Chapter III: Introduction: To the Second Edition (2)

On the 26th of August he resolved to give up his trials, and to return to Holland, where he safely anchored about the 15th of September. Yet all these misfortunes did not affect the courage of the enterprising Netherlands merchants.

The many ships which in the following years left the Dutch ports, bound on voyages of discovery, were, however, without one exception, sent towards the north-west, where Hudson, in the last years, had gathered such unfading laurels. All these trials to the north-west gave, however, no better results than those to the north-east, and after many fruitless expeditions in a north-western direction, we see, in the year 1624, a return to the old plans of the sixteenth century, which were all based on the principle of following a coast-line.

A ship called De Kat, with twenty-four hands on board, and provided with stores for two years and a half, was fitted out to renew the investigations towards the north-east. Cornelis Fennisz Bosman was appointed commander of the expedition, whilst Willem Joosten Glimmer accompanied him as supercargo.

As late as the 24th of June they left the Texel with the design to sail along the Russian coast through Pet Strait, in the direction of the Obi. From thence they intended to try to reach Cape Fabin, and seek through Strait Anian the way to Cathay. The highest expectations were entertained of this expedition, but the result did not bear them out.

On the 24th of July, passing the island of Kalgojew, they reached Novaya Zemlya on the 28th in 70° 55′ N.

On the 10th of August they entered Pet Strait, and only by great exertion did they succeed in pushing through it.

But on the 17th, when the sails were frozen as hard as a plank, so as to render all working of the ship impossible, the wind drove the ice-floes with such force against the ship, that it was driven back in the direction of Pet Strait. Anchoring in the strait, they had to contend with very heavy storms. The ship was parted from her anchors, and the strait getting choked with ice, they resolved to retreat.

Upon the return of Bosman to Holland in the beginning of September, without having effected his object, the public was greatly disappointed, and almost denied the strenuous efforts he had made to conquer all difficulties. It seems that after this bad success the Netherlands merchants gave up all trials towards the north-east.

The English and Russians who afterwards continued to seek for a passage in that direction did not meet with better success.

In the year 1676 an English expedition was sent towards the north-east; but the commander, Wood, only explored the edge of the ice between Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya, without rounding this latter island.

Russian walrus-hunters and fishermen have also made many excursions in the seas around Novaya Zemlya. The greater part of the Russian expeditions were made with the object of reaching the Siberian rivers. Seldom did they go along the east coast northward of Matthew’s Strait. In the Archiv für Wissenschäftliche Kunde von Russland, these excursions are described more or less completely. Chronological order is adhered to, and this rather detailed account of the Russian expeditions extends from the year 1690 down to the voyages of Lütke, Bäer, and Krüsenstern.

One of the most remarkable recorded is that of the Russian navigator, Sawwä Löschkin, in 1760, of which it is written:—

“That in the year 1760 a certain Sawwä Löschkin from Olonoz, formed
the bold design of exploring the east coast of Novaya Zemlya,
because this coast, till then never visited by Russian hunters,
would surpass all other places in abundance of fur-animals. From
this account of the expedition, which in a nautical point of view
has never been surpassed, we know that Löschkin sailed along the
east coast from Burrough Strait, as far as the N.E. point of Novaya
Zemlya in 76° 9′. During this unprecedented voyage he had to
overcome so many obstacles, in consequence of the ice, that he was
obliged to winter twice on the east coast, and to use three summers
in sailing to the N.E. point.”

This information leads Mr. de Jonge to the conclusion that Löschkin must have wintered much more southwardly than Barendsz, else he would not have wanted three summers to reach the north-east point. For the rest, that the Russians seldom visited the north-east coast of Novaya Zemlya may be proved from the fact that, on a chart of the Northern Polar Sea of 1864, drawn after Russian data and published in the review of Erman, above alluded to, the north-east coast of Novaya Zemlya is laid down between 75° N. and 76° 59′, as being very uncertain and doubtful, and only with the three old Dutch names—“Ice Harbour, Cape Flessingue, and Cape of Desire”. [20]

The Russian admiral, Lütke, who was employed in surveying the coast of Novaya Zemlya from 1821 to 1824, made all his attempts along the west coast, without being able, however, to round Cape Nassau. All these trials, made towards the north-east, fully show us the great difficulties which Barendsz had to encounter, and the gallant perseverance which enabled him to penetrate thus far into the frozen seas. A greater proof of this exists in the fact that in 1872 we find that the steamer Tegethof, under the skilful command of Lieutenant Weyprecht, not only failed in rounding Novaya Zemlya, but was entirely closed in by the mighty ice-floes, and driven powerlessly towards the north-east. However, the sea north of Novaya Zemlya was not always found obstructed by the ice. During a favourable season ships could penetrate far to the north-east without the slightest difficulty. This was often proved by the old Dutch whalers or walrus-hunters, who, sailing north of Novaya Zemlya, even passed into the Kara Sea.

The journal of Gerrit de Veer sufficiently proves that the year 1596 was by no means a favourable season. The Dutch walrus-hunters, among others Theunis Ys, Cornelis Roule, and William de Vlamingh, [21] repeatedly frequented these seas north of Novaya Zemlya; but we find no mention made of their having discovered Barendsz’s winter quarters. Skipper William de Vlamingh seems to have passed nearest to it. Witsen, in his work, North and East Tartary, speaks of this skipper’s voyage thus:— [22]

“I was informed by skipper William de Vlamingh of Oost Vlielend,
that when he sailed in the year 1664 to catch whales, he succeeded
in passing along the northern shore of Novaya Zemlya, and rounded
the N.E. point of the island in order to try and be more prosperous
in his fishery than he had been towards the west. Steering S. and
S.W. he came near or about the house in which Heemskerck had
wintered in the year 1596. From the house he sailed E.S.E. till in
about 74° latitude, where he saw nothing but open water. He
afterwards sailed back in the same direction, and 16 days after
having lost sight of Novaya Zemlya he again anchored in the Vlie.”

Combining all the information we find in the work of Witsen, there are reasons for believing that De Vlamingh went on shore on the west and on the north coasts of Novaya Zemlya, but not on the east coast.

Mr. de Jonge, speaking about this whaling cruise, remarks:—

“According to this account Vlamingh would have been near the house
of Barendsz or thereabout, but Witsen does not say that Vlamingh
went on shore there. This information leads us to conclude that
Vlamingh did not see the wintering house at all, but simply
presumed that he had been near to it or thereabout, or else surely
he would not have failed to have mentioned it.”

For the rest, the account of Witsen is rather vague, and exclusively depends upon verbal communications. These old voyages of the Dutch walrus-hunters, as well as those of the Norwegian fishermen in the present day, clearly show us that here, as well as in every other part of the Arctic Regions, a favourable season might allow the fortunate navigator who happens to be on the spot to penetrate in a few days further than any of his predecessors, notwithstanding their unequalled perseverance and energy.

Within the last ten years the Norwegians, like the Dutch walrus-hunters of old, have been making continual inroads into the Kara Sea. This has been principally due to the discovery of rich fishing-grounds in that direction. The first of these Norwegian explorers was Captain Carlsen. With a small fishing-boat of Hammerfest he sailed through Pet Strait, and, following the Siberian coast, he reached White Island, near the mouth of the Obi river, without having fallen in with any signs of ice. It was, indeed, a bold undertaking to penetrate thus with so small a boat into the Kara Sea; but Captain Carlsen was fully rewarded for the risk he had run, in making a vast capture of blubber-yielding animals, which handed him over a profit of £1,100.

The voyage of the intrepid English walrus-hunter, Captain Palliser, who in that same season sailed as far as the north coast of Novaya Zemlya, was of no less importance. Being about half a degree north of Cape Nassau, he fell in with extensive ice-fields, which, however, were soon broken up by stormy weather.

Captain Palliser writes:—

“After the ice was broken up and driven away by the heavy gales, I
believe I could have circumnavigated all Novaya Zemlya without much
trouble. We were however prevented from doing so, on account of
having on board the crew of a wrecked fishing smack. For this
reason a great decrease in our provisions had taken place, and
consequently our store would not have been sufficient for so long a
voyage.”

Captain Palliser then shaped his course south, came through Matthew’s Strait into the Kara Sea, and penetrated to within three or four miles of White Island.

However, both these voyages were surpassed in intrepidity by the interesting cruise of the Norwegian, Captain Johannesen.

On the 1st of May 1869, the schooner Nordland, Captain E. H. Johannesen, anchored at the Mersduscharsky Island, south of Kostin Shar. After sailing for some time in the direction of Burrough Strait, Captain Johannesen changed his course northwardly, and keeping the west coast continually in sight, he eventually passed Matthew’s Strait on the 9th of June.

Ten days later he was close to Cape Nassau, where he experienced a strong easterly current.

From here, turning south, the Nordland sailed on the 17th of July through Matthew’s Strait, and running south in the land-water along the east coast, Captain Johannesen was, on the 26th July, in Burrough Strait. At once he resolved to penetrate into the Kara Sea. He followed the low coast of the country of the Samoyeds in an easterly and afterwards north-easterly direction, and found himself on the 8th of August in the immediate neighbourhood of White Island without having been hindered by the ice.

The day following he shaped his course north-west, and attained, on the 15th of August, the estimated latitude of 75° 6′ N. and 71° E. longitude, where he encountered his first ice. Thence, in a westerly direction, he returned to Novaya Zemlya, which he sighted on the 20th in 75° 10′ N. latitude and 64° E. longitude. He now sailed along the east coast, and passed through Burrough Strait on his homeward voyage. He had repeatedly encountered a heavy swell from the south-east, but had scarcely met with ice. He must, undoubtedly, have been close to Barendsz’s winter house, which is placed by Captain Carlsen in 76° 12′ N. latitude and 68° E. longitude.

Induced by these advantageous voyages, several Norwegian fishermen entered the Kara Sea in the following year.

Again the skilful Captain Johannesen made a cruise which almost surpassed his former one, having this time circumnavigated Novaya Zemlya, a feat never before achieved. He visited the east coast of that island, passing close to, but without perceiving, Barendsz’s winter quarters.

F. Torkildsen, commander of the schooner Alpha, was less fortunate. On the 24th of June he passed through Burrough Strait and entered the Kara Bay, where he, on the 13th of July, in 68° 40′ N. latitude and 68° E. longitude, lost his ship. The crew was, however, saved. Captain E. A. Ulve sailed with his schooner Samson along the west coast of Novaya Zemlya, and on the 1st of August attained the high latitude of 76° 47′ in 59° 17′ E. longitude, without sighting any ice.

Entering on the 8th of August through Matthew’s Strait into the Kara Sea, and keeping between White Island and the Island of Vaigat, he, on the 24th of August, when homeward-bound, sailed through Burrough Strait.

F. E. Mack, with his schooner Polarstern, found, on the 5th of July, Matthew’s Strait blocked up with ice; but thirteen days afterwards he sailed through it, and after crossing the Kara Sea in all directions, returned on the 21st of August through Burrough Strait.

Another navigator, Captain P. Quale, pushed more eastwardly. With his yacht, the Johan Mary, he, in the latitude of 75° 20′ N., attained the longitude of 74° 35′, and thus found himself eastward of the meridian which goes across the mouth of the Obi River.

The following year, encouraged by the partial success of these cruises, we find the Norwegian seal-hunters again entering this new and prosperous ground. The southern entries being closed by the ice, the captains directed their course northwardly, in order to penetrate into the Kara Sea by rounding Novaya Zemlya.

Passing over in silence the cruises of Captain F. C. Mack and those of the brothers Johannesen, we come to the interesting voyage of Captain Carlsen, the first navigator, who, since 1597, has entered the Ice Harbour of Barendsz. Captain Elling Carlsen, with his sloop The Solid, left the harbour of Hammerfest on the 22nd of May, 1871. When rounding the North Cape of Norway, he met with very heavy squalls and snow-storms from the north-west.

On the 28th he passed Vardo, and on the 10th of June, in 68° N. latitude and 40° 36′ E. longitude, at the northern outlet of the White Sea, he fell in with the first ice. On the 16th of June he met two other ships, of which the one had already killed five hundred and the other a thousand seals.

On the 19th of July Captain Carlsen reached the coast of Novaya Zemlya, in the neighbourhood of Mersduscharsky Island, and shaping his course towards the north, he passed Cape Nassau, rounded Novaya Zemlya, and anchored on the 18th of August at Cape Hooft, on the east coast.

On the 24th of August, when he had advanced in a southerly direction almost as far as 76° N. latitude, he observed much drift ice at a distance of forty miles from the coast.

On the 29th of August Carlsen again steered north, and anew anchored at Cape Hooft. North of Matthew’s Strait, Captain Carlsen had fallen in with Captain F. Mack, who was provided with better instruments, supplied by the Meteorological Institution at Christiania. By means of these instruments, both captains made very correct observations, with such success that they noted down the north-east point of Novaya Zemlya as lying in 67° 30′ E. longitude, instead of in 73°, as was given in the latest charts. They found that the land to the north-east of Novaya Zemlya lay pointing more towards the north than to the north-east, as given in the previous charts. These observations proved the calculations of the old Dutch navigators to have been perfectly correct, and restored to them the reputation of which they had been so long defrauded.

As for the subsequent part of Captain Carlsen’s voyage, we had better follow his own ship’s log. In it he says:—

“Sept. 7. Strong breeze from the south with weather overcast, and
two reefs in the mainsail. Anchored in the afternoon under the land
near Barendsz harbour, where Barendsz wintered. Pumped the ship
free.

“Friday, 8. Gale from the west with detached sky. We began to
flinch (the animals we had caught on the 6th). Afternoon we
finished flinching and repaired the gaff, which was broken. Let go
also our port anchor. 8 o’clock pumped the ship free. During the
night strong breeze.

“Saturday, 9. Strong breeze from the S.W. Sky overcast. 8 o’clock
forenoon we went under sail and coursed south along the land. 6
o’clock in the afternoon, we saw walrus on the ice, boats were
lowered, and we caught two of them; we also saw a house on shore,
which had fallen down. At noon we observed the latitude 76° 12′,
the distance from shore guessed. The house on shore was 16 metres
long by 10 metres broad, and the fir-wood planks, of which it was
composed, were 1½ inches thick by from 14 to 16 inches broad, and
as far as we could make out they were nailed together. The first
things we saw amongst the ruins of the house were two ships’
cooking pans of copper, a crowbar or bar of iron, a gun-barrel, an
alarum, a clock, a chest in which was found several files and other
instruments, many engravings, a flute, and also a few articles of
dress. There were also two other chests, but they were empty, only
filled up with ice, and there was an iron frame over the fire-place
with shifting bar.

“Sunday, 10. Light breeze from the N.W., almost calm, clear sky, we
sailed along the coast S.S.E. In the afternoon we caught two
walrus. 8 o’clock pumped the ship free. During the whole night
calm.

“Monday, 11. Light breeze from the west. Sky overcast. In the
afternoon the wind freshened from the west. We put three reefs in
the mainsail. 8 o’clock pumped the ship free. The whole night gale
from the S.W.

“Tuesday, 12. Gale from the S.W. We are obliged to return to
Ledenaji Bay (Ice Harbour), where, on the evening of the 9th we had
found the ruined house. At noon we anchored in the bay, and went
again on shore and found several things, viz., candlesticks,
tankards with lid of zinc, a sword, a halberd head, two books,
several navigation instruments, an iron chest already quite rusted.

“Wednesday, 13. Gale from the W.N.W. At noon we went under sail,
but as we made a little south the wind shifted to the S.W., and in
order to keep off we had to let go both anchors. Storm with snow. 8
o’clock pumped the ship free. During the night, light breeze.

“Thursday, 14. Calm with clear sky. 4 o’clock in the morning we
went ashore further to investigate the wintering place. On digging
we found again several objects, such as drumsticks, a hilt of a
sword, and spears. Altogether it seemed that the people had been
equipped in a war-like manner, but nothing was found which could
indicate the presence of human remains. On the beach we found
pieces of wood which had formerly belonged to some part of a ship,
for which reason I believe that a vessel has been wrecked there,
the crew of which built the house with the materials of the wreck
and afterwards betook themselves to the boats. Five sailors’ trunks
were still in the house, which might also have been used as 5
berths, at least as far as we could make out. We now set to work to
build a cairn, and erected a wooden pole 20 feet high. We placed in
the cairn a description of what we had found, shut up in a double
tin-case, after which we returned on board and went under sail. At
noon the wind was N.E., observed latitude about 76° 7′ N.,
longitude 68° E. (Greenwich). We steered in the direction S. by W.
along the land. 8 o’clock pumped the ship free. The whole night
light breeze.”

Thus far, we have let the log speak for itself. After having quitted the house, Carlsen intended to return home by circumnavigating the island. Following, therefore, the east coast in a southerly direction, he soon passed several icebergs.

On the 16th of September he fell in with much ice, which probably by the west and north-west wind was driven from the land.

On the 18th it froze so stiff that they had to cut their way through the ice.

On the 19th, being becalmed, the ship could move neither forward nor backward. During the afternoon the wind freshened from the south-west, upon which they tried to approach nearer to the land.

On the 20th they had again to cut their way through the ice, which was already strong enough to bear them. Till eight o’clock in the evening they worked to reach a lead close to the land.

On the 21st, Carlsen, in about 74° N. latitude, was, during a storm from the north-east, in great danger of losing his ship. Closed in by the ice, he drifted that and both the following days with the ice, in a south-western direction, during which time he could see from the crow’s nest open water towards the north-east and east. Not before the 30th of September, in 72° 25′ N. latitude, did he again succeed in reaching open water, thus, fortunately, escaping a fate similar to that of Barendsz.

The 3rd of October he sailed through Burrough Strait, and anchored on the 4th of November at Hammerfest, thanking God for his prosperous voyage. Thus Carlsen (like a true seaman) ends his log.

News of the discovery, by Captain Elling Carlsen, of a great number of relics on the beach of Ice Harbour, was soon spread in Hammerfest. In consequence, on the 12th of November, 1871, in the Hammerfest newspaper called Finmarksposten, there appeared a leading article entitled “Captain Elling Carlsen’s Voyage around Novaya Zemlya”. A detailed account was given in it of the old Dutch voyages towards the north-east. Notwithstanding some faults, the article was in its main points correct, and proved that in the far North of Europe the expeditions of Barendsz had attained a legendary celebrity.

About the discovery of the winter quarters at Novaya Zemlya the Finmarksposten communicates a few details which seem to have been given to the writer by Carlsen himself.

“After a lapse of 275 years” (says the Finmarksposten), “Captain
Carlsen found himself in the very spot where, in 1596, Barendsz and
his companions had come on shore, and near to the ruins of the
simple hut constructed by the unfortunate Dutchmen. Captain
Carlsen, as far as lay in his power, made researches on and about
the spot, but the season being far advanced and the obligation he
was under of circumnavigating Novaya Zemlya, obliged him to seize
the first opportunity of proceeding on his voyage. Consequently on
the 10th of September, without having brought his work to a
conclusion, he was obliged to sail.

“On the 10th and 11th he remained cruising, but in the evening of
the latter day he found himself under the necessity of returning to
Ice Harbour, and thus he was enabled to proceed with his
investigations.

“On the 13th he set sail, but was again forced to return and
anchor.

“On the 14th he was enabled to complete his researches. The house,
fallen completely into decay, was so to speak covered and almost
hermetically enclosed by a thick layer of ice. All the objects were
likewise covered by a thick sheet of ice, and this explains the
excellent condition in which many of the articles were found. Such
was their unimpaired condition that one would be inclined to
suppose that they had been placed there but a short time
previously, and one never would believe that they had, during
almost three centuries, been left uncared for. The house, as far as
Captain Carlsen could make out, was 16 metres long by 10 broad, and
nailed together out of fir-wood planks 1½ inches thick by from 14
to 16 inches broad. The house was in part constructed out of the
materials of the wrecked ship, indications of which still existed
in the remnants of a few oaken timbers scattered on the beach. The
house seemed to have contained for the occupants 5 standing
bed-places. There were 5 ship’s chests, which were however too
decayed to be taken away. In two of the chests were found a few
instruments, such as files, sledge-hammer, a borer, two pairs of
compasses, a few caulking-irons, engravings, a flute, pieces of
navigation instruments, as well as a few books in the Dutch
language, which latter makes it almost certain that the relics
belonged to Barendsz and his companions of the year 1596. In the
centre of the house, where the fireplace had probably stood, a
great iron frame was found, on which two ship’s copper cooking pans
still remained. A few porringers were so rotten that one could only
take away their copper mountings. In addition to these were found
candlesticks and tin-tankards, a crow-bar, two or more gunbarrels,
a gunlock, an alarum with the clock and clock weight belonging to
it, a great iron chest, a grindstone, a few spears and a halberd.
Carlsen relates that round the house were found several large casks
which had been provided with iron hoops, but the staves as well as
the hoops were so rotten that no part of them could be brought
home. Before Captain Carlsen left the place he erected in the
neighbourhood of the house a cairn, on which he placed a pole 10
metres long. In the cairn was deposited a double tin case,
containing a written account of his having been there on the 13th
of September 1871, and of his having found articles belonging to
the men of the Dutch expedition under Barendsz, who had wintered
there in the years 1596–97.”

Such are the particulars about the discovery of the relics in the winter-house of Novaya Zemlya.

Up to February 1872, the public in Holland remained ignorant of the discovery of the winter quarters of Barendsz, and that several objects, including a few books written in the Dutch language, were brought home. This news, however, when spread, caused a general sensation throughout the Netherlands, and measures were immediately taken by the Government to obtain possession of these interesting relics. Information was at once obtained as to their whereabouts, and it became known that they were already in the possession of Mr. Ellis C. Lister Kay, who, travelling as an English tourist in Norway, and being by chance at Hammerfest on the arrival of Carlsen, had immediately bought them. Upon learning the interest which the Netherlands Government took in these relics, Mr. Kay kindly gave them up, accepting only the same amount as he had given to obtain possession of them. This courteous behaviour of Mr. Kay restored to the native land of the great explorer these precious relics, which had remained hidden for nearly three centuries. They were afterwards deposited in the model-room of the Naval Department at the Hague, where a model-house, having an open front, has been constructed for their reception. This is an exact imitation of the original at Novaya Zemlya. There these old and touching memorials of a noble achievement have found a final resting-place in the worthy company of a number of ancient objects, which each for itself silently points to some one of the many glorious pages in the annals of Dutch naval history. To demonstrate that these objects found by Captain Carlsen originally appertained to Barendsz and his companions, Mr. De Jonge says:—

“The relics bear in themselves the undeniable proof—1st, that they
have belonged to Dutch navigators; and 2nd, that they must belong
to the last period of the 16th century, and especially to that part
included between 1592 and 1598, as I will prove out of the
following description of the objects:—

“1. An iron frame on four iron feet, with three iron cross bars of
which one is moveable (a kind of iron trivet), was found by Captain
Carlsen in the centre of the house of Barendsz and Heemskerck,
exactly resembling that iron frame which we see also represented in
the centre of the house in the old illustration by Levinus Hulsius
in 1598.

“2. A round copper cooking pan with handle. Found standing on the
iron frames.

“3. A ditto larger one, with broken handle, the pan on the upper
side a little dinted. Found standing on the same place.

“4. Three copper bands, remains most likely of porringers, found
close to the three objects above alluded to.

“5. A fragment of a copper scoop with handle.

“6. A round grindstone with iron axis.

“7. Fragments of a chest with metal handle belonging to it, besides
four other pieces of iron. An iron box made to fit within the
chest, in order therein to deposit valuables. All these things were
half crumbled away.

“8. The iron cover of the chest (spoken of in No. 7), with
intricate lock-work.

“9. An iron crow-bar, bent in the middle, at the lower end a point,
the upper end formed like the tail of a swallow. The part which
opens out is worn in a circular shape, having in all probability
served as a rest for the axis of a spit.

“10. The sieve of a copper scummer.

“11. A tin plate.

“12. An iron bar in two pieces. This bar was sawn across at
Hammerfest, as it was presumed to be a gun-barrel.

“13. Iron striker or sledge-hammer; the handle is broken.

“14. A borer or auger, with auger-bit. Such an auger is represented
in the illustration, ‘How made ready to sail back to Holland’.

“15. A ditto, one with larger auger-bit.

“16. Three gauges, without handles.

“17. A large chisel, with a wooden handle.

“18. An adze, of which the handle was broken.

“19. A caulking-iron.

“20. A borer, with the handle broken, and two other boring irons.

“21. Seven iron files, of different dimensions.

“22. A stone to whet tools.

“23. Two iron pairs of compasses.

“24. A broken pocket-knife or cutlass, with horn handle.

“25. A copper tap of a wine or beer cask. Excellently preserved.

“26. A wooden siphon of a beer or vinegar cask.

“27. A wooden trencher, painted red.

“28. An old Dutch earthenware jar, in which there was still a
little grease. (See a similar jug in the illustration, ‘How we were
wrecked, and with great danger had to betake ourselves to the
ice’.)

“29. A tin tankard, with lid and handle. Decayed.

“30. The lower half of another tankard.

“31. Three tin spoons, of which one is broken. Of the form used in
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

“32. The inner works of a lock.

“33. A ditto, larger one, with a part of the key.

“34. An iron weight, of 8 lbs.

“35. A padlock.

“36. Two leathern shoes or slippers. These shoes are too small for
a full-grown man. They must consequently have belonged to the
ship’s boy, of whom there is mention in the journal of De Veer, on
the 19th of October, 1596.

“37. Iron clock-work, in which are seven cog-wheels; the cover is
of iron plates, but partly rusted. The dial-plate is lost, but one
of the hands is still present. There is also a circular-shaped
flexible piece of iron, quite rusted, probably the spring. In the
journal of Gerrit de Veer, at the date of 27th of October, he makes
mention, on that day: ‘They set up the dial and made the clock
strike.’ On the 3rd of December, 1596, ‘The clock was frozen and
might not go, although we hung more weight on it than before’. This
clock agrees in form almost perfectly with the clock drawn in the
illustration of Hulsius. A similar clock is also given in the work
entitled: ‘Le Moyen-âge et la Renaissance, par P. Lacroix et F.
Serré, Paris, 1851’. In the article ‘Corporations de Métier, par A.
Monteil et Rabutanz’, is found a drawing: ‘L’horloger, facsimilé de
planche dessinée et gravée, par Jost Ammon’. This drawing
represents a clock of similar construction to that found in Novaya
Zemlya. This print, in ‘Le Moyen-âge’, seems to have been copied
out of the work of Hartin Schopperus, entitled ‘Panoplia, Omnium
illiberalium, mechanicarum aut sedentariarum artium genera
continens; Cum figuris a Jost Ammon. Francofurti, 1568’. Hence we
come to the conclusion that the clock, with its weight, found at
Novaya Zemlya, belongs, as is proved by its construction, to work
of the sixteenth century. The application of the pendulum took
place later, in 1658.

“38. One of the weights belonging to the clock.

“39. A metal clock. This clock, with four perches, stood probably
upon the mechanism described in No. 37.

“40. A little iron hammer, without doubt part of the striking
apparatus.

“41. Three copper scales of a balance, having served for weighing
medicines. According to the journal of Mr. G. de Veer, ‘a
barber-surgeon joined the crew of Heemskerck and Barendsz’.

“42. A six-holed German flute, of beechwood, but without the
mouth-piece. It is broken at the end.

“43. A part of an instrument, of which one end is constructed of
wood. In this end is found a groove, a round opening, and a wooden
tongue. To this wooden tongue is fastened a copper one, opening out
in three parts, and ending in a point. It is difficult to say to
what instrument this belonged; but it is not quite improbable that
it has been fastened on the axis of a globe, in order to prick the
chart. Globes and plain charts were used at this period for want of
Mercator’s projection.

“44. A wooden compass card, with moveable wooden hand, in the
centre of which is found a round opening for the point of the axis.

“45. A wooden rectangle, with three circular segments one within
the other, and subtending the rectangle. The longer arm is broken
in three pieces.

“46. A semi-circular copper plate, whose case is curved in such a
manner as to form a parallel. Through the middle of the plate runs
a meridian, having in its centre a small screw, which was formerly
moveable, but now fixed by rust. On the left or on the west side of
the meridian are drawn nine arcs, having their centre in the point
of intersection of the meridian and parallel. On these arcs the
degrees are indicated by ciphers, and between these arcs are found
the Dutch words: Wassende Noordoostersche, Afgaande
Noordoostersche, Wassende Noordwestersche, etc. It is difficult to
say in what manner this instrument was used, but probably it is an
instrument that has served for examining and determining the
variations of the compass. If I dare express my opinion, I should
say, that this is the instrument which Plancius, the master of
Barendsz, invented to calculate the longitude at sea. Plancius was
at that time much occupied with his theory of determining the
longitude at sea, by means of the variation of the needle. For
farther details see the work entitled: ‘Rise of the Dutch power in
the East Indies,’ volume i, p. 86. According to Plancius there
existed 8 meridians, under 4 of which there was no variation, and
under the 4 others a maximum variation took place. Calculating upon
these data Plancius imagined that the true longitude could be
found. He therefore adapted a copper plate to the astrolabe
employed at that period, and the object found by Carlsen is
probably this very copper plate, the only one now extant.

“47. The handle of a sword beautifully formed. A similar handle is
represented on drawing 61, letter B in the work of Mr. D. van der
Kellen, Jr., entitled: ‘Antiquities of the Netherlands.’

“48. A sword with ditto handle.

“49. The point of a sword.

“50. A part of a spear, with iron spearhead.

“51. Ditto head without wood.

“52. The point of a halberd. A nearly equiform halberd is
represented in the illustration. ‘The exact manner of the house
wherein we wintered’.

“53. The barrel of a heavy musket or matchlock, with breach-pin,
pan, matchstick, a sight on the fore part of the barrel. In the
work ‘Le Moyen-âge et la Renaissance’, par P. Lacroix et F. Seré,
Paris, 1851, T. iv. in the article ‘Armurerie, armes à feu
portatives’, folio xxiii, by F. de Saulcy, is the following
passage: ‘L’arquebuse à mêche resta pendant longtemps l’arme
ordinaire d’une partie de l’infanterie; seulement après en avoir
diminué le poids on lui donna le nom de mousquet, et le mousquet à
mêche était encore en usage dans les armées de Louis XIII’. To this
kind of firearm belongs the barrel spoken of under No. 53. The
mechanism, with which the match was brought on the panpowder was
called ‘le serpentin’. ‘Le serpentin’, says de Saulcy, ‘exigeait
que le soldat eût constamment sur lui une mêche allumée, ou le
moyen de faire du feu: il fallait en outre compasser la mêche, etc.
Pour remédier à cet inconvénient on inventa les platines à rouet,
qui furent employées d’abord en Allemagne et fabriquées, dit on,
pour la première fois en 1517 à Neuremberg. Dans la platine à rouet
la complication du mécanisme avait trop d’inconvénients, pour qu’on
ne cherchât pas à le perfectionner. Les Espagnols y parurent les
premiers. La platine espagnole, appelée souvent platine de
miquelet, présentait au dehors un ressort qui pressait à
l’extrémité de sa branche mobile sur un bras du chien, l’autre bras
de cette pièce lorsqu’on mettait le chien au bandé appuyait contre
une broche, sortant de l’intérieur et traversant le corps de la
platine. On retirait cette broche et le ressort poussait le chien,
qui n’était plus retenu, et la pierre frappait sur un plan d’acier
cannelé, qui faisait corps avec le couvercle du bassinet. Le choc
de la pierre sur les cannelures de l’acier produisait le feu’. The
matchlock under No. 57 seems to be a fragment of such a platine de
miquelet.

“54. The barrel of a gun of smaller calibre, with three sights.

“55. Ditto.

“56. Ditto (broken).

“57. A part of a matchlock, with cock, and flint-stones.

“58. Nineteen copper powder horns, some of them covered with
leather, and some still full of powder. These horns were suspended
to a shoulder belt.

“59. An iron cannon ball.

“60. A tin bracket pitcher, beautifully engraved. Style
Renaissance. Probably it belonged to the merchandise of which,
according to de Veer, the ship’s cargo partly consisted. The
pitcher is in a perfect state of preservation.

“61. The upper half of another pitcher.

“62. Five tin candlesticks on pedestals, beautifully formed, as
they were used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Probably
merchandise.

“63. Five ditto, of another form, of which three are broken.
Merchandise.

“64. Thirteen ditto, but again of another and smaller form; in
three of them the upper part is wanting.

“65. Two tin boxes, each divided into four compartments, of which
the lower part, if you turn it, can be used as a drinking cup, the
centre as a saltcellar, whilst the upper part is fit for a pepper
box, the top of which unscrews.

“66. Two ditto, of which only the drinking cups and the upper part
of the pepper box have been preserved.

“67. Two ditto, of which only the lower part of the drinking cups
has been preserved.

“68. A tin medallion, on which is represented: ‘Time that uplifts
truth from the earth’, and on which a marginal inscription is to be
read: ‘Abstrusam. Tenebris. Tempus. Me Educit. Tu Auras. H. G.
(Henry or Hurbert Goltzius)’. Inside the margin is found: ‘Veritas
filia temporis’. Probably also an object of merchandise. A
description of similar medals is found in the Dutch work of C.
Leemans, in ‘de Verslagen der Koninklijke Akademie van
Wetenschappen’.

“69. A ditto medallion in a small wooden frame, representing a
woman seated, holding in her right hand a cross, and in her left a
chalice or goblet, from which a flame like light arises. Behind her
lies one of the tables of the law. A symbol of religion, or of the
New Testament.

“70. Two ditto medallions, in wooden frames, representing a woman
with a child in her lap, and another in her arms. A third child
seeks refuge near her; this is probably a symbol of Mercy.

“71. Three copper parts of objects, the original destination of
which is uncertain.

“72. Two wooden stoppers, either belaying pins, which are used on
small ships to fasten ropes, or pieces of furniture. These objects
have been erroneously taken by Captain Carlsen for drumsticks.

“73. Nine buttons, and the stopper of a tin bottle.

“74. The haft of a knife, and another object of carved wood. Not
Dutch work, but apparently of Norwegian or Russian origin. Barendsz
or one of his companions might have obtained these objects on the
former expeditions. Moreover the trade with Archangel gave them
opportunities of buying Russian or Norwegian articles.

“75. A great number of prints from copper engravings. These prints
have been completely frozen together, and whilst in that state a
beam or other part of the dwelling has fallen upon them, for they
seem to have been broken whilst in congealed condition, and a thaw
has reduced them to a compact mass. The prints are well executed,
but the paper having become too weak, only some of the engravings
have been removed, and those in a torn condition. Some of them
represent Roman heroes, by Goltzius; the ‘Defenders of Harlem’, by
Goltzius. 1857, subscribed Londerseel; ‘Paradise’, by Spranger,
subscribed Bosscher; ‘Pallas, Juno, and Venus in presence of
Paris’, with ‘Bosscher excudit’. Scenes taken from the Bible, such
as ‘The meeting of Esau and Jacob’, ‘Tobias’, etc. Also
representations of Asiatic or Persian horsemen, etc.; a large
drawing, showing a reposing lion, with the monogram HTR. (The H and
R written together, and the T interlaced in the H). The manner of
engraving the names of the engravers proves that all these must
have been the work of the sixteenth century. It may seem strange
that Arctic navigators had prints or engravings on board, but it is
not at all so, for Heemskerck and Barendsz intended to go as far as
China, when they sailed to the North-East. For that purpose they
had merchandise on board, and prints or engravings were often used
as such. This had also been the case on the first voyage to the
East Indies. On a list of goods and merchandise left at Patani, in
Siam, in 1602, a great number of drawings by de Gheyn, Goltzius,
Brengel, etc., are to be found, and among these, facsimiles of
those discovered at Novaya Zemlya, namely, ‘The Three Goddesses’,
‘The Roman heroes’, etc.

“76. A folio book bound in leather, and with copper clasps, but
half the binding has mouldered away. The beginning and the end of
this book, as well as the edges, are much decayed, and the title of
the first volume is quite obliterated. The book is divided into two
parts; the first volume, of which the title is obliterated, has
proved to be, after comparison with another specimen of this work,
‘Die Cronycke van Hollant, Zeeland ende Vrieslant, tot den jare
1517, etc., tot Delft, by Aelbert Hendricus, wonnende op ’t
Meretveld, Anno 1585’. [23] The second volume, of which the title
is intact, runs: ‘Short and true account of the Government, and the
most remarkable facts that occurred in the country of Holland,
Zeeland, and Friesland, by Albert Hendriksz, anno 1585’.

“77. A book in quarto (the edges of which are much decayed),
entitled: ‘The Navigation, or the Art of Sailing, by the excellent
pilote, Pieter de Medina, a Spaniard, etc.; with still another new
Instruction on the Principal Points of Navigation, by Michel
Coignet. ’t Hantwerpen, anno 1580’. At the bottom of the page,
where the fifth chapter of the new instruction of Coignet begins,
opposite to a copy of the Astrolabe (the number of the page is worn
out), there is written in the old Dutch, ‘... y myn Jan Aerjanss
... Pieter Janss ... y (of 17) April ghinghen vij van ... (lyberen
herte?)’. The two last words are almost illegible. Gerrit de Veer
gives, at the end of his recital, the names of those who returned
from Novaya Zemlya. Among these, the names of Jan Aerjanss and
Pieter Janss are not to be found. These were, most likely, the
names of two of the missing crew of whom the names are not
mentioned. Of the seventeen persons who set out, only twelve
returned safely to the Netherlands. A new translation, by Mr.
Martin Everart Brug, of the work of Medina, had been published in
1598, by Cornelis Claesz, at Amsterdam, with Coignet’s new
instructions. As the copy found at Novaya Zemlya is a publication
of 1580, it follows, as a matter of course, that the Dutch
navigators who had left this copy, dated 1580, at Novaya Zemlya,
must have started before the year 1598, or they would assuredly
have taken the latest edition of so important a work, especially
when printed at Amsterdam, from whence they started.

“78. A little book, with parchment cover, in octavo, having the
form of a pocket-book, entitled, ‘The History or Description of the
great Empire of China’. This was first written in Spanish by Juan
Gonzales de Mendoza, monk of the Order of St. Augustin, and then
translated from the Italian into Dutch by Corn. Taemsz, and printed
for Cornelis Claesz, book-seller, living at the Gilt Bible, in
North Street, Hoorn, by Jacob de M——, printer, in the town of
Alkmaar. The date of the edition of this copy cannot be given with
exactitude, by reason of the mouldering away of the lower part of
the title-page. The origin of the work can be deduced from the
following facts: In the address to the Good Willing Reader, verso
of the title-page, is written that ‘this little book was edited
after Jan Huyghen van Linschoten had returned to the Netherlands,
but somewhat before the publication of the account of his voyage’.
Jan Huyghen van Linschoten returned to Holland in the autumn of
1592, and the account of his voyage was published by Cornelis
Claesz in 1595. Thus the translation of Mendoza must have been
published somewhere between 1592 and 1595. I even believe that we
can fix the date of the publishing to be 1595; for the copy found
at Novaya Zemlya is exactly similar, both in form and type, to
another copy still extant, published in Amsterdam by Cornelis
Claesz in 1595. The edition of Amsterdam is exactly similar to the
edition of Hoorn, except the title and the first twelve pages of
the preface, which in the edition of Amsterdam are of the same
purport, but printed in another type. The only difference between
the two works consists in the type of the preface.”

On the 17th of August, 1875, M. Gundersen, commander of the Norwegian schooner Regina, was the first after Carlsen who visited Barendsz’s Ice Harbour. In a chest, the upper part of which was quite mouldered, he found an old journal, two charts, and a grapnel with four flukes, three of which seemed to have been purposely broken off. The charts, pasted upon sail-cloth, are much injured. The words “Germania inferior” may be read on them. The journal has proved to be a manuscript Dutch translation of the narrative of the English expedition of Pet and Jackman, 1580.

For the numerous abridgements and summaries of De Veer’s work, I refer to the learned book of Mr. P. A. Fiele, at Leyden, entitled Mémoire Bibliographique sur les journaux des Navigateurs Néerlandais: Amsterdam, 1867.