Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/50

 celebrated persons who invested in them were Burleigh, Leicester, Sydney, Gresham, and Walsingham. One hundred and twenty men were dispatched in the third voyage to erect a temporary settlement on the shores of Frobisher&#8217;s Straits, but so eagerly did the members of the expedition throw themselves into the search for gold that all thought of a colony was forgotten.

In 1583 special letters patent for the discovery of a Northwest Passage were granted to Adrian Gilbert and his associates, but this scheme had no practical results. Beginning his exploration in 1585, Captain John Davis, like Martin Frobisher, made three voyages to the Northwest, the only valuable fruit of which was the discovery of Davis&#8217; Straits; these Straits, Davis himself confidently thought, were the main entrance to the South Sea in that part of the globe. The second and third voyages proved to be entirely barren, the explorer remaining under the impression that the magnificent sheet of water, to which his name has been given, was a highway for ships to the India seas. In 1593, after an interval of a few years, the Russia and Turkey Companies united in sharing the expense of sending out two vessels of light tonnage for the discovery of the Northwest Passage; Captain Weymouth, who was placed in command of the expedition, was instructed to sail as far into Davis&#8217; Straits in the general direction of China as the waters were navigable. This expedition proved to be fruitless. In 1602 Captain Weymouth was sent upon a second voyage in search of the passage by a number of London merchants. In 1606 the Russia and Turkey Companies dispatched Captain Knight towards the Northwest, but part of his mission was to explore for gold and silver mines.