The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume IINordenskiöld, A. E. (Adolf Erik)
History
The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II
Nordenskiöld, A. E. (Adolf Erik)
Arctic regions -- Discovery and exploration; Northeast Passage; Vega (Ship)
In crossing to Vaygats Island I met the _Lena_, which then first
steamed to the rendezvous that had been fixed upon. I gave the
captain orders to anchor without delay, to coal from the _Express_,
and to be prepared immediately after my return from the excursion to
weigh anchor and start along with the other vessels. I came on board
the _Vega_ on the evening of the 31st July, much pleased and
gratified with what I had seen and collected in the course of my
excursion on Vaygats Island. The _Lena_, however, was not quite
ready, and so the start was put off till the morning of the 1st
August. All the vessels then weighed anchor, and sailed or steamed
through Vaygats Sound or Yugor Schar into the Kara Sea.
We do not meet with the name Yugor Schar in the oldest narratives of
travel or on the oldest maps. But it is found in an account dating
from 1611, of a Russian commercial route between "Pechorskoie
Zauorot and Mongozei," which is annexed to the letter of Richard
Finch to Sir Thomas Smith, already quoted (Purchas, iii. p. 539). The
name is clearly derived from the old name, Jugaria, for the land
lying south of the sound, and it is said, for instance, in the map
to Herberstein's work, to have its name from the Hungarians, who are
supposed to derive their origin from these regions. The first Dutch
north-east explorers called it Vaygats Sound or Fretum Nassovicum.
More recent geographers call it also Pet's Strait, which is
incorrect, as Pet did not sail through it.
There was at first no special name for the gulf between the Taimur
peninsula and Novaya Zemlya. The name "Carska Bay" however is to be
found already in the information about sailing to the north-east,
communicated to the Muscovie Companie by its principal factor,
Antonie Marsh (Purchas, iii. p. 805). At first this name was applied
only to the estuary of the Kara river, but it was gradually
transferred to the whole of the neighbouring sea, whose oldest
Samoyed name, also derived from a river, was in a somewhat
Russianised form, "Neremskoe" (compare Purchas, iii. p. 805, Witsen,
p. 917). I shall in the following part of this work comprehend under
the name "Kara Sea" the whole of that gulf which from 77 deg. N.L.
between Cape Chelyuskin and the northern extremity of Novaya Zemlya
extends towards the south to the north coast of Europe and Asia.
Captain Palander gives the following directions for sailing through
the sound between Vaygats Island and the mainland:--
"As Yugor Straits are difficult to discover far out at
sea, good solar observations ought to be taken on
approaching them, where such can be had, and after these
the course is to be shaped in the middle of the strait,
preferably about N.E. by the compass. On coming nearer
land (three to four English miles) one distinguishes the
straits with ease. Afterwards there is nothing else to
observe than on entering to keep right in the middle of
the fairway.
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