James Cook explored the Arctic as well as the Antarctic

One of the interesting facts about James Cook is he explored the Arctic as well as the Antarctic. All explorers looking for the North-West Passage before 1776 made an effort to do so from the Atlantic (east) shore. Cook intended to approach it from the west coast of the Pacific. In 1770–1772, explorer Samuel Hearne traveled overland from Hudson Bay to the Arctic and back, proving that there was no way through the continent of North America, although there might be a route around it. Additionally, a Russian map by Jacob von Stählin that was published depicted Alaska as an island with a large strait separating it from America via which ships could travel north. Cook and Captain Charles Clerke sailed the ships Discovery and Resolution around the Pacific coast of North America to locate the strait depicted on the Russian chart. The strait, however, was not to be located.

The crew was certain they would be able to sail from this location to the Atlantic during the trip as it took the ships around the Alaskan peninsula and via the Bering Strait. But that was not to be. Cook reached within 50 miles of the western entrance to the tunnel, but his efforts to find it were finally frustrated by the Bering Sea's massive ice floes, ferocious currents, and frigid weather. Cook reluctantly decided to head south for the summer when the harsh weather brought his crew to the verge of mutiny.