INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION.

BY CHARLES J. BEKE, Phil.D.

The three voyages undertaken by the Dutch, towards the close of the

sixteenth century, with a view to the discovery of a north-east passage

to China, are deservedly placed among the most remarkable exploits of

that enterprising nation; while the ten months’ residence of the

adventurous seamen at the furthest extremity of the inhospitable region

of Novaya Zemlya, within little more than fourteen degrees of the North

Pole, and their homeward voyage of upwards of seventeen hundred

geographical miles in two small open boats, are events full of romantic

interest.

The republication by the Hakluyt Society of the narrative of these

three voyages, is most appropriate at this particular juncture, when

public attention is so painfully absorbed by apprehensions as to the

fate of Franklin and his companions. At all times would this work be

read with interest, as giving in plain and simple language, which

vouches for its truth, the first account of a forced winter residence

in the Arctic Regions, patiently and resolutely endured and

successfully terminated; but at the present moment it acquires a far

deeper importance from its representation—faint, perhaps, and wholly

inadequate to the reality—of the hardships which must have been

undergone by our missing countrymen; happy if some of them shall have

survived, like Gerrit de Veer, to tell the tale of their sufferings and

of their final deliverance from their long captivity.

In adverting to the causes which led to these three expeditions, it

would be quite superfluous to enter upon the general history of Arctic

discovery. All that is requisite for the proper elucidation of the

present subject, is an investigation of the actual state of our

knowledge respecting the precise field of the labours of our Dutch

navigators, previously to the date of their adventurous undertaking.

Three centuries have now elapsed since the first attempt was made to

discover a north-east passage to China and India. The circumstances

under which this took place, cannot be better detailed than in the

words of Clement Adams, in his account of “the newe Nauigation and

discouerie of the kingdome of Muscouia, by the north-east, in the yeere

1553”, which is printed by Hakluyt in the first volume of his Principal

Navigations.

“At what time our marchants perceiued the commodities and wares of

England to bee in small request with the countreys and people about

vs and neere vnto vs, and that those marchandizes which strangers

in the time and memorie of our auncesters did earnestly seeke and

desire, were nowe neglected and the price thereof abated, although

by vs carried to their owne portes, and all forreine marchandises

in great accompt and their prises wonderfully raised: certaine

graue citizens of London, and men of great wisedome, and carefull

for the good of their countrey, began to thinke with themselves

howe this mischiefe might be remedied. Neither was a remedie (as it

then appeared) wanting to their desires, for the auoyding of so

great an inconuenience: for, seeing that the wealth of the

Spaniards and Portingales, by the discouerie and search of newe

trades and countreys was marueilously increased, supposing the same

to be a course and meane for them also to obteine the like, they

thereupon resolued upon a newe and strange nauigation. And whereas

at the same time one Sebastian Cabota, [24] a man in those dayes

very renowned, happened to bee in London, they began first of all

to deale and consult diligently with him, and after much speech and

conference together, it was at last concluded that three shippes

should bee prepared and furnished out, for the search and

discouerie of the northerne part of the world, to open a way and

passage to our men for trauaile to newe and vnknowen kingdomes.

“And whereas many things seemed necessary to bee regarded in this

so hard and difficult a matter, they first make choyse of certaine

graue and wise persons, in maner of a senate or companie, which

should lay their heads together and giue their iudgements, and

prouide things requisite and profitable for all occasions: by this

companie it was thought expedient that a certaine summe of money

should publiquely bee collected, to serue for the furnishing of so

many shippes. And lest any priuate man should bee too much

oppressed and charged, a course was taken, that euery man willing

to be of the societie should disburse the portion of twentie and

five pounds a piece; so that in short time by this meanes the summe

of sixe thousand pounds being gathered, the three shippes were

bought, the most part whereof they prouided to be newly built and

trimmed.” [25]

The three vessels thus fitted out sailed in company from Ratcliff on

the 10th of May, 1553. On their arrival at Harwich, they were detained

there some time; “yet at the last with a good winde they hoysed vp

saile, and committed themselues to the sea, giuing their last adieu to

their natiue country, which they knewe not whether they should euer

returne to see againe or not. Many of them looked oftentimes backe, and

could not refraine from teares, considering into what hazards they were

to fall, and what vncertainties of the sea they were to make triall

of.” [26]

These gloomy forebodings were not long in finding their realization. In

a violent tempest off the coast of Norway, two of the vessels, the Bona

Esperanza and Bona Confidentia, in the former of which was Sir Hugh

Willoughby, captain-general of the fleet, were driven far out to sea,

and at length put into a small haven on the coast of Lapland, near the

mouth of the river Warsina, [27] where the entire crews of both

vessels, amounting in all to seventy souls, miserably perished from

cold and hunger.

Before meeting with his untimely end, Willoughby, on the 14th of

August, “descried land, which land (he says, in a note found written in

one of the two ships) we bare with all, hoising out our boat to

discover what land it might be; but the boat could not come to land,

the water was so shoale, where was very much ice also, but there was no

similitude of habitation; and this land lyeth from Seynam [28] east and

by north 160 leagues, being in latitude 72 degrees. Then we plyed to

the northward”. [29] As the subject of Willoughby’s voyage has been

discussed by Mr. Rundall in a recent publication of the Hakluyt

Society, [30] it is here unnecessary to say more than that, whatever

may formerly have been the notions of geographers as to the coast

reached by our hapless countryman, and to which the name of

“Willoughby’s Land” was given, the almost universally received opinion

now is [31] that it was that portion of the western coast of Novaya

Zemlya, which is called by Lütke the Goose Coast (Gänseufer in Erman’s

Translation [32]),—doubtless from the numbers of water-fowl found

there,—and of which the North and South Goose Capes (Syevernuy Gusinuy

Muis and Yuzhnuy Gusinuy Muis) form the two extremities. Mr. Rundall is

therefore fully justified in claiming for Sir Hugh Willoughby, as he so

earnestly does in his work just cited, [33] “the credit of having been

the first Englishman by whom the coast of Novaya Zemlya was visited”;

and as, further, Willoughby was not only the first Englishman, but also

the first European, who had ever been there, the rule and usual

practice in regard to new discoveries fairly warrants the application

of the name of “Willoughby’s Land” to this “Goose Coast”, which our

countryman was thus the first to visit and make known to us.

In thus attributing the discovery of Novaya Zemlya to Sir Hugh

Willoughby, it is in no wise intended to deny that that island—or chain

of islands, as it may be more correctly designated—was previously known

to the inhabitants of the northern coasts of Russia. The name

itself,—Novaya Zemlya, which in the Russian language signifies “the New

Country” or “Newfoundland”,—and the fact that the early European

navigators, both English and Dutch, who followed in Willoughby’s

footsteps, met with native vessels on the coast, from the crews of

which they learned their way and obtained various particulars of local

information, are quite sufficient to establish the priority of the

Russians.

Still, the discovery of a country, like any other discovery or

invention in science or the arts, dates properly from the time when the

knowledge of that discovery is first recorded and publicly communicated

to the civilised world; and in this sense even the Russian admiral

Lütke, [34] the great explorer of Novaya Zemlya in modern times, does

not hesitate to acknowledge, that, owing to the absence of all written

records bearing on the subject, his countrymen cannot pretend to lay

claim to the “discovery” of Novaya Zemlya.

Richard Chancellor, pilot-major of Willoughby’s fleet, was far more

fortunate than his hapless chief. In the third vessel, the Edward

Bonaventure, commanded by Stephen Burrough, he succeeded in entering

the Bay of St. Nicholas, since better known as the White Sea, and on

the 24th of August, 1553, reached in safety the western mouth of the

river Dwina, whence he proceeded overland to the court of the Emperor

of Muscovy or Russia, at Moscow. The result was the foundation of the

commercial and political relations between England and Russia, which

have subsisted, with but brief interruptions, till the present day.

Shortly after Chancellor had brought his section of Willoughby’s

expedition to so successful an issue, the company of

merchant-adventurers, by whom the three ships had been fitted out,

received a charter of incorporation, bearing date February 6th, 1 and 2

Ph. and Mar. (1554–5); and subsequently, in the eighth year of Queen

Elizabeth (1566), they obtained an Act of Parliament, in which they are

styled “the Fellowship of English Merchants for Discovery of New

Trades”; a title under which they still continue incorporated, though

they are better known by the designation of the “Muscovy” or “Russia

Company”.

It is not here the place to discuss the general proceedings of the

Russia Company, important though they be, and highly deserving of being

made the subject of special investigation. All that we have to do is to

notice the expeditions which were undertaken under the auspices of that

company, for the purpose of exploring the seas bounding the Russian

Empire on the north, with a view to the discovery of a north-east

passage to China.

Of these expeditions, the first was that of Stephen Burrough, who had

in 1553 been the master of Richard Chancellor’s ship, the Edward

Bonaventure, and who now, in 1556, was despatched in the pinnace

Searchthrift to make discovery towards the river Ob. [35]

Leaving Gravesend on the 23rd of April of the latter year, Burrough, on

the 23rd of May, passed the North Cape, which he had so named on his

first voyage, and on the 9th of June reached Kola, where he fell in

with several small Russian vessels (lodji), all “bound to Pechora, a

fishing for salmons and morses”. [36] The master of one of these boats,

named Gabriel, rendered good service to Burrough, who is diffuse in his

praise of Gabriel’s conduct, as contrasted with that of other Russian

seamen with whom he had to do.

In the company of these native boats Burrough passed by Svyátoi Nos,

called by him Cape St. John; Kanin Nos (Caninoz); the island of

Kolguev, by mistake called in his journal Dolgoieue; then the second

Svyátoi Nos, and so to “the dangerous barre of Pechora”. Passing still

onwards, he, on St. James’s day, July 25th, “spied certain islands”,

lying to the south of Novaya Zemlya, under one of which he anchored,

naming it “St. James his Island”, [37] and making its latitude to be

70° 42′ N., which according to Lütke [38] is about 10′ too far north.

The next day they “plyed to the westwards alongst the shoare” of the

southern extremity of Novaya Zemlya, where they met with another small

native vessel, the master of which, named Loshak, told them that they

were past the way which should bring them to the Ob;—that the land by

which they were was “called Noua Zembla, that is to say, the New

Land;”—and that “in this Noua Zembla is the highest mountaine in the

worlde, as he thought, and that Camen Bolshay, [39] which is on the

maine of Pechora, is not to be compared to this mountaine; but” (adds

Burrough cautiously) “I saw it not”. [40]

On the 31st of July, Burrough was “at an anker among the islands of

Vaigats”; on one of which islands he went on shore the following day.

On Monday, the 3rd of August, he continues: “We weyed and went roome

with another island, which was five leagues east-north-east from us;

and there I met againe with Loshak, and went on shore with him, and hee

brought me to a heap of the Samoeds idols, which were in number aboue

300, the worst and the most unartificiall worke that ever I saw. The

eyes and mouthes of sundrie of them were bloodie; they had the shape of

men, women, and children, very grosly wrought; and that which they had

made for other parts was also sprinckled with blood. Some of their

idols were an olde sticke, with two or three notches made with a knife

in it. I saw much of the footing of the sayd Samoeds, and of the sleds

that they ride in.” [41]

These particulars clearly prove that the spot thus described by

Burrough is Bolvánovsky Nos (Image Cape), at the north-eastern

extremity of the island of Vaigats, in 70° 29′ N. lat., which place,

according to Lütke, [42] was visited by Ivanov in 1824, and found to be

in precisely the same state as represented by its English discoverer.

There is a second cape of the same name at the south-eastern extremity

of Vaigats Island, in 69° 40′ N. lat., which is the Afgodenhoeck (Idol

Cape) of Linschoten and the Beeldthoeck (Image Cape) of De Veer, and

which is described by the latter in his account of their second voyage,

at pages 53 and 60 of the present volume. Lütke [43] erroneously

identifies this latter cape with the one discovered by Burrough; but

this is evidently a mere oversight, as the two capes of the same name

are distinctly laid down in his chart.

On the 5th of August, fearing to be hemmed in by the ice, which

approached his ship in immense masses, Burrough returned westwards, and

then southwards; and on the 22nd of the same month, on account of the

north and north-easterly winds, the great quantity of ice, and the

advanced season of the year, he determined on not attempting to proceed

further to the east, but returned round Kanin Nos into the White Sea,

and so to Kholmogorui (Colmogro), the Russian port on the Dwina

previously to the foundation of Archangelsk,—Archangel, or

Novo-Kholmogorui, as it was at first called,—where he arrived on the

11th of September. [44]

The passage by which Burrough thus sailed between Novaya Zemlya and

Vaigats into the Sea of Kara, is that which by the Russians is called

Karskoi Vorota—the Kara Gate or Strait; and as he was the first

navigator who is recorded to have been there, he must be regarded as

the “discoverer” of that Strait. And that he was so considered by his

contemporaries is established by the fact, that, in the instructions

given by the Russia Company, in 1580, to Pet and Jackman, [45] that

entrance into the Sea of Kara is actually denominated “Burrough’s

Strait”.

For several years after Stephen Burrough’s voyage in the Searchthrift,

the Russia Company appear to have directed their attention principally

to the trade with the White Sea, and thence, overland, with the

interior of the continent both in Europe and in Asia. Still, it must

not be imagined that they at all abandoned the idea of a north-east

passage to China. On the contrary, there is evidence in the

instructions given by them on the fitting out of two expeditions, at

intervals of twelve years each, that the subject was not lost sight of

by them, and that they neglected no means of obtaining information,

with a view to the eventual realisation of the scheme which was their

principal object in the original formation of the company.

The former of these two expeditions was in the year 1568, when James

Bassendine, James Woodcocke, and Richard Browne were appointed to

undertake a voyage of discovery along the northern coast of Russia,

“from the river Pechora to the eastwards”. Of this undertaking no

memorial appears to be extant, except the “Commission” issued to the

adventurers; so that it is impossible to say what its success was. But

the instructions contained in that Commission are in themselves of so

interesting a character, as showing in a precise and definite form the

extent of the knowledge of the Arctic Ocean to the east of the White

Sea, possessed by the English at a date mounting up to nearly three

centuries from the present time, that no apology will be necessary for

here reprinting it from the pages of Hakluyt. [46] It must be premised

that the date attributed by that author to this document is 1588; which

is, however, clearly a misprint. For, in the first place, it was in

1568 (not 1588) that Thomas Randolph, by whom the Commission was signed

only a few days after his arrival in Russia, [47] was appointed

ambassador to that country, he having in the following year returned to

England; [48] while in the year 1588 it was Dr. Giles Fletcher who was

our ambassador. [49] And, secondly, this Commission, though appearing

to bear the latter date, is placed by Hakluyt in chronological order

among the documents of the year 1568.

A Commission given by vs, Thomas Randolfe, ambassadour for the

Queenes Maiestie in Russia, and Thomas Bannister, etc., vnto Iames

Bassendine, Iames Woodcocke, and Richard Browne; the which

Bassendine, Woodcocke, and Browne we appoint ioyntly together, and

aiders the one of them to the other, in a voyage of discouery to be

made (by the grace of God) by them, for searching of the sea and

border of the coast, from the riuer Pechora to the eastwards, as

hereafter followeth. Anno 1568, the first of August.

Imprimis, when your barke with all furniture is ready, you shall at

the beginning of the yere (assoone as you possibly may) make your

repaire to the easterne part of the riuer Pechora, where is an

island called Dolgoieue, and from thence you shall passe to the

eastwards alongst by the sea coast of Hugorie, or the maine land of

Pechora; and sailing alongst by the same coast, you shall passe

within seuen leagues of the island Vaigats, which is in the

straight, almost halfe way from the coast of Hugorie unto the coast

of Noua Zembla; which island Vaigats and Noua Zembla you shall

finde noted in your plat, therefore you shall not need to discouer

it, but proceed on alongst the coast of Hugory towards the river

Obba.

There is a bay betweene the sayd Vaigats and the river Obba, that

doth bite to the southwards into the land of Hugory, in which bay

are two small riuers, the one called Cara Reca, the other Naramsy,

as in the paper of notes which are giuen to you herewith may

appeare: in the which bay you shall not need to spend any time for

searching of it, but to direct your course to the river Ob (if

otherwise you be not constrained to keepe alongst the shore); and

when you come to the river Ob, you shall not enter into it, but

passe ouer into the easterne part of the mouth of the sayd riuer.

And when you are at the easterne part of the mouth of Obba Reca,

you shall from thence passe to the eastwards, alongst by the border

of the sayd coast, describing the same in such perfect order as you

can best do it. You shall not leaue the sayd coast or border of the

land, but passe alongst by it, at least in sight of the same,

untill you haue sailed by it so farre to the eastwards, and the

time of the yeere [be] so farre spent, that you doe thinke it time

for you to returne with your barke to winter, which trauell may

well be 300 or 400 leagues to the eastwards of the Ob, if the sea

doe reach so farre, as our hope is it doth; but and if you finde

not the said coast and sea to trend so farre to the eastwards, yet

you shall not leaue the coast at any time, but proceed alongst by

it, as it doth lie, leauing no part of it vnsearched or [un-]seene,

unlesse it be some bay or river, that you doe certeinly know by the

report of the people that you shall finde in those borders, or els

some certeine tokens whereby you of your selues may iudge it to be

so. For our hope is that the said border of land and sea doth, in

short space after you passe the Ob, incline east, and so to the

southwards. And therefore we would haue no part of the land of your

starreboord side, as you proceed in your discouery, to be left

vndiscouered.

But and if the said border of land do not incline so to the

eastwards as we presuppose it, but that it doe proue to incline and

trend to the northwards, and so ioyne with Noua Zembla, making the

sea from Vaigats to the eastwarde but a bay; yet we will that you

do keepe alongst by the said coast, and so bring us certaine report

of that forme and maner of the same bay.

And if it doe so proue to be a bay, and that you have passed round

about the same, and so by the trending of the land come backe vnto

that part of Noua Zembla that is against Vaigats, whereas you may

from that see the said island Vaigats; if the time of the yeere

will permit you, you shall from thence passe alongst by the said

border and coast of Noua Zembla to the westwards, and so to search

whether that part of Noua Zembla doe ioyne with the land that Sir

Hugh Willoughbie discouered in anno ’53, and is in 72 degrees and

from that part of Noua Zembla 120 leagues to the westwards, [50] as

your plat doeth shew it unto you; and if you doe finde that land to

ioyne with Noua Zembla, when you come to it, you shall proceed

further along the same coast, if the time of the yere will permit

it, and that you doe thinke there will be sufficient time for you

to returne back with your barke to winter, either at Pechora or in

Russia, at your discretion; for we refer the same to your good

iudgements, trusting that you will lose no time that may further

your knowledge in this voyage.

Note you, it was the 20 of August, ’56, yer [51] the Serchthrift

began to returne backe from her discouerie, to winter in Russia;

and then she came from the island Vaigats, being forcibly driuen

from thence with an easterly winde and yce, and so she came into

the riuer Dwina, and arriued at Colmogro the 11 of September, ’56.

If the yce had not bene so much that yere as it was in the

streights on both sides of the island Vaigats, they in the said

pinnesse would that yeere haue discouered the parts that you are

now sent to seeke; which thing (if it had pleased God) might haue

bene done then; but God hath reserued it for some other. Which

discouerie, if it may be made by you, it shall not only proue

profitable vnto you, but it will also purchase perpetuall fame and

renowne both to you and our countrey. And thus, not doubting of

your willing desires and forwardnesse towards the same, we pray God

to blesse you with a lucky beginning, fortunate successe, and

happily to end the same. Amen.

As has already been stated, the results of this expedition are not

known. We may, therefore, pass to the consideration of the voyage of

Arthur Pet and Charles Jackman in the year 1580. For this undertaking

written instructions were in like manner given by the Russia Company,

which have also been preserved by Hakluyt. [52] But as these

instructions correspond in many respects with those given to Bassendine

and his companions, it is here unnecessary to cite more from them than

some few passages requiring particular notice.

The Commission from the Russia Company to Pet and Jackman was “for a

voyage by them to be made, by God’s grace, for search and discoueries

of a passage by sea by Borough’s Streights and the island Vaigats,

eastwards to the countries or dominions of the mightie prince, the

emperour of Cathay, and in the same unto the cities of Cambalu and

Quinsay, or to either of them”. And for that purpose they were directed

to “saile from this river of Thames to the coast of Finmarke, to the

North Cape there, or to the Wardhouse”; and from thence, continued

their instructions, “direct your course to haue sight of Willoughbies

Land, and from it passe alongst to the Noua Zemla, keeping the same

landes alwayes in your sight on your larboord sides (if conueniently

you may), to the ende you may discouer whether the same Willoughbies

Land be continent and firme land with Noua Zemla or not;

notwithstanding we would not haue you to entangle your selues in any

bay, or otherwise, so that it might hinder your speedy proceeding to

the Island Vaigats.

“And when you come to Vaigats, we would haue you to get sight of the

maine land of Samoeda, which is ouer against the south part of the same

island, and from thence, with God’s permission, to passe eastwards

alongst the same coast, keeping it alwayes in your sight (if

conueniently you may) untill you come to the mouth of the riuer Ob: and

when you come unto it, passe ouer the said riuers mouth unto the border

of land on the east side of the same (without any stay to bee made for

searching inwardly in the same riuer), and being in sight of the same

easterly land, doe you, in Gods name, proceed alongst by it from thence

eastwards, keeping the same alwayes on your starboord side in sight, if

you may, and follow the tract of it, whether it incline southerly or

northerly (as at times it may do both), untill you come to the country

of Cathay, or the dominion of that mightie emperour.” [53] But in case

they should not be able to reach Cathay, they were directed to attempt

to ascend the river Ob; and if they should not succeed in this, they

were then to “returne backe through Boroughs Streights”, and “discouer

and trie whether Willoughbies Land ioyne continent with Noua Zembla or

not”. [54]

In pursuance of these instructions, Pet and Jackman sailed from Harwich

on the 31st of May, 1580, in two small barks: namely, the George, of

the burthen of forty tons, under the command of the former, with a crew

of nine men and a boy, and the William, of twenty tons, commanded by

the latter, with a crew of five men and a boy. On June 23rd they

reached Wardhuus, which place they left in company on the 1st of the

following month. On the next day, however, as the William seemed “to be

out of trie and sailed very ill”, she “was willing to goe with Kegor”,

where she might mend her steerage; “whereupon Master Pet, not willing

to go into harborough, said to Master Jackman that if he thought

himselfe not able to keepe the sea, he should doe as he thought best,

and that he in the meane time would beare with Willoughbies Land, for

that it was a parcel of our direction, and would meete him at Veroue

Ostroue, or Vaigats”. [55]

The name of Veroue Ostroue, here given to the island of Vaigats, does

not occur elsewhere. It is manifestly Russian; though it is difficult

to say what is its correct form, and consequently what its

signification. As to the designation by which that island is generally

known, Witsen states, though without further explanation, that it was

acquired from one Iwan or Ian Waigats; [56] in commenting on which

statement, Lütke says that the name should properly be written

Waigatsch, the Russian termination tsch having been changed by the

Dutch into tz, in the same way as in Pitzora for Petschora, etc. [57]

The correctness of this criticism is, however, questionable. For, long

before the Dutch visited or knew anything of these parts, we find

Englishmen,—who certainly had no difficulty in pronouncing the sound ch

(tsch), which is common to our language, and who in fact always wrote

Pechora (Petschora), and not, like the Dutch, Pitzora,—invariably

writing not Vaigach (Vaigatsch), but Vaigats or Vaygatz. It is

therefore reasonable to conclude that Vaigats is the original

pronunciation of the name, and that the Russian form is merely a

corruption.

But to return to Pet, who after parting from Jackman continued his

course eastwards, apparently following in Willoughby’s track, till, on

the 4th of July, he saw land in latitude 71° 38′ north, being the coast

of Novaya Zemlya, somewhere about the South Goose Cape. Thence he

coasted along the south-western end of Novaya Zemlya, keeping the same

in sight on the larboard side, as instructed to do, but not nearing it,

on account of ice and fog. [58] On the 10th of July, he approached the

north-western extremity of Vaigatz Island, and landed on a small island

near the coast, where he took in wood and water. [59] Here he remained

till the 14th, when he got out with difficulty on account of the ice,

and “lay along the coast north-west, thinking it to be an island; but

finding no end in rowing so long”, he “supposed it to be the maine of

Noua Zembla”, in which, however, he was in error, and thereby missed

the entrance into the Sea of Kara by Burrough’s Strait. He now altered

his course, and on the 15th “lay south south-west with a flawne sheete,

and so ranne all the same day”; and, after meeting with much more ice,

he on the 17th came into the “Bay of Pechora”. Thence, again taking an

eastward course, he on the 18th had sight of the southern extremity of

Vaigatz, and on the following day entered the passage running between

that portion of the island and the main land of the Samoede country; to

which passage the Dutch, in the voyages which form the subject of the

following pages, gave the name of “the Straits of Nassau”, and which

the Russians call Yugorsky Schar, that is to say, the Ugorian Strait.

Nevertheless, if the first European explorer on record be entitled to

the credit of his discovery, this entrance into the Sea of Kara ought

to bear the name of “Pet’s Strait,” in like manner as the passage into

that sea at the other extremity of Vaigatz Island received the name of

“Burrough’s Strait”.

From the 19th till the 24th of July, Pet endeavoured to make his way

eastwards in accordance with his instructions, by keeping “the maine

land of Samoeda” always in sight on his starboard side, but was

constantly impeded by the ice. At length he was “constrained to put

into the ice, to seeke some way to get to the northwards of it, hoping

to haue some cleare passage that way, but there was nothing but whole

ice.” [60]

Meanwhile, Jackman and his crew of five men and a boy, in their frail

bark of twenty tons, had gallantly followed after the George, and on

the morning of the 25th July the two vessels again joined company, the

William being, however, in so disabled a state when she reached her

companion, as to require assistance from the latter. The two vessels

now “set saile to the northwardes, to seeke if they could finde any way

cleare to passe to the eastward; but the further they went that way,

the more and thicker was the ice, so that they coulde goe no further.”

[61]

At length, seeing the impossibility of advancing either to the east or

to the north, on the 28th of July “Master Pet and Master Jackman did

conferre together what was best to be done, considering that the windes

were good for us, and we not able to passe for ice: they did agree to

seeke to the land againe, and so to Vaygatz, and then to conferre

further. At 3 in the afternoone, we did warpe from one piece of ice to

another, to get from them if it were possible: here were pieces of ice

so great that we could not see beyond them out of the toppe.” [62]

It was only with the greatest difficulty and peril that they

occasionally made their way through the ice, in which for the most part

they remained so enclosed “that they could not stirre, labouring onely

to defend the yce as it came upon them”; but at length, on the 15th of

August, “they entred into a cleare sea without yce, whereof they were

most glad, and not without cause, and gave God the praise”. [63] On the

day after, they say, “we were troubled againe with ice, but we made

great shift with it: for we gotte betweene the shoare and it. This day,

at twelue of the clocke, we were thwart of the south-east part of

Vaigats, all along which part there was great store of yce, so that we

stood in doubt of passage; yet by much adoe we got betwixt the shoare

and it.” [64]

They now bore away to the west, passing by the island of Kolguev

(Colgoyeue), on the sands to the south of which both vessels went

aground, on August 20th, in latitude 68° 40′ N., according to their

calculation. Getting off, they proceeded together on their return

voyage; but, only two days afterwards, Pet’s vessel parted from the

William, and saw her no more. [65]

Arthur Pet, in the George, reached home in safety, arriving at Ratcliff

on the 26th December following; but “the William, with Charles Jackman,

arrived at a port in Norway between Tronden and Rostock in October

1580, and there did winter. And from thence departed againe in

Februarie following, and went in company of a ship of the King of

Denmarke toward Island; and since that time he was never heard of.”

[66]

This voyage of Pet and Jackman has been noticed more in detail than

might otherwise have been necessary, for the purpose of defending those

able seamen from the animadversions of a recent historian, who says:

“From the meagre narrative of this voyage it is sufficiently evident

that Pet and Jackman were but indifferent navigators, and that they

never trusted themselves from the shore and out of shallow water,

whenever the ice would suffer them to approach it; a situation of all

others, where they might have made themselves certain of being hampered

with ice.” [67] It will, however, in the first place, have been seen

that their express instructions were that they should follow the line

of the Siberian coast, keeping it always in sight on their starboard

side, which instructions they appear to have obeyed to the utmost of

their ability. And, secondly, it was not so much the fixed ice along

the coast which impeded their progress, as the immense masses of

floating ice from the Polar Basin which had drifted into the Sea of

Kara; for, on more than one occasion, it was precisely by getting into

the shallow water, “between the shore and the ice”, that they were

enabled to effect a passage, which in deeper water, where the

ice-masses could float, was denied to them. The fact is that it was

from no want of either knowledge or skill that they were unsuccessful,

but from the like unsurmountable natural causes which, fifteen years

later, compelled the Dutch fleet under Cornelius Nai to turn back from

somewhere about the same spot; [68] and, as Captain Beechey justly

observes, “to this day the hardy Russians have not been able to survey

the eastern side of Nova Zembla; and the ships which passed through the

Waigatz Strait have never been able to proceed far, owing to the

quantity of ice driven into the Sea of Kara”. [69]

Further, when it is considered who these experienced seamen were, it

will at once be manifest that under no circumstances ought they to be

stigmatised as “indifferent navigators”. Arthur Pet was with Richard

Chancellor and Stephen Burrough in the Edward Bonaventure, on their

first voyage to the Bay of St. Nicholas in 1553, his name standing in

the list of “mariners” sixth before that of William Burrough [70]

(Stephen’s brother). Seven years afterwards, in 1560, he commanded the

Jesus, of London, in the service of the Russia Company. [71] And now,

twenty years later, in the year 1580, a convincing proof is afforded of

the estimation in which he was held, by the interest taken in him and

his expedition by several of the most distinguished navigators and

cosmographers of his time. For, in addition to his Commission from his

employers, in whose service he had been seven-and-twenty years,—whether

constantly or not is immaterial,—he received “Instructions and Notes”

[72] from “Master William Burrough”, Comptroller of the Navy, who had

been his messmate seven-and-twenty years before, together with

“Certaine briefe aduices giuen by Master Dee”, [73] as also “Notes in

writing, besides more priuie by mouth, that were giuen by M. Richard

Hakluyt, of Eiton, in the countie of Hereford, esquire”; [74] and,

further, his voyage was deemed of sufficient importance to form the

subject of a letter to Hakluyt himself from the learned Gerard

Mercator. [75]

Of Charles Jackman we do not know so much. Yet he, too, had clearly had

experience in Arctic exploration, having been “the mate” on board the

Ayde, one of the vessels of Frobisher’s second expedition, when he was

of sufficient importance to give his name to “Jackman’s Sound”, on the

south side of Frobisher’s Strait. [76] And it is not without

significance that in all the documents above cited, except Mercator’s

letter to Hakluyt, his name is coupled, without any distinction, with

that of so old and experienced a navigator of the Russian Seas as

Arthur Pet.

Notwithstanding the failure of Pet and Jackman’s undertaking, the

Russia Company appear to have in no wise relaxed in their endeavours to

effect a passage by sea along the northern coast of the Russian

dominions. And that they were, to a considerable extent, successful in

their exertions, is proved by the following two documents, which have

been preserved to us by Purchas. [77]

Notes concerning the discouery of the river of Ob, taken out of a

Roll written in the Russian tongue, which was attempted by the

meanes of Antonie Marsh, a chiefe Factor for the Moscouie Company

of England, 1584, with other Notes of the North-east.

First, he wrote a letter from the citie of Mosco, in the year 7092,

after the Russe accompt, which after our accompt was in the yeare

1584, unto foure Russes, that vsed to trade from Colmogro to

Pechora and other parts eastward; whose answer was:

By writings receiued from thee, as also by reports, wee vnderstand

thou wouldest have us seeke out the mouth of the riuer Ob; which we

are content to doe, and thou must giue therefore fiftie rubbles: it

is requisite to goe to seeke it out with two cochimaes or

companies, [78] and each cochima must haue ten men; and wee must

goe by the riuer Pechora vpwards in the spring, by the side of the

ice, as the ice swimmeth in the riuer, which will aske a fortnights

time; and then we must fall into Ouson riuer, and fall downe with

the streame before we come to Ob, a day and a night in the spring.

Then it will hold vs eight dayes to swimme downe the riuer Ob,

before we come to the mouth: therefore send vs a man that can

write; and assure thy selfe the mouth of Ob is deepe. On the Russe

side of Ob soiourne Samoeds, called Vgorskai and Sibierskie

Samoeds; and on the other side dwel another kind of Samoeds, called

Monganet or Mongaseisky Samoeds. We must passe by fiue castles that

stand on the riuer of Ob. The name of the first is Tesuoi-gorodok,

which standeth vpon the mouth of the riuer Padou. The second small

castle is Nosoro-gorodock, and it standeth hard vpon the side of

Ob. The third is called Necheiour­goskoy. The fourth is Charedmada.

The fift is Nadesneàa, that is to say, the castle of Comfort or

Trust, [79] and it standeth vpon the riuer Ob, lowermost of all the

former castles toward the sea.

Heretofore your people haue bin at the said riuer of Obs mouth with

a ship, and there was made shipwracke, and your people were slaine

by the Samoeds, which thought that they came to rob and subdue

them. The trees that grow by the riuer are firres, and a kinde of

white, soft, and light firre, which we call yell. The bankes on

both sides are very high, and the water not swift, but still and

deepe. Fish there are in it, as sturgeons, and cheri, and pidle,

and nelma, a dainty fish like white salmons, and moucoun, and sigi,

and ster­lidi; but salmons [80] there are none. Not farre distant

from the maine, at the mouth of Ob, there is an island, [81]

whereon resort many wilde beasts, as white beares, and the morses,

and such like. And the Samoeds tell vs, that in the winter season

they oftentimes finde there morses teeth. If you would haue us

trauell to seeke out the mouth of Ob by sea, we must goe by the

isles of Vaygats and Noua Zembla, and by the land of Matpheoue,

that is, by Matthewes Land. And assure thy selfe, that from Vaygats

to the mouth of Ob by sea, is but a small matter to sayle. Written

at Pechora, the yeare 7092, the twenty one of February.

Master Marsh also learned these distances of Places and Ports from

Caninos to Ob by sea.

From Caninos to the Bay of Medemske (which is somewhat to the east

of the riuer Pechora) is seuen days sayling. The bay of Medemsky is

ouer a day and a halfe sayling. From Medemske Sauorost to Carareca

is sixe dayes sayling. From Carska Bay to the farthest side of the

riuer Ob is nine dayes sayling. The Bay of Carska is from side to

side a day and a nights sayling.

He learned another way by Noua Zembla and Matthuschan Yar to Ob

more north-eastward. From Caninos to the iland of Colgoieue is a

day and a nights sayling. From Colgoieue to Noua Zembla are two

dayes sayling. There is a great osera or lake vpon Noua Zembla,

where wonderfull store of geese and swannes doe breede, and in

moulting time cast their feathers, which is about Saint Peters day;

and the Russes of Colmogro repaire thither yearely, and our English

men venture thither with them seuerall shares in money: they bring

home great quantitie of doune-feathers, dried swannes and geese,

beares skinnes, and fish, etc. From Naromske reca or riuer to

Mattuschan Yar is sixe dayes sayling. From Mattuschan Yar to the

Perouologi Teupla, that is to say, to the warme passage ouer-land,

compassing or sayling round about the sands, is thirteene dayes

sayling. And there is upon the sands, at a full sea, seuen fathomes

water, and two fathomes at a low water. The occasion of this

highing of the water, is the falling into the sea of the three

riuers, and the meeting of the two seas, to wit, the North Sea and

the East Sea, which make both high water and great sands. And you

must beware that you come not with your shippe near vnto the iland

by the riuer Ob. [82] From Mattuschan Yar to this iland is fiue

dayes sayling. Mattushan Yar is in some part fortie versts ouer,

and in some parts not past six versts ouer.

The aforesaid Anthonie Marsh sent one Bodan, his man, a Russe

borne, with the aforesaid foure Russes and a yong youth, a Samoed,

which was likewise his seruant, vpon the discouery of the riuer of

Ob by land, through the countrie of the Samoeds, with good store of

commodities to trafficke with the people. And these his seruents

made a rich voyage of it, and had bartered with the people about

the riuer of Ob for the valew of a thousand rubles in sables and

other fine furres. But the emperour hauing intelligence of this

discouery, and of the way that Bodan returned home by, by one of

his chiefe officers lay in waite for him, apprehended him, and

tooke from him the aforesaid thousand markes worth of sables and

other merchandises and deliuered them into the emperours treasurie,

being sealed vp, and brought the poore fellow Bodan to the citie of

Mosco, where he was committed to prison and whipped, and there

detained a long while after, but in the end released. Moreouer, the

emperours officers asked Anthonie Marsh how he durst presume to

deale in any such enterprise. To whom he answered, that, by the

priuileges granted to the English nation, no part of the emperours

dominions were exempted from the English to trade and trafficke in:

with which answere they were not so satisfied, but that they gaue

him a great checke, and forfeited all the aforesaid thousand markes

worth of goods, charging him not to proceede any further in that

action: whereby it seemeth they are very iealous that any Christian

should grow acquainted with their neighbours that border to the

north-east of their dominions; for that there is some great secret

that way, which they would reserue to themselves onely. Thus much I

vnderstood by Master Christopher Holmes.

From these documents we gather two very remarkable facts. The first is,

that, previously to the year 1584, an English vessel had crossed the

Sea of Kara, and penetrated as far eastward as the mouth of the river

Ob, where it was wrecked and its crew were murdered by the natives. The

second is, that, at that time, the best way from the White Sea and the

mouth of the Pechora by sea was deemed to be “by the isles of Vaygats

and Nouva Zembla, and by the Land of Matpheoue, that is, by Matthewes

Land”; this being manifestly the same as that which is described as

“another way by Noua Zembla and Mattuschan Yar to Ob, more

north-eastward” than that along the Russian coast, by Kanin Nos, the

mouth of the Pechora, and thence through Yugorsky Shar (“Pet’s Strait”)

and across the Gulf of Kara. And there can be no question that we have

here a record of the discovery of the entrance into the Sea of Kara by

the strait, at present known by the name of Matochkin Shar, in which

the Russian pilot Rosmuislov passed the winter of 1768–1769, and

through which he penetrated into that sea, though prevented by the ice

from proceeding far from the eastern coast of Novaya Zemlya. [83]

The singular description thus given by Marsh of this passage through

“Mattuschan Yar”, between Novaya Zemlya and “the Land of Matfeov

(Matpheoue)”, does not appear to have been hitherto noticed by any

writer except Dr. Hamel.[83] Unfortunately, that author, through what

would seem to be a systematic omission of all particular reference to

his sources of information, has rendered his work of little value as an

authority; inasmuch as, without having the means of appeal to the

originals, it is impossible to discriminate between the facts and

opinions gathered by him from others, and the conclusions, or sometimes

mere hypotheses, based by himself on such information.

On the present occasion, however, having the original statements of

Anthony Marsh before us, we can have no hesitation in availing

ourselves of Dr. Hamel’s comments on the same, and in agreeing with him

[84] that the present name Matochkin Shar appears to be merely a

corruption of Matyushin Shar; Matyusha itself being the diminutive of

the Russian proper-name Matvei, or Matthew, which name was probably

that of the first discoverer of this passage. It would also seem that

the expression “Mattuschan Yar”, made use of by Anthony Marsh, is

intended for this Matyushin Shar, and not, as Dr. Hamel supposes, [85]

for the coast (yar?) lying opposite to Novaya Zemlya; and that the

breadth attributed by Marsh to “Mattuschan Yar”, of “in some parts

forty versts over, and in some parts not past six versts over”, is

meant to apply to the supposed breadth of the passage itself.

There can, further, be no doubt that Dr. Hamel is right in his

conclusion,—indeed, it is self-evident from Marsh’s statement,—that

towards the close of the sixteenth century, and previously to the time

when the Dutch visited those parts, Novaya Zemlya was looked on as an

island extending from Burrough’s Strait (Karskoi Vorota) as far

northwards only as “Mattuschan Yar” (Matyushin Shar): and that the land

lying to the north of this latter passage was not deemed to be a part

of Novaya Zemlya, but had a distinct designation, namely, Matthew’s

Land, which in Russian would be Matvyéeva Zemlya,—an expression which

corresponds precisely with Marsh’s “Land of Matfeov (Matpheoue)”.

How this Matvyéeva Zemlya, together with Matyushin Shar, should have

been lost from our maps, may be easily explained, though not altogether

in the way attempted by Dr. Hamel. [86] The accompanying fac-simile of

a map drawn by Isaac Massa, and published in 1612 by Hessel Gerard, in

a small volume [87] now very rare, contains (as will be seen) a

delineation of Novaya Zemlya, there shown as an island of not large

extent, and the surrounding regions. The strongly marked entire line

along the western side of Novaya Zemlya, is that of the coast as

furnished to Massa by his Russian authorities: the faint dotted line is

that of the coast as corrected by himself or Gerard from Dutch sources

of information. The proper names, as written in strong and faint

characters respectively, indicate, in like manner, the several sources

from which such names were derived. In this map a broad channel is laid

down between the island of Novaya Zemlya and a terra innominata to the

north of it, to which channel is given the name of “Matsei of tsar”,

which was evidently intended for “Matſeiof tsar”, which again must be

taken to have been written instead of “Matfeiof tsar”, through a mere

clerical error. [88] The faint dotted line along the west coast of

Novaya Zemlya shows that it had been carefully and (considering the

time when it was drawn) very accurately corrected; for we there see

plainly laid down the Mezhdusharsky Ostrov and the two inlets—Kostin

Shar and Podryesov Shar—between which that island lies, and from which

it derives its appellation. [89]

Had the name Kostin Shar, in any of its chameleon forms, [90] been

retained in its proper place, at the same time that the new name

Matfeiof tsar was introduced to designate the more northerly

channel,—and the map constructed by Gerrit de Veer from William

Barents’s observations, does not warrant the former’s being carried

much higher up than the 71st parallel,—there would most probably have

been no occasion to notice this grave error. But the passage between

Novaya Zemlya (Proper) and Matvyéeva Zemlya not having been observed by

Barents and his companions, and De Veer having in his journal expressed

the opinion that “Constinsarck” goes “through to the Tartarian Sea”,

[91] the corrector of Massa’s map was led to suppose that this passage

must be the same as the “Matfeiof tsar” of the Russians, and he

accordingly placed over the latter the name “Costint sarch” in faint

letters. That in subsequent maps the former name should have been

omitted, and the latter alone retained, is only natural: it is the

usual progress of error. Accordingly, in Gerard’s map of Russia,

dedicated to the emperor Michael Fedorowich in 1614, [92] we find

“Costint sarch” made to extend right across and through the land from

west to east, its latitude being, however, brought down to nearly the

same as in Gerrit de Veer’s map, from which the western coast-line of

Novaya Zemlya is, in general, taken, while the more northerly passage

is altogether lost sight of.

Still, the existence of this latter passage continued to be known more

than a century later. For, in the year 1705, Witsen published in the

second volume of his Noord en Oost Tartarye, a rough and, for the most

part, very incorrect map of the Samoede country, obtained by him from

Theunis (Antonis) Ys, the master of a trading vessel, who had visited

Novaya Zemlya; in which map the southern portion of that country is

represented as an island, cut off from the northern and far larger

portion by a broad channel, running from north-west to south-east, and

bearing the name of “Matiskin jar, of Mathys-stroom”; with respect to

which channel Witsen remarks, [93] that “it is a passage and

thoroughfare, and not an inlet or river”.

Notwithstanding the length of time during which the name has been lost,

there does not appear to be any good reason why the original and

correct designation of Matthew’s Strait, Matvyéeva Shar (“Matfeiof

tsar”), or Matyushin Shar, should not be restored to the channel

between the two islands, instead of its continuing to bear the modern

corrupted form of the latter name, Matochkin Shar.

It likewise seems only right that the name Matthew’s Land (the “Land of

Matpheoue”) or Matvyéeva Zemlya, should not be lost from our maps; and

it is therefore proposed to appropriate that designation to the small

island extending from Matyushin Shar (“Matochkin Shar”) northwards as

far as the channel, in about 74° N. lat., running across the land from

Cross Bay to Rosmuislov’s “Unknown Bay”.

As to the name Novaya Zemlya, there can be no doubt that it ought still

to continue the generic appellation of the entire series of islands, of

which the country usually known by that name is now found to consist.

But, at the same time, as it is highly expedient that each of those

islands should possess some distinctive specific designation, there is

a propriety in restricting the title of Novaya Zemlya (Proper), as it

appears in the map of Isaac Massa and Theunis Ys, to the southernmost

island of the series, lying between the Kara Gate or Burroughs Strait

to the south and Matyushin Shar or Matthew’s Strait to the north.

The establishment of the English in the White Sea, and their

explorations to the eastwards, soon induced others to become their

competitors; and of these it is not unnatural that the Russians

themselves should have been among the first. Accordingly, we find that

a short time previously to the year 1581, “two famous men”, named

Yacovius and Unekius—which, as Lütke observes, [94] are manifestly the

Latinised forms of the Russian names Yakov and Anikyi—employed a

Swedish shipwright to build for them two ships in the river Dwina, and

then sent one Alferius, by birth a Netherlander (“natione Belga”), to

Antwerp to engage pilots and mariners, with a view to their employment

on board those ships in discoveries towards the north-east. This

Alferius—or Oliver, as Hakluyt translates the name—was the bearer of a

letter from John Balak to Gerard Mercator, which letter, written in

Latin, was published by Hakluyt in his Principal Navigations, [95]

together with an English translation.

On account of the very curious matter bearing on our subject which this

letter contains, it is thought advisable to reprint it here in its

English form, and also to give the original Latin in the Appendix, [96]

for the convenience of reference.

To the famous and renowned Gerardus Mercator, his reuerend and

singular friend, at Duisburg in Cliueland, these be deliuered.

Calling to remembrance (most deare friend) what exceeding delight

you tooke, at our being together, in reading the geographicall

writings of Homer, Strabo, Aristotle, Plinie, Dion, and the rest, I

reioyced not a little that I happened vpon such a messenger as the

bearer of these presents (whom I do especially recommend vnto you),

who arriued lately here at Arusburg, upon the riuer of Osella. This

mans experience (as I am of opinion) will greatly auaile you to the

knowledge of a certaine matter, which hath bene by you so

vehemently desired and so curiously laboured for, and concerning

the which the late cosmographers do hold such varietie of opinions:

namely, of the discouerie of the huge promontorie of Tabin, and of

the famous and rich countreys subiect unto the emperor of Cathay,

and that by the northeast Ocean Sea. The man is called Alferius,

[97] being by birth a Netherlander, who, for certaine yeeres, liued

captiue in the dominions of Russia, vnder two famous men, Yacouius

and Vnekius, by whom he was sent to Antwerp, to procure skilfull

pilots and mariners (by propounding liberall rewards), to go vnto

the two famous personages aforesayd, which two had set a Sweden

shipwright on worke to build two ships for the same discouerie,

vpon the riuer of Dwina. The passage vnto Cathay by the northeast

(as he declareth the matter, albeit without arte, yet very aptly,

as you may well perceiue, which I request you diligently to

consider), is, without doubt, very short and easie. This very man

himselfe hath trauelled to the riuer of Ob, both by land, through

the countreys of the Samoeds and of Sibier, and also by sea, along

the coast of the riuer Pechora, eastward. Being encouraged by this

his experience, he is fully resolued with himselfe to conduct a

barke laden with merchandize (the keele whereof hee will not haue

to drawe ouer much water) to the Baie of Saint Nicholas, in Russia,

being furnished with all things expedient for such a discouerie,

and with a new supply of victuals at his arrivall there; and also

to hire into his companie certaine Russes best knowen vnto

himselfe, who can perfectly speake the Samoeds language, and are

acquainted with the riuer of Ob, as hauing frequented those places

yeere by yeere.

Whereupon, about the ende of May, hee is determined to saile from

the Baie of S. Nicholas eastward, by the maine of Ioughoria, and so

to the easterly parts of Pechora, to the island which is called

Dolgoia. And here also hee is purposed to obserue the latitudes, to

suruey and describe the countrey, to sound the depth of the sea,

and to note the distances of places, where and so oft as occasion

shall be offered. And forasmuch as the Baie of Pechora is a most

conuenient place both for harbour and victuall, as well in their

going foorth as in their returne home, in regard of ice and

tempest, he is determined to bestow a day in sounding the flats,

and in searching out the best enterance for ships: in which place,

heretofore, he found the water to be but fiue foote deepe, howbeit

he doubteth not but that there are deeper chanels: and then he

intendeth to proceed on along those coasts for the space of three

or foure leagues, leauing the island called Vaigats almost in the

middle way betweene Vgoria and Noua Zembla: then also to passe by a

certaine baie betweene Vaigats and Ob, trending southerly into the

land of Vgoria, whereinto fall two small riuers, called Marmesia

and Carah, [98] vpon the which riuers doe inhabite an other

barbarous and sauage nation of the Samoeds. He found many flats in

that tract of land, and many cataracts or ouerfals of water, yet

such as hee was able to saile by. When hee shall come to the riuer

of Ob, which riuer (as the Samoeds report) hath seuentie mouthes,

which, by reason of the huge breadth thereof, containing many and

great islands, which are inhabited with sundry sortes of people, no

man scarcely can well discouer; because he will not spend too much

time, he purposeth to search three or foure, at the most, of the

mouthes thereof, those chiefly which shall be thought most

commodious by the aduise of the inhabitants, of whom hee meaneth to

haue certaine with him in his voyage, and meaneth to employ three

or foure boates of that countrey in search of these mouthes, as

neere as possibly he can to the shore, which, within three dayes

iourney of the sea, is inhabited, that he may learne where the

riuer is best nauigable. If it so fall out that he may sayle vp the

riuer Ob against the streame, and mount up to that place which

heretofore, accompanied with certaine of his friends, he passed

vnto by land through the countrey of Siberia, which is about twelue

dayes iourney from the sea, where the riuer Ob falleth into the

sea, which place is in the continent neere the riuer Ob, and is

called Yaks Olgush, borowing his name from that mightie riuer which

falleth into the riuer Ob; then, doubtlesse, hee would conceive

full hope that hee had passed the greatest difficulties: for the

people dwelling there about report, which were three dayes sayling

onely from that place beyond the riuer Ob, whereby the bredth

thereof may be gathered (which is a rare matter there, because that

many rowing with their boates of leather one dayes iourney onely

from the shore, haue bene cast away in tempest, hauing no skill to

guide themselves neither by sunne nor starre), that they haue seene

great vessels, laden with rich and precious merchandize, brought

downe that great riuer by black or swart people. They call that

riuer Ardoh, which falleth into the lake of Kittay, which they call

Paraha, [99] whereupon bordereth that mightie and large nation

which they call Carrah Colmak, which is none other than the nation

of Cathay. [100] There, if neede require, he may fitly winter and

refresh himselfe and his, and seeke all things which he shall stand

in need of; which, if it so fall out, he doubteth not but in the

meane while he shall be much furthered in searching and learning

out many things in that place. Howbeit, he hopeth that hee shall

reach to Cathaya that very sommer, unlesse he be hindered by great

abundance of ice at the mouth of the riuer of Ob, which is

sometimes more, and sometimes lesse. If it so fall out, hee then

purposeth to returne to Pechora, and there to winter; or if he

cannot doe so neither, then hee meaneth to returne to the riuer of

Dwina, whither he will reach in good time enough, and so the next

spring following to proceed on his voyage. One thing in due place I

forgate before.

The people which dwell at that place called Yaks Olgush, affirme

that they haue heard their forefathers say that they have heard

most sweete harmonie of bels [101] in the lake of Kitthay, and that

they haue seene therein stately and large buildings: and when they

make mention of the people named Carrah Colmak (this countrey is

Cathay), they fetch deepe sighes, and holding vp their hands, they

looke vp to heaven, signifying, as it were, and declaring the

notable glory and magnificence of that nation. I would this Oliuer

were better seene in cosmographie; it would greatly further his

experience, which doubtlesse is very great. Most deare friend, I

omit many things, and I wish you should heare the man himselfe,

which promised me faithfully that he would visite you in his way at

Duisburg; for he desireth to conferre with you, and doubtlesse you

shall very much further the man. He seemeth sufficiently furnished

with money and friends, wherein, and in other offices of curtesie,

I offered him my furtherance, if it had pleased him to haue vsed

me. The Lord prosper the mans desires and forwardnesse, blesse his

good beginnings, further his proceedings, and grant vnto him most

happy issue. Fare you well, good sir and my singular friend. From

Arusburgh, vpon the river of Ossella, the 20 of February, 1581.

Yours wholy at commandement,

John Balak.

It is not known what success attended this Alferius or Oliver in his

scheme, or what subsequently became of him; unless, indeed, it be

assumed that he is the Oliver Brunel (or Bunel), concerning whom

several unconnected notices are met with, and with respect to whom

various conflicting opinions have been entertained. The early history

of the discovery of Novaya Zemlya would hardly be complete were these

notices and opinions passed over in silence.

The first mention made of this individual is by Gerrit de Veer, when

speaking, in page 30 of the present work, of “a great creeke, which

William Barents iudged to be the place where Oliuer Brunel had been

before, called Costincsarch”.

The next is Henry Hudson, who, on his second voyage to discover a

passage to the East Indies by the north-east, in 1608, having entered

into this same creek, in the hope of its affording him a way through

into the Sea of Kara, expresses himself as follows:—“This place vpon

Noua Zembla is another then that which the Hollanders call Costing

Sarch, discouered by Oliuer Brownell: and William Barentsons

obseruation doth witnesse the same. It is layd in plot by the

Hollanders out of his true place too farre north; to what end I know

not, unlesse to make it hold course with the compasse, not respecting

the variation.” [102]

In this, however, Hudson was mistaken. The creek into which he entered

was really Kostin Shar; and his error in supposing it to be another

“than that which the Hollanders call Costing Sarch”, arose from the

circumstance that in the Dutch maps that name had been removed

northwards to Matfeiov-tsar (Matvyéeva Shar) or Matyushin Shar, and

made to supersede the original name. The whole of Hudson’s account of

his visit to Novaya Zemlya is of so interesting a character, that it is

deemed deserving of a place in the Appendix to the present work, [103]

especially as it has hitherto been either overlooked or else made use

of to very little good purpose.

In 1611, three years after Hudson’s visit to Novaya Zemlya, Josiah

Logan went on a voyage to the Pechora, and on the 27th of August of

that year we find the following entry in his journal, which, like that

of Hudson, is published by Purchas: [104]—“We came to an iland called

Mezyou Sharry, being sixtie versts to the eastwards of Suatinose, and

it is about ten versts in length and two versts broad. At the east end

thereof Oliver Brunell was carried into harbour by a Russe, where he

was land-locked, hauing the iland on the one side and the mayne on the

other.” It is here manifest that Logan’s “Mezyou Sharry” Island is the

Mezhdusharsky Ostrov, or “the island between the two straits”, of the

Russians. [105]

From these several statements of three seamen, who visited Kostin Shar

at different periods between the years 1594 and 1611, the only facts to

be elicited are, that, at some time previous to the former date, this

strait was first discovered by some well-known individual, named Oliver

Brunel, who was there exposed to some danger or difficulty, from which

he was rescued by the crew of a Russian vessel. That he was, however,

subsequently lost at the mouth of the river Pechora is made known to us

in the work of Hessel Gerard already referred to. [106]

As this work of Gerard is but little known, the commencement of the

author’s Preface (Prolegomena) shall be reprinted here, both on account

of its clearing up the history of Oliver Brunel, and also because it

shows the important bearing which his adventure had on the subsequent

voyages of the Dutch, which form the subject of the following pages.

“Lucri et utilitatis spes animos hominum nunquam non excitavit ad

peregrinas regiones nationesque lustrandas. Ita pretiosæ illæ,

nobis a mercatoribus Russis allatæ pelles, mercatores nostrates

inflammarunt acri quadam cupidine incognitas nobis ipsorum terras,

si fieri posset, peragrandi. Profuit ipsis quadam tenus hac in

parte iter quoddam à Russis conscriptum, Moscovia Colmogroviam,

atque inde Petzoram (ubi incolæ anno Christi 1518 Christianam fidem

amplexi sunt) hinc porro ad fluvium Obi, pauloque ulterius ducens.

Quod quidem plurima falsa veris admiscet, puta de Slatibaba anu

illa (ut fertur) aurea, eiusque filijs, necnon monstruosis illis

trans ipsum Obi hominibus. [107] Transtulit verò descriptionem hanc

Russicam, eamque suis de regionibus Muscovitarum libris inseruit

Sigismundus ab Herberstein, Imperatoris Maximiliani orator.

Ediditque posteà tabulam Russiæ Antonius quidam Wiedus, adjutus ab

Iohanne à Latski, Principe quondam Russo, et ob tumultus post

obitum Magni Ducis Iohannis Basilij in Russia excitatos, in

Poloniam profugo. Quæ tabula I. cuidam Copero, Senatori Gedanensi,

dicata, Russicisque et Latinis descriptionibus aucta, in lucem

prodiit apud Wildam anno Christi 1555. [108] Aliam quoque Russiæ

tabulam ediderunt post modum Angli, qui in tractu illo negotiati

fuerunt. Atque hæ quidam tabulæ et qualescumque descriptiones,

quæque præterea de regionibus hisce comperta sunt, elicuerunt

Oliverium quendam Bunellum, domo Bruxella, uti conscenso navigio

Euchusano, animum induxerit eò sese conferre. Vbi aliquandiu

vagatus, et pellium pretiosarum, vitri Russici, crystallique

montani, ut vocant, adfatim nactus, omnium opum suarum scaphæ

commissarum in undis fluvij Petzoræ triste fecit naufragium. Quæ

tum Anglorum, tum hujus Bunelli, qui et Costinsarcam Novæ Zemlæ

lustraverat, navigationes, cum et Batavis nostris, opum Chinensium

Cathaicarumque odore allectis, animum accendissent, nobiles et

prepotentes Provinciarum Fœderatarum Ordines, duas naves, ductore

Iohanne Hugonis à Linschot, versus fretum quod vulgò Weygats,

totidemque ductore Guilielmo Bernardi, suasu D. Petri Plancij,

recto supra Novam Zemblam cursu sententionem versus ituras,

destinarunt.”

Oliver Brunel, or “Bunel”, was therefore no Englishman, but a native of

Brussels; and if the particulars thus recorded of him and of the

motives of his enterprise be correctly stated, he would scarcely seem

to be the Alferius of Balak’s letter to Mercator. Still, the point

cannot be looked on as absolutely decided. One further remark is

necessary with respect to the spelling of his name. On the one hand, it

will be seen that, according to De Veer and Logan, it is “Brunel” or

“Brunell”, while Hudson makes it to be “Brownell”, which latter may,

however, be regarded as merely a broad pronunciation of the word, or

perhaps an attempt to give it a vernacular and significant form;—a

process with respect to proper names not unusual among seamen of all

nations. On the other hand, Gerard writes “Bunel”. But this form cannot

be allowed to stand in opposition to the conjoint authority of the

three seamen, all writing separately and without concert; and we may

quite reasonably conjecture the r to have been left out by Gerard,

through some clerical or typographical error.

Gerard’s work must have come to the knowledge of Purchas soon after its

publication; for, in the year 1625, it is referred to by the latter

[109] as his authority for the following statement:—“The Dutch

themselues [110] write that after the English Russian trade, one Oliuer

Bunell, moued with hope of gaine, went from Enckhuysen to Pechora,

where he lost all by shipwracke, hauing discouered Costinsarca in Noua

Zemla. These nauigations of the English, and that of Bunell, and the

hopes of China and Cathay, caused the States Generall to send forth two

shippes, vnder the command of Hugo Linschoten, to the Streights of

Wey-gates, and two others, vnder William Bernards, by the perswasion of

P. Plancius, to goe right northwards from Noua Zemla.”

Nearly a century later, Witsen, in his oft-cited work, [111] writes as

follows:—“Het zijn veele jaren geleden, en lange voor Willem

Barents-zoons reis, dat eenen Olivier Bunel, met een scheepje van

Enkhuizen uitgevaren, deze rivier [Petsora] heeft bezocht, daer hy veel

pelterye, Rusch glas, en bergkristal vergaderd hadde; doch is aldaer

komen te blyven.” Witsen does not cite any authority for this

statement; but it bears internal evidence of having been taken from

Gerard, whose work we know he had before him. That both he and Purchas

should have written the name “Bunel”, and not “Brunel”, is perfectly

natural, and adds nothing to the weight of evidence in favour of the

former spelling.

The next writer to be mentioned is Johann Reinhold Forster, who, in his

Voyages and Discoveries in the North, [112] after referring to De

Veer’s statement respecting Oliver Brunel,—whom, however, he styles

“Bennel”, on what authority it is impossible to say—adds in a note:—“It

is manifest that the navigators mentioned here, who had been in Nova

Zembla previous to Barentz’s arrival there, were Englishmen; for the

name Oliver Bennel is entirely English, and the name of the inlet,

which Barentz calls Constint Sarch, can hardly have been any other than

Constant Search; but in which of the known voyages of the English into

these parts this place was thus named, or whether Oliver Bennel made a

voyage for the sole purpose of making discoveries, or was cast away

here in his way to other regions, cannot easily be determined, for want

of proper information on the subject.”

The absurdity of Forster’s derivation of the name Kostin Shar is

manifest from the explanation of it given in page 30 (note 4) of the

present work. And as to the allegation that “the name Oliver Bennel is

entirely English”, it could only have been made by a foreigner. On the

contrary, it may be asserted that such a name as “Bennel” is altogether

un-English; and were it not for the cosmopolitan character of our

English surnames, it might—had it really been that of the individual in

question—in itself be fairly taken as evidence that he was not an

Englishman. With much more reason might we, at the present day, claim

“Brunel” as an English name. Probably Forster had in his mind the

“entirely English” name of Stephen Bennet, the well-known walrus-hunter

on Bear (Cherie) Island.

But the confusion as to Oliver Brunel does not rest here. Sir John

Barrow, in his work already cited, [113] says:—“The Dutch themselves

admit, that an Englishman of the name of Brunell or Brownell, ‘moved

with the hope of gain, went from Enkhuysen to Pechora’, where he lost

all by shipwreck, after he had been on the coast of Nova Zembla, and

given the name of Costin-sarca (qu. Coasting-search ?) to a bay

situated in about 71½°.” And in another place, [114] the same writer

speaks of Oliver Brunel as “an Englishman, of whom a vague mention only

is made by the Dutch.”

With the statements of the various writers who preceded Barrow before

us, we can see at a glance, though no authorities are cited by him,

that he took that of Purchas as his basis, modifying it by means of

those of Hudson, Logan, and Forster. It is to be regretted that he did

not refer to the original Dutch authority cited by Purchas.

The last modern writer who treats of Oliver Brunel is Dr. Hamel, who,

assuming him to be the Alferius of Balak, makes him, in his work

already cited, [115] the subject of an hypothetical biographical

memoir, beginning with the words, “Ich finde es wahrscheinlich”, but

without seeming to be aware of what Gerard says respecting his hero,

except so far only as it is repeated by Witsen. By this writer,

therefore, no additional light is thrown on the subject now under

consideration; and, in fact, it is to the original authority, after

all, that we must revert for the only information that is really

available and useful.

From this authority, then, we learn that Oliver Brunel, a native of

Brussels, went in a vessel belonging to the town of Enkhuysen on a

trading voyage into the Russian seas, where, after collecting a

valuable cargo, he was lost; and that his enterprise (though

unsuccessful), together with those of the English in the same quarter,

induced the Dutch to set on foot the memorable expeditions which form

the subject of the following pages. If this person was really the

Alferius who was recommended by Balak to Mercator in the year 1581, he

must subsequently have been engaged in the Russian trade for several

years before his unlucky end; or else Gerard, writing in 1612, would

surely not have named him as an immediate cause of an undertaking which

was not projected till 1593.

It is not, however, to be imagined that the Netherlanders—we can

scarcely speak of the “Dutch” at the earliest period to which we are

now adverting—had no previous connexion with the northern coasts of

Russia, though it is true that that connexion was then but of recent

date. For, as is stated by Edge, the English Russia Company having

“made their first discoverie in the yeere 1553, there was neuer heard

of any Netherlander that frequented those seas vntil the yeere 1578. At

which time they first began to come to Cola, and within a yeere or two

after, one Iohn de Whale [de Walle], a Netherlander, came to the Bay of

Saint Nicholas, being drawne thither by the perswasion of some English,

for their better meane of interloping; which was the first man of that

nation that euer was seene there.” [116] It was this same John de

Walle, who was afterwards present at the coronation of the Emperor

Fedor Ivanovich, at Moscow, on the 10th of June, 1584, when he had a

dispute with Jerome Horsey, the English ambassador, as to precedency,

which was decided by the emperor in favour of the latter. He is

described by Horsey as “a famous merchant of Netherland, being newly

come to Mosco, who gaue himselfe out to be the king of Spaines

subiect.” [117]

It is unnecessary, for the consideration of the subject before us, to

enter into any details respecting the commercial and political

relations with Russia of the Netherlanders generally, in the first

instance, and eventually of the natives of the United

Provinces—commonly, though not very correctly, called the Dutch—in

particular. It is sufficient to remark, that after their first entrance

into the White Sea, they soon became powerful rivals of the English in

the trade with Russia, and that it was also not long before their

attention was directed to the extension of their commerce to the

eastward of that country, and to the endeavour to reach China and the

Indian Seas by a passage to the north-east.

Among the earliest and most eminent Dutch merchants trading to the

White Sea, was Balthazar Moucheron, of the town of Middelburg, in

Zeelandt. He it was, who, in the year 1593, in conjunction with Jacob

Valck, treasurer of the same town, and Dr. Francis Maelson, of

Enkhuysen, syndic of West Friesland, conceived the project of fitting

out two fly-boats (vlyboots), each of between fifty and sixty lasts, or

about one hundred tons, burthen, armed and provisioned for eight

months, being one from each of those towns, to attempt a voyage to

China and India by the way of the Northern Ocean. In this enterprise

they were assisted by the courts of admiralty of those two provinces,

having first obtained the necessary permission from the higher

authorities. [118]

The two vessels thus fitted up were the Swan (Swane), [119] of Ter

Veere, in Zeelandt, under the command of Cornelis Corneliszoon Nai (or

Nay), a burgher of Enkhuysen, who had for some years been a pilot or

master of a merchantman in the Russian trade, in Moucheron’s service,

and was well acquainted with the northern coasts of Europe; having with

him, as under-pilot or mate, Pieter Dirckszoon Strickbolle, also of

Enkhuysen, and, like Nai, in the service of Moucheron. The other vessel

was the Mercury (Mercurius), of Enkhuysen, under the command of Brant

Ysbrantszoon, otherwise Brant Tetgales, a skilful and experienced

seaman, with Claes Corneliszoon as his mate or under-pilot; both being

likewise natives of Enkhuysen. As supercargo and interpreter on board

the Swan went François de la Dale, a relative of Moucheron, who had

resided several years in Russia, and as additional interpreter,

“Meester” Christoffel Splindler, a Slavonian by birth, who had studied

in the university of Leyden; while on board the Mercury the supercargo

was John Hugh van Linschoten, [120] who was likewise engaged to keep a

journal of their proceedings.

This movement on the part of the merchants of Middelburg and Enkhuysen

had the effect of inducing those of Amsterdam to desire to participate

in the enterprise, or, it should rather be said, to undertake one on

their own account, having the same general object in view, but adopting

a somewhat different mode of carrying it out. Instead of attempting a

way to China by passing between Novaya Zemlya and the Russian

continent, the Amsterdammers, at the instance of the celebrated

cosmographer and astronomer, Peter Plancius, decided on sending their

vessel round to the north of Novaya Zemlya, as offering a far easier

and preferable route. This difference of opinion between the promoters

of the two parts of the first expedition must be borne in mind, as

explaining several circumstances which, in the course of our subsequent

narrative, will have to be adverted to. A third vessel was accordingly

fitted out by the merchants of Amsterdam, aided by the court of

admiralty there. It was of the same size and character as the other

two, and like Tetgales’s vessel was named the Mercury (Mercurius);

[121] its command being entrusted to William Barents, [122] who took

with him also a fishing-boat belonging to Ter Schelling. [123]

Before proceeding further, a few words must be said respecting the

individual whose name has become inseparably associated with the three

memorable expeditions, of which the first is now under consideration.

Willem Barentszoon—that is to say, William, the son of Barent or

Bernard—was a native of Ter Schelling, an island belonging to the

province of Friesland, and lying to the north-east of Vlieland or

’tVlie. He was also a burgher of Amsterdam. Of his family and early

life no particulars have been handed down to us. But that he was not of

any considerable family is manifest from his having, like most of his

countrymen in the lower, or even the middle ranks of life, no other

surname than the patronymic, Barents-zoon. He possessed, however, a

good, if not a learned education, as is proved by the translation made

by him from the High Dutch into his native tongue of the “Treatise of

Iver Boty, a Gronlander,” which together with a note written by him on

the tides in the Sea of Kara, was found by Purchas “amongst Master

Hakluyt’s paper,” and preserved by him, and which, following that

laborious collector’s example, we have “thought good to adde hither for

Barents or Barentsons sake.” [124] He appears also to have written the

narrative of the first voyage, which was published by Gerrit de Veer,

and of which a translation is given in the present volume. Nothing to

that effect is stated by De Veer; but as the latter did not go on that

voyage, he must necessarily have obtained the particulars of it from

some one who did, and from Linschoten’s statement [125] it may be

inferred that this was Barents himself.

But whatever may have been Barents’s general education, it is

unquestionable that he was a man of considerable capacity and talent,

and that as a seaman he was possessed of far more than ordinary

acquirements. By Linschoten he is described as having great knowledge

of the science of navigation, and as being a practical seaman of much

experience and ability; his astronomical observations have stood the

severest tests of modern science; while his feats of seamanship will

bear comparison with those of the ablest and most daring of our modern

navigators. Of his great determination, perseverance, and indomitable

courage, some remarkable instances will be adduced; and that his

personal character, and general conduct, were such as to secure to him

the respect, confidence, and attachment of those who sailed with him,

is clearly manifest from various expressions in Gerrit de Veer’s simple

narrative, and from its tone throughout.

The name of this able navigator has been written in various ways. The

Dutch usually have Barentsz., which has been adopted in the notes on

Phillip’s text in the present volume, it being the usual native

contraction of the full name, Barentszoon. In the Amsterdam Latin and

French versions of De Veer’s work, the name is translated “filius

Bernardi,” and “fils de Bernard”. Purchas and other early English

writers, have Barents or Barentson, and sometimes even Bernardson. The

first of these forms—namely, Barents—is most conformable to the genius

of our language (in which we have Williams and Williamson, Richards and

Richardson, etc.), at the same time that it accords with that of the

Dutch, in which language this form of name is not uncommon. Barentz and

Barentzen, as it has not unfrequently been written, are incorrect.

On the 4th of June, 1594, the little fleet lying off Huysdunen, by the

Texel, the commander of the Swan, Cornelis Nai, was named admiral or

commodore, and an agreement made [126] that they should keep company as

far as Kildin, on the coast of Lapland. On the following morning, being

Sunday, the admiral set sail, commanding the others to follow; but as

the Amsterdammers said they were not quite ready, they remained behind,

though, as appears from their journal, [127] they too sailed in the

course of the same day. On the 21st, the Mercury of Enkhuysen arrived

at Kildin, on the 22nd, the Swan, and on the 23rd, Barents’ two

vessels. On the 29th of the same month Barents left Kildin on his

separate voyage to Novaya Zemlya, arranging with the others that, in

case they should not meet beyond that country, but should have to

return, they would wait for one another at Kildin till the end of

September. On the 2nd of July the ships of Nai and Tetgales took their

departure for Vaigats.

For want of taking a comprehensive view of this, and the subsequent

voyages in which Barents was engaged, most writers on the subject have

fallen into considerable error. By some the two expeditions of Nai and

Barents have been treated as totally distinct; while by others Barents

has been regarded as the chief commander of the whole. Thus, Blaeu, in

the first part of his Grand Atlas, [128] published at Amsterdam in

1667, speaks of this expedition in the following terms:—“Dans cette

grande entreprise, la ville d’Amsterdam, aujourd’huy la plus puissante

des sept Provinces unies, se porta des premières, et fournit deux

vaisseaux, qui furent accompagnez d’un troisiesme de Zelande et d’un

quatrième d’Enchuse, tous quatre excellemment equippez, et qui eurent

pour principal gouverneur et pilote tres-expert Guillaume fils de

Bernard.” It would be a mere loss of time to refer to what other

writers have said on the subject.

The voyage of William Barents in the Mercury of Amsterdam, forms the

subject of the “First Part” of the present volume. Without entering

here into any needless repetition of the particulars of this voyage, it

shall be merely remarked that on the 4th of July, Barents first came in

sight of Novaya Zemlya in 73° 25′ N. lat., near a low projecting point,

called by him Langenes, whence he proceeded northwards along the coast,

till, on the 10th of the same month, he passed Cape Nassau. [129] Thus

far he had met with no obstacle to his progress. But during the night

of the 13th he fell in with immense quantities of ice, and here his

difficulties began. After vainly endeavouring to make his way through

the ice, he, on the 19th of the month, found himself again close to the

land about Cape Nassau. [130] Nothing daunted, he once more struggled

forwards, and at length, on the last day of July, reached the Islands

of Orange. Here, “after he had taken all that paine, and finding that

he could hardly get through to accomplish and ende his intended voyage,

his men also beginning to bee weary and would saile no further, they

all together agreed to returne back againe.” [131] On the following

day, therefore, they commenced their homeward voyage, and on the 3rd of

August they reached Cape Nassau.

From a perusal of the mere dry details of their various courses in this

part of their voyage, which are nearly all that is recorded in their

journal, no idea could be formed of the difficulties they had to

contend with, or the amount of labour actually performed. It is only

when their track is laid down on the map,—as it has been, most

carefully and with all possible accuracy, by Mr. Augustus

Petermann,—that their enormous exertions become apparent. The result is

really astonishing. Their voyage from Cape Nassau to the Orange islands

and back occupied them from the 10th of July till the 3rd of August,

being twenty-five days. During this period, Barents put his ship about

eighty-one times, and sailed 1,546 geographical miles, according to the

distances noted in the journal; to which, however, must be added the

courses sailed along the coast, and also those which in some instances

have been omitted to be specified, so that it may be reasonably assumed

that the entire distance gone over was not much (if anything) short of

1,700 miles. This is equal to the distance from the Thames to the

northern extremity of Spitzbergen, or from Cape Nassau to Cape Yakan,

not far from Bering’s Strait. And all this was performed in a vessel of

one hundred tons’ burthen, accompanied by a fishing smack!

One remarkable fact must not be omitted to be mentioned. On laying down

Barents’s track from the bearings and distances given in his journal,

from the 10th to the 19th of July, being the interval between his

passing Cape Nassau, and being driven back again to that point,—during

which period he tacked about in numerous directions, and sailed more

than six hundred miles,—Mr. Petermann found it to agree so accurately,

that its termination fell precisely upon Cape Nassau, without any

difference whatever. This extreme precision can hardly be regarded as

anything but a singular coincidence. Nevertheless, when viewed in

connexion with Barents’s other tracks, and with his observations

generally, as tested by the recent explorations of Lütke and other

modern navigators, it must still remain a striking proof of the

wonderful ability and accuracy of that extraordinary man.

After passing Cape Nassau, Barents continued his course southwards

without any remarkable incident, till on the 15th of August he reached

the islands of “Matfloe and Dolgoy,”—Matvyeéa Ostrov and Dolgoi Ostrov

of the Russians, meaning Matthew’s Island and Long Island,—where he

fell in with Nai and Tetgales, who had just arrived there, on their

return from the Sea of Kara through Yugorsky Shar (Pet’s Strait), to

which, with pardonable national vanity, they had given the name of the

Strait of Nassau. Their report was that they had sailed fifty or sixty

Dutch miles (200 or 240 geographical miles) to the eastward of that

strait, and in their opinion had reached about the longitude of the

river Ob, and were not far from Cape Tabin (Taimur), the furthest point

of Tartary, whence the coast trended to the south-east, and afterwards

to the south, towards the kingdom of Cathay. [132]

After much rejoicing on both sides at their happy meeting, the whole

fleet now sailed homewards in company, and on the 14th of September

came to the Doggers Sand, whence Nai, in the Swan, proceeded to

Middelburg, whilst the other vessels passed by the Texel to their

several ports.

The reports made by Barents and Linschoten of the results of their

respective voyages were very different in character. The former, though

anything but an illiterate man, could make no pretensions to

scholarship. The latter was an accomplished scholar, as is plainly

shown by his narrative of this first and of the second voyage (which

will be more particularly noticed in the sequel), and by his other

published works; and though the vessels which he accompanied had not in

reality accomplished so much as those of Barents, yet he appears to

have had no difficulty in convincing their employers and the higher

authorities that they had been not far from the realisation of the

object of their voyage.

That, in the estimation of the Amsterdammers, Linschoten represented

matters in too favourable a light, is manifest from Gerrit de Veer’s

innuendo at the commencement of his description of the second voyage,

that he “de saeck vry wat breedt voort stelde,” [133] which caused

Linschoten to reply that, whether he had done so or not, he left to the

judgment of the discreet reader. [134]

Our present knowledge of those seas enables us to judge the question

fairly and impartially between the two, and to decide that, when at the

Islands of Orange, Barents had sailed from Kildin, their point of

separation, further in a direct line, and made a more easterly

longitude, than Nai and Tetgales had when at their furthest point on

the eastern side of the Sea of Kara; and that, when there, he was quite

as near as they were to the mouth of the Ob, and as near again to Cape

Taimur; with the certainty, further, that from the former position a

passage eastwards would at most times, if not always, be attended with

fewer difficulties than from the latter. And it cannot be denied that

Linschoten, in stating as he does on the title-page of his work, and at

the commencement of his Introduction, without any qualification, that

he “sailed through the Strait of Nassau to beyond the river Oby,” has

certainly afforded a justification for De Veer’s imputation that he

represented matters “vry wat breedt.” [135]

Stimulated by Linschoten’s report, the adventurers who had fitted out

the former expedition, with others who now joined them, determined on

dispatching in the following year a large and well-appointed fleet, not

merely in the hope of accomplishing the passage to China which had been

so well commenced, but also with a view to the establishment of an

advantageous trade with that kingdom, and the other countries that

might be discovered and visited in the course of the voyage, in respect

of which trade they obtained from the Government of the United

Provinces certain exclusive privileges and advantages.

This fleet consisted of seven vessels, namely, two from Zeelandt, two

from Enkhuysen, two from Amsterdam (which city, in consequence of the

want of success of Barents’s first voyage by Novaya Zemlya, was now

willing to take part in the undertaking of the other ports), and one

from Rotterdam. The following are the names of the vessels and of their

commanders. The Griffin (Griffoen), of Zeelandt, of the burthen of 100

lasts (200 tons), commanded by Cornelis Cornelisz. Nai, who was

appointed admiral or superintendent of the fleet; the Swan (Swane),

also of Zeelandt, of the burthen of 50 lasts (100 tons), which had been

on the former voyage, and was now commanded by Lambert Gerritsz. Oom,

of Enkhuysen; the Hope (Hoope), of Enkhuysen, a new war-pinnace

(oorlogspinas) of 100 lasts, commanded by Brant Ysbrantsz. Tetgales,

vice-admiral; the Mercury (Mercurius), of Enkhuysen, of 50 lasts, which

had been on the former voyage, and was now commanded by Thomas

Willemszoon; the Greyhound (Winthont), of Amsterdam, likewise a new

war-pinnace, of 100 lasts, commanded by William Barents, pilot-major of

the fleet, under whom was Cornelis Jacobszoon as skipper; [136] a yacht

[137] of Amsterdam, of 50 lasts (probably the Mercury of the former

voyage), commanded by Harman Janszoon; and lastly, a yacht of

Rotterdam, of about 20 lasts, or 40 tons burthen, commanded by Hendrick

Hartman. The last-named vessel was commissioned, when the fleet should

have reached Cape Tabin, or so far that it might thence continue its

course southwards without hindrance from the ice, to return and bring

news of their success to Holland. The vessels were all well equipped,

with a double complement of men, and ammunition and victuals for a year

and a half. The interpreter of the fleet was Meester Christoffel

Splindler, as on the former voyage. As supercargoes on behalf of the

merchants of Holland and West Friesland, were Jan Huyghen van

Linschoten, Jacob van Heemskerck, and Jan Cornelisz. Rijp; and for

those of Zeelandt, François de la Dale and N. Buys, with some other

relatives of Balthazar Moucheron. Linschoten and De la Dale were

further appointed chief commissioners of the fleet on behalf of his

excellency prince Maurice and the States General, from whom they

received the following commission:—

Instructions to Jan Huygen van Linschoten and Françoys de la Dale,

Chief Commissioners, for the regulation of their conduct in the

kingdom of China, and other kingdoms and countries which shall be

visited by the ships and yachts destined for the voyage round by

the North, through the Vaigats or Strait of Nassau.

In the first place, after Mr. Christoffel Splindler, the Slavonian,

shall have been on shore and ascertained whether they may land

there, they shall go on shore to the king, governor, or other

authority of the place, to whom they shall, on behalf of these

States, offer all friendship, and shall explain the circumstances

of these States, namely, that they hold communication by sea with

all countries and nations in the whole world, for the purpose of

trafficking, trading, and dealing with them in a friendly and

upright manner, for which they possess many advantages of divers

sorts of merchandise and otherwise.

Item, that the Government of this Country being surely informed

that upright trade, traffic, and dealings are carried on in the

said kingdoms and countries, have found it good to send thither

some ships, under good order, government, and regulation, with

merchandise, money, and other commodities, in order to begin

dealings, by means of certain trusty and honest persons on board

the said ships, for whom they shall ask free intercourse there, to

the end aforesaid.

They shall do their best to come to an agreement for a fair,

faithful, upright, and uninterrupted trade, traffic, and

navigation, to the mutual advantage of the said kingdoms and of

these States, as well as of their respective inhabitants; and in

case the same shall be found good there, they shall declare that to

that end it is intended to visit them with a good embassy by the

first opportunity, provided the same shall be agreeable to them.

They shall explain there what commodities and merchandizes can from

time to time be taken thither from these States; and they shall

also carefully examine so as to ascertain what merchandizes and

wares may, in return for the same, be obtained from those kingdoms

and countries and brought to these States.

They shall keep a good and accurate account of everything that

shall occur during the voyage, as well on ship-board, in the

discovery of countries and ports, and on all other occasions, as

likewise of that which shall happen to them on shore; so that,

immediately on their return, they may of all things make a good and

faithful report in writing to the Lords the States General.

Done and concluded in the Assembly of the Lords the States General

of the United Netherlands at the Hague, the 16th of June 1595.

Sloeth vt.

By order of the Lords, the States aforesaid.