The first considerable discovery which appears to have been made in or near the arctic circle, was the result of accident; one of the numerous Scandinavian depredators, who, in the ninth century, cruised the northern seas in search of plunder, having been driven, by a long-continued storm, from the eastward upon the coast of Iceland, in the year 861. This island, from the quantity of snow seen on the mountains, was, by its discoverer Naddodd, at first called Schnee, or Snowland. It was visited by a Swede of the name of Gardar Suaffarson, three years after its discovery, and afterwards by another Swede, Flocke, from whom it received the name of Iceland. It was again visited in the year 874, by Ingolf and Lief, two Norwegians, and became the seat of a Norwegian colony.
The coast of Norway, to the entrance of the White Sea, was examined about this period by a person of the name of Ohthere, a Norwegian, who himself gave an account of his voyage to Alfred the Great, by whom it has been handed down to us along with the translation of the Ormesta of Orosius.
About the middle, or towards the end of the tenth century, an extensive country, to the westward of Iceland, was discovered by one of the colonists of the name of Gunbiorn, which country was visited, in the year 982, by one Eric Rauda, who had fled from Norway to Iceland, to avoid the punishment due to the crime of murder and various other offences. To this country he gave the name of Greenland, and in consequence of his exaggerated account of its products and appearance, a respectable colony was founded. About the year 1001, one of the Iceland colonists, Biorn by name, was accidentally driven by a storm to the southward of Greenland, where he discovered a new country, covered with wood. Lief, the son of Eric Rauda, fitted out a vessel, and visited the country. Grapes were discovered in it, and from this circumstance it was called Vinland; the day was eight hours long in winter, whence it appears that it must have been somewhere on the coast of North America, probably on the shore of Newfoundland.
The Christian religion was introduced into Iceland and Greenland about the year 1000, and within a hundred years afterwards generally diffused. Above sixteen churches were then built, and two convents. These buildings, as well as the habitations of the colonists, were erected near the southern point of Greenland. They had two settlements, the most western of which increased up to four parishes, containing one hundred farms or villages; and the most eastern, to twelve parishes, one hundred and ninety villages, one bishop’s see, and two convents. The intercourse between Greenland and the rest of the world was intercepted about the year 1406, when the seventeenth bishop attempted to reach his see, but was prevented by ice. Since the beginning of the fifteenth century, these unfortunate colonists have been of necessity left to themselves, and not having been heard of, are supposed to have perished; but whether they were destroyed by their enemies the Esquimaux, or perished for want of their usual supplies, or were carried off by a destructive pestilence, as some have imagined, is still matter of doubt. Various attempts have been made by order of the Danish government for recovery of this country, and to ascertain the fate of these colonists, but hitherto without success.
Alter the voyages of Columbus, a new stimulus was offered to the enterprising trader, and to those who might be desirous of prosecuting the task of discovery, and a Portuguese navigator, John Vaz Costa Cortereal, about the year 1463 or 1464, tried the passage to India by the west, on a parallel far to the northward of that pursued by Columbus. In this voyage the land of Newfoundland appears to have been seen. The same voyage was attempted by Sebastian Cabot, a Venetian, in the year 1497, and by Gaspar Cortereal and Michael Cortereal, sons of the previously named Costa. Both these brothers perished, and a third brother, who would have followed in search of them, was prohibited from embarking by the king of Portugal.
An important voyage of discovery was that of sir Hugh Willoughby, in the year 1553, in which the coast now called Nova Zembla was discovered, and the Russian territory on the east side of the White Sea. In consequence of this expedition, a regular trade was established with Russia, which was accomplished under various privileges. In the year 1556, further discoveries in the same quarter were made by Stephen Burrough. Then followed the voyages of Martin Frobisher and John Davis; the latter in the year 1585. He proceeded along the west side of Greenland, and then crossing an open sea to the north-westward, discovered land in latitude 66° 40′, giving names to the different parts of the coast which has since been denominated Cumberland Island. In the course of this voyage, they met with a multitude of natives, whom they found a very tractable people, and liberal in their mode of trafficking. In the following year, Davis prosecuted another voyage, but with no discovery of any consequence; and again also, for the third time, in the year following.
Amongst several expeditions sent out by the Dutch, to explore a passage to India and China by the north-east, that of two ships, under the pilotage of William Barentz, is the most memorable. It sailed from Amsterdam the 10th of May, 1596. After having discovered Spitzbergen, the two ships pursued different courses, and Barentz, while endeavouring to sail round Nova Zembla, became entangled in the ice. They were, in consequence, compelled to winter in this desolate and frozen country. “The journal of the proceedings of these poor people,” as Mr. Barrow beautifully observes, “during this cold, comfortless, dark, and dreadful winter is intensely and painfully interesting. No murmuring escapes them in their hopeless and afflicted situation; but such a spirit of true piety, and a tone of such mild and subdued resignation to Divine Providence, breathe throughout the whole narrative, that it is impossible to peruse the simple tale of their sufferings, and contemplate their forlorn situation, without the deepest emotion.” Forcibly, indeed, does their narrative illustrate the mind’s independence of external comforts, and the peace and joy to be derived from trust in God, and cordial submission to his appointments. Part of the sufferers made their escape in two open boats from this dismal country, in the following summer, and after a perilous and painful voyage, of above one thousand one hundred miles, arrived in safety at Cola; but Barentz, with some others, was overcome by the severity of the climate, and the extraordinary exertions which he was obliged to make, and died.
In the year 1608, Henry Hudson was employed in search of a north-east passage; and, in 1610, in a voyage of discovery towards the north-west, in a vessel of fifty-five tons’ burden. It was on this occasion that he discovered the bay which bears his name, hauled his ship on shore in a convenient situation, and wintered there. They fell short of provisions, and the following summer the crew mutinied, and abandoned their captain, his son, and others of the crew, to a most cruel fate. In 1616 was accomplished the remarkable voyage of William Baffin, attended by discoveries of a most extensive nature in the bay which bears his name, which, though regarded with considerable doubt at first, have since been abundantly confirmed by the labours of captain Ross and lieutenant Parry.
In March, 1822, the ship Baffin sailed from Liverpool, and reached 80° north latitude without experiencing any frost; on the 27th April, we arrived within ten miles of Spitzbergen, and were stopped in latitude 80° 30′ by main ice. Afterwards, we encountered a most heavy gale, the thermometer falling in the space of sixteen hours 34°, being the most remarkable change I ever experienced in Greenland seas. On the 1st May, we advanced to only five hundred and sixty-six miles’ distance from the Pole, and subsequently discovered the eastern coast of Greenland, a continuation towards the north of the coast on which the ancient Icelandic colonies were planted. We surveyed and named various parts of this coast, to the extent of about eight hundred miles, and found traces of inhabitants. It was inferred that Greenland is probably a great group of islands. The expedition returned on the 18th September, in the same year.