The Thames that to the eye does not appear to terminate the river;
and in many of them (in the Hope, for instance) it is utterly impossible to
form a conjecture, at the distance of only two or three miles, what part of
the land is intersected by the stream.
Although, however, this voyage was abandoned when it ought not to have
been, and consequently failed in its peculiar and important object, yet
some access to geographical knowledge was gained by it. The existence of
Baffin's Bay is confirmed, though its width and form are different from
those which were previously assigned it in the maps; and thus this
enterprising and deserving navigator has at length justice done to him.
Other branches of science were benefited and extended by this voyage,
however unsuccessful it proved in its grand and leading object; and some of
the accessions were of a very interesting nature. We allude principally to
the observations made on the swinging of the pendulum, - the variation and
dip of the magnetic needle, - especially by the influence of the iron in and
about the ship, - and on the temperature of the sea at different depths.
Soon after the return of this expedition, an order in council was issued,
which empowered and authorized the Board of Longitude to adopt a graduated
scale of rewards, proportioned to the progress of discovery made to the
westward in these high northern latitudes, from Hudson's or Baffin's Bay,
in the direction of the Pacific Ocean.
