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
The 29th of June, the sunne being south south-west, the two beares came
againe to the place where the dead beare laie, where one of them tooke
the dead beare in his mouth, and went a great way with it ouer the
rugged ice, and then began to eate it; which we perceauing, shot a
musket at her, but she hearing the noise thereof, ran away, and let the
dead beare lie. Then four of vs went thither, and saw that in so short
a time she had eaten almost the halfe of her; [and] we tooke the dead
beare and laid it vpon a high heap of ice, [so] that we might see it
out of our scute, that if the beare came againe we might shoot at her.
At which time we tried [1303] the great strenght of the beare, that
carried the dead bear as lightely in her mouth as if it had beene
nothing, whereas we foure had enough to doe to cary away the halfe dead
beare betweene vs. Then the wind still held west, which draue the ice
into the east.
The 30 of June in the morning, when the sunne was east and by north,
the ice draue hard eastward by meanes of the west wind, and then there
came two beares vpon a peece of ice that draue in the sea, and thought
to set vpon vs, and made show as if they would leape into the water and
come to vs, but did nothing, whereby we were of opinion that they were
the same beares that had beene there before; and about the
south-south-east sunne there came an other beare vpon the fast ice, and
made [straight] towards vs; but being neare vs, and hearing vs make a
noise, she went away againe. Then the wind was west-south-west, and the
ice began somewhat to falle from the land; but because it was mistie
weather and a hard wind, we durst not put to sea, but staid for a
better opportunitie.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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