William Baffin and Robert Bylot - 1615, 1616

Accomplishments:

• on their first voyage Baffin and Bylot charted the south coast of Baffin Island, gathering information on anchorages, tides and currents in the area
• they began their discoveries in the area of Nottingham, Salisbury and Mill Islands
• the Discovery reached her northern limit in Foxe Channel, somewhere beyond Cape Comfort and Southampton Island
• Bylot and Baffin believed they saw the coast, leading them to the conclusion that they had entered a great bay and decided to turn back
• Baffin was convinced that the Northwest Passage could not be found in this direction and would lie up Davis Strait if it existed
• on their second voyage, Bylot and Baffin sailed to the entrance of Smith Sound where they changed direction and, in turn, discovered the Carey Islands
• following the coasts of Ellesmere, Devon and Bylot Islands they also discovered Jones and Lancaster Sounds

Interesting Facts:

• Baffin was convinced that there was no passage north of Davis Strait and concluded that there was in fact no Northwest Passage
• his conclusions regarding Davis Strait were accepted and it was not until two centuries later that the area would again attract interest
• the naming of Smith, Jones and Lancaster Sounds and of Wolstenholme Sound and Cape Dudley Digges honoured five of the leading "Adventurers", whose financial backing and interest in Arctic research had been responsible for adding so greatly to the known coastlines of the North

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Information taken from Arctic Canada, Volume I, Third Edition, 1982