It was not long before the Dutch, seeing the great success of England’s trade with Russia by the White Sea, began to follow so promising a lead. In 1565 a ship from Enkhuizen arrived at a spot on the coast of Russian Lapland to which the name of Kola was given, and formed a settlement. In the next year two merchants from Antwerp, starting from Kola, reached the mouth of the Onega, and made a journey to Moscow. Next, a trustworthy person was found to make a voyage to Kholmogori to learn the Russian language and if possible to establish commercial relations. The name of the person selected was Oliver Brunel, a native of Brussels. He was the founder of the White Sea trade of the Dutch, and their first Arctic navigator. Brunel made a remarkable journey in the country of the Samoyeds, crossing the river Petchora and reaching the banks of the Obi. He was successful in acting as an agent for Russian merchants, and in 1578 a Dutch ship anchored for the first time at the mouth of the Dwina. It was quickly followed by another ship owned by Balthazar de Moucheron, and thus the Dutch trade with the White Sea was established. [Illustration: WILLEM BARENTSZ. (Originally a vignette in a chart published in Amsterdam between 1613 and 1615[33].)] It was Balthazar de Moucheron, an eminent merchant of Middelburg, who conceived the project of imitating the English adventurers, and sending two vessels to discover a north-east route to China. One was the _Swan_ of Keer in Walcheren, commanded by Cornells Nai of Enkhuizen, the other the _Mercury_ of Enkhuizen under Brant Tetgales. They were to attempt a passage by the Waigat. The merchants of Amsterdam fitted out a vessel also named the _Mercury_ but, acting under the advice of the cosmographer Plancius, they adopted another route, and resolved to attempt a passage round the northern end of Novaya Zemlya. The commander of this second _Mercury_ was Willem Barentsz, a native of the island of Terschelling, an accomplished seaman and pilot. He had translated the sailing directions of Ivar Bardsen the Greenlander[34], and the journal of Arthur Pet; showing the close attention he had paid to the former history of northern enterprise. Barentsz understood the science of navigation, and was an excellent observer. The three vessels, with Cornelis Nai as Admiral, sailed from the Texel on the 4th June, 1594. On the 29th Barentsz parted company to pursue his more northern route, while Nai and Tetgales shaped a course for Waigatz. It was agreed that, if they had to return, they were to wait for each other until September at Kildin, on the coast of Lapland.