When Baffin was to the fore, good scientific work was certain to be done. He had shown this in his first polar voyage to Greenland, distinguished by the longitude observation by moon’s culmination; he had shown it by his observation for sun’s refraction, and by others during his two voyages to Spitsbergen. Now the North West Company was so fortunate as to secure his services.
It is strange that Bylot should have been appointed Master of the Discovery in her fourth projected voyage to seek for the passage by Hudson Strait. No doubt he told a plausible story, or Prickett told it for him, yet his character still bore the taint of Hudson’s murder. The old seaman had been in three Arctic voyages, and was obliging and friendly when all went well, but there was nothing heroic about him. Baffin, who was only rated as mate and associate of the master, did all the work, directed the courses, took the observations, kept the tabulated log, and wrote the journal. He was on excellent terms with Bylot throughout, and said of him simply that “he was a man well experienced that wayes.” The Discovery, though only 55 tons, carried a complement of 14 men and two boys.
Sir John Wolstenholme and Mr Allwyn Cary, the ship’s husband, came on board at St Katherine’s on the 15th March to see that all was well, give promises of rewards, and wish the explorers God speed. On the 23rd the ship was at the Downs and proceeded down Channel. But they were met by a furious gale and sought shelter at the Scilly Islands and again at Padstow. At last the Discovery got away on her voyage, and on the 6th May the land near Cape Farewell was sighted. Two days afterwards the ship was amongst icebergs and Baffin calculated the height of one and found it to be 240 feet. As the coast on the opposite side of Davis Strait was approached the Discovery’s course was checked by a line of closely-packed ice. The boldest course is usually the wisest, and on this occasion the ship’s bows were put straight at the obstacle and she forced her way into it. For six days the explorers were working their way through the ice and drifting slowly to the south. At last the pack became looser, they got clear, and soon afterwards sighted Resolution Island on the north side of the entrance to Hudson Strait. They anchored on the west side of that island and Baffin landed. On the 18th they were off islands on the north side of the strait, where dogs and Eskimo tents were seen, so they anchored and Baffin again went on shore. In one of the tents he found a leather bag containing little images of men, and one with a woman and child at her back. He took them, and put some useful articles in the tent in exchange, the people having fled. The place was named Salvage Island.
Proceeding westward along the north shore of the Strait, Baffin paid close attention to the tides and currents with a view to ascertain the direction of the passage, if it existed. Sighting Nottingham and Salisbury Islands the Discovery came to a small new island which, owing to the noise caused by the grinding of the ice, received the name of Mill Island.
It was on the 22nd June that Baffin took his memorable lunar observation for longitude. “While we were fast enclosed with ice, and the weather fair and clear, I saw both the sun and moon very clear. So I fitted my instruments to take both the almicanter and azimuth of the sun, and also of the moon.” He then describes a complete lunar observation. Not having an instrument with which he could measure so large an angle, he resorted to the method of measuring the distance, which was 104°, by the difference of azimuth87. The almicanters are small circles parallel to the horizon, and therefore the observed altitudes.
This method of finding the longitude was first suggested by John Werner of Nuremberg in 1514, and again by Gemma Frisius in 1545. But Baffin’s observation is the first recorded attempt to take a lunar at sea. Baffin obtained the time of the moon being on the meridian at London from Searle’s ephemeris, and at Wittenberg from that of Origanus88. He took another observation for longitude by the method previously adopted by him in Cockayne Sound. Sir Edward Parry, when passing up the strait in 1821, was much interested in these very remarkable observations by Baffin. Sir Edward had seen the account in Purchas but not the manuscript, where the result given is still more accurate. As regards the study and practice of nautical astronomy, Baffin was undoubtedly a genius.
Having completed the survey of the north side of the Hudson Strait, the Discovery stood over to the eastern coast of Southampton Island, reaching a point which was given the name of Cape Comfort. Here the various signs were again watched for any evidence of a passage by the ice-laden sea to the north-west. Baffin’s conclusion that there is no passage by what is now called Frozen Strait was based on the increased quantity of ice, the water becoming less deep, and the sight of land bearing N.E. by E., circumstances which led him to suppose that he was at the entrance of a wide bay. He, therefore, relinquished the enterprise so far as this route was concerned. Sir Edward Parry felt a warm sympathy for the efforts of his distinguished predecessor, and in 1821 he named an island Baffin Island near Cape Comfort, “out of respect to the memory of that able and enterprising navigator.” He also named a headland on Southampton Island Cape Bylot, as being probably the westernmost point seen from the Discovery in that July of 1615.
On the 29th July the Discovery was anchored off Cape Digges, and the men succeeded in killing 70 birds “which are called willocks” (looms), for there are such numbers that “in few places else the like is to be seen.”
Nothing remarkable took place during the voyage home, and the Discovery arrived safely at Plymouth all well, and without the loss of man or boy. It was a well-conducted expedition, made memorable by Baffin’s scientific observations. We have the tabulated log kept by Baffin during the voyage, his report and journal, and the manuscript chart drawn by himself. Besides numerous observations for latitude and 27 for variation of the compass, he took the first lunar ever observed at sea.
Baffin’s report to the Merchant Adventurers was that he considered a passage by way of Hudson Strait to be doubtful, but he was of opinion that there was a passage and that it must be by Davis Strait. Accepting the opinion of so high an authority, the five leading adventurers, Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Dudley Digges, Sir Francis Jones, Sir John Wolstenholme, and Sir James Lancaster patriotically resolved to send an expedition by way of Davis Strait. The Discovery was once more got ready, with Mr Allwyn Cary, who had fitted her out for her former voyage, as ship’s husband. Old Bylot was again Master and this time Baffin’s rating was that of pilot. Seventeen men formed the crew.
On the 26th March, 1616, the little Discovery left Gravesend on her fifth polar voyage. She encountered strong westerly gales and sought shelter in Dartmouth for 11 days, and for a day in Plymouth, but at last she got fairly on her voyage. The first land that was sighted was the coast of Greenland at Cockayne Sound, but Baffin did not stop, pressing onwards until he reached Hare Island to the north of Disco in 70° 26′ N. On the last day of April, Hope Sanderson, the furthest point of Davis, was reached, and next day the progress of the Discovery was checked by heavy floes. Anchorage was found near some islands whence the native men fled, but some girls were left behind and received help from the explorers, so Baffin gave the name of “Women Islands” to the group. One of the islands is now the Danish station of Upernavik in 72° 48′ N. Kingitok, the most northern station, is in 72° 55′ N.
Baffin, knowing nothing of the ice movements, attempted to force his way through the middle pack, a very risky and perilous course to take. As the ship was forced onwards between the floes, they got closer and closer “until we could see no place to put in the ship’s head.” Then the able navigator wisely stood in towards the shore, and anchored off Cape Shackleton among many islands in 73° 45′. Here Eskimos came in their kayaks to barter, with seal-skins and the horns of narwhals, and the place was accordingly named Horn Sound. They stayed there for six days, making sail again on the 18th of May. Fortunately 1616 was a remarkably open year and the Discovery sailed across Melville Bay in two days. Two hundred and thirty-four years afterwards it took the writer forty days.
Baffin was now in the open water to the north of the bay, formed by the drifting of ice to the south. Many narwhals were noticed, and on the 2nd July the ship was off a headland in 76° 35′ N. which received the name of “Sir Dudley Digges his Cape.” They then passed a sound with several bays and inlets, and an island forming two entrances, which was named Wolstenholme Sound. Passing onwards a gale began to blow from W. by S. which split their foresail, and when it cleared a little they found themselves embayed in a sound. Standing over to the south-east side, an anchor was let go, but both anchor and cable were lost. The wind blew with such fury that they could find no anchorage, and were obliged to stand off and on. In the afternoon the wind had less force and they stood out. Many whales were seen in the sound, so it received the name of Whale Sound, in 77° 30′ N.
Baffin then anchored off an island he named Hakluyt Island, between Sir Thomas Smith’s Sound to the north, and Whale Sound to the south, but it was such bad weather that the boat could not land. Of Sir Thomas Smith’s Sound, Baffin says that it runs to the north of 78° and that “it is admirable in one respect because in it is the greater variation of the compass of any part of the known world; for by divers good observations I found it to be above five points, or 56° variation to the westward.” “Also this sound seemeth to be good for the killing of whales, it being the greatest and largest in all the bays.”
It was blowing very hard when the Discovery left her anchorage off Hakluyt Island, and next day a group of islands was sighted which received the name of Cary Islands, after Mr Allwyn Cary, their ship’s husband. Baffin then stood over to the west side, and sighted land at the entrance of a sound which was named “Sir Francis Jones his Sound.” A boat was sent on shore, and the crew, on their return, reported that they saw many sea horses, but no signs of people. This was the only landing that was effected in the north part of the bay. On the 12th July the Discovery was off another great opening in 74° 20′ N. which was called “Sir James Lancaster’s Sound.”
Baffin concluded that all the openings were bays. He was right as regards Wolstenholme and Whale Sounds. But those named after Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Francis Jones, and Sir James Lancaster are channels leading to the Polar Ocean, not sounds.
In returning south the Discovery had to run through much ice, and Baffin was never able to reach the land on the west side, which he was anxious to do, so as to obtain green food for the sick, for scurvy had attacked them. Richard Wayman, the cook, died on the 26th July, and Master Herbert89, with two or three others, was very ill. So Baffin stood over to the Greenland side, and reaching Cockayne Sound on the 28th an abundant supply of scurvy grass, sorrel, and orpine was gathered, while the natives brought salmon peel to barter. The scurvy grass was boiled in beer, and made into salads with sorrel. In a week all were restored to health, and on the 6th August, 1616, they were homeward bound. The Irish coast was sighted on the 25th, and on the 30th the Discovery anchored in Dover roads.
Purchas has printed the brief narrative of Baffin, and his very interesting letter to Sir John Wolstenholme in which he says that though there is no passage by Baffin’s Bay, voyages might be profitable from the whalebone and oil, the seal-skins, and the walrus and narwhal ivory. In this he was right, and his discovery led to the annual acquisition of wealth for many years.
We only have in Purchas the Briefe and True Relation and the letter to Sir John Wolstenholme; but in the Relation Baffin says, “all these sounds and islands the map doth truly describe.” We are then treated to the following exasperating note by Purchas, “This map of the author, with the tables of his journal” (the tabulated log) “and sailing were somewhat troublesome and too costly to insert.” The mischief done by the loss to posterity of these precious documents endured for two centuries. It led to such confusion in the ideas of map-makers that at last the very existence of Baffin’s Bay was doubted. On the map of Luke Foxe (1635) it is shown correctly90. But Hondius published a version quite different from the reality, and others followed him. In Moll’s Atlas (1720) both the correct delineation of Luke Foxe and the very erroneous one of Hondius and his imitators are given. Van Keulen and D’Anville caused still greater confusion. In the Maltebrun atlas (1812) there is a slight improvement. Daines Barrington gives what he calls “a circumpolar map according to the latest discoveries.” He treats Baffin’s Bay as a semicircular dotted line with “Baffin’s Bay according to the relation of W. Baffin in 1616 but not now believed” written across it. Finally in Sir John Barrow’s Chronological History of the Voyages to the Arctic Regions (1818) Baffin’s Bay is entirely expunged, Davis Strait being made to open northwards on a blank space. Thus, owing to the omission of the map and log by Purchas, the great discovery of Baffin became at length entirely ignored and discredited.
Baffin, on his return from his great discovery in 1616, had made five voyages to the Arctic regions. The fjords and islets of west Greenland, the glaciers and ice floes of Spitsbergen, the tidal phenomena of Hudson Strait, and the secrets of the far northern bay which he unveiled, were all familiar to him. He had practically investigated, and deeply pondered over the absorbing questions of polar discovery. As an astronomical observer and navigator his unwearied diligence was as remarkable as his talent. If he was an untaught man who had risen from a humble origin, he had so far educated himself as to be able to write letters which are not only well expressed, but graced with classical allusions.
Baffin, who was probably past middle age when he returned from his great discovery, then entered the service of the East India Company, being rated as Master’s Mate, under Captain Shilling, on board the Anne Royal, one of the fleet which was got ready in the winter of 1616. His most important service during the voyage 1617–1619 was the survey of parts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. There is the following entry in the Court’s minutes on the 1st October, 1619, “William Baffin, a master’s mate in the Anne, to have a gratuity for his pains and good art in drawing out certain plots of the coast of Persia and the Red Sea which are judged to have been very well and artificially performed.”
In the following year Captain Shilling was selected to command the Company’s fleet. He was on board the London, and, at his special recommendation, Baffin was appointed Master. The Company’s fleet encountered the Portuguese off Jáshak, near the entrance of the Persian Gulf in December 1620, and the fight continued without intermission for nine hours. The Portuguese ships then anchored to repair damages. The English, after raking them, put into Jáshak Roads on the coast of Mekran. A second and more decisive encounter took place on the 28th December, when the Portuguese were defeated, but the victory was dearly bought by the death of Captain Shilling, who was interred at Jáshak on the 9th January 1621.
Captain Baffin remained in command of the London, and the fleet returned to Surat. The English then made a treaty with Abbas the Great, Shah of Persia, to drive the Portuguese out of Ormuz, a Persian port which they had occupied since 1515. The English fleet, consisting of five ships, arrived at an open roadstead on the Persian coast near Ormuz, where news was received that the Portuguese had erected a fort on the island of Kishm to protect some wells. It was necessary to take it before investing Ormuz. The Kishm fort was already beleagured by a Persian army, and the English fleet arrived there on the 20th January, 1622.
After two days, Captain Baffin went on shore with his mathematical instruments, to take the height and distance of the castle wall so as to find the range “for the better levelling of his guns.” But while he was so engaged he was hit by a shot from the fort, and killed on the spot91.
Baffin’s geographical discoveries were extensive and his scientific observations were not only valuable at the time but were of permanent use. Without his numerous magnetic observations Professor Hansteen could not have constructed his first magnetic chart. Baffin’s devoted zeal and untiring industry, his genius as an inventive observer, his gallantry and intrepidity, and his great services have secured for him a permanent and an honourable place among the naval worthies of the Elizabethan era, side by side with Frobisher and Davis.