The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 03Hakluyt, Richard
History
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 03
Hakluyt, Richard
Discoveries in geography -- English; Voyages and travels
2. Our shippe being at an anker in the harbour called Sterfier in the
Island Lofoote. [Footnote: The object of Willoughby's voyage was to
discover a new route to Asia, inaccessible to the armadas of Spain and
Portugal, a feat only performed in 1878-9 by Professor Nordenskiöld. It was
the first maritime expedition on a large scale sent out by England. The
above narrative, written by Willoughby himself, is all we know of that
unfortunate navigator's proceedings after his separation from the _Edward
Bonaventure_ in August 1553. The following year some Russian fishermen
found, at the ship's winter station, the bodies of those who had perished,
probably of scurvy, with the above journal and a will, referred to in the
note on page 40. The two ships, with Willoughby's corpse, were sent to
England in 1555 by George Killingworth.]
The riuer or hauen wherein Sir Hugh Willoughbie with the companie of his
two ships perished for cold, is called Arzina in Lapland, neere vnto Kegor.
[Footnote: "With regard to the position of Arzina, it appears from a
statement in Anthony Jenkinson's first voyage [_see post_] that it took
seven days to go from Vardoehus to Swjatoinos, and that on the sixth he
passed the mouth of the river where Sir Hugh Willoughby wintered. At a
distance from Vardoehus of about six-sevenths of the way Between that town
and Swjatoinos, there debouches into the Arctic Ocean, in 68 deg. 20 min.
N. L. and 38 deg. 30 min. E. L. from Greenwich, a river, which in recent
maps is called the Varzina. It was doubtless at the mouth of this river
that the two vessels of the first North-East Passage Expedition wintered,
with so unfortunate an issue for the officers and men."--NORDENSKIÖLD,
_Voyage of the Vega_, Vol. I., p. 63.] But it appeared by a Will found in
the ship that Sir Hugh Willoughbie and most of the company were aliue in
January 1554. [Footnote: The testator was Gabriel Willoughby, and Sir Hugh
was a witness.]
* * * * *
The booke of the great and mighty Emperor of Russia, and Duke of Muscouia,
and of the dominions orders and commodities thereunto belonging: drawen
by Richard Chancelour.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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