1725-1742.
System of Licenses re-adopted by the French -- Verandrye sets
out for the Pacific -- His son slain -- Disappointments -- He
reaches the Rockies -- Death of Verandrye -- Forts in Rupert's
Land -- Peter the Great and the Hudson's Bay Company --
Expeditions of Bering -- A North-West Passage -- Opposition of
the Company to its Discovery -- Dobbs and Middleton --
Ludicrous distrust of the Explorer -- An Anonymous Letter.
It has already been observed how fearful had grown the demoralization
of the Indians, chiefly through the instrumentality and example of the
_coureur des bois_. This class seemed daily to grow more corrupt, and
bade fair to throw off the last vestige of restraint and become merged
in all the iniquity, natural and acquired, of the savage races. We
have seen, too, how the missionaries intervened, and implored the
civil authorities to institute some sort of reform. It was at their
solicitation that the Government of Canada at length decided to
re-adopt the system of licenses, and to grant the privileges of
exclusive trade to retired army officers, to each of whom they
accorded a certain fur-bearing district by way of recompense for
services rendered by him. In order that the trader might be protected
against hostile assault, permission was given to establish forts in
certain places suitable for their construction.
One of the French Canadian youth, whom the exploits of Iberville
against the Hudson's Bay Company had fired with a spirit of emulation
and who was head and shoulders above all that race of soldiers turned
fur-traders, who now began to spread themselves throughout the great
west--was Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de la Verandrye.
[Sidenote: Sieur de Verandrye.]
This gallant soldier and intrepid explorer, to whose memory history
has as yet done but scant justice, was born at Three Rivers on the
17th of November, 1685. At an early age he embraced the profession of
arms, and at twenty-four fought so valorously against Marlborough's
forces at Malplaquet that, pierced by nine wounds, he was left for
dead upon the field of battle. Recovering, however, he returned to the
colony, and at twenty-seven married the daughter of the Seigneur
d'Isle Dupas, by whom he had four sons. These sons were all destined
to be associated with their father in the subsequent explorations in
Rupert's Land and the west.
At the hour when Verandrye was seized with his zeal for exploration
and discovery, the Company's rivals already possessed numerous posts
established by Iberville, Duluth, Frontenac and Denonville, and a host
of lesser lights, in the west. Of one of these, on the shores of Lake
Nepigon, at the extreme end of Lake Superior, Verandrye had been given
the command.
[Sidenote: Verandrye sets out to explore the West.]
While at this fort, a rumour had reached him of a mighty river flowing
into the great ocean. Credulous of the truth of this report, borne to
him by the Indians, Verandrye lost little time in communicating it to
a friend, Father de Gonor, at Michilimackinac. It was shortly
thereafter carried to Governor Beauharnois, who was induced, but not
without much pleading, to grant Verandrye fifty men and a missionary
for the purposes of exploration. But, although he had thus far
succeeded, the only pecuniary aid upon which the explorer could rely
was from the fur-trade. He was accordingly given a license to trade,
and on the strength of this concession, certain merchants advanced him
an outfit. He set out and arrived at Rainy Lake in September, 1731,
traversed it, and erected a fort near the site of the present Fort
Francis of a later day, to which he gave the name of St. Peter.
A year later he built another fort on the western shore of the Lake of
the Woods, and in 1733 paddled down to the mouth of the Winnipeg River
to the lake of that name. Crossing Lake Winnipeg, he ascended the
Assiniboine River and constructed Fort Rouge.[55]
In 1738 the explorer's three sons, under their sire's instructions,
made their way up the Assiniboine and built Fort la Reine, on the site
of the present Portage la Prairie.
Well may it be said that the five years from 1733 to 1738 were years
of cruel grief and disappointment for Verandrye. He had been
struggling on to a realization of his dream in spite of the bitterest
discouragements. One of his sons had been slain by the Sioux; he was
without funds; fur-trading being with him only a subsidiary
employment. His men lacking both courage and faith became
unmanageable, and Verandrye addressed the most affecting letters to
his monarch in France, who looked upon him and his schemes coldly.
Those merchants, who had advanced him money, loaded him with their
distrust, perpetually harassed him for returns, and loudly demanded
his recall, so that he was forced to stand still and engage in barter
when his whole soul cried aloud for him to press on in his path and
reach the Pacific.
[Sidenote: Verandrye's son reaches the Rockies.]
Verandrye divided his little party in the spring of 1742 and ascended
the Souris River. Those who came to be familiar with the territory in
a later day, when it was frequented by traders, might well appreciate
what were the perils these pioneers encountered, and what dangers they
escaped when they finally left the country of the peace--leaving
Ojibways at Red River, and struck off into the land of the Sioux, a
tribe then, from their ferocity to the whites, called the "tigers of
the plains." But they were to go still farther. Already the eldest son
of the explorer had reached the tribe of the Mandans in the Missouri,
but owing to inability to obtain guides his party had been forced to
return. He was again despatched by his father, this time in company
with the younger son, known as the Chevalier, and two other Frenchmen
into the unknown country to the west. This little band of four made a
journey of several hundred miles, entering into a league with one of
the nations into whose country they penetrated, to lead them to the
great Western Ocean. On the first day of January, 1743, they beheld,
the first amongst white men, the eastern spurs of the northern Rocky
Mountains. But here the Bow Indians, their guides, deserted them, and
surrounded by hostile tribes, the party was forced to return. It was
in this same year that the elder Verandrye, scarred and gaunt from his
long wanderings in the wilderness, presented himself at Quebec to
confront his enemies and traducers. They had represented as making an
enormous fortune and leading an idle life, he who could point proudly
to having taken possession of the country of the Upper Missouri for
Lewis XV., and who had built a score and more of forts in the unknown
regions of the West.
"If 40,000 livres of debt that I have over my head," said Verandrye
bitterly, "are an advantage, then I can compliment myself on being
very rich, and I would have been much more so in the end, if I had
continued."
His license was given to another who, however, made a poor showing by
means of it, and it was not until Beauharnois's successor investigated
Verandrye's claims that the explorer received some recognition at
court. He was given a captaincy and the Cross of St. Lewis.
But the explorer had not waited for this. He had been pushing on in
his work, and in 1748 ascended the Saskatchewan. The progress of the
French was marked by more forts, one in Lake Dauphin and another
called Bourbon at the extremity of his discoveries. Verandrye was
about to cross the Rocky Mountains when death overtook him, on the 6th
of December, 1749.
The sons of Verandrye were eager to continue his work and attain at
last the Pacific. But Bigot, the Intendant, was not their friend; he
had other plans, and the Verandryes were deposed by favourites with
not half their ability or their claims to honours and rewards. But
they had paved the way and now the French were reaping the profits of
the fur-trade in the North-West on a great scale.
[Sidenote: Verandrye's work.]
Thus were successively established, from 1731 to 1748, by Verandrye
and his sons, Fort St. Pierre on Rainy Lake; Fort St. Charles on the
Lake of the Woods; Fort Maurepas near the mouth of the Winnipeg; Fort
Dauphin, on the north-west extremity of Lake Manitoba; Fort la Reine,
on the southern extremity of the last-named lake; Fort Rouge, at the
confluence of the Assiniboine and Red River; Fort Bourbon, at the head
of Lake Winnipeg; Fort Poskoyae, on the Saskatchewan, and Fort Lacerne
(Nipawi), at the forks of the said river.
In 1752, some years prior to the conquest of Canada, a relative of
Verandrye, named Niverville, established Fort Jonquiere at the foot of
the mountains.[56] Which of all these forts were to pass, after many
vicissitudes, into the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company, we shall see
in the course of subsequent pages. Verandrye and his compeers chose
their sites with great care and ability; so that it was rarely that
their successors were able to improve upon them. On the foundations or
charred remnants of the French forts, should the structures themselves
have perished, the English fur-traders, when they came, reared anew
their posts.
While thus the French were pressing forward from the south and east at
the same moment, a new rivalry threatened to spring up in the far
north-west.
[Sidenote: Russia looks toward the New World.]
The eighteenth century broke upon an abated zeal of the Spaniards in
extending their discoveries and dominions in the New World. Almost
contemporaneously, the threads they threw down were grasped by another
power, which the zeal and energy of one man had suddenly transformed
from a collection of savage, barbarous tribes into a great nation.
Having achieved conquest over his neighbours and the cohesion of his
new empire, Peter the Great turned his attention to a hardly inferior
task. None knew as yet whether the two great continents, Asia and
North America, united on the north-east. During Peter's residence in
England, not the least of the institutions interesting him was the
Hudson's Bay Company. A letter from Peter is quoted by a Russian
writer, in which he alludes to the English rivalry for these trades
"which had so long been the monopoly of Muscovy fur-hunting and
fur-gathering." Doubtless even at this time he was speculating upon
the chances of Russia competing with England for the fur traffic of
the New World. But before such a competition could be brought about
the question of the geographical connection between Asia and America
must be settled. When he had been in Holland in 1717, he had been
urged by some of the most eminent patrons of discovery amongst the
Dutch to institute an expedition of investigation. But again other
matters intervened; although in 1727 two Russian officers were
equipped and in readiness to start overland when they were recalled
for service in Sweden.
Not until he was on his death-bed did Czar Peter pen with his own hand
the instructions to Admiral Aproxin which bore fruit later. It was
then, too, that the idea, according to Lestkof, was discussed of a
Russian Fur Company, similar in its methods and organization to the
Hudson's Bay Company.
Peter directed first that one or two boats with decks should be built
at Kamschatka, or in the vicinity; that with these a survey should be
made of the most northerly coasts of his Asiatic Empire, to determine
whether they were or were not contiguous to America. Also that the
persons to whom the expedition might be entrusted should endeavour to
ascertain whether there was any port in those regions belonging to
Europe, and to keep a strict look-out for any European ship, taking
care also to employ some skilful men in making enquiries regarding the
names and situation of the coasts which they discovered. They were to
keep an exact journal and to transmit it to St. Petersburg.
Peter died, but the Empress Catherine, his successor, was equally
favourable to the scheme, and gave orders to fit out the expedition.
To Captain Vitus Bering was entrusted the command. Under him were two
lieutenants, Martin Spangberg and Alexi Tchirikoff; and besides other
subalterns were several excellent ship-carpenters.
[Illustration: MALDONADO'S "STRAIT OF ANIAN," 1609.]
On February 5, 1735, they set out from St. Petersburg, and on March 16
arrived at Tobolsk, the capital of Siberia.
[Sidenote: Bering's discoveries.]
Bering returned from his first voyage satisfied that he had reached
the utmost limits of Asia, and that no junction with America existed.
Some years elapsed, and in 1741 Bering, Spangberg and Tchirikoff again
volunteered. This expedition was destined to prove fatal to the
explorer; he got lost in a fog, intense cold prevailed, scurvy broke
out amongst the men, and on a little island in Bering's Sea he
breathed his last.
[Illustration: LAPIE'S MAP, 1821.]
Although many years were to elapse before the Russians took any more
active steps, they had, by virtue of Bering's discoveries, got a
footing on the North American Continent, and were thus already
neighbours, if not yet rivals, of the Hudson's Bay Company.
"It is very evident," wrote one of the contemporary chroniclers, "that
for upwards of two centuries and a half an opinion has prevailed
amongst the most knowing and experienced persons, that there is a
passage to the north-west, and this built partly upon science, partly
upon tradition. Now, it is very hard to conceive how such an opinion
should maintain its credit if it was not founded in reality; for it is
an old and true maxim that specious opinions endure but a short time,
whereas truth is everlasting."
For many years the notion of a north-west passage had slept; but in
1737 it again attracted public attention. In that year Arthur Dobbs, a
gentleman of some means and of scientific bent, made formal
application to the Hudson's Bay Company that a search be undertaken.
Upon his representations the Company sent forth two of their ships
upon the quest. These, the _Churchill_ and the _Musquash_ went,
however, no farther north than latitude 62° 15' and returned without
seeing anything worthy of notice, save "a number of small islands,
abundance of black whales, but no very great tides, the highest about
two fathoms, the flood coming from the northward."
There had been for a great many years in the Company's employ an able
mariner, Captain Christopher Middleton. For some reason or other
Middleton had become dissatisfied with their service and one of his
friends placed him in communication with the patron of discovery,
Dobbs, and a close correspondence ensued.[57]
Dobbs was eager to employ Middleton in a search for the long-sought
straits. This was by no means an easy matter. In the first place the
Company flatly declined to participate in the scheme, alleging that
they had already done enough in that direction[58] and that the whole
idea was a fallacy.
There was no north-west passage to India, and the sooner the public
mind divested itself of the folly of supposing one existed the better
it would be for the public purse and the public wisdom.
The Company pointed out that if Middleton should winter at either of
the Company's factories it might drive the natives to trade with the
French, who were always on the alert; and trade so lost would never
return or be regained. They begged the Admiralty to restrain Captain
Middleton from interfering with the Company's trade and invading their
property and rights.
Dobbs, however, secured from the Admiralty for Middleton's use the
bomb ketch _Furnace_, which, with another small vessel, the _Welcome_,
was ready to sail early in June.
[Sidenote: The Company opposes further exploration.]
So opposed do the Company appear to have their domains meddled with by
these fruitless explorations that they sent out a letter to their
Governor at Churchill, which was the most convenient harbour for the
explorers to winter in, not to receive Middleton into their fort.
Dobbs and his friends getting wind of this, complained to the
Admiralty, who wrote to the Honourable Adventurers in a tone of
decided reproof, observing that even if Middleton were to receive
assistance and provisions, payment would be made for these to the
Company on the return of the expedition to England.
After deliberating for some time, the Company thereupon wrote to the
Lords of the Admiralty, saying that they had sent a further letter to
Governor Norton requiring him to extend the necessary hospitality to
Middleton. That the sort of hospitality the Company was prepared to
dispense was not of too warm a character may be adjudged from the
following:
HUDSON'S BAY HOUSE, LONDON, May 15, 1741.
_Mr. James Isham and Council_,
_Prince of Wales' Fort, Churchill River_:
GENTLEMEN,--Notwithstanding our orders to you, if Captain
Middleton (who is sent abroad in the Government's service to
discover a passage north-west) should by inevitable necessity
be brought into real distress and danger of his life and loss
of his ship, in such case you are then to give him the best
assistance and relief you can.
A duplicate of this was put in Middleton's possession, who still
dissatisfied, rushed off instantly with it to Whitehall. It was deemed
necessary to apply to the Lords of the Regency that the Secretary of
State might, by their orders, write to the Company to request the
assistance they refused to the Admiralty. The Company, thus hemmed in,
gave a letter couched in a more friendly style.
"It is plain," remarks a contemporary writer, "that the Company
believe there is a passage, which they want to conceal; for otherwise
it would have been their interest to have the attempt made. If not
found there would have been an end to prosecuting it any further, and
they might probably have enjoyed their trade to the Bay, without its
being coveted or enquired into."
Middleton owned to Dobbs that just before his departure the Company
had endeavoured to bribe him with an offer of £5,000 to return to
their service, or that if he was determined to go, to pursue the
voyage by Davis' Straits, or by any other way than the west of the
Bay. They alleged that it would cost the Company that amount to
support their right against the Crown and against private adventurers,
and that "as he had been their friend, and knew all their concerns, it
would be better to give him that sum than to give it to their
lawyers." The Company did not deny that such an offer had been made by
two or three of the committee privately.
[Sidenote: Middleton explores for a north-west passage.]
Middleton now proceeded on his journey in quest of the famed
north-west passage. It is charged that on his arrival in the Bay he
never once went ashore or sent his boat to search for any inlet or to
try the tide. He tried the current in latitude 63° 20', and found it
very rapid, in spite of the fact that there existed a great deal of
ice to the northward. Its presence compelled him to stand off from
shore until he passed Cape Dobbs, beyond which he found an opening
northwestward. In this opening he sought shelter for three weeks.
[Sidenote: Trouble between Middleton and his men.]
No voyage of discovery since the world began was ever made under such
circumstances. Numerous members of the crew, who had got wind of the
situation, were filled, or professed to be filled, with distrust of
their captain. Caring nothing about the voyage itself or the object
for which it was undertaken, they entered with zeal a hundred times a
day into plots to make the commander's life unbearable. The supposed
passage was christened the "Forbidden Straits," and the crews vastly
amused themselves with Middleton's supposed discomfiture. Several were
very nearly yard-armed for spreading reports that the captain had
purposely sailed past the straits. Sometimes the captain merely
laughed at the views of his subordinates; at other times, it is said,
he flew into a temper, and indulged in threats and abuse. Once, when
from the number of whales and the breadth and depth of the river, word
sped from mouth to mouth that it was a strait they were in, and no
river, "he rated several of them for pretending to say so against his
opinion, saying his clerk was a double-tongued rascal, that he would
cane the lieutenant, broomstick the master, and lash any others who
would concern themselves about the voyage." It was, moreover, charged
against Middleton that he interdicted the keeping of private journals,
and that if any disobeyed this order he threatened to break open their
boxes and get possession of such records. Once when the lieutenants
and masters were absent down the river to look for a cove for the
ships, Middleton grimly observed that he supposed the former would
bring back "some romantick account of a strait or passage."
Nevertheless, for his part, he would not take the ships a foot
farther. Intrigue characterized the whole of this voyage of discovery.
The officers of both the _Furnace_ and the _Discovery_ took turns in
making jaunts into the country. On the 8th of August, Captain
Middleton, the clerk, gunner, and carpenter went ashore at Cape
Frigid, and after pacing some fifteen miles into the country,
returned, to find the ship drifted, although it lacked some hours of
high water. Rankin and the men on board from this had become convinced
that it was the effects of the flood from the supposed strait. The
captain laughed them to scorn, and said that if it came from any
strait at all it was Hudson's Strait.
Two northern Indians were taken on board the _Discovery_, and
Thompson, the surgeon, who could speak some of the southern tongue,
began busying himself making a vocabulary of their language. At this
innocent occupation he was observed by Middleton, who threatened to
"crop him" in case he persisted. When they reached Marble Island,
although the two Indians were desirous of going to England, he put the
pair ashore in a bad boat they were ignorant of how to manage. The
supplications of the unhappy savages were useless to turn the
Company's captain from his purpose. In vain they told him that the
island was three leagues from the mainland, and a hundred miles from
their own country; that it was inhabited by the Esquimaux, their
enemies.
"The Captain gave them some provisions, ammunition, hatchets and
toys. The excuse he made for not bringing them to England was, that
upon his return his friends might be out of the Admiralty, and as he
had no orders to take them home, they would be left a charge upon
him." This was plausible, but Middleton's detractors did not rest
there. They accused the captain of saying that he was afraid the
Indians, when they learned to speak English, would be talking of the
copper mine and the north-west passage, and would thereby put the
public to the expense of sending out more ships in quest of it. "And
this, no doubt," commented Dobbs, "was the true reason for that piece
of cruelty, for he thought if they came to England he should _not be
able to conceal the passage_."
On Middleton's return, after his quest, he was accused of saying, "My
character is so well established as a discoverer that no man will
ever, hereafter, attempt to discover the north-west passage."
[Sidenote: Middleton returns without discovering the passage.]
He certainly received a cordial invitation from the Government, the
Admiralty and the Court. Immediately upon his arrival in London he
communicated with several of the partners of the Hudson's Bay Company.
The preparation of his journal occupied for a time his leisure. "He
himself," says Dobbs, "had got great reputation from the Royal Society
for his observations upon cold; and for what he had discovered had got
a medal from them. He was upon good terms with the Lords of the
Admiralty, and was to dedicate his charts and discoveries to the King
and noblemen of the first rank as well as to the Lords of the
Admiralty." That the Lords of the Admiralty were perfectly satisfied
with his conduct, there is every reason to believe, as in the
following year Middleton was placed in command of the _Shark_, a
sloop. All this naturally put him into a position to serve those under
him. All his recommendations for promotion only strengthened the
suspicions gathering in the mind of Dobbs and his fellow-patrons. "He
had recommended also his lieutenant, and thought none other on board
had weight enough to impeach his proceedings, which, if they failed
in, would ruin their characters; so that securing his officers, he
thought all things would be safe amongst the crew. But Middleton was
not one to forget the patron and prime mover of the expedition, whom
he endeavoured to propitiate by sending him an abstract of his
journal. This abstract seemed, to Dobbs, to be so full of
contradictions and discrepancies, that he wrote to the explorer to
send him, if possible, the journal itself. He had scarcely dispatched
this communication when he received a letter from Lanrick, "a
gentleman who had been bred a scholar," who had accompanied Middleton
on the voyage. It was substantially the same account rendered by the
captain, with this added paragraph:
"Sir,--This account I should have sent you before now but that the
Captain, for reasons to himself best known, desired that none of us
should say anything about it relating to the discovery for a little."
This very natural desire on the part of an explorer, about to become
an author, seems to have been fraught with deep and incriminating
significance to Dobbs. After a short time the whole of Middleton's
journal reached him; it appeared to confirm all Dobbs's presentiments.
[Sidenote: Suspicion attaches to Middleton.]
Dobbs and the other patrons were therefore convinced that Middleton
had played them false for the Hudson's Bay Company; and their belief
in a north-west passage was strengthened rather than weakened. In
their report, after going over the whole account of the voyage
furnished them, they were especially severe upon Middleton. "His whole
conduct," they said, "from his going to Churchill until his return to
England, and even since his return, it will appear plainly that he
intended to serve the Company at the public expense, and contrived
everything so as to stifle the discovery, and to prevent others from
undertaking it for the future so as to secure the favour of the
Company and the reward they said they promised him before he began the
voyage."
An informer appeared, who testified that Middleton had declared in
presence of the others at a council held at York Factory, Churchill,
that he "should be able to make the voyage, but none on board should
be any the wiser and he would be a better friend to the Company than
ever."
Middleton was charged in public with neglect in having failed to
explore the line of coast which afforded a probability of a passage to
the north-west. The principal points at issue appear to have been in
respect to the discovery by Middleton, of the Wager River, Repulse
Bay, and the Frozen Strait. In this century Sir Edward Parry has
remarked: "The accuracy of Captain Middleton is manifest upon the
point most strenuously argued against him, for our subsequent
experience has not left the smallest doubt of Repulse Bay and the
northern part of the Welcome being filled by a rapid tide flowing into
it from the eastward through the Frozen Strait." Dobbs, fully
impressed with a conviction that the captain's story of the Frozen
Strait was all chimera, as well as everything Middleton had said
concerning that part of the voyage, confidently insisted on the
probability of the tide finding its way through Wager River, or at
least through some arm of the sea communicating with that inlet from
the westward.[59]
One detail only was lacking to render the situation farcical--an
anonymous letter. This reached Dobbs on the 21st of January, and ran
in this absurd vein:--
"This script is only open to your Eyes, which have been sealed
or closed with too much (we cannot say Cunning) Artifice, so as
they have not been able to discover our Discoverer's Pranks.
All Nature cries aloud that there is a Passage, and we are sure
there is one from Hudson's Bay to Japan. Send a letter directed
to Messieurs Brook and Cobham, who are Gentlemen who have been
the Voyage, and cannot bear so Glorious an Attempt, should die
under the Hands of Mercenary Wretches, and they will give you
such pungent reasons as will awaken all your Industry. They
desire it may be kept secret so long as they shall think fit;
they are willing to venture their Lives, their Fortunes, their
All, in another attempt; and they are no inconsiderable
persons, but such as have had it much at heart ever since they
saw the Rapidity of Tides in the Welcome. The frozen straits is
all Chimera, and everything you have yet read or seen
concerning that part of our Voyage, We shall send you some
unanswerable Queries. Direct for us at the Chapter Coffee
House, St Paul's Churchyard, London."
It was now clear that Middleton's voyage had been made in vain, and
that another would shortly be attempted.
FOOTNOTES:
[55] This fort has been thought to have been in the neighbourhood of
Selkirk, Manitoba. But Verandrye would not have abandoned such an
advantageous position as that which the meeting of the two rivers
afforded at the modern Winnipeg.
[56] On the site of Fort Jonquiere, a century later, Captain
Brisebois, of the Mounted Police, founded a post bearing his name.
This post has given way to-day to the well-built and thriving town of
Calgary.
[57] In one of his letters, dated 21st of January, 1737, Middleton
held that the Company thought it their interest rather to prevent than
forward new discoveries in that part of the world. "For that reason
they won't suffer any of our journals to be made public," he adds.
Than which certainly no observation could be truer.
[58] A LIST OF VESSELS FITTED OUT BY THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY ON
DISCOVERY OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE.
1719--_Albany Frigate_, Capt. George Barlow, sailed from England
on or about 5th June. Never returned.
_Discovery_, Capt. David Vaughan, sailed from England on or
about 5th June. Never returned.
1719--_Prosperous_, Capt Henry Kelsey, sailed from York Fort, June
19th. Returned 10th August following.
_Success_, John Hancock, master, sailed from Prince of Wales'
Fort, July 2nd. Returned 10th August.
1721--_Prosperous_, Capt. Henry Kelsey, sailed from York Fort,
June 26th. Returned 2nd Sept.
_Success_, James Napper, master, sailed from York Fort, June
26th. Lost 30th of same month.
1721--_Whalebone_, John Scroggs, master, sailed from Gravesend,
31st May; wintered at Prince of Wales' Fort.
1722--Sailed from thence 21st June. Returned July 25th following.
1737--_The Churchill_, James Napper, master, sailed from Prince of
Wales' Fort, July 7th. Died 8th August; and the vessel
returned the 18th.
_The Musquash_, Robert Crow, master, sailed from Prince of
Wales' Fort, July 7th. Returned 22nd August.
[59] "On looking through the correspondence at the Admiralty, it is
impossible not to be struck with the straightforward manliness,
candour and honesty of purpose exemplified by Captain Middleton
throughout this trying business. It was a cruel attack."--Sir John
Barrow.