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
In pursuance of these instructions, Pet and Jackman sailed from Harwich
on the 31st of May, 1580, in two small barks: namely, the George, of
the burthen of forty tons, under the command of the former, with a crew
of nine men and a boy, and the William, of twenty tons, commanded by
the latter, with a crew of five men and a boy. On June 23rd they
reached Wardhuus, which place they left in company on the 1st of the
following month. On the next day, however, as the William seemed “to be
out of trie and sailed very ill”, she “was willing to goe with Kegor”,
where she might mend her steerage; “whereupon Master Pet, not willing
to go into harborough, said to Master Jackman that if he thought
himselfe not able to keepe the sea, he should doe as he thought best,
and that he in the meane time would beare with Willoughbies Land, for
that it was a parcel of our direction, and would meete him at Veroue
Ostroue, or Vaigats”. [55]
The name of Veroue Ostroue, here given to the island of Vaigats, does
not occur elsewhere. It is manifestly Russian; though it is difficult
to say what is its correct form, and consequently what its
signification. As to the designation by which that island is generally
known, Witsen states, though without further explanation, that it was
acquired from one Iwan or Ian Waigats; [56] in commenting on which
statement, Lütke says that the name should properly be written
Waigatsch, the Russian termination tsch having been changed by the
Dutch into tz, in the same way as in Pitzora for Petschora, etc. [57]
The correctness of this criticism is, however, questionable. For, long
before the Dutch visited or knew anything of these parts, we find
Englishmen,—who certainly had no difficulty in pronouncing the sound ch
(tsch), which is common to our language, and who in fact always wrote
Pechora (Petschora), and not, like the Dutch, Pitzora,—invariably
writing not Vaigach (Vaigatsch), but Vaigats or Vaygatz. It is
therefore reasonable to conclude that Vaigats is the original
pronunciation of the name, and that the Russian form is merely a
corruption.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account