Round About the North Pole

by W. J. Gordon

Lock was not the man to let such excellent advertisement be lost, and forthwith he projected the Cathay Company for which the charter was obtained from the Crown on St. Patrick's Day, 1577. Lock was named as Governor for six years with remuneration "for ever" of one per cent on all goods imported; Frobisher was named as Captain by sea and Admiral of the ships and navy of the Company for life with a yearly stipend and one per cent, like Lock, on all goods the Company brought in. Queen Elizabeth—notwithstanding the report from the Mint—headed the list of shareholders with £1000; and Burghley, Howard, Leicester, Walsingham, Hunsdon, Sidney, even Gresham, subscribed for shares in this remarkable company.

To bring home more of the "golden ore," a new expedition was entered upon at once, and on the 26th of May, Whit-Sunday as it happened, Frobisher started on his second voyage. He had three vessels, the Aid of two hundred tons, lent him from the Royal Navy, and the Gabriel and Michael as before, and one hundred and twenty officers and men, of whom thirty were miners and other landsmen, and, in addition, six condemned criminals whom he was to land in Greenland as colonists but put ashore at Harwich instead.

To the new land—named by the Queen Meta Incognita, "the unknown limit of the outward course"—he made his way without much adventure. Landing on Hall's Island, he sought for more stone but could find not so much as a piece as big as a walnut; for Hall, who was again with him as master, had apparently lighted, in the one sample, on the whole of its mineral wealth. This disappointment, however, was forgotten in the finding of occasional patches of pyrites on the mainland and other islands which in due course were visited. Thirty leagues up the bay a landing was made on what was called Countess of Warwick's Island, where more ore was found and a fort called Best's Bulwark was built. That was Frobisher's farthest on this voyage, and thence he sailed on the 24th of August, bringing with him two hundred tons of pyrites, and, as a present for the Queen, a horn two yards long, wreathed and straight, which he had found in the nose of a dead narwhal.

The ore was received with rejoicings. Some of it was deposited in Bristol Castle, some in the Tower of London under four locks, but there was not enough of it; and as there were then, as now, no furnaces in England capable of getting gold out of marcasite, a new expedition was despatched while the furnaces were being prepared. This time the enterprise was to be on a very different scale. Frobisher was given a fleet of fifteen vessels, Drake's old ship, the Judith, amongst them, the Aid, as before, being the flagship. He was to bring home two thousand tons of mineral and find other mines, if he could, besides taking out a colony of a hundred persons to settle in Meta Incognita, for whom the materials of a wooden house were among the miscellaneous cargo.

The fleet left Harwich on the 31st of May, 1578. A landing was made in the south of Greenland, which Frobisher named West England and took possession of, his point of departure from there being called by him, "from a certain similitude," Charing Cross! Soon he was among the ice floes. One of the ships was driven on to a floe and sank with some of the materials for the wooden house. Then followed a storm in which most of the ships had a terrible experience. "Some," says Captain Best of the Ann Frances, the chronicler of the voyage, "were so fast shut up and compassed in amongst an infinite number of great countreys and ilands of ise, that they were fayne to submit themselves and their ships to the mercie of the unmercifull ise, and strengthened the sides of their ships with junckes of cables, beds, masts, planckes, and such like, which being hanged overboord, on the sides of their shippes, mighte the better defend them from the outrageous sway and strokes of the said ise. But as in greatest distresse, men of best value are best to be discerned, so it is greatly worthy commendation and noting with what invincible mind every captayne encouraged his company, and with what incredible labour the paynefull mariners and poore miners (unacquainted with such extremities) to the everlasting renoune of our nation, dyd overcome the brunt of these so great and extreame daungers; for some, even without boorde uppon the ise, and some within boorde, uppon the sides of their shippes, having poles, pikes, peeces of timber and ores in their hands, stood almost day and night, without any reste, bearing off the force, and breaking the sway of the ise, with suche incredible payne and perill that it was wonderfull to behold, which otherwise no doubt had striken quite through and through the sides of their shippes, notwithstanding our former provision; for planckes of timber, of more than three ynches thick, and other things of greater force and bignesse, by the surging of the sea and billow, with the ise were shevered and cutte in sunder at the sides of oure ships, that it will seeme more than credible to be reported of. And yet (that which is more) it is faythfully and playnely to be proved, and that by many substantiall witnesses, that our shippes, even those of greatest burdens, with the meeting of contrary waves of the sea, were heaved up betweene islandes of ise a foote welneere out of the sea above their watermarke, having their knees and timbers within boorde both bowed and broken therewith."

To add to the difficulties of the voyage Frobisher lost his way, and entered what he called the Mistaken Streight—now designated Hudson Strait—through which he might have found his way to Cathay, had he been so minded; but recognising that he was on the wrong road he returned and reached his mining district at the end of July. While the ore was being gathered in, Best ventured into the upper part of Frobisher Bay as far as the Gabriel Islands—the only exploring work that was done—and early in September the fleet departed on the homeward voyage.

Frobisher had left one unmistakable indication of his visit behind him. On Countess of Warwick Island he had built a house of lime and stone, and "the better," says Best, "to allure those brutish and uncivill people to courtesie, againste other times of our comming, we left therein dyvers of our countrye toyes, as bells and knives, wherein they specially delight, one for the necessarie use, and the other for the great pleasure thereof. Also pictures of men and women in lead, men a horsebacke, lookinglasses, whistles and pipes. Also in the house was made an oven, and breade left baked therein, for them to see and taste. We buried the timber of our pretended forte, with manye barrels of meale, pease, griste, and sundrie other good things, which was of the provision of those whyche should inhabite, if occasion served. And insteade therof we fraight oure ships full of ore, whiche we holde of farre greater price."

Here we part from the Cathay Company. The inevitable trouble came with the discovery that, practically, the only gold the ore would yield was that put in as an "additament" by the Italian. A very thick cloud rolled over Frobisher, who, like Lock, seems to have believed in the genuineness of the affair all through; but soon his country had need of him and he came to the front again in so worthy a manner that little more was heard of his connection with this company that failed.

ESKIMO AWAITING A SEAL