William Baffin voyage. Baffin served as pilot of "Discovery", which left England under Captain Robert Bylot on 15 March. It carefully explored Hudson Strait in search of a Northwest Passage from the North Atlantic to the Far East. The accuracy of Baffin's tidal and astronomical observations on this voyage was confirmed when William Edward Parry passed over the same ground in 1821. Baffin again sailed as pilot of "Discovery" the next year. Leaving Gravesend on 26 March, he passed west of Greenland up the Davis Strait, discovering the large bay to its north which now bears his name, together with a series
Baffin Island at a similar latitude. Sea ice surrounds the island for most of the year, and only disappears completely from the north coast for short unpredictable periods from mid- to late June until the end of September. Most of Baffin Island lies above the Arctic Circle and all the communities from Pangnirtung northwards have polar night in winter and the midnight sun in summer. The eastern community of Clyde River has twilight instead of night from April 26 until May 13, continuous sunlight for 2½ months from May 14 to July 28, then twilight instead of night from July 29 until