BAFFIN

baffin, william (1584-1622), english navigator and discoverer. nothing is known of his early life, but it is conjectured that he was born in london of humble origin, and gradually raised himself by his diligence and perseverance. the earliest mention of his name occurs in 1612, in connexion with an expedition in search of a north-west passage, under the orders of captain james hall, whom he accompanied as chief pilot. captain hall was murdered in a fight with the natives on the west coast of greenland, and during the two following years baffin served in the spitsbergen whale-fishery, at that time controlled by the muscovy company. in 1615 he entered the service of the company for the discovery of the north-west passage, and accompanied captain robert bylot as pilot of the little ship "discovery," and now carefully examined hudson strait. the accuracy of baffin's tidal and astronomical observations on this voyage was confirmed in a remarkable manner by sir edward parry, when passing over the same ground, two centuries later (1821). in the following year baffin again sailed as pilot of the "discovery," and passing up davis strait discovered the fine bay to the north which now bears his name, together with the magnificent series of straits which radiate from its head and were named by him lancaster, smith and jones sounds, in honour of the generous patrons of his voyages. on this voyage he had sailed over 300 m. farther north than his predecessor davis, and for 236 years his farthest north (about lat. 77deg 45') remained unsurpassed in that sea. all hopes, however, seemed now ended of discovering a passage to india by this route, and in course of time even baffin's discoveries came to be doubted until they were re-discovered by captain ross in 1818. baffin next took service with the east india company, and in 1617-1619 performed a voyage to surat in british india, and on his return received the special recognition of the company for certain valuable surveys of the red sea and persian gulf which he had made in the course of the voyage. early in 1620 he again sailed to the east, and in the anglo-persian attack on kishm in the persian gulf, preparatory to the reduction of ormuz, he received his death-wound and died on the 23rd of january 1622. besides the importance of his geographical discoveries, baffin is to be remembered for the importance and accuracy of his numerous scientific and magnetic observations, for one of which (the determination of longitude at sea by lunar observation) the honour is claimed of being the first of its kind on record. baffin bay and baffin land, an arctic sea and an insular tract named after the explorer william baffin. baffin or baffin's bay is part of the long strait which separates baffin land from greenland. it extends from about 69deg to 78deg n. and from 54deg to 76deg w. from the northern end it is connected (1) with the polar sea northward by smith sound, prolonged by kane basin and kennedy and robeson channels; (2) with the straits which ramify through the archipelago to the north-west by narrow channels at the head of jones sound, from which o. sverdrup and his party conducted explorations in 1900-1902; (3) with the more southerly part of the same archipelago by lancaster sound. baffin bay was explored very fully in 1616 by baffin. the coasts are generally high, precipitous and deeply indented. the most important island on the east side is disco, to the north of disco bay, greenland. during the greater part of the year this sea is frozen, but, while hardly ever free of ice, there are normally navigable channels along the coasts from the beginning of june to the end of september connected by transverse channels. the bay is noted as a centre of the whale and seal fishery. at more than one point a depth exceeding 1000 fathoms has been ascertained. baffin land is a barren insular tract, included in franklin district, canada, with an approximate area of 236,000 sq. m., situated between 61deg and 90deg w. and 62deg and 74deg n. the eastern and northern coasts are rocky and mountainous, and are deeply indented by large bays including frobisher and home bays, cumberland sound and admiralty inlet. baffin land is separated from greenland by baffin bay and davis strait, from ungava by hudson strait, from keewatin and melville peninsula by fox channel and fury-and-hecla strait, from boothia peninsula and north somerset by the gulf of boothia and prince regent inlet, and from north devon by lancaster sound. various names are given to various parts of the land--thus the north-western part is called cockburn land, farther [v.03 p.0193] east is north galloway; on the extreme eastern peninsula are cumberland and penny lands, while the southern is called meta incognita; in the west is fox land. in the southern part of the interior are two large lakes, amadjuak, which lies at an altitude of 289 ft., and nettiling or kennedy.