(John), a famous navigator in the 16th century, was born at Sandridge, near Dartmouth, in Devonshire; and distinguished himself by making three voyages to the most northern parts of America, in order to discover a North-west passage to the East-Indies; in which he discovered the Straits which bear his name. He afterwards performed five voyages to the East-Indies; in the last of which he was slain in a desperate fight with some Japanese, near the coast of Malacca, on the 27th of December 1605. He wrote an account of his second voyage for the discovery of the North-west passage; a Voyage to the East-Indies; and other tracts.