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
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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