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Robert Bylot, English seaman, (flourished 1610-16). He was the mate on Henry HUDSON'S ill-fated voyage of 1611. Hudson stripped him of his rank just before the crew set the captain adrift in JAMES BAY. Bylot joined the mutineers, but the English courts later pardoned him, likely for his skill in bringing the ship home. In 1612-13 he sailed with Sir Thomas Button to Hudson Bay. In 1615 and 1616, with William BAFFIN as pilot, Bylot made two voyages in the ship Discovery to the eastern Arctic. In the first voyage, the two men proved that Hudson Strait was not the NORTHWEST PASSAGE. In the second, Smith, Jones, and Lancaster sounds were located, and a "farthest north" was reached at 70°45', a record not broken for 236 years. Bylot was a skilled ice-pilot and a capable seaman, but little else is known of his life.
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