Christian Carl August Gosch - Danish Arctic Expeditions: 1605 to 1620

DANISH ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS,
1605 TO 1620.

BOOK I.EXPEDITIONS TO GREENLAND,
1605 to 1612.

No, XCVI.

IN TWO BOOKS:

BOOK I.THE DANISH EXPEDITIONS TO GREENLAND
IN 1605, 1606, AND 1607; TO WHICH IS ADDED C APTAIN
J AMES H ALL s V OYAGE TO G REENLAND IN 1612.

BOOK II.THE EXPEDITION OF CAPTAIN JENS MUNK
TO H UDSONS B AY IN S EARCH OF A N ORTH -W EST
P ASSAGE IN 1619-20.

BY

C. C. A. GOSCH.

BOOK I.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY.

M.DCCC.XCVII .

LONDON:
PRINTED AT THE BEDFORD PRESS, 20 AND 21, BEDFORDBURY, W.C.

S IR C LEMENTS M ARKHAM , K.C.B., F.R.S., Pres. R.G.S., P RESIDENT .

T HE R IGHT H ON . T HE L ORD S TANLEY OF A LDERLEY , V ICE -P RESIDENT .

S IR W ILLIAM W HARTON , K.C.B., V ICE -P RESIDENT .

C. R AYMOND B EAZLEY . E SQ ., M.A.

C OLONEL G. E ARL C HURCH .

T HE R IGHT H ON . G EORGE N. C URZON , M.P.

A LBERT G RAY , E SQ .

A LFRED H ARMSWORTH , E SQ .

T HE R IGHT H ON . L ORD H AWKESBURY .

E DWARD H EAWOOD , E SQ ., M.A.

A DMIRAL S IR A NTHONY H. H OSKINS , G.C.B.

R EAR -A DMIRAL A LBERT H. M ARKHAM .

A. P. M AUDSLAY , E SQ .

E. D ELMAR M ORGAN , E SQ .

C APTAIN N ATHAN , R.E.

A DMIRAL S IR E. O MMANNEY , C.B., F.R.S.

C UTHBERT E. P EEK , E SQ .

E. G. R AVENSTEIN , E SQ .

H OWARD S AUNDERS , E SQ .

C HARLES W ELCH , E SQ ., F.S.A.

W ILLIAM F OSTER , E SQ ., B.A., Honorary Secretary.

Postscript

IN several previous volumes, the Hakluyt Society has published new editions of the original accounts of all the English voyages in search of a North-West Passage to India which were undertaken between 1576 and 1632, when, after the return of Foxe and James, the search was discontinued for a considerable period. These voyages form a distinct and connected series. Between the years indicated, only one expedition was sent out with the same object from any other country than England, viz., the Danish Expedition to Hudsons Bay under Jens Munk in 1619-1620; and inasmuch as that expedition was piloted by Englishmen and was intended to follow up the results obtained upon some of the English voyages it may fairly be looked upon as closely connected with the latter. It seemed desirable therefore, to complete the Societys series of works relating to the expeditions in question by adding an English version of Munks narrative of his voyage. There appeared so much the more occasion for doing so, as Munks book, which was published in Danish in 1624, had never been translated into any other language, and its contents, which are interesting in many respects, were known to the world at large only through incomplete and unreliable abstracts. On the initiative of Mr. Miller Christy, the editor of the last English voyages, viz., those of Foxe and James, it was accordingly arranged that an English version of Munks Navigatio Septentrionalis should be issued by the Society under the joint editorship of Mr. Christy and Mr. E. Delmar Morgan, as was announced at the time. At a very early stage, however, the last-named gentleman offered to retire; after which, I was invited by the Council to take his place, which I had much pleasure in doing.

Shortly after, it was decided to join to Munks narrative the accounts of James Halls voyages from Denmark and England to Greenland in 1605, 1606, 1607, and 1612. New editions of at least the first two of these voyages were, indeed, called for by the fact that a very considerable amount of fresh material for the elucidation of Halls discoveries had come to light, but had, as yet, been utilised only to a small extent.

In one respect, the arrangement adopted was not altogether appropriate: viz., in so far that the voyages in question had totally different objects from that of Munk, and could not be reckoned amongst those undertaken in search of a North-West Passage; but, from several other points of view, there appeared, nevertheless, to be not a little connection between at least the first three of these voyages to Greenland and that of Munk. They were in some respects fore-runners of Munks expedition, and form with it a notable chapter in the history of Danish Arctic enterprise. Nor were these Danish voyages to Greenland without connection with England and the English expeditions in search of a North-West Passage, seeing that the chief pilot, James Hall, to whom the credit of the discoveries made mainly belongs, was an Englishman; and that one of the vessels of the expedition was commanded by another Englishman. John Knight, who in the following year commanded one of the English voyages just alluded to. It may be mentioned, too, that the expedition of 1605 was commanded by John Cunningham, a Scotchman, who afterwards commanded one of the vessels on the second voyage.

As regards Halls own voyage in 1612, its inclusion in the present work may seem less justifiable. It was neither a Danish voyage nor had it for its object (like the three preceding ones) the discovery of the lost colonies in Greenland. It was a purely English voyage, undertaken solely for commercial purposes. Moreover, portions of the two accounts we have of this voyage have already appeared in one of the works issued by the Hakluyt Society. Nevertheless, it was felt that a new edition of these two narratives would not be out of place in connection with those of the Danish voyages. Not only did Hall on this occasion supplement his discoveries made on the previous voyages, but the accounts of the voyage of 1612 will be found to assist materially in elucidating those of the expeditions of 1605 and 1606. In many respects, the voyage of 1612 was a continuation of the earlier ones, and the accounts of the former are only in part intelligible to readers who are not familiar with the accounts of the latter. Furthermore, by joining together the accounts of all the voyages to Greenland in which Hall took part, it has been possible to collect in one place all that is known of the life and work of a man who occupies a very honourable place amongst early English Arctic explorers.