The Discovery of a Northwest Passage

by Sir Robert McClure, foreword by Anthony Dalton

tagged: polar regions, 19th century, expeditions & discoveries, oceania

Description

For centuries, colonial powers searched for a sea passage that would link the Arctic and Pacific Oceans. The route, known as the Northwest Passage, would cut thousands of miles from sea travel and open up commercial trade to and from Asia. There were numerous expeditions to find the passage, though none successful. It was while searching for one of these failed expeditions—the Franklin Expedition—that Captain Robert McClure and his crew aboard the HMS Investigator became the first via sea and sledge to traverse and chart the elusive Northwest Passage.

First published in 1856, The Discovery of a Northwest Passage is comprised of McClure’s logs and journals from his time in the Arctic from 1850 to 1854. What began as a joint venture between commanding captain Richard Collinson of the Enterprise and Captain McClure, as his subordinate on the Investigator, became a solitary expedition. Separated along the way, McClure took a dangerous shortcut through the Aleutian Islands and ended up in the Bering Strait, ahead of his commanding ship. His route carried him to Banks Island and to the discovery of the Prince of Wales Strait. The first-hand account tells of the two harsh winters that McClure and his crew spent iced in the Bay of Mercy. And their rescue in 1853, when many from the ship were found suffering malnutrition and on the brink of death.

With an introduction by bestselling author and adventurer Anthony Dalton, The Discovery of a Northwest Passage is the original narrative of one of the most dramatic discoveries in Arctic sea travel.

About the Authors

Sir Robert McClure (1807-1873) was an Irish explorer who was educated at Eton and Sandhurst and entered the navy in 1824. He first journeyed into the Arctic in 1836, and later returned, in 1848, as part of an expedition sent in search of the missing Sir John Franklin and his crew. It was on his third trip to the Arctic, from 1850 to 1854, that McClure and his crew aboard the HMS Investigator became the first to both circumnavigate the Americas and successfully travel a Northwest Passage. Upon his return to England, McClure was knighted and he and his crew received a £10,000 reward for their discovery. He died in London on October 17, 1873.

Anthony Dalton is an adventurer, author and public speaker. Between 1970 and 1980 he led regular expeditions across the Sahara, through the deserts of the Middle East and into the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan. In 1984 he travelled hundreds of nautical miles along the Arctic coast of north-western Alaska alone in an inflatable speedboat. In 1994 he joined twelve members of the Cree First Nation on a traditional York boat voyage on the Hayes River between Norway House and Oxford House. While canoeing the second half of the Hayes River from Oxford House to York Factory in 2000 he participated in a television documentary on great Canadian rivers for the Discovery Channel.

Dalton has written five non-fiction books and collaborated on two others. His illustrated non-fiction articles have been published in magazines and newspapers in twenty countries and nine languages. He is currently working on two television documentaries based on his books.

Anthony Dalton is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Fellow of the Explorers Club, a Member of the Welsh Academy and National President of the Canadian Authors Association.

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The Discovery of a Northwest Passage

by Sir Robert McClure, foreword by Anthony Dalton

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