But these disadvantages, added to his advanced years, he being then nearly eighty, by no means deterred his bold spirit. Indeed, so confident was he of success and of the material advantages which would accrue from his impending discoveries, that he caused to be made, and carried with him, several large iron-bound chests, wherein to bestow the gold dust and other treasures which he "fondly flattered himself were to be found in those parts."
The first paragraph of the Company's instructions to Knight on this occasion was as follows:—
4th June, 1719.
To Captain James Knight.
Sir,—From the experience we have had of your abilities in the management of our affairs, we have, upon your application to us, fitted out the Albany frigate, Captain George Barlow, and the Discovery, Captain David Vaughan, Commander, upon a discovery to the northward; and to that end have given you power and authority to act and do all things relating to the said voyage, navigation of the said ship and sloop only excepted; and have given orders and instructions to our said Commanders for that purpose. You are, with the first opportunity of wind and weather, to depart from Gravesend on your intended voyage, and by God's permission to find out the Straits of Anian, and to discover gold and other valuable commodities to the northward.
Knight departed from Gravesend on board the Albany, and proceeded on his voyage. The ships not returning to England that year no uneasiness was felt, as it was judged they had wintered in the Bay. Besides, both were known to have on board a plentiful stock of provisions, a house in frame, together with the requisite tools and implements, and a large assortment of trading goods. Little anxiety was therefore entertained concerning their safety for fifteen months. But when New Year's Day, 1721, arrived, and neither ship nor sloop had been heard from, the Company became alarmed for their welfare.
By the ship sailing to Churchill in June they sent orders for a sloop then in the Bay, called the Whalebone, John Scroggs, master, to go in search of the missing explorers. But the Whalebone was cruising about in the north of the Bay at the time, on the Esquimaux trade, and returned to Churchill at so advanced a season of the year as to defer the execution of the Company's wishes until the following summer.
Anxiety as to the fate of the expedition.
The north-west coast was little known in those days, so it is not singular that Scroggs, on board the little Whalebone, finding himself encompassed by dangerous shoals and rocks, should return to Prince of Wales' Fort little the wiser regarding the fate of the two ships. He saw amongst the Esquimaux, it is true, European clothing and articles, as in a later day Rae and McClintock found souvenirs of the Franklin tragedy; but these might have been come by in trade, or even as the result of an accident. None could affirm that a shipwreck or other total calamity had overtaken Knight and his companions.
Many years elapsed without anything to shed light on the fate of this expedition. At first, the strong belief which had so long prevailed in Europe of a north-west passage by way of this Bay, caused many to conjecture that the explorers had found that passage and had gone through it into the South Sea. But before the voyages of Middleton, Ellis, Bean, Christopher and Jobington had weakened this belief it was known that Knight, Barlow and the crews of the two ships had been lost. Proofs of their fate were found in the year 1767, as will appear in a later chapter of this work.