Between the 16th and 19th centuries, explorers tried many times to discover a northwest passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to shorten trade routes – both in distance and time – for merchant ships. But their efforts were thwarted by ice pack waters that the ships couldn’t break through. A Voyage to Hudson’s Bay recounts one of these attempts made in 1746 and 1747.
The author, Henry Ellis (1721–1806), was a British colonial and slave trader, senior civil servant and explorer. Ellis was hired as the scientific observer for the expedition by its leader, Captain William Moor. The expedition was championed by Arthur Dobbs, a member of the Irish House of Commons, who strongly believed a northwest passage could be found.
The book has three sections:
- a synopsis of explorations for a northwest passage before 1746, which includes a history of the rise of the Hudson’s Bay Company
- the author’s account of the exploration of the western shore of Hudson’s Bay and the head of Wager Bay (or Ukkusiksalik Bay)
- scientific information on a possible passage between the two oceans
The 1746–1747 expedition concluded that no northwest passage could be navigated from Hudson’s Bay. Even so, Ellis gathered valuable information about tides, winds and whales that would be used in future expeditions.
Details
- The complete title of the book is: A Voyage to Hudson’s-Bay: by the Dobbs Galley and California, In the Years 1746 and 1747, For discovering a north west passage; with An Accurate Survey of the Coast, and a short Natural History of the Country. Together with A fair View of the Facts and Arguments from which the future finding of such a Passage is rendered probable.
- It was printed for H. Whitridge in London in 1748.
- The book includes an engraved frontispiece map that folds out and nine engraved plates.
- Ellis’s work was later translated to French by Gottfried Sellius, and published in Paris by Ballard fils in 1749, under the title: Voyage de la baye de Hudson, fait en 1746 & 1747, pour la découverte du passage de Nord-Ouest. Contenant une description exacte des côtes & l’histoire naturelle du pays, avec une relation historique de toutes les expéditions faites jusqu’ici pour la découverte d’un passage plus court aux Indes orientales, & des preuves évidentes de la réalité de ce passage.
- This volume and its French translation were acquired by Georges-Barthélémi Faribault, Assistant Clerk of the Legislative Assembly. He went to Europe in 1851–1852 as a special delegate to rebuild the collection of the parliamentary library that had been destroyed by fire in the Montréal riots of 1849.
- A digital reproduction of this book is available.
