From these several statements of three seamen, who visited Kostin Shar at different periods between the years 1594 and 1611, the only facts to be elicited are, that, at some time previous to the former date, this strait was first discovered by some well-known individual, named Oliver Brunel, who was there exposed to some danger or difficulty, from which he was rescued by the crew of a Russian vessel. That he was, however, subsequently lost at the mouth of the river Pechora is made known to us in the work of Hessel Gerard already referred to. [106] As this work of Gerard is but little known, the commencement of the author’s Preface (Prolegomena) shall be reprinted here, both on account of its clearing up the history of Oliver Brunel, and also because it shows the important bearing which his adventure had on the subsequent voyages of the Dutch, which form the subject of the following pages. “Lucri et utilitatis spes animos hominum nunquam non excitavit ad peregrinas regiones nationesque lustrandas. Ita pretiosæ illæ, nobis a mercatoribus Russis allatæ pelles, mercatores nostrates inflammarunt acri quadam cupidine incognitas nobis ipsorum terras, si fieri posset, peragrandi. Profuit ipsis quadam tenus hac in parte iter quoddam à Russis conscriptum, Moscovia Colmogroviam, atque inde Petzoram (ubi incolæ anno Christi 1518 Christianam fidem amplexi sunt) hinc porro ad fluvium Obi, pauloque ulterius ducens. Quod quidem plurima falsa veris admiscet, puta de Slatibaba anu illa (ut fertur) aurea, eiusque filijs, necnon monstruosis illis trans ipsum Obi hominibus. [107] Transtulit verò descriptionem hanc Russicam, eamque suis de regionibus Muscovitarum libris inseruit Sigismundus ab Herberstein, Imperatoris Maximiliani orator. Ediditque posteà tabulam Russiæ Antonius quidam Wiedus, adjutus ab Iohanne à Latski, Principe quondam Russo, et ob tumultus post obitum Magni Ducis Iohannis Basilij in Russia excitatos, in Poloniam profugo. Quæ tabula I. cuidam Copero, Senatori Gedanensi, dicata, Russicisque et Latinis descriptionibus aucta, in lucem prodiit apud Wildam anno Christi 1555. [108] Aliam quoque Russiæ tabulam ediderunt post modum Angli, qui in tractu illo negotiati fuerunt. Atque hæ quidam tabulæ et qualescumque descriptiones, quæque præterea de regionibus hisce comperta sunt, elicuerunt Oliverium quendam Bunellum, domo Bruxella, uti conscenso navigio Euchusano, animum induxerit eò sese conferre. Vbi aliquandiu vagatus, et pellium pretiosarum, vitri Russici, crystallique montani, ut vocant, adfatim nactus, omnium opum suarum scaphæ commissarum in undis fluvij Petzoræ triste fecit naufragium. Quæ tum Anglorum, tum hujus Bunelli, qui et Costinsarcam Novæ Zemlæ lustraverat, navigationes, cum et Batavis nostris, opum Chinensium Cathaicarumque odore allectis, animum accendissent, nobiles et