Chapter II: Introduction: To the Second Edition (1)

BY LIEUTT. KOOLEMANS BEYNEN, R.N.N.

The re-publication by the Hakluyt Society of the first true polar voyage ever made, is very opportune, now that the people of England have revived their interest in maritime enterprise and are waiting with anxiety the results of the Government expedition up Smith’s Sound, where the brave explorers in the Alert and Discovery are enduring the hardships of an Arctic winter. A deep interest in this expedition, manifested in various ways, is felt throughout the whole civilised world, and never did ships sail to the Arctic Regions which were followed with greater sympathy or warmer wishes both at home and abroad. While we are waiting with increasing impatience for the first news of their proceedings, the voyages of the stout-hearted Dutch pioneers of Arctic exploration will be found exceedingly interesting, showing what the human constitution can endure under good leadership, and stimulated and controlled by faith and discipline. They have set an example to all other Arctic navigators, by showing the necessity for being well prepared to sustain a winter in the polar pack. If future explorers should find themselves surprised amidst the ice, and consequently be obliged to winter, let them bear their hardships as those Dutchmen did, under the command of Heemskerck and the leadership of William Barendsz.

The narrative of 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, was printed for the Hakluyt Society in 1853. Then the learned Dr. Beke, the eminent traveller and geographer, wrote the introduction. But since that time Novaya Zemlya has been circumnavigated, the house in which Barendsz and his gallant companions wintered has been found, whilst its true position and those of many other points along the coast have been accurately determined. Moreover, the researches into the Archives and old State papers of the Netherlands have thrown much new light on the proceedings of the early Dutch Arctic explorers, and on the circumstances under which these voyages were undertaken.

For these reasons, it has been thought advisable, in this second edition, to lay before the members of the Society the results of subsequent research.

It will not be necessary to recall to mind the condition of the Netherlands at the close of the sixteenth century, now that the fascinating work of Motley, on the Rise of the Dutch Republic, is familiar to every one. The heroic Dutchmen, assisted by their not less gallant English friends, had to fight against superior forces, composed of the best soldiers and led by the ablest generals of Philip of Spain. Disposing of resources such as no other prince of the period possessed, backed by the most renowned captains of the age, and aided by the religious fanaticism of his subjects, Philip was nevertheless unable to maintain his hold over the United Provinces, which sought to render their land independent of Spain, as they had formerly freed it from the sea. This land had been reclaimed by their fathers in ever recurring struggles, not only with the ocean, but likewise with the rivers Rhine, Maas, and Scheldt, which discharge their ice and waters into the North Sea. Their descendants still continue fighting against heavy odds to keep their land and property above water, notwithstanding the progress made in engineering and hydraulics. As an old ship at sea is kept afloat by continual pumping, caulking, and repairing, so, too, are the Low Countries preserved from destruction. This constant labour and enormous expense may be rendered useless at any moment by a sudden rise in the rivers, an equinoctial storm from the ocean, the breaking up of the ice, or the melting of the snow on distant mountains; so that, notwithstanding the indefatigable industry of the people, the bulwarks may be destroyed behind which they are never safe. In such a school were the old Dutchmen trained. They knew by sad experience that their country could only be held by hard fighting with the sea, and it was also by hard fighting that they were enabled to gain their political independence, and the liberty to worship God as they pleased. But the war against Philip was very expensive, and laid a heavy charge upon the already over-burdened shoulders of the people. Agriculture and dairy farming could scarcely supply the means to cover the indispensable outlay necessary for keeping their land above water. Already, in a petition for the remission of taxes, addressed by the States of Holland to the Emperor Charles V, we read as follows:—

“That Holland is very small, both in length and breadth, almost
with three sides exposed to the sea, and full of downs, swamps,
turf-moors, lakes, and other unfruitful places, where one can
neither sow corn nor graze cattle; wherefore the inhabitants, to
find food for their wives and children, are obliged to go and trade
and traffic in foreign ports, and to export certain tissues, for
which reasons the principal profession of the country is the art of
navigation and the sea trade.”

Thus from the earliest times they had looked upon navigation and commerce as the great source of their wealth, and from this source they expected to get the means to carry on the war. It may be true that they worshipped the “almighty dollar”, but not for itself, not only from a hope of gain, but also from the purest patriotism, because they could not continue their struggle for independence without money, and this could only be gained by giving more expansion to commerce, and not despising small advantages. Hence their natural resolution to search in every direction for new trade routes, and to risk so many lives and ships on their desperate exploring expeditions in frozen latitudes, hoping to reach Cathay and the Spice Islands by going north-about. In that direction they expected to avoid the superior Spanish naval forces, which in the infancy of the great struggle they could not expect to conquer, as very soon afterwards, in 1609, was done by Heemskerck. He burned the Spanish fleet on their own shores, and thirty years later the gallant Admiral Marten Harpertszoon Tromp carried his broom at the mast-head. The cosmographers of the Netherlands were among the very best in the world, and were well acquainted with all the fruitless endeavours to find a shorter route to the Indies by the north-west.

Several voyages had been made by Englishmen, mentioned in Dr. Beke’s introduction, towards the north-east, concerning which every particular was known in the Netherlands. This has since been proved by an irrefutable fact; for the so-called journals of Barendsz, which were in 1875 brought back to Norway, turned out to be a Dutch translation of the journals of the English navigators, Pet and Jackman, who, in 1580, endeavoured to find the north-east passage. This translation was found in the old wintering house of Barendsz in Novaya Zemlya, and consequently he must have taken it with him on his last voyage. There can, therefore, be no doubt that the Netherlanders had watched eagerly, and with intense interest, the attempts made by the English to find the north-east passage to the Indies. This may be the reason why a few Netherlanders tried at first to penetrate over-land in that direction, for a certain Olivier Brunel succeeded in reaching as far as the Obi river, travelling all the way on terra firma. Thanks to the industrious and intelligent researches of the historian of “De Noordsche Compagnie”, Mr. S. Muller, Fz., we now know a great deal more of this Olivier Brunel than Dr. Beke did in 1853.

The history of Brunel has especially roused Mr. Muller’s interest, and the facts discovered during his researches are so surprising that we think we cannot do better than give them nearly verbatim.

At the time that the English settled themselves at the mouth of the Dwina river, in the neighbourhood of the monastery of St. Nicholas, they had spared no trouble to maintain themselves continually in the exclusive possession of the trade in these regions. In this they succeeded but for a short period.

Twelve years after their arrival on the shores of the White Sea, the Dutch had found, at least partially, the track of their predecessors.

In the year 1565, a certain Philip Winterköning, an exile from Wardöhuis, entered upon a negotiation with the Netherlanders. By his intervention a ship was sent out from Enkhuizen, and arrived at a spot, where a settlement was soon formed, to which they gave the name of Kola.

In the following year, 1566, two merchants of Antwerp, Simon van Salingen and Cornelis de Meyer, steering from Kola along the coast, ventured to follow in the track of the English to the White Sea. They landed at the mouth of the Onega, and travelled, disguised as Russians, overland to Moscow. This courageous voyage was undertaken for no other object than to settle private affairs; and they did not avail themselves of the opportunity that thus occurred of establishing commercial relations with the White Sea.

However, the settlement at Kola now existed, and from thence efforts were made to carry on a direct trade with the Dwina. A trustworthy person was sent for that purpose on board of a Russian ship to Kholmogory, a town situated in the neighbourhood of the English settlement of Rose Island. He was instructed to learn the Russian language, and to try to obtain all possible information respecting the best manner of establishing commercial relations. That man was no other than Olivier Brunel, a character well known at that time, but in these days almost forgotten.

His name ought to be remembered and honoured as it deserves, for Brunel was not only the founder of the White Sea trade of the Dutch, but he was also their first Arctic navigator. For this reason a better account of him than has been given in the former edition, will not be found out of place here. Dr. Beke saw in Olivier Brunel and Alferius two distinct persons, and did not agree with Hamel that they were the same individual. It is, therefore, necessary in the first place to give Mr. S. Muller’s arguments as to why he considers Hamel’s opinion the most trustworthy.

We know (he says) that, in 1581, two persons, both going under the uncommon name of Olivier (of whom the one was “natione Belga”, the other “domo Bruxella”), lived on the shores of the White Sea. When it is remarked that, in 1578, only a few Netherlanders went to those shores, this conformity of name and country is indeed very remarkable. The scholarship of both was the same. The one, Alferius, was, as Balak says, no scholar, but a man of skilful practice; the other, Brunel, had passed his life as a commercial discoverer in the north. There is also a striking conformity in the condition of life of the two men. Alferius, “captivus aliquot annos vixit in Moscovitarum ditione, apud viros illic celeberrimos Jakonius et Unekius.” Brunel was for a few years a prisoner in Russia, and was delivered from his captivity by the Ameckers, who were very clever Russian merchants, living at Coolwitsogda, whom Brunel afterwards served. Jakonius and Unekius had already been taken by Lütke, who probably knew nothing of Brunel, to be the same as Jakov and Grigory Anikiew.

Hamel was convinced that by the “Ameckers” the Anikiews from Sol-Wütschegodsk only could be meant, although Scheltema, his authority, had changed arbitrarily “Coolwitsogda” (Sol-Wütschegodsk) into “Cool” (Kola).

To continue:—Alferius was sent to the Netherlands in 1581; Brunel went there every year. We find Alferius journeying along the coast of the Baltic; Brunel often travelled overland to Europe. Alferius, in the service of his masters, had often been at the Obi; Brunel had been for years commercial agent of the Russians, who yearly traded with the Obi. Alferius started from the Netherlands with the design of seeking out the north-east passage; Brunel is known as the first Dutch Arctic traveller.

In fine:—Brunel was one of the inciters of the Dutch Arctic voyages, and spoke, therefore, with the South-Netherlander Moucheron. Alferius is known to have had the intention of visiting the South-Netherlander Mercator, with whose co-operation Moucheron gave that impulse which resulted in the first expedition of the Netherlanders to the Arctic regions.

From all this circumstantial evidence we must draw the conclusion that Alferius is the same personage as Olivier Brunel, and, based upon this conclusion, the following history of Brunel has been given by Mr. S. Muller.—

Olivier Brunel was born at Brussels in the first part of the sixteenth century. Of the early years of his life absolutely nothing is known. It may be that he went in 1565 with the first ships of Enkhuizen to Kola, or that, escaping from the tyranny of the Spanish Duke of Alva, he came over to Holland, together with a number of South Netherland merchant families, such as the Moucherons, the Le Maires, the Usselins, and others. However, it is quite certain that, soon after the establishment of the Netherlanders at Kola, he undertook the voyage to Kholmogory already alluded to. He was not lucky on that occasion, for, watched by the English, who feared him as a rival, he was handed over to the Russian Government as a spy, and remained for several years a captive at Jaroslav. At last assistance made its appearance in the persons of the brothers Jakov and Grigory Anikiew, who belonged to the celebrated commercial house of the Strogonoffs at Solvitchegodok. These latter asked and obtained his liberty of the Czar.

The generous merchants had every reason to felicitate themselves on the benefit conferred upon Brunel. Their protégé took a zealous and active part in the yearly expeditions which were made by the Russians towards the East.

Brunel passed overland through the territory of the Samoyeds to Siberia, as well as by sea along the coast, and in one of his voyages, crossing the river of Petchora, at last he reached the long-desired Obi river. In one of these expeditions, which probably now and then went through the Matthew’s Strait, a passage well known to the Russians, his guide, a Russian, brought him to Kostin Shar, a strait which by this means became known to Europe.

Soon, however, Brunel rendered himself of greater use to his masters by opening new roads for their trade. Being acquainted with the Dutch colony at Kola, and with the requisites for Dutch commerce, Brunel urged the plan of seeking towards the west for a mart to dispose of Russian produce. To put his plan into execution he himself started, accompanied by two relations of the Anikiews, and provided with passports from the Czar. He hired a Dutch ship, and arrived safely at the city of Dort. There the Russian visitors found a ready market for the greater part of their goods. The rest was advantageously sold at Antwerp and Paris, and when Brunel next year returned to his patrons, the latter were well contented with the results of the voyage. They decided upon entering into a negotiation with Kola, and from thence with the Netherlands. In this manner Brunel, as commercial agent of the Anikiews, yearly visited both places. This state of things did not last long. Brunel made use of his favourable position to put into execution the plan to accomplish which he had gone years before to Russia but with such bad success. He made arrangements with a certain Jan van de Walle, and in 1577 persuaded him to make a journey overland to Russia, accompanied by Brunel himself. Van de Walle made excellent use of the knowledge gained by him on this expedition, for the year following a Dutch ship under Captain Jan Jakobszmette Lippen, of Alkmaar, anchored for the first time in the Pudoshemsco mouth of the Dwina. This ship, having on board Van de Walle as agent, had sailed from Flushing and belonged to an Antwerp merchant named Gilles van Eychelenberg. Almost at the same time another ship arrived, belonging to the well-known Balthazar de Moucheron, and under the command of Adrian Crijt, a captain in the service of Balthazar. Thus the commerce of the Netherlands with the White Sea was established.

Soon after this, Melchior de Moucheron, as commercial agent of his relation Balthazar, settled at the mouth of the Dwina, and the trading establishment was then transferred to a harbour in the neighbourhood of the monastery of Saint Michiel. On this spot, a few years subsequently, rose the city of Nova Kholmogory, commonly known as Archangel.

After some hesitation the English left their settlement on Rose Island and betook themselves to the young, but already prosperous, city of Archangel.

Two years had hardly passed after Brunel had set the Dutch trade with Russia on a secure footing, when we find him occupied with still more gigantic and adventurous designs.

As we know, in the year 1580 the English expedition, under the commanders Pet and Jackman, set out in search of the north-east passage. It was accompanied by the good wishes of thousands of persons who assembled to see it start, whilst the whole scientific world awaited with breathless expectation the result of this further effort. The Russians, also, who at the mouth of the Dwina daily came into contact with the servants of the Muscovy Company, doubtless heard of the expectations which were fostered about the north-east passage.

This being the case, surely it is not surprising that the Russians, possessing much more accurate knowledge of the Siberian coast than the English, should try to make use of that knowledge and also form plans to find the desired passage.

A Swedish ship-builder, who had for some years been occupied in the service of the Anikiews, received the order to construct two ships fitted up with everything requisite for the exigencies of an Arctic expedition; and, on the other hand, Brunel, the Dutch voyager, was instructed to proceed to Antwerp and there hire, at almost any price, hardy sailors and mates, with whom these vessels were to be manned.

On his way thither, Brunel, in 1581, arrived at the Island of Oesel, in the Gulf of Riga. Here he had an interview at Arensburg with a cosmographer named John Balak, a friend of the renowned Gerard Mercator.

Balak, who took much interest in voyages of discovery, and who seems to have appreciated the enterprising genius of Brunel, gave him a letter of recommendation to Mercator at Duisburg. From that letter, happily preserved by Hakluyt, we know the plans and intentions of Brunel. [1] But Brunel desired that his native country, and not his Russian benefactors, should have the advantage of his researches. Acting upon this impulse, he, immediately after his arrival in Holland, tried to find acceptance for his favourite scheme.

It may, therefore, be supposed that a few merchants, and amongst them, beyond all doubt, De Moucheron, influenced by the zealous persuasions of Brunel, proposed to the noble Prince William the Taciturn a project for sending out an expedition in order to try and discover the north-east passage to the Indies. Probably they claimed the aid of the Government to support their efforts; but the political situation of the country was too unsettled to allow the States to risk their money in so doubtful an undertaking. Nevertheless, the prince himself was greatly in favour of the expedition; yet, to support it with the funds of the nation was out of the question.

However, two such enterprising men as Brunel and De Moucheron were not so easily daunted; for the first Netherland Arctic voyage was undertaken in 1584, and, in all probability, was fitted out entirely at the expense of De Moucheron. But to Brunel belongs the honour of the voyage. This indefatigable traveller sailed with a ship belonging to the city of Enkhuizen, towards the north, to reach the far-off Empire of Cathay. Brunel, like a true Dutchman of the period—for the Dutch were then merchants to the very core—occupied himself on the way with entering into commercial relations with the Samoyed tribes.

In the records of the Archives of Utrecht, among the papers of Buchelius, Mr. Muller has discovered an old letter, in which it is recounted that Brunel had tried in vain to pass through Pet Strait.

Be this as it may, it is quite certain that his expedition was most unfortunate. On his return home, his ship, freighted with a rich cargo of valuable furs, mountain-crystal, and Muscovy glass, was wrecked in the shallow mouth of the Petchora river. Brunel, after this sad occurrence, being perfectly aware that his country was unable at the moment to assist him in making a new effort, and not daring to return to the service of his former masters, the Russians, resolved to seek a new scene of action. Accordingly he presented himself to the King of Denmark, and offered him his services, in order to try and find the long-lost Greenland colonies. The proposal of the able Arctic traveller was eagerly accepted. Brunel immediately entered into the Danish service, and did not abandon the task before three vain attempts, made one after another, convinced him of the fruitlessness of his endeavours. But little more is known of the remaining period of his life.

Mr. Muller has called attention to some information furnished by Purchas’ Pilgrimes iii, p. 831, of which the following is an extract:—“The rest of this journall, from the death of Master John Knight, was written by Oliuer Browne” (or Brownel, [2] this last letter l is unfortunately not distinct).

It may appear strange that so distinguished a seaman should have been on board a ship in a subordinate position. Yet, in all likelihood, this is the true Brunel, for other reasons justify the idea that he was in English service.

Firstly, Josiah Logan, in 1611, knew very accurately how to describe the manner in which Brunel had found “Kostin Shar”. [3] Those particulars he could not have known from the very brief details given in the Dutch accounts. Either he must have been personally acquainted with Brunel or have read something that was written by him.

And, secondly, the fact that Brunel, after his failure in his Arctic voyage (1584), had been constantly in Danish and English service, would account for his absence in the later Dutch Arctic voyages, and would sufficiently explain the want of acquaintance of Hessel Gerritsz with Brunel’s further researches.

It, therefore, is by no means impossible that Brunel, together with Knight, quitting the Danish for the English service, again visited the north-west. After this we lose sight of Brunel. It is a great pity that the evening of the life of this great man should be lost in total obscurity. Even the year of his death is not exactly known. However, it is supposed to have taken place in the first years of the seventeenth century, because, in 1613, Hessel Gerritsz wrote of Brunel’s voyage, as that of “Oliverii cuiusdam Brunelli”.

The above is the history of Brunel, as related by Mr. S. Muller.

If his views are correct, then, in all probability, the first Dutch Arctic expedition took place in 1584. Now, in that same year, the King of Spain prohibited to the inhabitants of the Netherlands all trade with Portugal. Thus it is easy to comprehend that attention was drawn towards the finding of a northern passage, which would have enabled the Dutch to open a direct trade with the Indies. Consequently during three successive years we see different expeditions leaving the Netherland ports, and boldly penetrating into the Arctic seas.

Dr. Beke has given, in his introduction, the principal outlines of the route taken by these expeditions. However, led away by the example of the German geographer, Petermann, Dr. Beke has made a mistake in laying down the track of Barendsz in his third voyage. This can be proved almost mathematically by an extract taken from a log, probably of Barendsz himself, which is preserved in the very rare work, “Histoire du Pays, nommé Spitsbergen, etc., par Hessel Gerard, à Amsterdam, 1613.” This extract runs thus:—

“May 18, New Style. We set out from the Texel, and arrived on the
22nd at Fayril, [4] and in the neighbourhood of the Orkneys.

“June 5. We encountered ice, which, according to our estimation,
came from Greenland; for we judged from our calculations that we
were about 100 nautical miles distant from the said Greenland. The
water was green with a brownish colour. Sounded without finding any
bottom. The ice extended the whole length of the sea, south-east
and north-west, and was either in pieces or in floes. [5]

“The next day we made our way N.E. and N.E. ¼ N. for a distance of
36 miles, and came upon a great ice-field, through which it was
impossible to pass. Found no bottom at 120 fathoms. In our opinion,
we were N.W. 220 miles off Luffoden Island, and 400 to 460 miles
from the North Cape.

“Turning thence towards the east, we arrived at Bear Island on the
10th of June, in 74° 35′ latitude, and sailing N.E. we came upon an
ice-field, against which we were anchored, and were obliged to
return under the island.

“From Bear Island we set out, shaping our course W.N.W., thinking
to find towards the north a better passage; for those of the other
vessel wished constantly to draw towards the west, whilst I desired
to go more eastwardly. We made until night, W.N.W., 64 miles, and
during the night till the morning, N.W., 60 miles.

“June 14. Made till night, N. ¼ W., 88 miles. Then the weather
clearing up, we found ourselves in the neighbourhood of ice, and we
fancied we could see land to the north, but we were not certain.

“June 15. We hove to, sounded, without finding bottom with 150
fathoms. Sailed until noon S.E. and S.E. ¼ E., 20 miles, having
attained 78¼° latitude. Then we sailed, wind aft east, 28 miles;
and afterwards, till night, N.N.E., 20 miles. We passed a large
dead whale, on which were several sea-gulls.

“June 16. Foggy weather, wind west, we sailed until noon, N.N.E.,
84 miles. Came into the ice, and we had to keep away in order to
follow the edge of the ice, N.E. 20 miles. Again we had to put back
S.E. 24 miles, clear of the ice, till shaping a course S.S.W. 16
miles, we came again in the ice, which was in the morning.

“June 17. Weather calm until noon. We then found the latitude of
80° 10′. We tacked, having the wind right ahead to keep clear from
the ice (estoyons passe si, ou 6 lieues?) Wind till night, west;
found bottom at 90 fathoms. During the whole watch we continued
steering S.S.W. 16 miles, having wind from the S.E. We then saw
land, but still kept on towards the W.S.W. The land trended for
about 32 or 36 miles, from W. ¼ S., towards E. ¼ N. It was high
land, and entirely covered with snow, and it extended from the N.W.
to another point.

“June 18. S.W. ¼ W. 24 miles, and there we found the latitude of
80°. With wind W. and N.W. we sailed against the wind along the
land till noon, the 20th. Then we had the western point of the land
S.S.W. 20 miles. Continued to sail S.S.W. and S.W. ¼ S., 20 miles,
and came close to a large bay, which extended into the land towards
the south; and another bay, before which was an island, and that
bay extended far towards the south. Then sailed anew from the land,
and till night continued steering N.W. ¼ N., 8 miles, and came
again in the ice, owing to which we had to return towards the
south.

“June 21. It blew very hard and snowed much from the S.W., and we
steered close to the wind, until night, anchored close under the
land, near our companion, just before the entry of the channel. At
18 fathoms sandy bottom. At the east point of the mouth was a rock,
which was moreover split, a very good landmark. There was also a
small island or rock, about 1⅓ from that eastern one. On the west
point also, was a rock, very near.

“June 22. Took in ballast of 7 boatsful of stones, thus much
because our ship was little ballasted. And came a great bear,
swimming towards the ship, which we pursued with three boats. He
was killed, and his skin was 12 feet long. This day we entered with
the boat into the entry, to find a better port, which was
necessary, and found inside the land all separated and broken and
some islands, where was good anchorage in several spots.

“June 23. Looked for our true meridian by means of the Astronomical
Circle, and found before noon 11, and after noon 16 degrees
declination, that the compasses, or the needle turned towards the
N.W., so that the circle proved not correct. We went out of the bay
to seek how far the coast could extend itself, for the weather was
very clear. Could not perceive the end of the land, which extended
itself S. ¼ E., 28 miles, as far as a high and mountainous cape,
which looked as if it was an island. At midnight took the altitude
of the sun 13°, so that we were at the latitude of 79° 24′.

“June 24. Before noon it was calm, with the wind S.W. The land
(along which we shaped our course) was for the greatest part
broken, rather high, and consisted only of mountains and pointed
hills; for which reason we gave it the name of ‘Spitsbergen’. [6]
We sailed about S.W. and S.W. ¼ S., 28 miles, and then we were
about 40 or 48 miles from the spot where we had anchored the first
time more easterly.

“In the evening, we again kept out from the land, the north-western
point of it was N.E. of us, and steered out of the coast W. and W.
¼ S., 32 miles. Until the end of the first watch, sailed towards
the east, and steered S.E., 32 miles, until noon of the 25th. Then
came close to the land, and sailed with wind aft, N.N.E., 8 miles.
And anchored behind a cape in 18 fathoms sandy bottom; and it
seamed to us there was ebb and flow, for we found in the time of 12
hours a current running from the S.W. and another running from the
N.E., so strong that the buoys of our anchors hid themselves under
the water. This bay, in which we were, ran rather far inland, with
still another interior creek; on the south side there was a low
cape, behind which one could sail, keeping along the northern coast
and stopping behind the cape, having shelter from all winds. Our
men found there teeth of walrus or sea-cows, for which reason we
called that bay ‘Teeth-bay’. We also found there much dung of
stags, and some wool as of sheep. Just south of the cape was a
little creek, like a harbour.

“June 26. We had the wind north, made sail, and steered S. ¼ E., 40
miles. At noon we arrived between the mountainous cape and the
terra firma, thinking that the mountainous cape was an island. We
sailed within S. ¼ E. and S., and being a little distance inside
the cape, we found the depth 12 and 10 fathoms good sandy bottom,
and being entered, 32 miles; there was a depth of 50 fathoms stony
bottom, and the land was all covered with snow. Entering about 20
miles between the cape and the coast of the terra firma, we found
that the cape, which we thought to be an island, was attached by a
sand-bank to the land; for we found a depth of 5 fathoms. There was
ice on the shallows, so that we were obliged to return. That cape,
which we thought to be an island, lies at 79° 5′ latitude; we
called it ‘Cape Bird’, because there were so many birds upon it and
in the neighbourhood.

“June 27. It was calm, so that we remained floating, without being
able to advance between Cape Bird and the land.

“June 28. We rounded it, and then sailed S.S.W., 24 miles, always
keeping along the land, which was very mountainous and sharp, with
a beautiful shore. We sailed south and S. ¼ E., 24 miles, and
afterwards S. ¼ W., 12 miles. Found, at noon, the latitude to be
78⅓°, and we were then in the neighbourhood of ice. Sailed same
distance seaward, to keep clear of the ice, and sailed thus along
the edge of the ice and in the neighbourhood of the land S.E. ¼ S.,
28 miles. And then we were close to a large bay, which extended
itself in the land E.N.E., and was on both sides high and
mountainous. Sailed with N.N.E. wind abaft till night all along the
coast, S.S.E. and S. ¼ W., 20 miles. Then again there was a large
bay, in which was much ice under the land. To keep out of the ice
we steered a little W.S.W., and sailed S. ¼ W., 16 miles. Came into
the ice, for which reason we sailed S.W. 12 miles.

“June 29. Continued, with a north wind, to sail S.E. ¼ E. and
S.S.E. 20 miles. All along the coast, till noon, south 16 miles,
and found at noon the latitude of 76° 50′. Sailed south and S.S.E.
without finding land, until we saw Bear Island, on the first of
July.”

This is all that Hessel Gerritsz has copied out of the log of Barendsz himself, as he earnestly assures us.

Dr. Beke, speaking in his introduction of this extract, says:—

“Want of time and space prevents us from giving the subject any
lengthened consideration. But from what we have been able to make
out, our impression decidedly is, that it was never written by
Barendsz, but was attributed to him solely for the purpose of
giving to it an authority which it might otherwise not have
possessed.”

Dr. Beke then gives his arguments in support of this opinion, and in order to refute them Mr. Muller makes the following remarks:—

I do not see (he says) why, after the death of Barendsz, the important ship’s log should have fallen into the hands of an inferior officer, even had he been a friend of the deceased. It would seem more probable, that after Barendsz’s death the skipper and supercargo, Jakob Heemskerck, would have taken all possible care of that interesting document, and, on his return to his native country, would have delivered it to Plancius, or others entitled to it. Admitting that the log came into the hands of Plancius, we are not at all surprised that he should allow the perusal of its contents by his friend Hessel Gerritsz, to assist him in his work of proving that the Dutch were the real discoverers of Spitsbergen.

Dr. Beke’s chief argument against the authenticity of the extract above given, is that in it, instead of Greenland, the newly discovered land is spoken of as being Spitsbergen, a name, according to him, only given to that island years afterwards. But Barendsz’s opinion that they sailed along Greenland is no reason why they should not have given the name of Spitsbergen to a part of that coast.

Mr. De Jonge, assistant-keeper of the Royal Archives at the Hague, and author of the “History of the Dutch East Indies Company”, sets at least this question at rest by making mention of evidence which he found in the Archives at the Hague, given by Barendsz’s companion, Captain Rijp, before the magistrates of Delft, in which it is said:—“And we gave to that land the name of Spitsbergen, for the great and high points that were on it.”

De Veer, [7] it is true, does not make any mention of this name in his account, but the extract from the ship’s log of William Barendsz, as Hessel Gerritsz gives it, contains other peculiarities, which are not found in “De Veer”.

Dr. Beke, moreover, brings a charge against Hessel Gerritsz of having intentionally invented wrong courses, but there is no reason why he should have done so. For, in order to prove the discovery of Spitsbergen by the Dutch, he had only to refer to the work of “De Veer”, and the invention of new courses would in no respect have strengthened his arguments. The difference in the statements of the courses, and here and there in the account of the circumstances, proves sufficiently that we have here to do with two quite distinct documents.

And then, as Mr. Muller remarks, the journal of Barendsz, which gives fewer anecdotes but more courses, merits even more confidence than the indistinct statements of De Veer. The very accurate account kept of the courses, as well as of the observations, the total neglect of all that could give the journal an agreeable form, everything, in fact, concerning it, marks the extract as being a log, that is to say, a work not destined to be used as a pleasant history of the voyage. Moreover, Barendsz’s statements are much more correct. Barendsz gives continually, and with great accuracy, the courses which are often changed several times on the same day, whilst De Veer says repeatedly: “The courses were about northerly”, without giving any further indication. Barendsz gives what happened every day, whilst De Veer sometimes omits a few days. But the journal of De Veer especially loses in value when we come to compare his account with that of Barendsz. At once we perceive that he did not keep a strict daily account, but rather that he had written it at different intervals during the voyage; for whilst in the main points both accounts quite coincide, the chronology of De Veer is entirely incorrect. Combining all these arguments, we may come to the final conclusion:—that the extract given by Hessel Gerritsz is truly taken from Barendsz’s log, and as such merits more credit than the account of De Veer.

This granted, we see that Barendsz’s true track does not go north along the east coast, as Dr. Beke believes, but runs up along the west side of the land. Dr. Beke and Dr. Petermann have supposed Barendsz to have sailed up the east side, and to have circumnavigated the largest island in the group. This is not possible, for then Barendsz would have known it to be an island, and therefore could never have thought it to be a part of Greenland. The track as Dr. Petermann lays it down, has, up to the present day, never been followed by any known ship, although in the last ten years many attempts have been made.

One of the most successful of these voyages was that of Captain Nilsen, a Norwegian, who, in the remarkably favourable season of 1872, with his schooner De Freia, pushed as far as 79° 20′ N. latitude, the farthest point yet attained, on the east coast of Spitsbergen, coming from the south. Arriving at the very entrance of Hinlopen Strait, Captain Nilsen was prevented by impenetrable pack-ice from entering that strait, and had, after sighting Cape Torell, to retrace his steps.

The question whether Barendsz went north along the west or along the east coast of Spitsbergen, has been fully treated by Mr. P. A. Tiele, archivaris at Leyden, who has also demonstrated that the ship’s track, laid down in the chart of J. Hondius, “Tabula Geographica” of the year 1598, [8] has been printed after a drawing of William Barendsz himself.

With the extract from the log of Barendsz in our hand, and following the chart, we believe the true track of Barendsz’s third voyage to have been as follows:—

On the 18th of May, 1596, the two ships left the Netherlands, and arrived on the 10th of June at Bear Island; from whence they departed on the 13th, shaping their course in a north-westerly direction.

In the evening of the 14th, or in the morning of the 15th, they fancied they saw land. [9]

On the 15th they made more easting, till at the beginning of the first watch, when they began to steer again more north. On this course they made, till noon of the 16th, 84 nautical miles. The weather was foggy, and prevented their seeing any land towards the east. There they encountered ice, and sailed along the edge of it as much as the wind allowed, and late on the 17th they saw high land, entirely covered with snow.

Till noon of the 20th they continued, in latitude about 80°, to sail along that land, when they had the western point of the land S.S.W., only 20 miles. Continuing to sail S.S.W. and S.W. ¼ S., they passed two bays, which both stretched into the land towards the south. [10] In the evening of that day they made a fresh effort towards the N.W., but were again hindered by the ice from pushing further north, and had to return, anchoring on the evening of the 21st close under the land, in 18 fathoms, sandy bottom, surrounded by several rocks, of which one was split, “very good to recognise”. [11]

On the 22nd they inspected, with one of their boats, the north-westerly point of the land, which they found to be only islands with many good anchorages. [12]

The following day they went out of the bay, and, the weather being very clear, they saw the coast stretching in a southerly direction, and found at midnight the latitude to be 79° 34′. In the evening they again made a vain effort to push farther in a more westerly direction.

On the 25th they anchored in a bay, [13] about 10 miles north of a high point, which they afterwards christened Cape Bird. That bay ran rather far inland, and by sailing round its northern shore, it was possible on the south side of the bay to find shelter from all winds behind a low point.

Early in the morning of the 26th they weighed the anchor, made sail, and arrived at noon between the mountainous cape and the terra firma. [14] After sailing about 20 miles in a southerly direction, they saw much ice aground, and on sounding they found only 5 fathoms. These shallows [15] obliged them to return, but having to strive with foul winds, and being becalmed, they only, on the 28th, rounded the mountainous cape, which they called “Cape Bird”, “because there were so many birds upon it and in the neighbourhood.” This cape lay in 79° 5′ N. latitude. [16] Steering about 60 miles in a southerly course, they came close to a large bay, which ran into the land E.N.E. [17] Twenty miles farther they passed another large bay, [18] in which was “much ice under the land.” To keep clear of the ice the course now became more westerly, and at noon on the 29th, in latitude 76° 50′, they lost sight of the land. [19] Sailing S. and S.S.E. they, on the 1st of July, returned to Bear Island, where they agreed to separate.

Barendsz, as we know, went to Novaya Zemlya, and Rijp steered again towards the north.

In deciding whether Rijp steered along the west, or went north along the east coast, opinions are again at variance. Hessel Gerritsz, in the same work, “Histoire de Spitsbergen, etc.”, speaking on this question, says:—

“Rijp and Barendsz, anchoring at Bear Island on the first of July,
differed much in their opinions. Rijp calculated that the spot
where they were lay N.E. of the North Cape in Norway, whilst
Barendsz, on the contrary, maintained that it was N.W. Whilst the
calculations of Barendsz led him to believe that he was 1000 miles
distant from the Ice Cape of Novaya Zemlya, Rijp pretended to be
only 250 miles distant from the same point, and because Barendsz
thought it better to extend his knowledge of a land already
somewhat known, and thus render easier the passage to the Strait of
Anian, they resolved to separate. They both agreed that Rijp should
investigate towards the north-west and Barendsz towards the N.E. So
that Rijp again set sail towards the north, and came, after
marvellous accidents from ice and winds, to the spot where they had
anchored for the first time in 80°. He had also been up again to
Cape Bird, and he returned from thence with the intention of
rejoining Barendsz.”

This statement of Hessel Gerritsz that Rijp proceeded to the same spot in 80°, where he had already been in company with Barendsz, agrees with the account of Pontanus in his work on Amsterdam, published in 1614; as well as with the information of Rijp himself, found in the old records by Mr. De Jonge.

Pontanus (p. 168), says: “That Rijp pretended they ought to retrace their steps till 80°.” Whilst Rijp himself says “that they returned to the same spot where they had first been” (et prévient au lieu où ils avoyent esté premièrement).

This granted, and with the experience of past navigators before us, to prove the almost impossibility of going north along the east coast of Spitsbergen, one would be inclined to conclude that Rijp must again have gone up along the west coast.

Dr. Beke’s opinion, “that nothing worthy of remark can have occurred to him, or otherwise it could not have failed to be recorded”, seems fully borne out by later research.

Sailing up to 80° N. latitude, Rijp found his further passage again intercepted by that ice-barrier which (as we are now aware) yearly obstructs the sea north of Spitsbergen. Not long after he sailed to Kola, and from thence returned home.

It is perfectly clear why Barendsz and Rijp should have followed the west coast in preference to the east. In his previous expeditions towards Novaya Zemlya, Barendsz had had to contend with masses of ice constantly driven towards the west, so that he had a perfect knowledge of the western current; and, consequently, he could not expect to penetrate along the east coast, against which the ice would be accumulating.

Not daunted in his heroic purpose by the remembrance of all the difficulties with which he had to grapple along the coast of Novaya Zemlya in penetrating through the pack ice, Barendsz decided upon again trying what could be done in that direction.

Subsequent research has added nothing to Dr. Beke’s Introduction, as far as the further voyage of Barendsz is concerned; but we are able to lay before our readers the results of several other Arctic expeditions made by the Dutch after the return on the 29th of October, 1597, of the survivors of Barendsz’s heroic companions.

The results of the three voyages made before that date had been, as far as their real object was concerned, insignificant, and could not be called an encouragement to make another attempt to find the north-east passage; and, besides this, the necessity to search for it no longer existed.

In the same year in which Heemskerck and his companions entered the Maas, Houtman returned to the Netherlands with the first Dutch fleet coming from the East Indies. He had found, without great difficulty, his way to the East Indies, around the Cape of Good Hope, and consequently there was no longer any necessity to find a new route through the Polar ice.

But when, in 1602, the Dutch East India Company was established, and received, by its charter (to the detriment of all other Netherlands ship-owners), the exclusive permission to sail to the East Indies round the Cape of Good Hope or round Cape Horn, a new inducement was given to the interlopers to seek the northern passage. The East India Company saw the danger which threatened it on that side, and was compelled, in its own interests, if possible, to be the first to discover the north passage, hoping thus to obtain the monopoly of the northern, as it already possessed that of the southern route.

The origin of most of the subsequent expeditions can be traced back to the contest between monopoly and free trade.

Hudson, the celebrated English navigator, had just returned from his voyage in 1608, when the East India Company seized the opportunity, and invited him over to the Netherlands, desiring to retain him in their service. After long negotiations, an agreement was entered into, in which Hudson engaged to seek the north-east passage. Accordingly, on the 6th of April, 1609, Hudson started from the Texel in a small vessel called De Halve Maan (the Half Moon).

But among the interlopers was one Isaac le Maire, a clever merchant and an inveterate adversary of the Company, who, seeing the preparations made for the departure of Hudson, had not remained inactive. Thirty days later, by his zealous exertions, another ship was fitted out, in order, if possible, to out-do Hudson, and, consequently, the hated East India Company. This expedition was under the command of Melchior van Kerckhoven, who left the Dutch ports on the 5th of May, 1609.

Hudson had gone out with instructions to follow the example of Barendsz, in seeking for a passage north of Novaya Zemlya. On this occasion he was again unfortunate; for, as on his preceding voyage in 1608, he could not succeed in rounding Novaya Zemlya.

On the 5th of May he arrived at the North Cape of Norway; but before he had sighted Novaya Zemlya he was obliged by his mutinous crew to return.

On the 19th he again passed the North Cape, and from thence sailed towards the N.W. to make new discoveries in that direction. In this he was much more successful.

On the other hand, the expedition of Isaac le Maire came to no better result. Melchior van Kerckhoven penetrated some distance into Pet Strait, but finding it perfectly blocked by ice of extraordinary thickness, he was obliged to return without having effected his object.

Both these expeditions tended to confirm the opinion already entertained of the great difficulty of finding, in that direction, the passage to the Indies. The number of those who maintained the possibility of finding a way straight across the Pole daily increased. So early as 1527 an Englishman, Robert Thorne, who lived at Sevilla, had strongly recommended this direction for reaching the Indies. A warm defender of his doctrines was found in the Dutch cosmographer Plancius. Maintainer of the existence of an open Polar Sea, Plancius argued that the cold gradually augmented as far as 66° latitude, but that from thence to the Pole it again decreased.

Accordingly, when in 1610 a certain Helisarius Roslin, medical doctor at Buchsweiler and court physician to the Count of Hanau, presented to the States a small book, in which he attributed the ill-luck of the former expeditions only to taking the wrong direction, this coincided with the views of the supporters of the doctrines proclaimed by Plancius.

Consequently, in the year following, two Netherlanders, Ernst van de Wal and Pieter Aertsz de Jonge, requested the States-General and the Admiralty of Amsterdam to assist them in fitting out a new expedition. They positively believed they would find the northern passage, and jokingly remarked: “That the sun at the far north was rather a manufacturer of salt than of ice”. The plan, notwithstanding the disapprobation of many, found support, and in 1611 the Admiralty of Amsterdam decided on giving their sanction to the new expedition. Two ships, De Vos and De Craen, were fitted out for the voyage. As commander of the expedition, Jan Cornelisz May, surnamed “The Man-Eater”, was appointed. This experienced and skilful sailor had already been, in 1598, among the first Dutch navigators to round the Cape of Good Hope on his way to the Indies. On board of the ship De Vos Ernst van de Walle was appointed supercargo and Pieter Fransz mate. The ship De Craen, with Pieter Aertsz de Jonge as supercargo and Cornelis Jansz Mes as mate, was commanded by Symon Willemsz Cat.

On the 18th of March, 1611, the ships started; but, instead of going straight north, they again sailed towards Novaya Zemlya, visited Kostin Shar, but were prevented by the ice from penetrating into the Kara Sea. The ships were so damaged by their collisions with the ice, that they were obliged to return to Kildin to repair. From thence they sailed to North America, wintered there, and afterwards explored the coast-line between 47° and 42½′ N. latitude. In one of the attempts to land, Pieter Aertsz de Jonge was killed by the natives.

In the beginning of 1612 the De Craen returned to Holland, but Captain May, with his ship the De Vos, sailed again towards Novaya Zemlya, where he arrived on the 30th of June, 1612. Setting out from thence he sailed to the north, along the coast of the island; but, notwithstanding his great perseverance, he met with no better success. He was checked by a vast barrier of ice, which stretched itself from the land in a north-westerly direction. He followed the edge of it until the 14th of July, when he had attained the latitude of 77°, and then returned to the coast of Novaya Zemlya, where he arrived on the 20th.

Between the 29th of July and the 9th of August he renewed his endeavours, and came as far as 77° 45′ N. His attempt to sail straight to the Pole proved a complete failure.