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
Had the name Kostin Shar, in any of its chameleon forms, [90] been
retained in its proper place, at the same time that the new name
Matfeiof tsar was introduced to designate the more northerly
channel,—and the map constructed by Gerrit de Veer from William
Barents’s observations, does not warrant the former’s being carried
much higher up than the 71st parallel,—there would most probably have
been no occasion to notice this grave error. But the passage between
Novaya Zemlya (Proper) and Matvyéeva Zemlya not having been observed by
Barents and his companions, and De Veer having in his journal expressed
the opinion that “Constinsarck” goes “through to the Tartarian Sea”,
[91] the corrector of Massa’s map was led to suppose that this passage
must be the same as the “Matfeiof tsar” of the Russians, and he
accordingly placed over the latter the name “Costint sarch” in faint
letters. That in subsequent maps the former name should have been
omitted, and the latter alone retained, is only natural: it is the
usual progress of error. Accordingly, in Gerard’s map of Russia,
dedicated to the emperor Michael Fedorowich in 1614, [92] we find
“Costint sarch” made to extend right across and through the land from
west to east, its latitude being, however, brought down to nearly the
same as in Gerrit de Veer’s map, from which the western coast-line of
Novaya Zemlya is, in general, taken, while the more northerly passage
is altogether lost sight of.
Still, the existence of this latter passage continued to be known more
than a century later. For, in the year 1705, Witsen published in the
second volume of his Noord en Oost Tartarye, a rough and, for the most
part, very incorrect map of the Samoede country, obtained by him from
Theunis (Antonis) Ys, the master of a trading vessel, who had visited
Novaya Zemlya; in which map the southern portion of that country is
represented as an island, cut off from the northern and far larger
portion by a broad channel, running from north-west to south-east, and
bearing the name of “Matiskin jar, of Mathys-stroom”; with respect to
which channel Witsen remarks, [93] that “it is a passage and
thoroughfare, and not an inlet or river”.
Notwithstanding the length of time during which the name has been lost,
there does not appear to be any good reason why the original and
correct designation of Matthew’s Strait, Matvyéeva Shar (“Matfeiof
tsar”), or Matyushin Shar, should not be restored to the channel
between the two islands, instead of its continuing to bear the modern
corrupted form of the latter name, Matochkin Shar.
It likewise seems only right that the name Matthew’s Land (the “Land of
Matpheoue”) or Matvyéeva Zemlya, should not be lost from our maps; and
it is therefore proposed to appropriate that designation to the small
island extending from Matyushin Shar (“Matochkin Shar”) northwards as
far as the channel, in about 74° N. lat., running across the land from
Cross Bay to Rosmuislov’s “Unknown Bay”.
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