The North-West Passage. For centuries the worlds bravest explorers had tried to find a North-West Passage to the Pacific across the north of Canada. In 1906 the feat was at last accomplished after three years struggle with the ice; in the little Norwegian 47-ton herring-fisher Gjoa. Captain Roald Amundsen proved that the passage was quite useless for commercial purposes although the scientific observations he made were valuable. The little ship is now preserved on shore in San Francisco; and seems very tiny for such an adventure. Her over-all length is 69 feet; and her beam about 20 feet. Illustration for one of a set of 50 cigarette cards on the subject of Sea Adventure; issued by Hignett Brothers in 1939.