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
But to return to Pet, who after parting from Jackman continued his
course eastwards, apparently following in Willoughby’s track, till, on
the 4th of July, he saw land in latitude 71° 38′ north, being the coast
of Novaya Zemlya, somewhere about the South Goose Cape. Thence he
coasted along the south-western end of Novaya Zemlya, keeping the same
in sight on the larboard side, as instructed to do, but not nearing it,
on account of ice and fog. [58] On the 10th of July, he approached the
north-western extremity of Vaigatz Island, and landed on a small island
near the coast, where he took in wood and water. [59] Here he remained
till the 14th, when he got out with difficulty on account of the ice,
and “lay along the coast north-west, thinking it to be an island; but
finding no end in rowing so long”, he “supposed it to be the maine of
Noua Zembla”, in which, however, he was in error, and thereby missed
the entrance into the Sea of Kara by Burrough’s Strait. He now altered
his course, and on the 15th “lay south south-west with a flawne sheete,
and so ranne all the same day”; and, after meeting with much more ice,
he on the 17th came into the “Bay of Pechora”. Thence, again taking an
eastward course, he on the 18th had sight of the southern extremity of
Vaigatz, and on the following day entered the passage running between
that portion of the island and the main land of the Samoede country; to
which passage the Dutch, in the voyages which form the subject of the
following pages, gave the name of “the Straits of Nassau”, and which
the Russians call Yugorsky Schar, that is to say, the Ugorian Strait.
Nevertheless, if the first European explorer on record be entitled to
the credit of his discovery, this entrance into the Sea of Kara ought
to bear the name of “Pet’s Strait,” in like manner as the passage into
that sea at the other extremity of Vaigatz Island received the name of
“Burrough’s Strait”.
From the 19th till the 24th of July, Pet endeavoured to make his way
eastwards in accordance with his instructions, by keeping “the maine
land of Samoeda” always in sight on his starboard side, but was
constantly impeded by the ice. At length he was “constrained to put
into the ice, to seeke some way to get to the northwards of it, hoping
to haue some cleare passage that way, but there was nothing but whole
ice.” [60]
Meanwhile, Jackman and his crew of five men and a boy, in their frail
bark of twenty tons, had gallantly followed after the George, and on
the morning of the 25th July the two vessels again joined company, the
William being, however, in so disabled a state when she reached her
companion, as to require assistance from the latter. The two vessels
now “set saile to the northwardes, to seeke if they could finde any way
cleare to passe to the eastward; but the further they went that way,
the more and thicker was the ice, so that they coulde goe no further.”
[61]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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