**North Cape**, the most northerly promontory in Europe, on the coast of Norway. E. Long. 21°. N. Lat. 78°.

**North Ferry**, a small village, on the north side of the frith of Forth, at the Queen's Ferry passage. There was here formerly a chapel, served by the monks of Dunfermline, and endowed by Robert I. Near it are large whinstone quarries, which partly supply London with paving stones, and employ many vessels for the conveyance. "The granite (whinstone) (Mr Pennant says) lies in perpendicular strata, and above is a reddish earth, filled with micaceous friable nodules."

**North Foreland**, a cape or promontory of Kent, in the isle of Thanet, four miles east of Margate. Between this and the South Foreland are the Downs, through which all ships pass that are bound to or from the west. E. Long. 1°. 25'. N. Lat. 51°. 25'.

**North-West Passage**, a passage to the Pacific ocean through Hudson's bay or Davis's straits, and which hath been frequently attempted without success; notwithstanding which, many people are still of opinion that it is practicable.

The idea of a passage to the East Indies by the north pole, or through some opening near to it, was suggested as early as the year 1527. The person who had the honour to conceive this idea was Robert Thorne, a merchant of Bristol, who addressed two papers on the subject, the one to King Henry VIII, the other to Dr Ley, ambassador from that monarch to the emperor Charles V. To remove any objection to the undertaking, which might be drawn from the supposed danger, he insists, in his address to the king, upon the great advantages of constant daylight in the polar seas, and the probability of the climate being in those regions temperate during the summer months. In the paper addressed to Dr Ley, he observes that cosmographers may as probably be mistaken in the opinion which they entertain of the polar regions being impassable from extreme cold, as it has been found they were in supposing the countries under the line to be uninhabitable from excessive heat.

The possibility of the passage was, in consequence of these addresses, very generally supposed; and in 1557, Sir Martin Forbisher sailed to 62° north latitude, where he discovered the straits which have since borne his name. In 1577, Barne, in a book entitled the *Regiment of the Sea*, mentions a north-west passage as one of the five ways to Cathay; and dwells on the mildness of the climate, which, from the constant presence of the sun during summer, he imagines must be found near the pole. In 1578, George Best, a gentleman who had been with Sir Martin Forbisher in his voyages of discovery, wrote a very ingenious discourse to prove all parts of the world habitable. It does not, however, appear that any voyage was undertaken, for the express purpose of attempting to sail to India in a north-west direction, till the year 1607; when Henry Hudson was sent, at the expense of some merchants in London to discover a passage by the north pole to Japan and China. He sailed from Gravesend on the 1st of May, and on the 21st of June fell in with the land to the westward, in latitude 73°, which he named *Hold-with-hope*. On the 27th he discovered Spitsbergen, and met with much ice. The highest latitude in which he made an observation was 80° 27'. See HUDSON.

In March 1609, Jones Poole was sent by Sir Thomas Smith, and the rest of the Muscovy Company, to make further discoveries towards the north pole. After great severity of weather, and much difficulty from ice, he made the south part of Spitsbergen on the 16th of May; and sailing along and sounding the coast, he made many accurate discoveries; but was not in that voyage able to proceed beyond 75° 50'. He was again employed (1611), in a small vessel called the *Elizabeth*, to attempt the north-west passage; but after surmounting numberless difficulties, and penetrating to 80° of latitude, he lost his ship at Spitsbergen. Two voyages, equally unsuccessful, were made in 1614 and 1615, by Baffin and Fotherby; the latter of whom concludes the account of his discoveries and dangers, with exhorting the company which employed him not to adventure more than 150l. or 200l. at most on yearly voyages to these seas.

Hitherto nothing had been done in this great undertaking but by private adventurers, fitted out for the double purpose of discovery and present advantage; and the polar regions were suffered to remain unexplored in that direction, from the year 1615 till 1773, when the earl of Sandwich, in consequence of an application which had been made to him by the Royal Society, laid before his majesty a proposal for an expedition to try how far navigation is practicable towards the north pole. Upon receiving this proposal, his majesty was pleased to direct that the voyage should be immediately undertaken, with every assistance that could contribute to its success. Accordingly, the Racehorse and Carcass bombs were fitted out for the purpose, and the command of the expedition given to Captain Phipps, new Lord Mulgrave. His Lordship's instructions were to proceed up to the pole, or as far towards it as possible, and as nearly upon a meridian as the ice or other obstructions should admit; and during the course of the voyage, to make such observations. North-west sections of every kind as might be useful to navigation, or tend to the promotion of natural knowledge. A very accurate account of this voyage was published by his Lordship in 1774. He had, by exerting all the powers of a skilful and intrepid seaman, forced his way, on the 1st of August, to $80^\circ 37'$; but could proceed no farther, as he was there opposed by one continued plain of smooth unbroken ice, bounded only by the horizon.

Many other attempts have been made to discover this passage, by sailing along the western coast of America; but hitherto none of them has been crowned with success. So early as 1579, Sir Francis Drake assured Queen Elizabeth that he had sailed some leagues up the straits of Anian (see ANIAN), and discovered New Albion, to the north of California; but the strait is now known to have no existence; and Drake's real discoveries were not improved. In 1638, King Charles I. sent Captain Luke Fox in one of his pinnaces to attempt the passage; but of his proceedings we know nothing, but that he reached Port Nelson in Hudson's bay, where he found some remains of former navigators. Next year Captain James was fitted out by the merchants of Bristol for the same purpose. James was one of the ablest navigators that ever sailed from England or any other country; and his voyages to the north were printed in 1633. After all the experiments he had made, he concluded that there was no such passage; or if there be, he affirmed that the discovery of it would not be attended with those advantages which are commonly expected. His reasons, however, for these opinions have been answered, and many subsequent attempts have been made to perform what he thought impossible. The arguments for a north-west passage were so plausible, that in 1744, an act of parliament was passed to encourage the discovery of it. Among many others, Captain Cook attempted the discovery in vain, and thence adopted James's opinion. (See COOK'S Discoveries, No. 103.) This celebrated navigator, after having proceeded northwards to the western extremity of America, and ascertained the proximity of the two great continents of Asia and America, returned to the Sandwich islands, firmly persuaded of the impracticability of a passage in that hemisphere from the Atlantic into the Pacific ocean, either by an eastern or a western course.

An attempt was made by Vancouver between the years 1790 and 1795; but the result of this voyage renders the existence of such a passage still more doubtful.

The last attempt to discover this passage was made in 1818. The two ships employed, the Isabella, Captain Ross, and the Alexander, Lieutenant Parry, sailed from the Thames on the 18th April. They reached Cape Dudley Diggs on the 17th August, and afterwards passed Smith's sound and Whale sound, but found the coast in many parts unapproachable from ice. Jones's sound was explored, but no appearance of a passage found. From this they followed the line of the coast southward till they came, on the 30th August, to Lancaster sound, which at first presented appearances favourable to their hopes, but on examination land was found to extend across its bottom. Several other inlets were observed, but all blocked up with ice. The sea was generally of great depth, and the coast mountainous, and where bays occurred they were still backed by high land. On the 1st October they reached Cumberland strait, which, from the current at its entrance, afforded, in Captain Ross's opinion, a better chance of a passage than any other place; but their instructions and the lateness of the season would not allow them to explore it. The expedition arrived at Shetland on the 30th October, having coasted the whole of Baffin's bay, but generally at a considerable distance from the shore, without discovering the passage sought. It appears also, from Captain Ross's journal, that the supposed current setting southward from the bay, which was one chief reason for inferring the reality of the passage, does not exist. Since Captain Ross's return, however, strong objections have been raised to the accuracy of his survey in some points; and for this and other reasons, a new expedition is preparing, with the view of exploring the coast more minutely at those points where a passage is conceived to be most probable. A party is also to proceed by land from the north-western lakes of Canada, to ascertain the position of the coast towards the bay. It is highly probable, therefore, that the question will soon be set at rest. But what is known already shows that, were the passage discovered, the navigation can scarcely be at any time practicable, and the subject is no farther of importance than as it would settle a point in geography.

North-East Passage, a passage to the East Indies along the northern coasts of Asia, which, like the former, hath frequently been attempted, but hitherto without success. The first attempt was made in 1553, by Sir Hugh Willoughby, who commanded three ships. He departed from the Thames, and sailed to the North Cape, where one of his ships left him, and returned home. The other two ships being separated, Sir Hugh proceeded farther northward, and discovered that part of Greenland which the Dutch have since called Spitzberg: but the severity of the cold obliging him to return to the southward, he was forced, by bad weather, into the river Arzina, in Muscovite Lapland, where, not being able to come out, he was found the next spring frozen to death, with all his ship's company; having the notes of his voyage and his last will lying before him, whereby it appeared that he lived till January. But Richard Chancellor, in the third ship, with better success, in the meanwhile entered Wardhoys, where he waited some time for his companions to no purpose; uncertain whether they were lost, or driven farther by stress of weather. He held a council on what he should do; whether to return, or pursue his voyage. Whatever danger might be in the last, every one agreed to it, that they might not seem to have less courage than their captain. They therefore set sail, and in a few days found themselves in a sea where they could no longer perceive any night. This ship, wandering about, entered soon after into a large bay or gulf. Here they cast anchor, in sight of land; and while they were examining the coast, they discovered a fishing boat. Chancellor getting into his sloop, went towards it; but the fishermen took to flight. He followed, and, overtaking them, showed them such civilities as conciliated their affections to him; and they carried him to the place where now is the famous port of St Michael the Archangel. These people immediately spread through all the coasts an account of the arrival of those strangers; and people came from several parts to see them, and ask them questions. They, in their turn, examined the others, and found that the country they were in was Russia, governed by the mighty emperor John Basilowitz. Chancellor from Archangel travelled on sledges to the Czar at Moscow; from whom, overjoyed at the prospect of opening a maritime commerce with Europe, he obtained privileges for the English merchants, and letters to King Edward VI, who was not, however, alive to receive them.

In 1585, Mr John Davis in two barks discovered Cape Desolation, which is supposed to be part of Greenland; and two years after advanced as far as Lat. 72°, where he discovered the strait which still bears his name. To enumerate all the attempts which have been made to discover a north-east passage, would swell the article to very little purpose. The English, Dutch, and Danes, have all attempted it without success. The last voyage from England for this purpose was made in 1676, under the patronage of the duke of York. That unfortunate prince, who was on all occasions earnest for the promotion of commerce, and the Lord Berkeley, &c., fitted out a ship, commanded by Captain Wood, for an attempt once more to find a north-east passage to India, accompanied with a ship of the king's. They were encouraged to this attempt, after it had been so long despaired of, by several new reports and reasonings: some of which seem not to have been very well grounded—As,

"1. On the coast of Corea, near Japan, whales had been found with English and Dutch harpoons sticking in them. This is no infallible proof that ships could get thither by a north-east passage, although whales might.

"2. That, 20 years before, some Dutchmen had sailed within one degree of the north pole, and found it temperate weather there: and that therefore William Barents, the Dutch navigator who wintered at Nova Zembla in the year 1596, should have sailed further to the north before turning eastward; in which case, said they, he would not have found so much obstruction from the ice.

"3. That two Dutch ships had lately sailed 300 leagues to the eastward of Nova Zembla; but their East India Company had stifled that design, as against their interest—and such like other airy reports. But this attempt proved very unfortunate. They doubled the North Cape, and came among much ice and driftwood, in 76° of north latitude, steering to the coast of Nova Zembla, where the king's ship struck upon the rocks, and was soon beat to pieces; and Captain Wood returned home with an opinion, "that such a passage was utterly impracticable, and that Nova Zembla is a part of the continent of Greenland."

These passages, however, are not yet deemed impracticable by all. The count de Buffon holds it for certain, that there is such a passage; and he thinks, that if any farther attempts be made to discover a passage to China by the north, it will be necessary to steer directly towards the pole; and to explore the most open seas, where unquestionably, says he, there is little or no ice. This opinion has been revived by the honourable Daines Barrington. See North Pole.