John, a famous navigator of the sixteenth century, was born at Sandridge, near Dartmouth, Devonshire. He distinguished himself by making three voyages along the northern shores of America, in order to discover a north-west passage to the East Indies, and was the discoverer of the straits which still bear his name. He afterwards performed five voyages to the East Indies, in the last of which he was slain in a desperate encounter with some Japanese, near the coast of Malacca, Dec. 27, 1605. He wrote an account of his second voyage for the discovery of the north-west passage, a voyage to the East Indies, and several other tracts. A quadrant invented by him continued in use until superseded by that of Hadley.