HUDSON'S BAY, lying between 55° and 65° of North Latitude, is about 250 leagues in length, and 200 at its great• est breadth. It is 140 fathoms deep in the middle, and is navigable during four months in summer, but is filled, all the rest of the year, with shoals of ice. Numerous rocks, sand-banks, and small islands, are dispersed through it, of which may he mentioned ; Southampton island, in 64° north latitude, stretching about 100 leagues from north to south, but of very inconsiderable breadth ; Marble island, in 62° north latitude, about 6 leagues long and two broad, com posed of white marble, variegated with green, blue, and black patches ; Carleton isle, in the south-east corner of the bay, covered with trees, moss, and shrubs. The en trance of the bay is a strait, of dangerous navigation, more than 200 leagues in length, and in some places of consider able breadth. It stretches from south-east to north-west, in north latitude, bounded on the north by the isle of Good Fortune, and on the south by Labradors. Its eastern extremity is formed by Cape Elizabeth on the north, and Cape Chudley on the south, between which is situated Re solution island, about 15 leagues in length, and a little west ward Savage and Grass islands, almost uninhabited. In the north-west extremity, between Point Anne on the north, and cape Walsingham on the south, arc several small islands, named Salisbury, Nottingham, Mill Diggs, and Mansfield. The principal bays of this inland sea are, James's Bay in the south-cast corner, containing many islets; Button's Bay on the western coast ; Chesterfield Inlet on the north-west coast, stretching far inland, and ter minating in a large fresh water lake ; Roe's Welcome, a deep inlet of the sea on the north coast ; and Repulse Bay, still farther north. The most remarkable rivers which flow into it are, Great Whale river, East Main or Slude ; Ru pert's, which has its origin in lake Mistassins ; Abbitibbe, flowing from a lake of the same name ; Moose, and Albany, which all empty their streams into James's Bay ; the Se vern, which is supposed to proceed from lake ; Nelson or Bourbon river, from a lake of the same name ; and Missin-ni-pi,* or Churchhill river, which loses itself in the bottom of Button's Bay. The north coast of Hudson's Bay is yet imperfectly explored. The country on the cast is part of Labradors, called East Main. The tract which stretches southwards below Button's Bay is called New South Wales, bounded on the south and east by Canada. The regions to the north-west are in like manlier called New North Wales, and very little known ; and on the west, is a vast tract of country, extending across the Ame rican continent to the Pacific Ocean, separated from the territories of Canada by a mountainous ridge in 49° north latitude, which covers the sources of the rivers flowing north and south.
Hudson's Bay was discovered in 1610 by Henry Hudson, who had been sent out, by the English Russia Company, in quest of a north-west passage round the American conti nent ; hut his crew having mutinied, left him, with his son and other seven persons, to perish in those seas, which now bear his name. It was afterwards more thoroughly explored by successive navigators employed by the same enterprising Company, particularly by Button in 1612 ; by Lucas Fox, and Thomas James, in 1631, the former equip ped by government, and the latter by a company of Bristol merchants ; and by Zacharias Gillant, in 1668, who was sent ,out by Charles II. at the solicitation of Prince Rupert, and Was assisted by two French merchants of Canada, named de Grosseliers, who had previously made a voyage from Quebec to the scene of the present expedition. Gillam
passed the winter in Rupert's river, where he built the first stone fort erected in the country, which he named Fort Charles, and provided it with a sufficient garrison. Before his return, the king had granted to Prince Rupert, and divers lords, knights, and merchants, associated with him, a charter, dated May 2d, 1669, in which he styled them " The Governor and Company of Adventui ers trading from England to Hudson's Bay ;" and, in consideration of their having, at their own costs and charges, undertaken an ex pedition to Hudson's Bay, in the north-west parts of Ame rica, for the discovery of a new passage into the South Sea, and for the finding of sonic trade for furs, minerals, and other considerable commodities, and of their having al ready made, by such their undertakings, such discoveries as did encourage them to proceed farther in pursuance of the said design ; by means whereof, there might probably arise great advantages to the king and his kingdom,' abso lutely ceded to the said undertakers, the whole trade and commerce of those seas, &c. in whatsoever latitude they might be, which are situated within the entrance of Hud son's Straits, together with all the countries upon the coasts and confines of the said seas, straits, &c. so that they alone should have the right of trading thither ; and whosoever should infringe this right, and be found selling or buying within the said boundaries, should be arrested, and all their merchandize be confiscated, so that one half should belong to the king, and the other half to the Hudson's Bay Compa ny." Of this extensive grant the Company have enjoyed uninterrupted possession from the year 1669 to the present day, except during the space of 17 years, from 1697 to 1714, when the settlement was occupied by the French ; but the charter, instead of promoting the progress of dis coveries, is understood to have produced the opposite cf fect. The Company have been charged with having rather endeavoured to conceal, as much as possible, the situation of the coasts and seas connected with their territories ; and even to influence 'those who had any knowledge of these quarters, to withhold it from the world. The few feeble attempts which they did make, to save appearances, be tween 1720 and 1730, rather excited the displeasure than satisfied the expectations of the public ; and, by the exer tions of Mr Dobbs, Capt. Middleton was sent out by go vernment in 1741, and Capt. Moor in 1746, the former of whom discovered Repulse Bay, and the latter explored Wager's Strait and Chesterfield Inlet, so as to ascertain with sufficient certainty, that no passage existed in that di rection.* The Company's settlements around the whole extent of Hudson's Bay are only four, viz. Prince of Wales, or Churchhill Fort, the most northern of the factories, situat ed at the mouth of Churchill]] river, in N. Lat. ; York Fort, formerly called Bourbon by the French, a square building, flanked with bastions, standing on an island be tween two branches of Nelson's river, in N. Lat.; Albany Fort, called by the French St Anne, or the river Albany, in 52° 18' N. Lat.; and Moose Fort, or Nlonsipi, or St Louis, at the mouth of a small river on the south border of James's Bay, in 51° 28' N. Lat. Besides these, are several smaller establishments, particularly Severn House, dependent on York Fort, in 12' N. Lat. and East-main, or Prince Rupert's, in 53° 24', connected with Moose Fort.