A substantial yeoman in the days of the great Queen possessed a small freehold called Sandridge on the banks of the Dart, in the parish of Stoke Gabriel. This yeoman had two sons, John Davis the future Arctic navigator, and his brother Edward, the former born in 1550. The Dart, in this part of its course, widens out, and has all the appearance of a lake surrounded by wooded hills, the leafy boughs touching the water at high tide. The view is closed in by the richly wooded heights of Greenway Court, which was the home of Humphrey and Adrian Gilbert and their half brother Walter Raleigh. All these boys were fast friends. The Gilbert and Davis boys often met, and made excursions together. Young Davis also had other friends. A mile beyond the neighbouring village of Dittisham was the manor house of Bozomzele, where dwelt Sir John Fulford, his wife, Lady Dorothy, daughter of the Earl of Bath, and several children about the same age as young Davis. Here he was always welcome, and one of his Bozomzele playfellows, Faith Fulford, later became his wife.
John Davis was not in the same social position as his life-long friends Adrian Gilbert and Walter Raleigh or the Fulfords, but he certainly received a classical education, probably at Totnes grammar school. He went to sea at an early age and was away from home for about 14 years. He returned, at the age of 28, an experienced seaman, skilled in the scientific branch of his profession, and recognised as a captain of known valour and conduct, in whom merchants were willing to repose trust and confidence. He had succeeded to the property at Sandridge, and on September 29th, 1582, he married Faith Fulford.
Young Davis, master of his friend Sir Humphrey Gilbert’s Discourse on a North-west Passage to Cathay, was deeply interested in an enterprise which would so greatly benefit his country, and was filled with a desire to undertake the leading of such an expedition. His friend Adrian Gilbert—at this time a neighbour, having rented the manor house of Stoke Gabriel—was equally enthusiastic. The two friends rode up to London together, and Gilbert introduced Davis to Dr Dee, the famous alchemist and mathematician at Mortlake, and to the great statesman Sir Francis Walsingham. The four experts examined all available sources of information, and consulted together. The great difficulty was to ascertain the position of Sir Martin Frobisher’s discoveries, which could not be reconciled with the Zeno map. Still, the main object of finding a passage was most important, and a successful appeal was made to the merchants of London. Sir Walter Raleigh entered into the plans of the friend of his boyhood with characteristic ardour, and he induced the Queen to grant a charter for the discovery to John Davis, Adrian Gilbert, and himself. Raleigh recommended his associates to the good offices of Master William Sanderson, a wealthy merchant and one of the most enlightened adventurers of his time, who resolved to give liberal support to the expedition. He superintended the preparations, and his relative, John Janes, went out as supercargo. In the spring of 1585 Davis was busily engaged in fitting out at Dartmouth. He had two small vessels, the Sunshine of London of 50 tons, and the Moonshine, built at Dartmouth, of only 35 tons. Davis and Janes were in the Sunshine with the master, William Eston, a master’s mate, gunner, boatswain, carpenter, eleven seamen, four musicians to please the natives, and a boy. The Moonshine was commanded by William Bruton, with John Ellis as master.
On the 7th June, 1585, the two ships left Dartmouth harbour. With Eston the master, Davis made a careful survey of the provisions and a calculation of the time they would last. They consisted of salt meat and cod, biscuit and peas, butter and cheese, with beer. The clothing was entirely woollen. As contrary winds detained the ships for several days at the Scilly Islands, Davis employed his time in visiting every island of the group, plotting and describing every isle and rock, and making a regular survey for the use of navigators.
A fair wind at last sprang up and took them northward over the Atlantic, where one or two porpoises were harpooned, and a number of whales seen. It was on the 20th July, 1588, that Greenland, the country of the old Norse colony, was sighted, and Davis named it the “Land of Desolation”: for “the irksome noise of the ice and the loathsome view of the shore bred strange conceits among us.” This was on the east side. Davis considered that he was well to the westward of the Frieslanda of Zeno, and in the channel between Labrador and Greenland as shown on Mercator’s map, so, after rounding the southern point, he steered north and on the 29th sighted land in 64° 15′ N. The wind being strong from the north he anchored in a fjord, which was named Gilbert Sound. It is the Godthaab of the Danes49.
On the Greenland coast the numerous small granite islands scattered in great numbers at the entrances of the deep fjords, are well clothed with moss, grasses, and wild flowers in the summer, and embosomed in a deep blue sea on which bergs and pack-ice float here and there, and become distorted on the horizon by refraction. Nowhere does nature present a more lovely scene.
Davis, with Janes and Eston, landed on a small island and had his first interview with the Eskimos. He was followed by the captain of the Moonshine with the four musicians, and a good understanding was soon established. Next day many kayaks were darting round the ships, and there was perfect confidence. Five kayaks and some native clothing were purchased. On the 1st of August Gilbert Sound was left and, shaping a W.N.W. course, the opposite shore was sighted in 66° 40′ N., anchorage being found in a bay which Davis called after his old school—Totnes Road. He then discovered and examined the entrance to Cumberland Gulf. He was very observant of the fauna and flora, the bears, five of which were killed, the seals, and the numerous birds, and he described Ranunculus glacialis and Papaver alpinum. The men had complained of the insufficiency of the food in such a climate, and a new dietary was framed. Every mess of five men was to receive 4 lb. of biscuit daily, 12 quarts of beer, 6 stock-fish, and an extra gill of peas on salt meat days.
From various indications, Davis was inclined to believe that Cumberland Gulf was a strait, but a northwesterly gale had driven the ships from the land, and on August 26th he determined to begin the homeward voyage. He considered that his discoveries had materially increased the amount of knowledge which must be collected before the passage was likely to be found.
Davis was warmly welcomed by his steadfast friend Adrian Gilbert, and he addressed a hopeful letter to Sir Francis Walsingham. He then went up to London, and gave a personal account to the Secretary of State and to Master Sanderson.
For the second expedition, which was immediately decided upon, the merchants of Devonshire subscribed liberally. The little fleet was composed of four ships, the Mermaid of 120 tons, the Sunshine, the Moonshine, and the North Star, a pinnace of 10 tons. Davis himself was in the Mermaid with his friend Janes, and Henry Morgan, a servant of Master Sanderson, joined the expedition as purser. Davis had resolved to divide his fleet. The Sunshine under Captain Pope, with the pinnace, was to seek for a passage on the east side of Greenland as far as 80° N., and they parted company on the 7th of June. The Mermaid and Moonshine sighted the southern extremity of Greenland on the 15th, but Davis was unable to land owing to the pack-ice extending for several leagues off the shore. He therefore gave it the name of Cape Farewell, and once more entered the strait which will bear his name for all time. Encountering very severe weather it was not until the 29th that anchorage was found near Gilbert Sound, where the Eskimos received their old friends with joyous welcome. Davis put together a small pinnace which had been brought out in pieces, and explored some of the fjords and inlets, also making long excursions inland to observe the character and products of Greenland. Athletic sports and football matches were then organised. In long jumping the English beat the natives, but in wrestling matches the strangers found their match. A vocabulary was collected of the Eskimo language, and Davis wrote a very graphic account of these interesting people.
The season was very unfavourable, there was much heavy pack, the ships were nearly beset after leaving Gilbert Sound, and the crews became despondent. Davis therefore made for the land again and reached it in 66° 30′ N., at a place now known as Old Sukkertoppen. Here it was resolved that the Mermaid should return home, while Davis in the Moonshine continued the work of discovery with volunteers. On the 15th of August he crossed the strait, encountering much foul weather, in spite of which the gallant explorer surveyed the west coast of Davis Strait from the 67th to the 57th parallel. He found such enormous quantities of birds breeding on the cliffs that he was led to suppose that there must be a similar abundance of fish in the sea. He therefore hove the ship to, and in a short time the men caught a hundred cod. “The hook was no sooner over the side than presently a fish was taken.” After examining the coast of Labrador, and the north coast of Newfoundland, where there was a serious encounter with the Micmac Indians, Davis shaped his course for England on the 11th September, finally arriving at Dartmouth in October, 1586. Meanwhile the Sunshine and pinnace had reached Iceland, whence there was an attempt to approach the east coast of Greenland, but the ice was too closely packed, and Captain Pope sailed round Cape Farewell to Gilbert Sound, returning to England on the 6th October. The account of this voyage was written by Henry Morgan.
Davis had lost faith in Cumberland Gulf as a strait, but he had discovered another great opening to the south which he thought might be one, not knowing that Frobisher had already discovered and sailed up it for six days. He also had good grounds for the belief that these tentative expeditions could be made to pay their expenses by bringing home cargoes of fish. He therefore resolved to continue the enterprise although the west country merchants had lost heart. For a short time he enjoyed the pleasures of home at Sandridge, discussing the prospects with his neighbour and life-long friend Adrian Gilbert. The two friends rode up to London together, were encouraged by the Lord Treasurer and Sir Francis Walsingham, and obtained the necessary funds from Master Sanderson and other patriotic merchants. The new Arctic fleet consisted of the Elizabeth of Dartmouth, the Sunshine, the Ellen, a clinker-built pinnace, and another small pinnace taken out in pieces. The Moonshine was worn out. Davis had resolved to try and make the expedition pay its expenses by fishing. He was a most popular commander, and men who had once served with him always wanted to serve again. John Janes, the nephew of Master Sanderson, again accompanied him, and he appointed a native of his own parish of Stoke Gabriel, named John Churchward, as pilot of the Ellen.
At midnight on the 19th May the three little vessels Sunshine, Elizabeth, and Ellen sailed out of Dartmouth harbour before a fresh gale from the north-east. The Sunshine sprang a leak which could only be kept under by 500 strokes of the pump during each watch, and the Ellen was such a bad sailer that she had to be towed. On the 16th June, in spite of these drawbacks, the three vessels came to anchor in Gilbert Sound. Davis was so anxious that the expedition should pay its expenses that he determined to despatch both the Sunshine and the Elizabeth to the fishery, and to continue his voyage of discovery in the little pinnace Ellen of barely 20 tons. Then John Churchward reported that the Ellen had sprung a leak and that it required 300 strokes of the pump every watch to keep her clear of water. In this wretched little craft the explorers were to hazard their lives. All felt the crisis to be serious. Some hesitated. John Davis considered the matter, and his decision was worthy of him. He told his people that it would be better to end their lives with credit than to return with infamy and disgrace. The crew accepted his words as final and resolved to live and die together.
At midnight therefore on the 21st June all sailed from Gilbert Sound, the two barks for the fishing voyage, and Davis in the pinnace to continue the work of discovery. Proceeding northward along the west coast of Greenland, to which he gave the name of the London Coast, Davis took an observation on the 30th which showed the pinnace to be in 72° 12′ N. A lofty perpendicular cliff, in reality one of several small islands off the coast, was named after the friend and chief promoter of the expedition “Sanderson his Hope,” for here it was that there seemed to be the chiefest hope of a passage. Sanderson his Hope rises to the height of 850 feet above the sea, perpendicular save for narrow ledges on which myriads of looms and kittiwakes rear their young.
Davis was now obliged to alter course to the west owing to a strong northerly wind, and ran for 40 leagues in that direction without sighting land. Throughout the voyage he paid close attention to the phenomena of terrestrial magnetism, and did his best to increase the data for studying the properties of the magnet during all his voyages. The observations for variation at London have been continuous since 1580, and Davis had studied the work of another Arctic navigator, William Burrough, whose Discourse of the Compass and Magnetic Needle appeared in 1581, followed in 1585 by Robert Norman’s New Attractive.
While engaged in these observations, Davis found the progress of the little Ellen suddenly checked by broad floes stretching across her path. This was the famous “middle pack” drifting towards the Atlantic, sometimes extending for 200 miles, with an average thickness of eight feet. A lane of water was followed for some distance but it proved deceptive, and the Ellen was lucky in being able to escape from it without being beset. Davis then coasted along the southern edge of the pack and succeeded in reaching the western side of the Strait. By midnight of the 19th July the Ellen was off the entrance of Cumberland Gulf. Sailing along the coast they sighted Frobisher Strait and “Meta Incognita” without knowing that they were Frobisher’s discoveries, for the map-makers had placed them on the other side, in Greenland. The Ellen also crossed the entrance of the great strait which Frobisher had discovered, and Davis named the point on the south side Cape Chidley, after an old friend in Devonshire. The confused current which Frobisher likened to the waterfall then existent at London Bridge, appears to have been called by Davis “the furious overfall” as shown on the Molyneux globe and the “new map” of 1599. Davis in his log and Janes in his narrative describe it as “a mighty overfall, with divers circular motions like whirlpools in such sort as forcible streams pass through the arches of bridges.” The rendezvous of the fishing vessels was in 54° N. on the coast of Labrador, where the Ellen waited until the 15th August, and then shaped a course for England, arriving at Dartmouth on the 15th September, 1587. The logs of the Sunshine and Elizabeth have not been preserved, but we may hope that their cargoes remunerated Master Sanderson and the other subscribers, and paid the expenses of the expedition50.
The discoveries of Davis were most important. He converted the Arctic regions from a confused myth into a defined area. He not only described and mapped the extensive tracts explored by himself, but he clearly pointed out the work cut out for his successors. He lighted Hudson into his strait, as Luke Fox truly said. He lighted Baffin into his bay. He lighted Hans Egede to the scene of his Greenland labours. He did more. His true-hearted devotion to the cause of Arctic discovery, his patient scientific research, his loyalty to his employers, his dauntless courage and enthusiasm, his care for the welfare of his men, form an example which has been a beacon light to the best Arctic explorers for all time.
When Davis returned from his last Arctic voyage, England was threatened by the Spanish Armada and there could be no thought but for her defence. Our Arctic navigator was also an expert pilot of the Channel, and had constructed a chart with soundings, mainly from his own surveys. His ability and zeal were well known, but he could only obtain the command of a small vessel of 20 tons called the Black Dog to act as tender to the Lord Admiral. She served throughout the war. Davis afterwards commanded the Drake to unite with the squadron of the Earl of Cumberland and prey upon Spanish commerce, joining him between Flores and Fayal in the Azores. These war services had the satisfactory result of enriching Davis with prize money and enabling him to undertake an expedition having geographical discovery for its main object.
The admirable character of the subsequent services of John Davis was due in great measure to the influence of his Arctic training and experience, but the plan of the present work makes it impossible to recount those services in detail. In joining the second expedition of Cavendish to the South Sea, the object of Davis was to discover the passage thither by the north, entering on the west side. In an evil hour Davis consented to unite forces with Cavendish, and commanded the Desire of 120 tons, contributing a large sum to the expedition. The terrible story of the dangers and sufferings in the Straits of Magellan and how through them all Davis diligently surveyed and prepared sailing directions, and the disastrous voyage home, are all graphically described by his friend Janes. This failure of the venture on which all the hopes of Davis had been set was heart-breaking. All his money was lost. To add to his affliction he returned to Sandridge only to find that his wife had deserted him, and that his three little boys were motherless.
Davis’s energy was in no way weakened by his sorrows and misfortunes. For two years he lived in retirement at Sandridge, busily engaged on his two works, The Seaman’s Secrets and the World’s Hydrographical Description. The first was dedicated to his old Admiral, Lord Howard of Effingham, on the 20th August, 1594. It was a book of instruction intended for sailors, a work on practical navigation, treating exclusively on “those things that are needfully required in a sufficient seaman.” “I distrust not,” he wrote, “but that all honest-minded seamen and pilots of reputation will gratefully accept this book, only in regard of my friendly good-will towards them, for it is not only in respect of my pains, but of my love that I would receive favourable courtesy51.” But Davis’s work was by no means limited to promoting the safety of English ships by his surveys and charts, and greatly assisting their navigation by the publication of his Seaman’s Secrets. He did much towards the improvement of instruments for observing for latitude. The Davis quadrant was the forerunner of the plan of taking angles by reflection and was a great improvement on the cross-staff. It came into general use, and held its own until the invention of Hadley’s quadrant in 1731. There was even one in use on board the Royal George when she sank at Spithead52. Davis’s other work, The World’s Hydrographical Description is a learned disquisition on the discovery of a north-west passage to Cathay, and on the advantages to be derived from Arctic exploration.
Davis’s career as a seaman and explorer did not terminate until many years later when, on December 27th, 1605, he was murdered by Japanese pirates off the coast of Malacca. As chief pilot of the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies in 1598, and again in the service of the East India Company under Sir James Lancaster, he did good work in eastern waters. But his Arctic explorations were over. As a consummate pilot, a scientific seaman, and a great discoverer he takes rank among the foremost sea worthies of the glorious reign of Queen Elizabeth53.