BAFFIN, WILLIAM, an able and enterprising English seaman, born in 1584. His descriptions of part of the bay which bears his name have been found remarkably accurate by later navigators. His voyages to those regions were performed in 1612, 1613, 1615, and 1616, while he was only a subordinate; but he gave the accounts of the discoveries. In 1618 he was mate in a voyage to Surat and Mocha; but in 1621 he was killed, while attempting, in conjunction with a Persian force, to expel the Portuguese from Ormuz.—(Purchas's Pilgrimage.)
BAFFIN'S BAY, a large inland sea separating Greenland from the N.E. coast of America, and extending from 68° to 78° N. Lat., and from 52° to 80° W. Long. It was first explored in 1616 by the English navigator Baffin. It is connected by Davis's Strait with the Atlantic, and by Lancaster Sound and Barrow's Strait with the Arctic Ocean. The coasts are generally high and precipitous, and are deeply indented with gulfs. During the greater part of the year this sea is frozen, and is only navigable from the beginning of June to the end of September. It is annually visited by vessels engaged in the whale and seal fishery.