of the dawn of historical fact shone through the twi-
light story of the north-west coast. The famous old
sea-rover, Sir Francis Drake, having routed the Por-
tuguese off the Chilean coast, decided to sail north
and return to England through the elusive North-West
Passage in order to avoid possible capture on the
regular sea-routes. It is definitely established that
he did reach the 43° latitude and perhaps 48°, but,
finding his sailors much enervated through their
experiences in the tropics, abandoned his quest and
sailed for home around the Cape of Good Hope.

After Drake's return to England, British Columbia
and the whole North-Western coast became a happy
hunting ground for the romancers, who conceived of
imaginary voyages to the land of mystery, but his-
torical research has come to our rescue in proving
these voyages false.

Sometime about 1690 Russia began taking interest
in the reports of new discoveries in the Pacific, and
Peter the Great, the reigning Czar, sent a Dane by
the name of Bering to explore the eastern limits of
Asia. It is recorded that he made two explorations
along the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, but owing
each time to heavy gales and the sailor's greatest
dread—scurvy, had to abandon further exploration
without actually sighting our Pacific coastline.

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