The Three Voyages of William Barents to the Arctic Regions (1594, 1595, and 1596)Veer, Gerrit de
History
The Three Voyages of William Barents to the Arctic Regions (1594, 1595, and 1596)
Veer, Gerrit de
Barentsz, Willem, approximately 1550-1597; Northeast Passage
From the Blacke Island, they sailed south and south and by east to
another small [342] point 3 [12] miles, on which point there stood a
crosse, and therefore they called it the Crosse Point; [343] there also
there was a flat bay, and low water, [344] 5, 6, or 7 fadome deep, soft
ground. [345]
From Crosse Point they sailed along by the land south south-east 4 [16]
miles, and then came to another small [346] point, which behinde it had
a great creeke, that reached east-ward: this point they called the
Fifth Point or S. Laurence Point. [347] From the Fifth Point they
sailed to the Sconce Point [348] 3 [12] miles, south south-east, and
there lay a long blacke rocke close by the land, whereon there stood a
crosse; then they entered into the ice againe, and put inward to the
sea [349] because of the ice. Their intent was to saile along the coast
of Noua Zembla to the Wey-gates, but by reason that the ice met them
they wound west-ward, and from the 9 of August in the euening, till the
10 of August in the morning, sayled west and by north 11 [44] miles,
and after that 4 [16] miles west north-west, and north-west and by
west, the winde being north; in the morning [350] they wound east-warde
againe, and sailed vntill euening 10 [40] miles east and east and by
south; after that east and east and by north 4 [16] miles, and there
they saw land, and were right against a great creeke, where with their
boat they went on land, and there found a faire hauen 5 fadome deepe,
sandy ground. This creeke on the north side hath 3 blacke points, and
about the 3 points [351] lyeth the road, but you must keepe somewhat
from the 3 point, for it is stonie, and betweene the 2 and 3 point
there is another faire bay, for north-west, north, and north-east
winds, blacke sandy ground. This bay they called S. Laurence Bay, and
there they tooke the height of the sunne, which was 70 degrees and ¾.
From S. Laurence Bay, south south-east 2 [8] miles to Sconce Point,
there lay a long [352] blacke rocke, close by the land, [353] whereon
there stood a crosse; there they went on land with their boat, and
perceiued that some men had bin there, and that they were fled to saue
themselues; [354] for there they found 6 sacks with rie-meale buried in
the ground, and a heap of stones by the crosse, and a bullet for a
great piece, and there abouts also there stood another crosse, [355]
with 3 houses made of wood, after the north-countrey manner: and in the
houses they found many barrels of pike-staues, [356] whereby they
coniectured that there they vsed to take salmons, [357] and by them
stood 5 or 6 coffins, by graues, [358] with dead men’s bones, the
coffins standing vpon the ground all filled vp with stones; there also
lay a broken Russia ship, [359] the keele thereof being 44 foot long,
but they could see no man on the land: it is a faire hauen for all
winds, which they called the Meale-hauen, [360] because of the meale
that they found there.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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