Michael Lok believed a dubious opinion that the black rock from the Arctic contained gold. A second voyage was sent to Little Hall’s Island to mine 200 tonnes of the rock. Sample of the rock that cost many lives and fortunes lost While on an island during Frobisher’s first voyage to the Arctic in 1576, one of his mariners picked up an unusual black rock that had within it something that glittered. ...
Martin Frobisher unexpectedly met the Indigenous peoples who inhabited the Arctic. We need to understand who they were before continuing our story. 1578 watercolor by John White depicting three Inuits abducted by Frobisher during his 1578 voyage to Baffin Island. The Inuit peoples Before we continue the story of Frobisher’s voyages to the Arcti, some context about the peoples Martin Frobisher and his crews encountered would be helpful. ...
Martin Frobisher led his small fleet in search of the “Straight of Anian” only to experience a close encounter with the Inuit people of Frobisher Bay. The coast of Baffin Island. (Source: Wikipedia) Why search for the Northwest passage? Securing funding for Frobisher’s voyage to search for a north-west passage to the Pacific Ocean was proving to be very difficult. As no concrete evidence was available that this route existed, speculators needed good reasons to back a venture that could potentially ruin them. ...