undertakings, and that Posterity might not be deceived, were Motives (had they been duly considered without a Regard to the Importance of the Subject) which might incite an abler Pen to have undertaken to vindicate the Authenticity ofde Fonte's Letter. As for a long Time nothing of this Kind appeared, nor could I hear that any Thing was undertaken of this Sort, by any Person to whom I could freely communicate my Sentiments, and the Informations which I had collected on this Subject, as the Discovery of a North-west Passage hath been the Object of my Attention for some Years, considered myself under the disagreeable Necessity of becoming an Author in an Age of such refined Sentiments, expressed in the greatest Purity of Language: But if I have succeeded in the greater Matters, I hope to be excused in the lesser.
I have inserted the Letter ofde Fonte, as first published in theMonthly Miscellany, orMemoirs of the Curious, inAprilandJune1708, very scarce or in very few Hands; not only as I thought it consistent with my Work, but that the Curious would be glad to have a Copy of such Letter exactly in the same Manner in which it was first published, to keep in their Collections.
As to the Observations respecting the Circumstances of the Letter ofde Fonte, the Manner by which it was attained, its being a Copy of such Letter which the Editors procured to be translated from theSpanish, and as to such Matters as are to be collected from the Title of such Letter, and from the Letter in Supportof its Authenticity, I submit those Observations to superior Judgments: If confuted, and it appears I have misapprehended the Matter, am not tenacious of my Opinion, but shall receive the Conviction with Pleasure, being entirely consistent with my Design, which is, That the Truth may be discovered, whether this Account is authentick or not.
In my Remarks of the Letter I have endeavoured to distinguish what was genuine, from what hath been since added by other Hands; have made an exact Calculation of the Courses; have considered the Circumstances of such Letter, giving the Reasons of the Conduct that was used in the various Parts of the Voyage, and shewing the Regularity and Consistency there is through the Whole, and without Anachronisms or Contradictions as hath been objected, part of which I was the better enabled to do from some Experience which I have had in Affairs of this Sort. I must observe, the Calculations were made without any Regard had to the Situation ofHudson's orBaffin's Bay; but begun at theCallaoofLima, and pursued as the Account directs from the Westward: And it was an agreeable Surprize to find what an Agreement there was as to the Parts which, by such Courses, it appeared that the Admiral and his Captain were in, consistent with the Purpose they were sent on, and the Proximity of where they were toHudson's andBaffin's Bay.
To state particularly all the Objections which have been made to this Account, I thought would have greatly increased the Bulk of the Work. There is no material Objection which I have any where met with, but is here considered. Also to have added all the Authorities which I have collected and made Use of, would have made it more prolix; so have contented myself with only giving such Quotations as appeared absolutely necessary to insert and then to mention the Authors particularly. I think I have not perverted the Meaning, or forced the Sense, of any Author made Use of, to serve my Purpose.
To shew the Probability of a Passage, have traced the Opinions relating to it from the Time such Opinions were first received; and also determined where it was always supposed to be or in what Part such Passage was: Have considered the various Evidence that there is relating to such Passage; and proposed what appears to be the properest Method at present for prosecuting the Discovery.
There are three Maps, all of which appeared necessary for the better understanding this Account. The one contains Part ofAsiaand theRussianDiscoveries on the Coast ofAmerica; the Expedition ofde Fonte, and clears up that seeming Inconsistency of theTartarianandSouthern Oceanbeing contiguous in that Part ofAmerica, from the Authority of theJapaneseMap ofKempfer, which must be of some Repute, as it is so agreeable to theRussianDiscoveries: If true in that Part, there is no Reason to suppose but it is in like Manner true as to the other Part which is introduced into this Map. This Map exhibits the Streight thatde Fucawent up, the Communication which there may be supposed agreeable to the Lights which the Accounts afford us between the Sea at the Back ofHudson's Bay with that Bay, or with theNorth SeabyHudson's Streights, or throughCumberlandIsles. There is also added a second Map, to shew what Expectations may be had of a Passage fromHudson's Bay, according to the Discoveries made in the Year 1747. The third Map is an exact Copy from that published in theMonarquia Indiana de Torquemada, in which the Sea Coast ofAmericais exhibited in a different Manner from what it usually was in the Maps of that Time, compleated by the Cosmographers ofPhilipthe Third. The Work itself is in few Hands, and the Map, as far as appears, hath been only published in that Book, is now again published, as it illustrates this Work, and may be otherwise agreeable to the Curious; having a Desire not to omit any Thing which would render the Work compleat, or that would be acceptable to the Publick.
I have used uncommon Pains to be informed as to what could be any way serviceable to render this Work more compleat; and must make this publick Acknowledgement, as to the Gentlemen of theBritish Museum, who, with great Politeness and Affability, gave me all the Assistances in their Power to find if the Copy from which the Translation was made was in their Possession, which after an accurate Search for some Weeks it did not appear to be, and also their Assistance as to any other Matters which I Supposed would be of Service. I cannot pass by Mr.Jefferys's Care and Exactness in executing the Maps, whose Care and Fidelity to the Publick not to impose any Thing that is spurious, but what he hath an apparent and real Authority for, is perhaps not sufficiently known.
The Voyage, an Extract from which is added by Way of Appendix, was made fromPhiladelphia, in a Schooner of about sixty Tons, and fifteen Persons aboard, fitted out on a Subscription of the Merchants ofMaryland,Pennsylvania,New York, andBoston, on a generous Plan, agreeable to Proposals made them, with no View of any Monopoly which they opposed, not to interfere with theHudson's Bay Trade, or to carry on a clandestine Trade with the Natives ofGreenland, but to discover a North-west Passage, and explore theLabradorCoast, at that Time supposed to be locked up under a pretended Right, and not frequented by the Subjects ofEngland, but a successful Trade carried on by theFrench; to open a Trade there, to improve the Fishery and the Whaling on these Coasts, cultivate a Friendship with the Natives, and make them serviceable in a political Way: Which Design of theirs of a publick Nature, open and generous, was in a great Measure defeated by private Persons interfering, whose Views were more contracted.
They did not succeed the first Year as to their Attempt in discovering a North-west Passage, as it was a great Year for Ice;that it would be late in the Year before the Western Part ofHudson's Bay could be attained to, and then impossible to explore theLabradorthat Year, therefore the first Part of the Design was dropped, and theLabradorwas explored. The next Year a second Attempt was made as to a Passage; but three of the People who went beyond the Place appointed by their Orders, and inadvertently to look for a Mine, Samples of which had been carried home the Year before, and this at the Instigation of a private Person before they set out from home, without the Privity of the Commander, were killed by theEskemaux, and the Boat taken from them. After which Accident, with some disagreeable Circumstances consequent thereon amongst the Schooner's Company, and after an Experiment made of their Disinclination to proceed on any further Discovery, it was thought most prudent to return. This short Account is given by the Person who commanded in this Affair, to prevent any Misrepresentation hereafter of what was done on these Voyages.