their Sailing they sail and change their Ways and Sails according as they think fit If there be a fresh Gale they make use of all their Sails if a storm with the two lowermost Sails whereof they call the first the Fock or Fore-sail the middlemost Schumfer or Main-sail and the third the Basan or Mizen-sail In hard storms they furl the fore Sail and sail only with the Main-Sail and the Mizen-sail In the greatest storm of all with these Sails reefed or half tied in as they call it or with the Mizen-sail half furled up this they do because the Ship goeth the stedier by reason of the wind for else it would rowle too much up and down in the Sea and the water would dash in too much on the sides thereof One man stands always at the Helm to steer the Ship but in hard weather ten men can hardly hold the Helm wherefore they fasten it with a Tackle and so let it go too and fro as the Compass directs them In and after a storm we have oftentimes strangers come to visit us in our Ships viz. Blackbirds Starlings and all sorts of small Birds that have lost their way in a storm from the and and fly to the Ships to save themselves and prolong their lives when others fly about till they are spent and then fall into the Sea and are drowned The Lumbs and other Water-fowl come not near us which I mention on purpose to confute the erroneons Opinion of some that believe that the before-mentioned Birds come to the Ships as Messengers to bring the ill news of bad weather Yet notwithstanding these following signs or marks commonly fore-tell a storm or hard weather when great fish come near to the Ships in great numbers when they play dance rowl about and leap out of the water which is not always playing in them but rather their Bodies are afflicted with some pain or other We saw several Whales in the Sea that threw themselves about as if they were sick or a dying When the Sea is tempestuous it is not to be thought that it doth proceed from the Sea only but a hard and tempestuous storm and wind followeth upon it that sendeth the Waves like Messengers before it until it arriveth it self with a tempest but this is not to be understood of the North-sea but only of the Sea betwixt Hitland and Spitzbergen When the Air is so disposed as the Stars do not only look bigger but as if they were more in number also it is a great Prognostication and often proveth true also It is a sign that the Air is full of Mist which causeth upon changing of the Frost great foggs and a high wind follows soon after At night when the Sea dasheth very much it shines like fire the Sea-men call it burning This shining is a very bright glance like unto the lustre of a Diamond But when the Sea shines vehemently in a dark night and burns a South or West-wind followeth after it At the stern of the Ship where the water is cut through you see at night deep under water bubbles rise and break then this shining or lustre is not there Hitherto we have discoursed of the north-North-sea but next of the Waves between Hitland and Spitzbergen near Hitland the stream runneth very swift toward the North and it grows daily colder It is to be observed that here the Waves of the Sea run longer almost as they do before the narrow Channel between England and France in the Spanish Sea and what hath been observed heretofore of the rowling and tossing of the Sea belongeth properly to this with a continual tossing of the Ships which maketh the men Sea-sick The vomiting and sickness is attributed to the Sea-water but it really proceedeth from the great and continual motion of the Body when oftentimes we are forced to creep on all four Neither Meat nor Drink tasts well the head akes and is giddy and they are always reaching to vomit Costiveness of the Body doth generally accompany this Distemper and the Urine is highly tinged I reckon it no more then if one is not used to ride in Coaches or Waggons only that it is always accompanied with a bad stomach and restlesness The best Remedies for this Distemper I believe are Aromaticks chewed in ones mouth as Cinamon Cloves Galengal Ginger Nutmegs and the like Many think to drive this Distemper away with fasting but they will find themselves mistaken Some drink Sea-water and believe that will make them vomit which notwithstanding is not occasioned by the Sea-water but by the loathsomness thereof To take away the ill taste out of ones mouth in my opinion the best means is to eat and drink plentifully it easeth quickly neither ought one to sleep too much but keep in the Air and look into the Wind and to walk up and down in the Ship is also very proper But now let us return to the Waves again they rise although it be not windy as high as Mountains very smooth and run away as far as one can discern them which is to be understood when the Sea is turbulent whereupon quickly a hard Gale of wind followeth In a storm the Waves run after the same manner as is just now said but with many curling and foaming whirls as is described in the storm of the North-sea These Waves run a great way so that you may see between them at a great distance If any Ships be in your Company oftentimes you cannot see them There Waves are a great deal larger then in the North-sea and have also greater power when they fall over but do not dash so easily over the Ships as they do in the North-sea The Waves in the North-sea are presently lay'd after a storm but the commotion of these lasteth often to the third day if it be never so calm the Ships are moved very violently that you cannot walk sit or lie it is best to keep in the middle of the Ship for before and behind the Sea beats hard against them The Sails are driven against the Masts and have no steadiness from the wind If in a brisk Gale of a full wind the Sails are all full and round the Ship sails best upon the Sea There is as great difference in Ships as to sailing as there is in Horses concerning easiness and swiftness the motion of the Ships is therefore different the stilness and quietness when nothing is tumbled up and down in the Ship furthereth also sailing very much The Ships swim something higher in the Sea then they do in Fresh-water for there is almost a foot difference in a ship with the same loading 'T is generally agreed upon that one may see a Ship in a calm Sea three or three and a half German Miles off and beyond that distance the Sea loseth it self in the Air and the Air in the Sea If a Ship saileth on the main Sea at one and half German Miles distance you have lost the sight of
for it is from one end to t'other of an equal thickness and full of long Jacks like Horses Hair The Whale-bone is underneath narrow and pointed and all overgrown with Hair that it may not hurt that that is young But without the Whale-bone hath a Cavity for it is turned just like unto a Gutter wherein the Water runs where it lyeth one over the other as the Shields or Plaits of Craw-fish or the Pan-tiles of an House that lye one over the other for else it might easily wound or hurt the under Lips I am of opinion that one might use Whale-bone in any thing that we use Boards for for they make of Whale-bone Boxes Knife-hafts Walking-sticks and the like I should think that out of the Hair of the Fish might be made something as the Spaniards do out of the wild Sempervive Aloes by them called Savila they prepare it like Flax or Hemp and so make Packthreads Clothes and the like Manufactures of it To cut the Whale-bones out is also a peculiar Trade and abundance of Iron Tools belong thereunto The lower part of the Whale's Mouth is commonly white The Tongue lyeth amongst the Whale-bones it is very close tyed to the undermost Chap or Lip it is very large and white with black spots at the edges It is a soft spongy Fat which cannot easily be cut it makes a great deal of work to the Cutter for so they call the Man that doth cut the Fat into small pieces with a large Knife which cannot well be done with other Knifes because it is tough and soft wherefore they fling the Tongue away else they might get five six or seven Barrels of Train-oyl out of it but as I said before they fling it away because of its softness and this is the most pleasing Food for the Sword-fish Upon his Head is the Hovel or Bump before the Eyes and Finns At the top of this Bump on each side is a Spout-hole two over-against one another which are bended on each side like an S or as the hole that is cut on a Violin whereout he doth blow the Water very fiercely that it roars like a hollow Wind which we hear when the Wind bloweth into a Cave or against the corner of a Board or like an Organ-pipe This may be heard at a leagues distance although you do not see him by reason of the thick and foggy Air. The Whale bloweth or spouts the Water fiercest of all when he is wounded then it sounds as the roaring of the Sea in a great Storm and as we hear the Wind in a very hard Storm Behind this Bump the Whale is somewhat more bended in than the finn-Finn-fish yet when they swim you cannot well discern one from the other except you observe it very exactly for it is only the Finn on the Finn-fish's Back that distinguishes him from the Whale The Head of the Whale is not round at the top but somewhat flat and goeth down sloaping like unto the tyling of an House to the under Lip The under Lip is broader than the Whale is in any part of the Body and broadest in the middle before and behind it is something narrower according to the shape of the Head In one word all the whole Fish is shaped like unto a Shoomaker 's Last if you look upon it from beneath Behind the Knob or Bump where the Finns are between that and the Finns are his Eyes which are not much bigger than those of a Bullock with Eye-lids and Hair like Mens Eyes The Crystal of the Eye is not much bigger than a Pea clear white and transparent as Crystal the colour of some is yellowish of others quite white The Seale's are three times as big as those of the Whale The Eyes of the Whale are placed very low almost at the end of the upper Lip Some bring along with them from Spitzbergen some Bones which they pretend to be the Ears of the Whale but I can say nothing to this because I never saw any but thus much I do remember that I have heard them say that they lye very deep The Whale doth not hear when he spouts the Water wherefore he is easiest to be struck at that time His Belly and Back are quite red and underneath the Belly they are commonly white yet some of them are Coal black most of them that I saw were white They look very beautiful when the Sun shines upon them the small clear Waves of the Sea that are over him glisten like Silver Some of them are marbled on their Back and Tail Where he hath been wounded there remaineth always a white Scar. I understood of one of our Harpooniers that he once caught a Whale at Spitzbergen that was white all over Half white I have seen some but one above the rest which was a Female was a beautiful one she was all over marbled black and yellow Those that are black are not all of the same colour for some of them are as black as Velvet others of a Coal black others of the colour of a Tench When they are well they are as slippery as an Eel but one may stand upon them because they are so soft that the Flesh thereof giveth way to our weight And the outward Skin is thin like Parchment and is easily pulled off with ones Hands when the Fish grows hot I know not whether the Skin is thus burnt by the inward heat of the Fish when he lies dry a floating upon the Water The Sun beams seem not to have so great power as to dry the Skin so We found our first Whale was so much heated by his hard swimming that he stunk alive we could pull off great pieces of the Skin of the length of a Man which we could not do to other Fishes that were not so much heated But from Whales that have been dead some days and are dry where also the Sun shines upon them or when it doth not rain one may pull off a great deal of the Skin but it stinks basely of Train-oyl or Fat that ferments thro' the Pores of the Skin I know not what use to make of this Skin but I have seen Women tye their Flax with it about the Distaff The Whale loseth this beautiful white colour when it groweth dry for before there is more black amongst it which maketh the white shew the better neither doth the black look so well after it is dry for it groweth then brownish When you hold the Skin against the light you see many small Pores in it where the Sweat cometh through The Yard of the Whale is a strong Sinew and according as they are in bigness six seven or eight foot long as I have seen my self Where this Yard is fixed the Skin is doubled so that it lies just like a Knife in a Sheath where you can see nothing of the Knife but only a little of the Haâ—t The part of Generation in the Female is just shaped like as that of four-legged
Of the Whales about Spitzbergen and how they differ from other Whales with an exact description of all the parts of a Whale and a what uses they are applied from p. 130 to p. 144 Of the sever ways of catching Whales from p. 145 to p. 156 How they mannage the dead Whales several ways of Trying out of the Train-Oil from the Fat from p. 197 to p. 164 Of the Finn-fish being the length of a Whale but much less in bulk p. 16â— Of Rotz fishes and Sea-qualms Of the Sea May-fly Of the Snail Slime-fish Of the Hat Slime-fish Of the Rose like shaped Slime-fish Of the Slime fish like a Cap. Of the Slime fish like a Fountain from p. 165 to p. 175. Contents of the Supplement A Description of Cherry and other Islands from p. 179 to p. 184 John mayens Island p. 185 Groenland or Engroenland p. 187 The Discovery of Freezland or Friseland p. 206 To the Hon. ble Sam Pepys Esq r. This Mapp of the STREIGHTS of MAGELLAN Drawn by S r Io. n Narbrough is humbly Dedicated by Sam Smith and Benj Wallford A JOURNAL KEPT BY Captain John Narbrough c. MAY 15. 1669. This day being Saturday I received from the Honourable Mr. Wren Secretary to his Royal Highness the Duke of York my Commission to Command his Majesty's Ship the Sweepstakes the Ship being at Deptford in the River of Thames near London Sunday September 26. 1669. Set out at his Majesty's proper Cost one of his own Ships named the Sweepstakes Burthen 300 Tuns with 36 great Ordnance and all other Munition proportionable manned with 80 Men and Boys victualled for fourteen Months at whole allowance of all Provisions both good and wholesom having Oat-meal for Fish and four Tuns and an half of Brandy in lieu of Beer stores of all sorts compleat for twelve months with provision of Craft to take Fish and Fowls a seyne Net and hooks and lines and fisgigs and harping Irons twelve Fowling-pieces with shot and pigs of Lead to make Shot if occasion c. And the Batchelour Pink burthen 70 Tuns with four great Ordnance and all other Munition proportionable mann'd with nineteen Men one Boy victualled for twelve months at whole allowance of all Provision good and wholesom as the Sweepstakes had and stores proportionable for the time and Craft to take Fish and Fowl c. Having a sort of Goods to the value of three hundred pounds as followeth Knives Sissers Glasses Beads Hatchets Bills Hoes Nails Needles Pins Pipes Bells Boxes c. Dassels Linnen Cloth Osenbrigs Tobacco and Pipes c. to trade with the Natives at his Majesty's Charge Wednesday September 29. Hazy weather the Wind to the North-west and by West a fresh gale I stood to the South-west-ward as near as I could this day at twelve a Clock the Lizard bore North of me a little Easterly distance about 12 Leagues according to my account Latitude by account is 49 d. 35 m. This day I spoke with a French Banker Lizard in England lies in the Lat. of 50 d. 10 m. and in Longitude East from the Meridian of the West part of St. Michael one of the Islands of the Azores 18 d. 30 m. From the Lizard I take my departure and keep my daily account of the difference of my Longitude from that Meridian October the 17. I made the Madera which Island is high Land and irregular in Hills with Wood on the top and down the sides Planted with Vines there is some Sugar made in the Island the Inhabitants Portugueses The City of Fonchiale is the Metropolis and is situated in a Bay on the South part of the Island close to the Sea side walled next the Sea and well fortified with Ordnance fresh water comes running into the Sea in the middle of the Bay in a fair Rivulet from under an Arch in the Wall the shoar-sides are great pebble stones in the Bay and Rocks in the other places the Road is foul ground to the East part of it the Ships ride in shot of Ordnance of the City this City is about an English mile in length and three quarters of a mile in breadth The Desarts are barren rocky Isles of a good heighth and lie at the South-east point of Madera above a mile distant from the shore there is water enough between Madera and the Desarts in the midway and no danger the Desarts trent to the South-east Fonchiale Bay in the Isle of Madera lies in the Latitude of 32 d. 10 m. North and in Longitude West from the Lizard of England 10 d. 1 m. and Meridian distance 143 Leagues Sunday being the 17th fair Weather and little wind at North-west Course by my Compass South-west I make my true Course from Fonchiale Bay till to day at noon South-south-west distance sailed 34 miles six tenths departure West 13 miles Diff. Lat. 00 d. 32 m. Lat. by account 31 d. â—8 m. Meridian distance from the Lizard West 147 leagues 1 mile Longitude from the Lizard West 10 d. 17 m. Difference of Longitude from Fonchiale West 00 d. 16 m. To day at noon I saw the Island of Madera bearing N b. E the body of the Isle distant by estimation 11 leagues it makes in a bluff body at the West end and trents to the East Course by the Compass this afternoon SW little wind to night I shaped my nearest Course for the Island of St. Jago with all the sail I could make the Batchelour Pink in Company I gave order to my Master to make the best of his way to St. Jago Island but not to leave the Company of the Batchelour Saturday October 23. The wind at N. b. E. a gale this day in the forenoon I crossed the Tropick of Cancer all my men in good health I praise the Almighty God for it many of my men that had been with me in the Indies formerly were let blood for I take bleeding in these hot Climates to be a great preserver of health diverting Calentures I experienc'd it in two Voyages before to the Island of St. Helena and in one to the Coast of Guinea where several of my men under that distemper were preserved by bleeding in all these Voyages I was never sick one day nor in two years time in the Mediterranean Sea nor at the Canaries for when I came near the Equinoctial I always breathed a Vein Thursday October 28. the Wind at East-North-East a stiff gale this Morning I saw the Isle of Mayo bearing S. b. W. distant by estimation eight Leagues it makes a high Hill and Craggy to the East part and low land towards the shore-side to the North-west part of the Island it lies from Bâ—navist S. b. W. distant near 18 leagues This day at 11 a Clock I anchored in the Road in seven fathom water sandy Ground about a mile from the shore the Northernmost point of the Road bearing N. N. W. half a point to the West and the Southern point of the Road bearing South-east
from me distant about a mile and an half there are craggy Rocks to the South of the Road on the shore side but to the North a low sandy shore the Road is on the North-west and by West part of the Island in a small sandy Bay there 's the Salt-pond a bow 's shot from the Sea in the low flat Land fresh water is very scarce here I went ashore presently after I had anchored and found a heap of Salt of about 20 Tuns I got aboard again immediately and sent the Long-boat ashore which brought off 2 Tuns and ½ the Suff came in so much that no more could be got off we halled the Seyne here and caught abundance of good Mullets with some Cavalle and silver Fish one of the Islanders a Negro came aboard whom I sent ashore to tell the People that if they brought down some Cattle I would buy some of them I rode here all Night fair Weather the Wind Easterly This side of the Island is dry land without wood here are many Goats and Guinea Hens Friday October 29. fair Weather the wind at NE. a fine gale this Morning I sent my Boat ashore and bought of the Islanders some Goats at ½ a piece of Eight per Head and 8 Cows excellent good meat at 6 pieces of Eight a Cow giving the skins again my men caught a great many Fish with the Seyne which this day we split and laid in pickle four Hours then dried them to keep which they will a long time in any Climate as I have experienced in other Voyages and are very good Victuals at Sea I made what dispatch I could to be gone for St. Jago Island This day in the forenoon a Ship passed by to the Westward on the South side of the Isle and in the afternoon we saw several Ships coming from the Northward which were the Portuguese Fleet bound for Brazil they halled into Port Praya in the Isle of St. Jago to water this night I weighed and stood away at twelve a Clock South-south-west for Port Praya with the Pink in Company I touched at the Isle of May for Salt which I knew would be a great help to get Provisions in the Voyage Saturday October 30. fair wind at North-east and by North a fresh gale This Morning I steered South-west for the South side of St. Jago where is the Road of Port Praya lying near South-west from the Road of the Isle of May and distant nine Leagues This day at 12 a Clock I cast my best Bower-anchor in Port Praya Road in 10 fathom rough Ground the East Point bore East of me and the West Point about West-south-west about half a mile off I could not go into the best of the Road the Portuguese Fleet of about thirty six Sail riding in it the Great Padre Eternel Admiral bound for Brazil is a very great Ship and well built they say she is in Burthen 1700 Tuns she hath Ports for three Tier of Guns flush but now she had but eighty and poorly mann'd with Seamen and so were all the rest six Frigats might have taken most of the Fleet. At my coming in to Anchor the Admiral saluted me with seven Guns I thanked him with as many Captain Francis Wilksheir in the Jerusalem fired five I returned him three so did the Reer-Admiral and I return'd the Complement in the like number several of the Fleet fired three whom I answer'd in conclusion with three for all I rode on the broad side of the Admiral and saluted the Fort with five Guns which return'd three then I sent my Lieutenant ashore to ask leave of the Governour to water which he granted forthwith my Coopers got the Cask ready and this Evening put one boat 's lading aboard Sunday Octobor 31. fair Weather the wind at North-east a fine gale This Morning Don Carolus went ashore to Pryam with much ado I got off a boats lading of Water for the Portuguese boats were filling too and a great many Soldiers at the watering place snatch'd some of our mens Hats off and run away wherefore I would not let my men go any more this day for fear of quarreling This Bay of Port Praya as they call it is no Port but a fine round Bay having high steep Cliffs on the East side and in the bottom a steep Hill where the Castle is that hath but four Guns and is of no force there is a small Fort on the top of a Hill on the East side which hath three Guns On the North-west part of the Bay the shore is gravelly and sandy and there 's a Grove of Coco-nut trees A fresh water Rivulet runs down into the Valley and thence through the Sand soaks into the Sea this Water is in great quantity very good and keeps well at Sea to the west part of this Bay lies a small Island close on the shore which has Grass on it that may be cut off for Cattle which I did this Road is no safeguard for Shipping for a Man of War may take any Ship out of the Bay without receiving any damage from the Forts ashore and with Fire-Ships a whole Fleet may be spoiled at pleasure for it 's a fresh gale every day and there 's but two points of Land by which a man may fetch into any part of the Bay also the Bay lies open to the Sea from the East Southerly to the W. S. W. I called for my Lieutenants and Master and acquainted them that I had Orders to sail from thence to the Coast of America to the Southward of the River of Plate to the streights of Magellan through which we were to pass into the South Seas and that we must shape our Course to make the shortest way of it and be careful to keep Easterly enough of it to weather the shoals of Brazil called the Abroholls lying in and about eighteen degrees of Southerly Latitude for the Wind blows for the most part thereabouts between the Latitude of ten South and the Latitude of twenty South at East by South and East South-east fresh gales whilst this pass'd in came the Master and told me all things were stowed and the Wind at E. b. N. fresh I concluded with him that our best Course at present would be South and by East and as we got Southerly and the Wind grew large we might alter our Course when we would we steered a Point or two from the Wind that the Ship might have fresh way through the Sea I ordered my Master to steer South and by East by the Compass and my Lieutenant to call all hands to Prayer read Service and beg'd of God Almighty a prosperous Voyage continuance in Health and love to one another and that we might prosper in this Vndertaking c. Instructions for Mr. Humphrey Fleming Commander of his Majesty's hired Pink the Batchelour By vertue of an Order from His Royal Highness dated the twenty ninth day of August 1669. to me directed YOU are hereby
735 Leagues 1 mile 5 tenths Variation of the Compass Easterly 18 Degrees I concluded we had shot past Port Desier Harbour in the Fog for the Islands and Rocks which we saw were Penguin and other Isles lying about it which lies to the Southward of the Harbour of Port Desier Many Seals Penguins pied Porpoises and several Sea Fowls c. seen to day Thursday Febr. 24. Hasey Weather Wind at West-north-west a fresh gale I sent Men up to the Top-mast-head to look abroad this Morning no sight of the Pink I judge she must be in Port Desier I weighed about 8 a Clock this Morning and stood to the Northward with my Ship I went in my Pinnace along the shore to the Northward whilst the Ship sail'd in the Offing about two Leagues from the shore the Shore-side is in Beaches and scatter'd Rocks in many places the Tide of Flood was with us at the North-end of Seals Bay lies a small rocky Island copling up like a Haycock It is cover'd with grey-colour'd Fowls Dung a very strong Tide runs here between the Island and the Main 't is a little more than a Cables length from the Point of the Main there 's a great many broken Rocks about it by the Sea-side here the main Land is low and sandy up the Country in large Downs and Hills without Wood or fresh Water any where On this Island are abundance of Seals and Sea Fowls we gave it the name of Tomahauke Island from an Indian Club lost here called by the Caribbe-Indians at Surinam a Temahauke 't is all a craggy Rock a little bigger than Seal-Island and is eight Leagues to the North-north-east distant from it to the Northwest of this Island is a deep rounding Bay called in the Charts Spiring's Bay wherein lie three small Islands of an indifferent height the Land in the Country over this Bay is large high Hills Rocks lie in the North part of the Bay I cross'd it in the Pinnace amd sounded as I went over and had 21 Fathom rough ground in the mid-way 't is seven Miles broad and near 3 Leagues deep it rounds with a turning up to the North-northwest ward behind a Point farther than I saw upon which rounding Point stand black Rocks which make like a ragged Building and a Tower in it at my coming in with the Land I sail'd close under this shoar with my Boat the shore is steep black Rocks and low Bays with Pebble-stones and sandy Beaches green Grass on the Hills no Wood nor fresh Water to be seen at the North-east Point of this Spiring's-Bay the Land makes out full like a foreland a fair high Land in large plain Hills with sandy small Bays at the face of this Foreland lie six rocky Islands one is a Musket-shot off the Main the rest farther off the outwardmost is the biggest a Mile from the Point of the Main and is called Penguin-Island it is indifferent high at the ends and low in the middle 't is near three quarters of a Mile long North-north-east and South-south-west and near half a Mile broad East and West it is all craggy Rocks except in the lowest part of the middle which is gravelly and in the Summer time had a little green Grass the great black Gannets lay their Eggs here and the Penguins all over the Island upon and under the Rocks in Holes Seals lie all about the sides on the tops of the highest Rocks and in the middle of it the number of Seals Penguins and Sea-Fowl upon these Islands is alsmost incredible to them that never saw them for the multitude of each Creature that 's there daily is numberless the Six Islands are full of Seals but the Penguins frequent the biggest most I put a-shore at one of them and took into my Boat three hundred Penguins in less than half an hour and could have taken three thousand in the time if my Boat would have carried 'em for 't is but driving 'em in flocks to the shore by the Boats side where two or three Men knock them on the head with short Truncheons and the rest heave them into the Boat the Seals will run over a Man if he does not avoid 'em mean time the Ship was standing to the Northward about 2 Leagues off many broken Rocks and foul ground lie among these Islands and without the Point of the outermost it makes a great ripling which is the strength of the Tide reversed from the Islands aginst the other Tide to the Northward of these Islands is a Bay four Leagues long and a League and half deep in the Northwest thereof lies the Harbour of Port Desier which we could see from Penguin Island 's bearing North-north-west from Penguin Island distant about 3 Leagues about the middle of this Bay are steep white Cliffs near two miles long the upper part of the Cliff has black streaks down a fourth part caused by the Water draining down on it the Land is plain on the top of these Cliffs but further into the Country high rounding Hills and Downs and toward the Water-side low on the South part of the Bay are craggy Rocks on the Main like great Walls near the Sea there 's a sandy Cove to hale a Boat up in foul Weather the Cove is just under these wall-like Rocks Saturday Feb. 26. Fair Weather the Wind at West a stiff gale I kept a Light out all Night that the Pink might see if she came along the first part of the Night a great Fire was made on the shore for the same purpose Cold weather this Morning at 7 a Clock I manned both my Boats and into the Herbour the Ship rode moored at the Harbour-mouth within the Muscle-bank in six Fathom at low Water I sent my Men upon the Hills on the North shore to look abroad for the Pink and make a Fire in the dry Grass that she might see the smoak if she were thereabouts but they could not see her I sounded the Harbour in many places to day at low Water and found it a very good one for great Ships to ride in provided they have good Cables and Anchros I searched the shore but found no Wood and very little fresh Water on the hilly and large Downs very few Bushes but dry long Grass growing in tufts and knots the Soil is gravelly and dry in some Valleys well mixt with black mould no People fire or smoak but our own to be seen I saw several places where they had lain behind Bushes upon Grass which they had plucked up and that they had made small sires and roasted Lumpets and Muscles there lay Wooll Feathers bones of Beasts and shivers of Flints I went to a Flag which I left on a Hill yesterday with Beads at it but finding no body had been at it let it stand no Beasts seen any where except two Hares running over the Hills this day we were taken up with viewing the Harbour so that we did not advance above a mile and
and like a Mullet one of the Men took it up and dressed it when he came on Board 't was excellent good here must be a great quantity of Fish to maintain all the Seals Penguins and other Fowls that live upon nothing else and yet are all extream fat and innumerable in multitude besides what Creatures we have not seen yet I have seen Seals in this Harbour swimming with their heads above Water with large Fish in their Mouths Sunday March 13. Indifferent Weather Wind at West a fresh gale The Air cold this Morning I went up the River in my Boat with fourteen Men armed I past the Island where the brushy Bushes are and where we took the young Shags there the River grows broader near a mile from the North shore over to the South and continues that breadth four miles then it becomes narrower and turns away to the South-west at this turning is an Island of a mean height and Rocky bearing some small Bushes and Grass I went upon it and saw a Post of five foot long set up it had been the timber of a Ship with a piece of Board about a foot square nailed to it at the foot of it one of my Men took up a piece of Sheet-Lead and gave it to me it had this Inscription engraven on it MDCXV EEN SCHIP ENDE EEN IACHT GENAEMT EENDRACHT EN HOORN GEARRIVEERT DEN VIII DECEMBER VERTROKEN MET EEN SCHIP DEENDRACHT DEN X IANVARY MDCXVI C IACQVES LE MAIRE S. WILLEM CORNS SCHOVTS ARES CLASSEN IAN CORNS SCHOTS CLAES IANSSEN BAN In a hole of the Post lay a latten or tin Box which we found by a long Plug that stuck in the hole with a sheet of written Paper enclosed in it but so eaten by the rust of the Box that 't was not to be read I cut out with my Knife upon a Board the Ship 's Name and the date of the Year and Month which I nailed to the Post and brought away the Lead with me aud named the place Le Mair's Island we found on it several pieces of Boards of the Wreck of some Ship that had been burned they were drove up here by the Tide the People of the Country can't get upon this Island From hence I went on the North side of the River two miles into the Land no Trees to be seen but many Ostriches and Guianacoes in many places the Soil is marly and good the Hills not very high but plain large Downs with Grass on them all over digging in two or three places I found sandy dry ground near a foot deep then Marle In my opinion it might be made excellent Corn-ground being ready to Till 't is very like the Land on New-market Heath no People to be seen I searched the Gullies and broken Rocks for grains of Gold or Minerals but found neither I returned to the Boat again rowed farther under the shore landed and mounted asteep high Hill to view the Country on the top of this rocky Hill grow small Bushes I could see the course of the River a long way further and the Land all Grass here and there a white spot of Marle on the side of a Hill no People to be seen nor Boats on the River I came down to the Boat several Creeks run from hence a mile or two into the Land I cross'd the River to the South-east shore we made the Boar fast in a Creek in a Valley and went all hands up the Land three miles we saw many Guianacoes and Ostriches but could not come within shot of them I saw the Footsteps of five Men that had been upon the Oar I measured my Foot with them which was larger and longer by half an Inch than any of them we could not see any People it being near Night we plucked up Grass and laid it to the best advantage for shelter here we lay all Night keeping watch two by two cold Air to Night wind at West Monday March 14. Fair Weather but cold This Morning by day-light we turn'd out and marcht into the Land four miles South-west and by South we could not find any fresh Water we made a Fire on the Grass but saw no sign of any People we saw Guianacoes Hares Foxes wild Dogs pretty large and a grey Cat like an English one running up the Hills to day we caught an Armadillo the Dogs put her to ground they have holes like Coneys we soon dug her out 't was as big as a great Hedg-hog and not much unlike one the Armadillo is cased over the Body with a shell shutting one under another like shells of Armour the Dogs couls not hurt her we saw Rats in many places and a kind of Polecat with two white streaks on the Back all the rest black our Dogs killed two of them they stink much several Ostriches some Partridges and many Kites the Land in fair Hills without Wood or fresh Water the Soil a sandy Gravel with Grass all over it no Mineral or Metal seen This afternoon we returned to our Boat and went through a Creek two miles long which is dry at low Water and not more than thirty foot broad it makes a fair Island of a mean heighth plain on the top and Grass growing all over it but no Wood nor Water upon it the greatest part of it is a sandy marly Soil 't is two miles long and half a mile broad the Greyhound killed two Hares on it presently and we saw above twenty I called it Hare-Island it is adjacent to the South-shore eight miles up the River from the narrow I went down the River and went aboard this Evening cold Air Wind at West a stout Gale towards Morning it came to the North I cannot perceive the Indians have any Canoas or other Boats here March 24. Blowing Weather Wind at West We fetch'd all our things off the shore and got the Ship ready to Sail I went a-shore on the South-side to the peeked Rock and found it a natural Rock standing on a small round Hill as if it had been built there by Man it hath a Cleft on the top it as big in circumference as a But 't is near forty foot high above the Hill it stands on about it lie little lumps of Rocks I saw nothing else worth notice so I return'd to the Ship the biggest stick growing in or near this Harbour or in the Countries as far as we went which was twenty Miles would not make a Helve for a Hatchet but there are Bushes which will serve for firing at Sea before Night I had all things on Board and the Ship fitted with intent to sail next Morning and look'd along the Coasts for the Pink till I arrived at Port St. Julian's Harbour fresh Water is scarce in Port Desier Harbour in the Summer-time the places from whence I fetch'd Water are small Springs on the North-side out of which I filled near forty Tuns the first Spring is on the North-side as you enter the Harbour half a mile up a
sailing between Cape-gallery and Cape-pillar forwards and backwards At any time if you have a desire to enter the Streights of Magellan at the West-mouth it will be safest in my Opinion to bear in for the Land in the Latitude of 52 Degrees and 50 Minutes South and then you will see the four Isles of Direction which lie before the Mouth of the Streights somewhat toward the North-side they lie North-north-west from Cape-pillar near eight Leagues distant These Islands may be known for there are but four of them and they be but of an indifferent height and but small and bare irregular Rocks and they be near together the Eastermost Isle is near a Mile distant from the other three and it is peeked up like a Sugar-loaf the Sea breaks much on these Isles with Westerly Winds c. Cape-pillar is the steep Point of Rocks on the South-side of the Streights-mouth at the entring into the Streights Cape Desiade is the Westerly Point for it falleth off from Cape-pillar near South-west and they are distant about two Leagues one from another which is the Face of the Lands between these two Capes for at the Point of Cape Desiade the Land on the South-side of the Cape trents off to the South-south-eastward all high ragged rocky Mountains what I saw of it at the pitch of Cape Desiade there lie many shatter'd Rocks which are above Water and shew like the Ruins of old Houses and there are ledges of Rocks that are sunk which lie near four Leagues off of the Cape West the Sea breaks much on them and they are dangerous they lie in the Latitude of 53 d. 10 m. South by my reckoning I called these Rocks The Judges they are near ten Leagues distant South and by West from the Isles of Direction so broad is the first opening of the Streights for when you can but once see the Land to make it there is no danger but a Stranger that should pass out of the South-sea and had not passed the Streights before will find it very difficult to pass the Streights from the West to the East for at the first entring into it out of the South-sea as we call it there are many Openings and Sounds on the North-side which seem fairer for a passage than the Streight it self doth therefore it is best to keep the South-side far aboard all along from Cape-pillar which is the point at the Entrance the Course will be East and by South for a Mile or two and then East-south-east and South-east and by East so the Channel lieth to Cape Quade The North-side of the Streights from Cape Victory all along to the Eastward to Cape Froward is all a ragged rocky mountainous desolate Country many high rocky Islands and small Rocks and sucking Rocks lie on the North-side of the Streights at coming out of Mare del Zur fifteen Leagues in distance into the Streights to the Eastward There also run great Sounds and Waters into the North-Land which shew like a passage more than the Streights doth There is no safety for a Ship to keep the North-shore aboard in this part for here lie so many Islands and Rocks so that if the Weather prove foggy and thick a Man may mistake the right Channel and steer in among the broken Islands and Rocks so far as to endanger his Ship if the Wind be Westerly and it is for the most part of the Winter there very thick and foggy Here are many Sounds and Coves on the North-side between Cape-Victory and Cape Quad but how far they run into the Land I know not I wanted a Sloop or some other small Vessel to discover those Sounds and many other places in the Streights which I would gladly have seen January 6. In Tuesday-bay and Island-bay there grow thick shrubby Bushes on the lower Land which have many Berries like Hurts growing on them these Bushes grow in a mossy loose Earth which lieth four or five Feet thick on the Rock these Bushes will serve for Fuel there grows also long sedgy Grass very thick many Geese and Ducks do make their Nests and breed in it and other Sea-Fowl here are Ducks white and pied brant-Geese grey Gulls Sea-Mews Sea-Divers and Penguins on the Water I could not see any People now but some have been there for I saw where they had made Fires and an Arbour Here are Muscles and Limpets on the Rocks but as for other Fishes I saw none I rowed two Miles up the Sound and could have gone farther but it rained so much and blew so hard as I durst not be absent from the Ship the Water is mighty deep in the Sound At night I got aboard my Seamen were joyful to see me for they were afraid that the Ship would have broke loose in the time of my absence Much Rain to Night and Fogs the Wind at West-south-west a short gale at Night I rode fast on the smooth Water having the Point on the North-west of me Here is a great deal of fresh Water comes running in streams down the sides of the bare rocky Mountains into the salt Water many Whales spouting to and fro in these Bays and Sounds and some Seals on the Rocks this part is very desolate and a mere Chaos c. At eight of the Clock this Evening I anchored before the place called Batchelors River in nine Fathom Water clear sandy Ground two Cables length from the shore Here is very good clear sandy-ground before the River and good Anchoring in six or seven or eight or nine or ten or eleven Fathom a fine barth of shore and good Riding with Westerly Winds and Northerly the worst Wind is a South-Wind for it blows right on in this Reach but there cannot go much Sea here for the Streight in this Reach is but two Leagues broad This Batchelors River is near five Leagues to the Eastward of Cape Quade and two Leagues to the Eastward of St. Jerom's Channel on the North-side of it the Tide runs of an indifferent strength in this place both Ebb and Flood it sets in and out of St. Jerom's Channel rising and falling about eight or nine Feet perpendicular here is not above ten Foot Water at a High-water at the going in of Batchelor's River This River is a good Harbour for Barks and Sloops or the like This River lieth in a Valley and a fine Grove of green Trees grows on the West Point At the entrance here is very good fresh Water and a good place to Wood at The Indian People or Natives frequent this place often for here are many Arbours which are their Houses Calm Weather to Night and Foggy I rode fast the Ship being moored Sunday January 8. Calm Weather and a fine warm Sun-shine This Morning at Day-light I went in my Boat with twenty Men into Batchelor's River and rowed four Miles up the Creek or River which was as far as the Boat could go the Water being high the River ends in a small Creek coming
the Ice and killed a young Sea-Horse or Mors and saw many more but could not kill them with Muskets notwithstanding we fired 7 Muskets into one of them neither could we come to lame them for they get into the Sea before you can come to them they keeping Watch and are very shy always lying on the brink of the Ice ready to take the Sea We Sounded and had 80 Fathom Water green Oar at which time we saw the Ground plain being very smooth Water Meridian distance from the Ship to the Land 15 Miles which maketh Meridian distance from the Land to this place 980 Miles Wednesday June 28. From the 27. Noon to this Day Noon very little Wind but the most part Calm from the North to the West true Course Protracted West-north-west 10 Miles Lat. per Judgment 74 d. 46 m. Meridian distance 970 Miles In the Afternoon stood in close with the Ice and found it to joyn to the main Land at Night stood off from the Ice Thursday June 29. From the 28 Noon to this Day Noon little Wind with Rains we stood away from the Ice to Sea true Course allowed is South 27 d. West 20 Miles difference of Lat. 16 Miles departure 8 Miles Lat. per Judgment 74 d. 40 m. Meridian distance 964 Miles At Noon the Wind at West and West and by South a sine Gale but very foggy Weather we stand away South to get from the Ice we being in-bayed in it At 11 at Night the Prosperous Pink fired a Gun and bore down upon us crying out Ice on the Weather-Bow with that we clap'd the Helm hard a Weather Veered out the Main-Sheet to Ware the Ship but before the Ship could Ware and bring to upon the other Tack She struck on a ledge of Rocks which lay sunk From 12 at Noon to 11 at Night thick foggy Weather the Wind from the North-west to the West by South Course per Compass between the South-west and the South by West close Haul'd but at Night the Prosperous Pink saw the Sea break on the Weather-Bow bearing down upon us cryed out it was the Ice with that we presently bore up round to bring to upon the other Tack but our Ship not wearing round run on a ledge of Rocks there stuck fast but Captain Flawes Ship got clear wearing more rounder we fired several Guns to give Captain Flawes notice of our distress we used all means possible to get her off by carrying out a Hasser and Anchor and staving of Water and Beer and throwing Provision over Board but could not get the Ship off for the Water did Ebb and the Ship Sued above 3 Foot but when the Flood came it brought a great Sea with it and the Ship beat very hard we used all means to heave her off but could not and the Ship making Water more than we could Pump with that we cut our Masts by the Board and sent our Yaul unto the Shore to discover some place to Land at whose return aboard brought word that there was landing with that we got up Bread out of the Bread Room and brought it up into the great Cabbin and the Carpenter made ready to save some Tools and necessaries to Rebuild our Long-Boat to save our lives if so necessitated that Captain Flawes should not return to us So about 12 at Noon we got all our Men ashore except two which were drowned in the Pinnace by a Sea which broke into her just as she put off from the Ship side having Bread Powder and Provisions in her and all lost with the Pinnace Also to our great grief having nothing but the Long-Boat to trust in to save our lives which could not carry above 30 Men of 70. We used all means to save Bread but the Ship filling up to the upper Deck we were forced to leave her having saved but two Bags of Bread with some pieces of Pork and a little Cheese this being all on Shore we carried our Provisions and other Necessaries upon a Hill where came to visit us one of the Natives which was a Prodigious great white Bear which one of our Men shot at and as we supposed hit her which made her run away with that we made all hast to build us a Tent to keep us from the cold and to keep our Provisions dry having saved Canvas for the purpose which we laid over Oars and Spars and threw up a Trench of Earth round us to preserve us from Wild Beasts but all this time indured much cold most of our Men being wet and having no firing therefore all our Hopes and Prayers were that God would send us the Ship ashore Friday June 30. A fresh Gale and very foggy with a great Sea our Ship began to split and much Wreck came ashore so that we got Oars Spars and Deals to build us Tents and firing of which we saved as much as we could but the Weather proved very foggy to our great grief being we could not expect Captain Flawes as long as the Fog continued The Wind at West-north-west Saturday July 1. The Wind at North-west a fresh Gale the Ship brake in pieces so that we had much Wreck came ashore and Provisions which we indeavoured to save with much pains and trouble the Sea breaking much on the Shore and the Weather very cold and foggy We saved two Casks of Flower some Brandy and a Butt of Beer and a Cask of Oil the Flower did us great kindness to save our Bread for we made of the Flower Pan-Cakes and Pudding and baked Cakes on Stones to our great refreshment Sunday July 2. The Wind at West and very foggy we saved more Flower Butter and a few pieces of Beef and Pork the Cask being Staved The Gunneras he was saving of Provision there came a great White Bear to him which he shot at and fell'd her down but she rose again and at him with that there came more Men and fired at her she was a very great one and very Fat and the Flesh very good and look'd delicate and Eat well Saturday July 8. The Wind at West-north-west a very great Fog and all our Men in great despair of our seeing Captain Flawes we beginning to consider our most miserable Condition and contriving how to save our Lives the Long-boat not being able to carry above 30 Men and a Deck built on her and her Wast raised with that we concluded to lengthen her 12 Foot and to carry all our Men but upon consideration of wanting Materials and the Carpenters bad assistance the Men would not agree to have her cut a sunder for fear she could not be lengthened but were willing to Travel by Land towards the Waygates in hopes to find some Russia Lodges With that we began to raise her Wast and build a Deck the Weather continuing very foggy till Saturday Morning at which time we espyed Captain Flawes to our great joy with that we made presently a great Fire and sent our Yaul to meet
our second fish which was a male one and this fish when they wounded him with Lances bled very much so that the Sea was tinged by it where he swam we brought him to the Ship when the Sun was in the North for the Sun is the Clock to the Seamen in Spitzbergen for else they would live without order and mistake in the usual seven weekly days On the 14th it was cold and windy the night foggy the wind blew West that day we came to Hans Lichtenberg We arrived at Spitzbergen June the 14th First we came to the Foreland thereof then to the seven Ice-hills or Mountains then we passed the Harbour or Bay of the Hamburgers Magdalens English men and Danes and sailed into the South-bay we were followed by 7 Ships 3 Hamburgers and 4 Hollanders as is to be seen by a in the Plate C. For here it is just the same as when they will sail into the Ice if more then one is there for no body cares to be the first because they do not know in what condition the Harbour or the Ice is within In our Voyage thither we saw no Ice at all until we came to Spitzbergen for the wind had blown it all away in the night we did cut off the fat of the fish and filled with it 65 Kardels or Vessels That night we sailed with three Boats into the English Harbour or Bay and saw a Whale and flung into him three Harpoons and threw our Lances into him the Whale run underneath the small Ice and remained a great while under water before he came up again and then ran but a very little way before he came up again and this he repeated very often so that we were forced to wait on him above half an hour before he came from underneath the Ice The Harpoons broke out at length and we lost him On the Ice we saw two great Sea-horses or Morses that were got upon the sheet of Ice through a hole that was in it and were asleep we cut off their return by covering the hole with a piece of Ice then we awaken'd them with our Lances and they began to defend themselves for a while before they were killed We saw also many White-fish On the 22th we had very fair weather and pretty warm we were by Rehenfelt Deersfeild where the Ice stood firm we saw six Whales and got one of them that was a male and our third fish he was kill'd at night when the Sun stood westward this fish was kill'd by one man who flung the Harpoon into him and kill'd him also while the other Boats were busie in pursuing or hunting after another Whale This fish run to the Ice and before he died beat about him with his tail the Ice setled about him so that the other Boats could not come to this Boat to assist him till the Ice separated again that they might row when they tied one Boat behind the other and so towed the Whale to the great Ship where they cut him up into the Vessels and filled with him 45 Barrels This night the Sun shined very brightly On the 29th we had fair weather Sun-shine and calm On the same day we sailed before the wide Harbour or Bay where we found a great quantity of the fat of a Whale three Vessels full together with the Image of St. Nicholas which stood behind a Ship that was lost driving in the Sea There was also here and there still much Ice On the 1st of July about noon two Whale came near to our Ship we saw that they had a mind to couple together we set our Boat for them and the Harpoonier hit the female which when the other found he did not stay at all but made away The female run all along above the water straight forward beating about with her tail and fins so that we durst not come near to lance her yet one of our Harpooniers was so fool hardy to venture too near to the fish which saluted him with a stroak of her tail over his back so vehemently that he had much ado to recover his breath again Those in the other Boat to shew their valour also hasten'd to the fish which overturned their Boat so that the Harpoonier was forced to dive for it and hide his head underneath the water the rest did the same they thought it very long before they came out for it was cold so that they came quaking to the Ship again In the same morning a Whale appear'd near our Ship before the wide Harbour we put out four Boats from our Ship after him but two Holland Ships were about half a League from us one of them sent out a Boat towards us we used great diligence and care to take him but the fish came up just before the Dutchman's Boat and was struck by him with a Harpoon Thus he took the bread out of our mouths On the 2d of July we had Sun-shine all day and night long and it was pretty warm withal about midnight we went a hunting and caught the fifth fish who was a male we cut the fat off and flung it into the Forecastle This is done when they are very busie in Whale catching that they may not lose time then they cut great pieces off of the Whale that they may have done the sooner for it doth not harm the fat if it should lie so for several days nay some reckon it to be the better for it but that cannot be for the fat runs away from it On the 4th we had Sun-shine all day and night We still were Whale hunting and that night we got the sixth fish a male also he held 49 Kardels of fat On the 3d and 4th day of July we saw more Whales than we did in all our Voyage On the 5th of July in the forenoon it was bright Sun-shine and pretty warm in the afternoon it was foggy at night Sun-shine again which lasted all the night We hunted all that day long and in the morning we struck a Whale before the Weigatt this fish run round about under the water and so fastned the Line whereon our Harpoon was about a Rock so that the Harpoon lost its hold and that fish got away This Whale did blow the water so fiercely that one might hear it at a Leagues distance The same day about noon the wind south and Sun-shine we got the seventh fish which was a female and had 45 Kardels of fat this we cut also into the Hold and so we sailed from Weigatt a little toward the west before the Muscle-Harbour where we dropped our Anchor we were employed with cutting the great pieces of fat into lesser pieces to fill our Kardels with them in the mean while the wind turned to North-west and west and the single Anchor was dragg'd by the Ship so we dropped another and would have weigh'd up the former but our Cable broke the Anchor being fastned to a Rock On the 6th we had the same
when we sailed South-east there we took in a Pilot on purpose chosen by the Magistrates of Hamburg On the 29th it was fair weather and warm Sun-shine all day we sailed before the Elbe and lay at Anchor by the first Buoy called the Red-Buoy in the afternoon we weighed our Anchor and sailed to Kucks-Haven in the night we had thunder and lightning and rain The End of the first Part. THE SECOND PART OF THE VOYAGE TO SPITSBERGEN CONTAINING The Description of Spitzbergen CHAP. I. Of the External Face and Appearance of Spitsbergen It seemeth because the Ice stands firm and floats not as that in the Sea doth that there should be land not far behind it As the highest Countries are surrounded with Mountains as a Fortification is with Walls and Works so are these Countries naturally surrounded with high Hills The inward Condition of this Country we do not know but it seemeth since we see one Hill behind another that it is so throughout the whole Country At the Muscle-Haven or Muscle-Bay we find plainer and leveller Ground and the farther we sail toward the East the Ground groweth the lower yet it is all stony and with prospects of smaller Hills it doth not look at all as if it could be inhabited by Men. I believe also that the Land there must of necessity be lower and lower for else we should see it higher above the other as we do the other Mountains Concerning the Beasts that live on this Land I believe they come over the Ice in the Spring when the Ice stands firm into these Countries and that the same way they go away from thence again when the long nights begin Concerning the Birds we have partly a good account of them their places and food is known as I shall mention when I come to write of them When on the 18th of June on a Sunday in the forenoon we first came to the Foreland of Spitzbergen the foot of these Mountains looked like fire and the tops of them were coverwith foggs the snow was marbel'd and look'd as if it were boughs of branches of Trees and gave as bright and glorious a shining of gloss to the Air or Skies as if the Sun had shin'd When the Mountains look thus fiery a hard storm generally ensues These Countries are in the Winter encompassed with Ice from divers places according as the winds blow as if it be East from Nova Zembla if North-west form Greenland and the Island of John Mayen it also happeneth sometimes that the Land is begirt with Ice in the Summer as they have often seen that go thither every year But when the Ice comes floating on too hard or in too great a quantity then the Ships make to the Harbours Havens Bays or Rivers as they call them that run up into the Country the wind useth to receive us something unkindly when we sail into them roaring over the dry Hills with small Whirl-winds The water in these Rivers is salt We meet here with no fresh Streams or Rivolets nor did I ever see a Spring there Of some Rivers we know their beginning of others it cannot found out because of the danger of the Ice which they are never free from some because of the hidden Rocks underneath the water which are discovered by the vehement breaking of the Sea or by great quantity of white foam The Names of the Havens you find all in order one after another in the Map of Spitzbergen as far as we have been These Havens they reckon to be the safest viz. the Safe-Harbour and the South and North-Bay which are the most known of any in Spitzbergen The other Havens of what names soever we commonly sail by because they lye open to the Sea Others we pass by because of the constant Ice that is in them and the hidden Rocks In the South or North-Haven or Bay ride commonly the most Ships I told several times ten twenty nay thirty Ships that lay at Anchor as your may see in the Plates C and D marked with c and d. Concerning the Birds we see abundance more of them by and on the Land then among the Ice chiefly when they hatch their Eggs we do not find they make their Nest up with far-fetcht things neither do they gather any thing for them from Norway Schetland or the like The Seeds of several Herbs might grow in Spitzbergen but the Herbs nature hath bestowed on those Countries are such as are fit for the Diseases and Distempers that are common there We saw abundance of Sea-horses by Spitzbergen on the low Land and upon the Ice but we saw but very few Seales on the Ice thereabout The Country as is aforesaid is stony and quite throughout it are high Mountains and Rocks Below at the feet of the Mountains stand the Hills of Ice very high and reach to the tops of the Mountains the Cliffs are filled up with Snow wherefore these Snow-Mountains show very strange to those that never saw them before they appear like dry Trees with Branches and Twigs and when the Snow falleth upon them they get Leaves as it were which soon after melt and others come in the room of them There are seven large Ice-Mountains in a Line in these Countries that lye between the high Rocks which look of a glorious blew colour as also is the Ice with a great many cracks and Holes in them they are hollowed out melted away and cut in Groves by the rain and snow-snow-water that runs down they are increased greatly by the Snow as the other Ice that swimmeth in the Sea is also they are augmented likewise by the melted Snow from the Rocks and from the Rain that falls on them These seven Mountains of Ice are esteemed to be the highest in the Country indeed they shewed very high as we sailed by them underneath the Snow look'd dark from the shades of the Skies which shewed very neat and curious with the blew cracks where the Ice was broken off About the middle of the Mountains some foggy Clouds hovered over above these the Snow was very bright The true Rocks look't fiery and the Sun shin'd pale upon them the Snow giving the Air a bright reflection They were covered with Clouds so that you could scarce see the tops of them Some of these Rocks are but one stone from the bottom to the top appearing like an old decayed Wall they smell very sweet as the green Fields do in our Country in the Spring when it rains See c c in the Plate C. The stones for the most part are vein'd differently like Marble with red white and yellow at the alteration of the weather the stones sweat and by that means the Snow is stained or coloured and also if it raineth much the water runs down by the Rocks and from thence the Snow is tinged red On the foot of the Mountains where no mounts of Ice stand lye great loose Rocks as they chance to be fall'n one upon the other with
it his Feathers are so thick which I conclude because he is not easily shot but will endure a great blow nor is it easie to kill him with a Stick at one blow When they steer themselves in the Water with their Legs they have countinually an eye upon their Prey yet they mind both the Man and their Prey but if you have a long Stick they cannot get up so soon or swift but you may have a blow at them He is the first and commonest Bird of all you see in Greenland they cry all togehter and it sounds afar off as if they were Frogs He walks but ill upon the Land and Ice like a Child that just learns to go but he understands better to fly you see him always near unto the surface of the Water for he is very light Of all the Birds of Prey I believe he hath the least Meat on him He builds his Nest high on the Mountains yet not so very high as the Bungermeister yet it was too high for me I could not come at them His Breast and Legs only are to be eaten they are tough and taste strong of Train oyl when you will eat them you must hang them up by the Legs that the Fat of the Whales or the Train-oyl may run out of them for two or three day and that the Wind may blow thro' them and the Frost pierce then also them you lay them into fresh Water that the rankness may be drawn out afterwards boil and fry them in Butter They are every where seen in the North Sea as I have said before yet they are differing This that you see here I did design among the Ice the first of June Tab. N at c. CHAP. III. of some other Birds that I did not catch or delineate AMongst these are the Red Gees which were shewn unto me as they were flying They are Geese with long Legs that fly in flocks there is many of them in Russia Norway and Jutland Then I saw another Bird flying singly with broad Feet a very handsom Bird called John of Ghent it is as big as a Stork and of the same shape with white and black Feathers he hovers in the Air and moveth his Wings but very little when he cometh to the Ice he turns back again It is a kind of a Hawk and I have reason to believe that he hath a very sharp sight for he shoots down from a great height into the Water They say that the Brains of this Bird are in great esteem but for what I could never learn He is also seen in the Spanish Sea and every where in the North Sea but most commonly he is seen where they catch Herrings I was also informed that a black Crow was seen in Spitzbergen other Birds are not seen there except it may be now and then a single one that strays and so cometh thither as the crow did All these Birds come at certain times and abide at this place as long as the Sun shines afterwards when the Cold begins to encrease and the Nights lengthen every one of them returns to its own place again When they are going from thence they gather all together and when they are all met they fly away every kind by themselves which hath been very often observed Whence I conclude they cannot live in this intolerable cold place in the Winter They rest as well upon the Water as the Land and when they fly up they look against the Wind for else they would quite be tired in this long Journey Whether the Mew called Rathsher that does not love the Water performs its Journey in one day I cannot tell or whether Necessity compels him to rest upon the Water Which way those Birds that have divided Claws on their Feet as the Snite the Snow-bird and the Ice-bird get over the Water I know not CHAP. IV. Of the Four-footed Creatures I. Of the Hart or Deer This is not very unlike unto the Hart it hath cloven Feet like it and its Horns are also like unto a Hart or Elke they have three or four branches on each side which are about two inches broad and about a foot long their Ears are long and Tail very short He is of a greyish yellow colour like an Hart or Deer When they see a Man they run away if you stand still they stand also then you must immediately fire at them if you have a mind to hit them They eat the Herbs and Grass They are every where about Spitzbergen but above all in the Rene-field or Deers-field that hath its Name from thence where they 'r very plentiful and also upon the Foreland near the muscle haven I never saw them swim in the Water As I was informed some Men did kill 15 or 20 of them on the Vogel-song Birds-song the meat thereof roasted is of a very pleasant taste We killed some of them presently at our first arrival in the Spring that were very lean wherefore we may conclude that they remain in this barren and cold Country of Spitzbergen all winter long and are contented with what they can get See Tab. O at a. II. Of the Fox Between our Foxes and those of Spitzbergen there is no great difference one of them I saw run by our Ship very near it his Head was black and Body white They make such a noise as afar off it sounds as if a Man laugh'd we saw them also run on the Ice Their Food falls but short there they live upon Birds and Eggs. They go not at all into the Water we were hunting one of them in the South Haven and had surrounded him with twenty Men the Water was on one side of him and we endeavoured to drive him into it but he would not but jumped through one Man's Legs and run up into the Mountains where we could not follow him The Ships Crew inform'd me that when he is hungry he lies down as if he was dead until the Birds fly to him to eat him which by that trick he catches and eats But I believe that this is a Fable Tab. O see b. III. Of the white Bear These Bears are quite otherwise shaped than those that are seen in our Country they have a long Head like unto a Dog and a long Neck and they bark like Dogs that are hoarse and all their whole Body is much otherways shaped than ours They are slenderer in the Body and a great deal swifter Their Skins are brought to us which are very comfortable to those that travel in the Winter they prepare or dress the Skins at Coffins that are opened They also eat Birds and Eggs. We kill them with Guns or any other way we can We caught three of them one whereof I drew after the life on the 13th of July What becometh of these Bears and Foxes in the Winter-time I do not know in the Summer they have in some places for a few months Provision enough but in the Winter when the Rocks
Head The Butskopf's Head is blunt before whereon is a Bill or Beak of an equal bigness all-along which distinguishes him from the Dolphin which is thicker behind and more pointed before The Finns are like those of the Dolphin but the foremost on his Belly are liker those of the Whale its Tail is also liker a Whale's He hath a Spout-hole above in his Nekh whereout he spouts the Water but not with such a strenght nor so high as a Whale doth There is also a difference in the sound of the Fishes for this when he bloweth out Water makes but a small noise but the blowing of a Whale roareth that you may hear it afar off His Eyes are very small in proportion to his bigness I have seen them sixteen eighteen and sometimes twenty foot long Their Back is of a brown colour the Head brown and marbled underneath their Belly they are white They run very near unto the Ships so that one may push at them with a Stick and they keep up with a Ship for a long time which other Fishes do not for when they see the Ships they are afraid of them They all swin against the Wind as Whales finn-Finn-fish and Dolphins I am of opinion that they endeavour to run away from the storm and that they find some Pain or other in their Bodies some days before for you shall see some Fish tumble about strangely in the Water which I do not take to be playing and this generally continues until their Tormenter the East Wind ceases We saw another sort of great Fishes that might rightly be called Butskopf for their Head is quite blunt before and have a Finn that stands up three times higher than the other Butskopf has they are somewhat of a darker brown colour but of the same bigness We saw them tumble several times out of the Water one might easily take them because of their high Finn that stands on the top of their Back They are not Sword-fish nor of the same kind we call Tumblers which we see between the Elbe and the Hilgeland V. Of the White fish I do not by this Name mean the Fish we call so here in our Country that are but small but I mean a biggerâ—sort as large as a Butskopf in shape like a Whale and without Finns on his Back he hath two Finns on his Belly as I am informed by others that have caught them The Tail is like unto a Whale's He hath a Spout hole on his Head he hath also an Hoffel on his Head like a Whale He is of yellowish white colour He hath fat enough in proportion to his bigness I was told by them that had caught one that they did fill a Barrel of Fat from one but this Fat is very 〈◊〉 and the Harpoon easily breaks out wherefore they do not care to catch them When we see plenty of them the Skippers say it is a sign of a good year for catching of Whales for if these find good Food the Whales find the same also We saw on the 19th of June some hundreds of them VI. Of the Unicorn The Unicorn is but seldom seen in these parts neither had I the good Fortune to meet with one in all my Voyage and yet sometimes many of them are seen I do not find that the Cuts that I have seen in some Books agree with the description that I heard thereof for I was informed that he hath no Finn on his Back as he is drawn he hath also a Spout-hole in his Neck When they swim swiftly in the Water they say that they hold up their Horns or rather Teeth out of the Water and so go in great shoals The Shape of their Body is like a Seal the undermost Finns and the Tail are like unto those of the Whale The Skin of some of them is black some like a grey dapled Horse underneath their Belly they are white They are from sixteen to twenty foot long They swim very swiftly that although they are seen yet they are but seldom caught VII Of the Saw-fish sometimes called the Sword-fish This Fish hath his Name from a Saw which is a long broad Bone fixed to his Nose that hath on each side many pointed Teeth or Peggs like a Comb. He hath two Finns on his Back the uppermost of them is like the Butskopf's the undermost hath behind towards the Tail a hollowness like unto a Sickle Underneath his Belly he hath â—our on each side two the uppermost thereof towards the Head are the broadest and longest but the lowermost are somewhat shorter and narrower they stand directly underneath the uppermost Finns of the Back The Tail is like unto a piece of Board whereon the Dyers widen of stretch their Stockins which is pointed behind and underneath The Tail is not divided c. Towards the undermost Finn of the Back the Tail is thinner The other shape from the top to the Tail is like a Man's naked Arm. The Nostrils are oblong The Eyes stand high out of his Head Their Mouths are just directly underneath the Eyes They are in bigness from two to twenty foot These Saw or Sword-fish are great Enemies to the Whale and Finn-fish Many of them gather about him and they do not leave the Whale until they have killed him then they eat of him only the Tongue all the rest they leave behind them as doth appear by the Whales that are killed by the Sword-fish I saw my self in our Home-voyage or Return a Fight between a Whale and a Sword-fish where both of them made a great bustle beating and jumping about and I understood that in calm Weather the Seamen let them alone until the Whale be killed where they take him without any trouble But if they set out their Long boats after the Whale they frighten the Sword-fish and so the Whale escapes VIII Of the Hay There are several sorts of them they have two Finns on their Backs the highest whereof is like to the uppermost of the Butskopf but the lowermost is of an equal breadth at the top and bottom but it is hollowed out like a Sickle He hath six Finns underneath his Belly whereof the foremost two are the longest and shaped like a Tongue but the two middlemost are somewhat broader than those towards the Tail and of the same shape the two last underneath by the Tail are of an equal breadth from top to bottom something shorter than the middle ones The Tail is of a peculiar shape like unto one half part of that of the Sword-fish but it is split below and the other part is like a Leaf of a Lilly He hath a long Nose The whole Fish is long round and thin and he is thickest towards the Head his Mouth is shap'd as that of the Sword-fish it is full of sharp Teeth three upper and three under rows one by the other his Eyes stand something more out before than behind after the same fashion as those of the Sword-fish they
are oblong and very clear he hath five Gills on each side as the Sword-fish his Skin is hard and thick and rough if you touch it or strike it upwards it is of a greyish colour they are from one fathom long to three It is a very devouring Fish and bites great pieces form the Whale as if they had been dug out with Shovels They devour of many Whales all the Fat underneath the Water and this is the reason that the Seamen say They have caught half a Whale that was dead And the Birds do help them also and what is not taken away underneath ferments out at the top They have a large Liver whereof they make Oyl Out of their Backs we cut the Flesh which we hang up for some days in the open Air then we boil and roast it and this tasts very well when we have nothing that is better They do not fling away the Hays in Spain but sell them The little ones are the best They are very eager after Man's Flesh and eat many a Man that goeth to swim or wash in the Sea whereof we have many Instances They are easily caught after the following manner we take a great Hook fastned to a strong Iron Chain baited with a piece of Flesh and let it hang down into the Sea the Hay as soon as he doth perceive it snaps at it and is catch'd but when the Hay perceives that he is fast he doth use his utmost endeavour to bite off the Hook which he cannot for the Iron CHAP. VII Of the Whale THE Fish properly called the Whale for whose sake our Ships chiefly undertake the Voyage to Spitzbergen is differing from other Whales in his Finns and Mouth which is without Teeth but instead thereof long black somewhat broad and horny Flakes all jagged like Hairs he differs from the Finn-fish in his Finns for the Finn-fish hath a great Finn on his Back but the Whale properly so called hath none on his Back and there is two Finns behind his Eyes of a bigness proportionable to the Whale covered with a thick black Skin delicately marbled with white Strokes or as you see in Marble Trees Houses or the like things represented In the Tail of one of the Fishes was marbled very delicately this number 1222 very even and exact as if they had been painted upon it on purpose This marbling on the Whale is like Veins in a piece of Wood that run streight through or else round about the center or pith of a Tree and so go both white and yellow strokes through the thick and the thin strokes that is like Parchment or Vellam and give to the Whale an incomparable Beauty and Ornament When these Finns are cut up you find underneath the thick Skin Bones that look like unto a Man's Hand when it is opened and the Fingers are expanded or spread between these Joynts there are stiff Sinews which flye up and rebound again if you fâ—ing them hard against the Ground as the Sinews of great Fish as of a Sturgeon or of some four footed Beasts generally do You may cut pieces of these Sinews of the bigness of your Head they squeeze together when thrown on the Ground and so rebound very high and as swift as an Arrow from the String of a long Bow The Whale hath no other Finns but these two wherewith he steers himself as a Boat is rowed with two Oars Their Tail doth not stand up as the Tails of almost any other Fish but it doth lye horizontal as that of the Finn-fish Butskopf Dolphin and the like and it is three three and an half and four fathoms broad The Head is the third part of the Fish and some have bigger Heads on the upper and under Lip are short Hairs before Their Lips are quite plain somewhat bended like an S and they end underneath the Eyes before the two Finns Above the uppermost bended Lip he hath black Streaks some are darkish brown and they are crooked as the Lips are Their Lips are smooth and quite black round like the quarter of a Circle when they draw them together they lock into one another Within on the uppermost Lip is the Whale-bone of a brown black and yellow colour with streaks of several colours as the Bones of a Finn-fish The Whale-bones of some Whales are blew and light blew which two are reckoned to come from young Whales In one of my Cutts here you may see the Whale-bone in the Tab. Q marked with a. In the other Cutt where his Mouth is shut up you do not see the Whale bone Just before on the under Lip is a cavity or hole which the upper Lip fits exactly into as a Knife into a Sheath I do really believe that he draws the Water that he bloweth out through this hole and so I have been informed also by Seamen Within his Mouth is the Whale-bone all hairy as a Horse's Hair as it is also in the Finn-fish and it hangs down from both sides all about his Tongue The Whale-bone of some Whales is somewhat bended like unto a Cimeter and others like unto a half-Moon The smallest Whale-bone is before in his Mouth and behind towards his Throat and the middlemost is the greatest and longest it is sometimes about two or three Men's length from whence you may easily conjecture how large this Fish must be On one side all in a row there is two hundred and fifty pieces of Whale bone and as many also on the other side which maketh five hundred in all and there is more over and above this number for they let the least Whale-bone of all remain because they cannot well come at it to cut it out because it is very narrow where the two Lips meet together The Whale-bone is in a flat row one piece by the other somewhat bended within and towards the Lips every where like a half-Moon The Whale-bone is broad at the top where it sticketh fast to the upper Lip every where overgrown with hard and white Sinews towards the Root so that between two pieces of Whale-bone you may put in your hand These white Sinews look like boiled Sea-catts or Black-fish in Spanish called Cattula la Mar they are of a pleasant Smell so that we might eat of them they are not tough at all but break as easily as Cheese but they did not taste so well when they putrifie or rot they smell horribly just like unto a foul or rotten Tooth Where the Whale-bone is broadest as underneath by the Root there groweth small Whale-bone the other greater as you see small and large Trees one amongst the other in a Wood. I believe the small Whale-bone doth not grow bigger as one might think that some of the great pieces thereof might come out and that so this small Whale-bone might grow up again in the room thereof or as in Children the Hair grows again when cut off but it is not so for this Whale-bone is quite another sort
so fat as a Whale wherefore we do not much care to catch him for he doth not pay us for our Labour It is much more dangerous to kill him than to kill a Whale because he moves quicker and beats about him with his Tail and from him with his Finns so that we dare not come near unto him with our Sloops or Long-boats for the Launces kill him soonest I was informed that once some before they were aware of it did fling by a mistake their Harpoon into a Finn-fish whereupon he drew both Boat and Men all on a sudden underneath a large Ice-sheet before they were aware of it and not one of them escap'd His Tail lies flat like unto that of the Whale When these Finn-fishes appear we see no more Whales The Train-oyl of the Whale is used by several viz. by the Frize-makers Curriers Cloath-workers and Soap-boilers but the greatest use that is made of it is to burn it in Lamps instead of other Oyl The Greenland Ships carry 30 or 40 Men and sometimes more chiefly the great Ships that have six Sloops belonging to them such Ships hold from 800 to 1000 Cardels of Fat the less Ships have commonly fewer Cardels or Vessels from 400 to 700 and have commonly five Sloops or Boats belonging to them There also go Galliots to Spitzbergen to catch Whales they have three or four Sloops belonging to them Some put the Sloops upon the Deck of the Ships others hang them overboard as they do at Spitzbergen when they are amongst the Ice that as soon as they call Fall fall they may immediately let down their Sloops into the Water Then there remains onboard in the Ships the Steersman the Barber the Chyrurgion the Cooper and a Boy to look after the Ship the Skipper or Commander himself goeth out with the rest of the Men for they are all obliged to go a Whale catching In each Ship there are sixty Launces six Sea-horse Launces forty Harpoons ten long Harpoons wherewith they strike the Whales under Water six small Sea-horse Harpoons thirty Lines or Ropes and each of them is about eighty or ninety fathoms long When they go a hunting they take along with them into each Sloop two and sometimes three Harpoons six Launces two or three Sea-horse Launces three Lines and five or six Men according to the bigness of the Sloops therein is the Harpoonier Line-keeper or Giver and the Steersman They all row equally until they come near to the Whale except the Steersman for he guides the Boat with his Rudder They also have in each Sloop a Chopping-knife to cut off the Rope when they cannot follow the Whale and a Hammer and other Instruments as Hatchets Drags and several sorts of Knives wherewithal they cut the Whales Meat and Drink is also given them according to the usual Custom he that will have better must take it along with him Lazy Fellows are in this Voyage troubled with the Scurvy but those that fear neither Air nor Wind and bestir themselves escape pretty well else the Scurvy is the common Distemper in this Voyage besides Feavers Imposthumes and other accidental Distempers and therefore the Chyrurgion must take care to provide himself CHAP. XII Of ROtz-fishes and Sea-qualms Rotz-fish or Slime-fishes I call these that in themselves are nothing else but Slime and they are transparent I have observed several kinds of these some whereof have parts like Finns as that same which I call the Sea May-flye Others are like unto the flat Snails only instead of Finns they have Stalks like unto Feathers Besides these I have seen four other sorts that are quite differing in shape from the others and are called Sea-qualms by the Seamen as if they were a thick Scum of the Sea coagulated together They are also called after the Latin Name Sea-nettles because they cause a burning Pain like unto Nettles I have formerly had some Thoughts that the Rotz or Slime fishes might be a Seed flung out and so putrefied and that they did cause this burning Pain by reason of their putrefaction and so I did think that they received their shape or form according to the several kinds of Fishes from whence they came and that some did take after Thornbacks others after Whales and the like but this doth not seem to be agreeable to Reason for I have considered it better since and find Life to be a far more boble thing than that it should proceed from putrefied Seed cast away They cleanse the Sea mightily for all the filth and uncleannese sticks to them just as a Burr doth unto Cloth I. Of the Sea-May-flye These small Fish are very like unto the Sea-nettles because of their transparent Body and they also dissolve like the same if you hold them in your hand They have two Finns underneath about the Neck which are likest unto those of the Whale They are in their shape like unto our white Rowls broad and thick in the middle and thin and pointed at each end As for the rest of the Body it is very like unto our May-flye save only that the Tail or Body is all along thicker and only begins to be pointed towards the end The Head is broad and round split in the middle it hath small horns about the breadth of a Straw on his Head before it hath two rows of six red little Knobs three of them in each row whether they be Eyes or no I cannot exactly tell It s Mouth is divided or split From his Mouth down into his Belly are its Guts which one may easily see because of its transparency It is of yellow and black colour but the colour of the whole Fish is like unto the White of an Egg. He moves in the Water just like a Sea-nettle I have drawn him here in his proper bigness I am of opinion that the Birds feed upon them because the Lumbs Pigeon-divers and Parret-divers are plentifully seen in those places where these Fish or Sea Insects are seen The same that I have delineated here I found in the South Bay in Spitzbergen on the 20th of June in the Tab. P it is marked with f. II. Of the Snail Slime-fish These are also quite transparent like unto the Sea-nettles but they are flat and wound about like a Snail and so we find upon the Land the Sheâ—ls of such flat Snails It is very remarkable that out of the utmost part of him come two Stalks like unto the Beam of a pair of Scales hairy or rough on each side like unto a Feather With these Stalks he moves himself up and down like the Sea-nettle They are of a brown colour They swim in great numbers in the Sea as numerous as the Dust in the Sun It is believed that the Whales feed upon them but I cannot believe that they can be so nourishing a Food for the Whales as to make them so fat I rather believe that the Lumbs Pigeon-divers and the Parret-divers feed upon them They are not
resemble the Samoieds and Laplanders They are very active and strong yet could some of our English run swifter and leap farther than any of them but they were hard enough for any of ours at wrastling They are also very couragious and sometimes desperate for rather than be taken by our Men they would throw themselves down the Rocks and Mountains Extreamly thievish treacherous and revengeful they proved nor could any kindness or fair-dealing win them but as true Barbarians never omitted any opportunity of fulfilling their Desires they would steal when they saw the Mariners look upon them After they had been well used and treated at their Tables they would shoot at sling Stones wound and kill our Men if they could Yet are they apprehensive enough and quickly conceive yours and express their own meaning If they had not seen what was asked them they winked or cover'd their Eyes if they understood not stopt their Ears and the like They delight exceedingly in Musick to which they would keep time both with their voice hands and feet wonderful also affectionate one to another and to their Country In one Voyage there went a Danish Mariner with black hair flat nos'd and other though not very exact resemblances of a Gronelander as soon as they saw him they came about him kissed him hung upon him and shewed to him all possible demonstrations of Kindness and Affection And those who were in Denmark never enjoy'd themselves nor had any content but continually pined away and languish'd with Discontent for their condition and love of their country Their Religion such as it is seems to be unto the Sun for when our People invited them to conversation bartering c. they held up their hands towards the Sun and cried â—otan nor would they come near us till our men had done the like But John Munck and divers others having gone farther into the country found images such as we make of Devils with horns beaks claws cloven feet c very ill made Altars also and quantities of Bones of Beasts as of Deer Foxes Dogs and the like near unto them They seem also as all Idolaters given to Enchantments and Sorceries Our men have seen them lying flat upon the Earth and muttering their Prayers or Charms into the Ground worshiping the Devil whose proper habitation they conceive to be under them In some Diseases they tye a stick to a great stone to which they pay their Devotions and if they can lift it up easily and lightly they think their Prayers are heard and Recovery granted In Winter they retire from the Sea side unto the warmer Valleys where they have their Houses and Towns which are commonly Caves at the foot of an hill round like an Oven close to one another and passage in the inner parts from one to another their Doors which are low and round open to the south and they dig trenches also to draw away the water that falls or drains from the hill The entrance and some part of their house stands without the cave which they frame very handsomly and commodiously of the ribs of Whales join'd artificially at the top and cover'd with Seals skins They raise also one part of their floor higher than another which they strow with moss to sleep upon But in their fishing-time they have Tents which they remove from place to place in their larger Boats They set up four Poles and cover them with Skins which serves very well in summer when fishing is done they return with them to their Houses Their manner of bartering is to make two heaps one of such things as they desire the other of what they would part with and they cease not to take away from the one or other till the Trade is ballanced The chiefest things of our which they valued were Knives Needles little pieces of â—oon Looking glasses c. for these they would sell their Bâ—wg and Arrows their Boaid and sâ—rip bhem sewes of their Clothes but never like some other Barbarians sell their Wives and Children Their clothing is either of Birds-skins with the Feathers and Down upon them or Seals Dogfish or the like Seals they use most in their fishing because that fish there abounds and are easily deceived by seeing one clad in their own Livery besides that these kind of Furs are not so apt to be wet though dip'd in Water They wear the hair sides outward in summer inward in winter and in great colds carry two or more suits one upon another They dress their Skins very well making them dry soft and durable and sow them also very strong with Sinews of Beasts and Needles made of Fish-bones But in nothing do they shew so much Art as in their Boats or Canoes They are made of that we call Whalebone about in inch thick and broad and these not set like ribs but all along from prow to poop fast sowed to one another with strong Sinews and covered over with Seals-skin They are from ten to twenty foot long and about two foot broad made like a Weaver's Shutle sharp at both ends so that he can row either way and in making this pointedness they are of all things most curious for therein consists the strength of their Vessel In the middle of it are the ribs both to keep the sides asunder and to make the hole in the covering wherein the Rower sits They have a deck made of the same materials which is closely fasten'd to the sides in the midst whereof is a round hole as big as the middle of a Man so that when he goes to Sea he sets himself in that hole stretching out his feet forward into the hollow of the Boat he stops up the hole so close with his frock or loose upper garment that no water can enter tho' it were in the bottom of the Sea His frock is strait tyed at the hand-wrists and to his neck and his capouch sowed also close to it so that if the Boat be overturned or overwhelmed in the Sea he rises up again without any wet either upon his Skin or in his Boat They have but one Oar which is about six foot long with a paddle six inches broad at either end this serves him both to ballance his Boat and move it which he doth with that incredible scelerity that one of our Boats with ten Oars is not able to keep company with them The Danish relation saith that they rowed so swift that they even dazled the Eyes of the Spectators and tho' they crossed frequently yet never interfered or hit one another Their fishing ordinarily is darting their darts are long strongly barbed and at the other end have Bladders fastened to them that when they have struck the Fish he may spend himself with strugling to get under water which yet he cannot do and so is easily taken Besides these they have greater Boats for the removing their Tents and other Utensils as also to carry their Fish they have caught to their Houses these are thirty and forty foot long and have sometimes ten and sometimes more seats for Rowers Cardinal Bembus in his Venetian History saith that in his time one of these with seven Persons in it was by storm cast upon the coast of Britany I know not whether it be worth mentioning that they have Kettles and Pans made of Stone some say of Loadstone that endures the fire wonderfully but not having tools fit to hollow them sufficiently they make up the edges of Whalebone FREESLAND or FRISELAND LIeth in 60 deg more westerly than any part of Europe distant from Iseland leagues It is reported in bigness not to be much lesser than England a ragged and high land the mountains cover'd with snow and the coast so full of drift Ice that it is almost inaccessible It was first discovered to us by Nicolao and Antonio Zani two Venetian Gentlemen that were here shipwrack'd They describe the Inhabitants to be good Christians very civil and to be governed by a great Lord whose Name was Zichmay whose mighty conquests and strange accidents may be read in Hackluit It is not our business to write or repeat Romances Those men whom our Seamen touching there accidently saw were like in all things to the Gronelanders both in features of body and manner of living as much as they could judge so like that many of them thought it continued to Groneland in which opinion also they were confirm'd by the multitudes of the Islands of ice which coming from the north argued land to be that way for many of our Mariners hold that salt water doth not freeze but that all the Ice they find in the Sea comes from the Bays and mouths of fresh-water Rivers for the ice it self is sweet and fresh being dissolved and serves to all purposes as well as Spring or River water Besides the salt Sea they say is always in motion and so cannot freeze But the Dutch who winter'd in Nova Zembla took notice that the salt water freez'd and that two inches thick in one night There seems to be good fishing every where upon the coast In their soundings they brought up a sort of pale Coral and little Stones clear as Crystal They call'd it West England and one of the highest mountains they called Charing-Cross THE END Northern Islands Hope-Island Edges-Island Wyches-Island Cherry-Island Morss-fishing Morsses The Name and Situation Ancient Discoveries By the Norwegians Later Discoveries by the English Sir Martin Frobisher Sir Hum. Gilbert Mr. Daviâ— Mr. Hudson James Hall Mr. Baffin By the Danes Gronelanders in Denmark The Soil c. of Groneland Beasts Fishes Fowls Of the North light Division of the Country Inhabitants Their Cloathing Their Boats Their Fishing Its Discoveries
AN ACCOUNT Of Several LATE Voyages Discoveries TO THE SOVTH and NORTH TOWARDS The Streights of Magellan the South Seas the vast Tracts of Land beyond Hollandia Nova c. ALSO Towards Nova Zembla Greenland or Spitsberg Groynland or Engrondland c. BY Sir JOHN NARBOROUGH Captain JASMEN TASMAN Captain JOHN WOOD and FREDERICK MARTEN of Hamburgh To which are Annexed a LARGE Introduction and Supplement GIVING An Account of other NAVIGATIONS to those Regions of the GLOBE The Whole Illustrated with CHARTS and FIGURES London Printed for Sam. Smith and Benj. Walford Printers to the Royal Society at the Prince's Arms in S. Paul's Churchyard 1694. To the Honourable SAMUEL PEPYS Esq SECRETARY OF THE Admiralty of England TO K. CHARLES and K. JAMES II. SIR THE Design of this Dedication is neither to flatter nor to beg but barely to present you with a simple and hearty Acknowledgment of your Kindness and Generosity to the Publick in communicating your exact Memorials in advancing the Progress of Useful Knowledge and encouraging Men of Letters or Invention which Noble Endowments of Mind render'd you most Worthy of those High Stations wherein you have been Eminent as well in the Chair of Philosophy as Navigation and the same will preserve you through all Ages in the good Esteem of the best part of Mankind No Revolution no Storm no Time can shake such Foundations Monumentum Aere perennius Sir Your most devoted Servants Samuel Smith Benjamin Walford THE BOOKSELLER's PREFACE OR INTRODUCTION THE Advantages of taking judicious and accurate Journals in Voyages and Itineraries are so great and many as the Improvements of Geography Hydrography Astronomy Natural and Moral History Antiquity Merchandise Trade Empire c. that few Books can compare with them either for Profit or Pleasure Therefore Ramusio the De Brys Hackluit Purchas John de Laet Thevenot c. have begun a very commendable Design and their Works are like to be always useful The Collection now published containing some curious Voyages and accurate Journals never before printed both towards the South and North beyond and through the Magellan Streights as also to Greenland or Spitsberg Nova Zembla and Groneland or Groyneland 'T will be necessary to premise in general what other Navigators have gone before to those parts and what additional Knowledge may be reap'd from the ensuing Work in doing of which we shall observe Order of Place and Time First of some Discoveries and Navigations towards the Southern Parts of the Globe South-West and South-East A. D. 1519. Ferdinand Magalianes a Portuguese Gentleman upon some disgust taken at his Master King Emanuel applied himself to the Court of Castile offering to make great Discoveries of the rich Spice-Islands by the West and to sail round the Globe He was furnish'd with five Ships and 250 Men by the Command of Charles V. They departed from Sevil August 10. 1519. and after having in vain attempted to pass through by the great River La Plate and having winter'd in Port S. Julian they found out a great Streight leading into the South Sea called afterwards by the Inventor's Name the Magellan Streight through which he was the first that passed from the Atlantick into the Pacifick Ocean and so round the Globe home again by the Molucco ' s and Cape of Good Hope having spent above three years in this Circumnavigation Entring the Streight of his own Name he found on the Shoar many Sepulchres or Graves whither the Inhabitants resort in the Summer time to bury their Dead he also observ'd a great Whale thrown up and many Bones Anno Dom. 1525. Garcias de Loyasa a Spaniard entred into Magellan's Streight and gave Names to several Places as did also Simon de Alcazova in the year 1534. Afterwards the Bishop of Placentia fitted out three Ships in the Year 1539 one of which got through the Streights of Magellan to Arica in Peru. Anno Dom. 1577. Sir Francis Drake with five Ships and Barks and I64 Men began his Famous Voyage round the Globe sailing through the aforementioned Streight of Magellan to the Coasts of Peru New Spain Mexico and California returning to England by the East Indies and Cape of Good Hope Captain John Winter was separated from Sir Francis upon their Entrance into the South Sea and by Storms was forced back again into the Streights of Magellan through which he repassed home being the first that sailed from the Pacifick into the Atlantick Ocean through these Streights Ladriller a Spaniard being sent from Chili to attempt this passage was driven back by Storms and the approach of Winter Anno 1579. the Viceroy of Peru thinking that Sir Francis Drake was sailed to the Magellan Streights equipt Don Sarmiento in the Port of Lima with two Ships to pursue him This Spaniard coasted Chili and Patagonia entring the Streights and so passed to Brasil Sarmiento upon his return to Spain perswaded Philip II to send two Colonies to plant and fortifie in the Streights of Magellan in order to prevent and obstruct the Navigations Depredations or Settlements of the English and Dutch in those parts but they all miscarried partly by Shipwrack partly by Famine and the Barbarities of the Patagons This happened in the years 1584 1585 1586. The Project was contrary to the Advice of the Duke of Alva Sir Francis in the Magellan Streight saw several of the Patagons or Inhabitants in their Canoes and Huts their Boats were made of the Barks of Trees and Seal Skins very artificially interwoven the Head whereof was semilunar They painted their Faces either with an Earth or a Vegetable In their Huts made of Boughs and Skins of Fishes he found Sea-Wolves and huge Muscles whose Shells they sharpen so with rubbing of Stones that they cut every thing with them Their Fresh Water was kept in Vessels made of the Barks of Trees and their Vestments were chiefly made up of the Skins of Penguins Seals and other Animals peculiar to the Climate Anno Dom. 1586. The third Circumnavigation of the Globe was undertaken and performed by Thomas Candish Esq who very prosperously finish'd that in two Years and two Months which took both Magellanus and Sir Francis Drake three years in compassing Anno 1593. Sir Richard Hawkins made his Voyage into the South Sea by the same Sreight that the aforementioned Navigators did before him He gives the most accurate Description of the Tree that bears the famous Winter-bark see his Observations in fol. Printed 1622. pag. 88. This Spicy Aromatick Tree says he bears Leaves of a whitish Green not unlike the Aspen and bears its Fruit in Clusters like the Hawthorn but that it is green each Berry of the bigness of a Pepper-corn and every one of them containing within four or five Grains or Seeds twice as big as Mustard Seed which broken are white within and bite like the good Pepper the Bark hath the Taste of all Sorts of Spices very Stomachick and Medicinal We found it in all places of the Streights
Port Praya Road on Board the Sweepstakes riding there at the Island of St. Jago Novemb. 5. 1669. John Narbrough To Captain Humphrey Fleming Commander of the Batchelour Pink. DEcember 4. many flying Fish seen to day and Bonetto's Sharkfish and Albycores a Fish larger than a Bonetto but of that Mackrel shape and feaverish Diet they live upon the flying Fish like the Bonetto's to day we caught some of them with Hooks and one Shark our Men eat them both and account the Shark a good Fish December 7. To day the Cooper found two Buts of Beer had leaked out this day all of us drank Water only for it was ever my order that the meanest Boy in the Ship shoud have the same allowance with my self so that in general we all drank of the same Cask and eat one fort of provision as long as they lasted I never permitted any Officer to have a better piece of Meat than what fell to his lot but one blinded with a Cloth serv'd every Man as they were called to touch and take by which means we had never any Difference upon that score Saturday December 18. All the Ship 's company God be praised in good health most of them were let blood after I has cross'd the Tropick of Cancer and none troubled with the Calenture in this Voyage Whilst I am in the hot Weather I allow a quart of Vinegar to 6 Men per Week and also to eat with their Fresh fish which I didvide equally among the whole Ship 's Company be it little or much or caught by whomsoever Friday December 24. I find great Difference within this 48 hours between my dead Account as we call it which is kept by the Log and the Observation I made these 2 days when the Sun was on the Meridian for I find I have gone more Southerly by 12 Miles than the Log allows I can't perceive any variation and the Log is well kept and the half minute Glass good I judge the Current sets to the Southward now the Winds are at the East and the Moon near the full December 30. This Afternoon I took an Azimuth and find six degrees ten minutes variation Easterly my Observation being of a good one fair Weather to Night at 9 a Clock Nebeles major was very visible in the Heaven and seems to be a piece of the Milky-way broke from it the Southern Constellations appear which are near the Pole Antarctick the Camelion the Bird of Paradise the Tail of little Hydra and the Water-snake which are all small Stars of the 5th and 6th Magnitude no Pole-star nor any Star fit for Observation to be seen within 15 degrees of the Pole the Crosers Stars of the first and second Magnitude are good for Observation and are in this form when they are on Meridian above the Pole Some Fowls flying to and fro a kind of Sea-gulls and Gannet a black Sea-Fowl as big as a Pigeon and some large ones of that kind three Tropick Birds flying over the Ship of a grey Colour with a long spired Tail as big as Pigeons Some Bonetto's taken to day A great broad flat Fish like a Scate following the Ship called by the seamen a String-Ray having a long Tail and a sharp bow at the end of it when it pricks a Man it puts him to much pain they are called by some Clock-fishes the lesser sort are good to eat January 5. Variation of the Compass by an Amplitude in the Morning 06 d. 46 m. East this Afternoon I brought the Ship to and sounded one hundred and eighty four fathom right down and had no ground I being thwart of the Shoals of Brazil caused me to sound I thought the Sea look'd whiter than usual variation at Sun-set 6 d. 46 m. East little Wind this Afternoon at East by North I made all the Sail I could Stay-sails Steering-sail Boats-sails and Bonadventure misen all set to draw away Southerly some Fowls flying over the ship which we call Men of war they prey on flying Fish c. January 14. Few Fish seen now and then a small Bonetto taken small Sea-Fowls call'd Black Nodies flying to and fro and 2 Curlieus flying to the Eastward January 24. I judge a Current sets out of the River of Plate for I find nine miles more to the Southward than I expected I have been careful of my Course and Variation which is but 18 d 20 m. East by an amplitude taken to Night I am open of the mouth of the River of plate sounded to Night but no ground at one hundred and forty five Fathom Wind at North and by East all Night close Weather I steered South-west and by South Monday January 31. Calm this Morning at 8 a Clock the Wind came to the North-west a fine gale at eleven a Clock the Wind went round the Compass and came to North with much thunder lightning and some rain very dark Clouds cold hasey Weather several spots of Sea-weeds driving in the Sea and a great many Sea-fowls of a brown colour swimming in it smoath Water Course steered is South-west by my Compass this day one main shroud and one fore-shroud broke and to strope of the Main-jeer block Variation of Sun-rising by an Amplitude is 19 d. 43 m. East all my Men in good health God be praised All the Albycores Bonettos and flying Fish have quite left the Ship no Fish to be seen but Whales Tuesday February 1. Cloudy foggy Weather this Morning and little Wind at South-east I stood to the South-westward I saw abundance of Sea-fowl flying to and fro striking about the weeds for small Fish several beds of Sea-weeds driving by the Ship it fell calm this Afternoon many small Shrimps about the Ship and eight young Seal-fishes close to it they were as big as an ordinary Spaniel-dog of a black colour and went away to the Westward this Afternoon a fresh gale at South-south-east I steer'd away Southward and by West by my Compass the Air was cold here on a sudden as 't is in England in September These Seas are very much exposed to sudden Gusts and variable Winds for the Wind has run round the Compass twice or thrice a day these 3 day the Sea-water is changed whiter then the usual colour whence I conjecture I must be in Soundings also by my account of Longitude kept from the Lizard I am not 1 d. 28 m. off from land according to Mercator's Draught This Evening I sounded but had no ground at 130 Fathom Wind at South a fine gale I steer'd in West-south-west at ten a Clock to Night I observed the Water to riple as if it were over a shoal and had ground at seventy Fathom I caused the Head-sails to be braced to the Mast and sounded sine red Sand inclining to gray at 70 Fathom February 2. Meridian distance from the Lizard West 839 Leagues 2 miles 〈◊〉 Longitude at Noon from the Lizard West 49 deg 43 m. little Wind this Afternoon and fair Weather we lay
sometimes one way sometimes another Wind at South-west and by South a small gale I hoisted out my Boat and sounded but no ground at 140 Fathoms I tried the Current with my Boat but found little or none worth notice the Sea ripled in many places I sounded on them but no ground at 108 Fathom several Beds of Sea-weed driving to and fro in knots these Weeds are five or six Fathom long in strings with broad leaves on them of a brown colour at the root hangs a Clod or Rock of 2 or 3 pound weight several Sea-Fowls flying and swimming near the Ship being quite clam my Men kill'd some of them with their Birding-pieces for they were very tame not moving at the report of of a Gun they are very like to Sea-Gulls and good meet some Seals and Whales seen February 5. were seen several beds of Rock-weed and Sea-Fowls much like Gannets some black others white pied and grey small seal-Seal-fishes like so many Dogs for their Heads resemble Bull-dogs which they 'l keep above Water a long time and look at the Ship they are very nimble at diving and skipping out of the Water This Afternoon at seven a Clock I was in the Latitude of 41 degrees South and Longitude West from the Lizard of England 52 deg and 50 min. and in Meridian distance from the Lizard 895 Leagues Meridian distance from Port Praya 616 Leagues Longitude from Port Praya West 36 d. 34 m. This Night I advised with Don Carolus where it would be best for us to hale in with the Land in what Latitude or at what Cape or Harbour on this Coast of America being now to the South-ward of the River of Plate and according to my Instructions before the Coast to be discover'd and a Trade set on foot with the Natives He told me I might do what I would for he did not understand the Coast nor where 't was inhabited 't was his whole Discourse in the Voyage that he had been here in a Galley and knew all the Coasts from the River of Plate to the Streights and thorow the Streights all along the West Coast to Baldavia and Lima being arrived here as far as I can perceive by him he knows nothing of the matter nor any thing appertaining to Navigation all I can fancy of him is that he may have liv'd with a West Indian Governour whom he has heard talk of these Parts February 8. at 7 a Clock this Afternoon the Wind came to the West South-west a stiff gale I stood to the Southward much Rock-weed pass'd by the Ship to day and several Sea-Fowls seen very cold for the Season being Summer which Don Carolus began to complain of and told me he did not think we should have come so far Southerly I shew'd him by my Plates how far we were to go through the Streights and along the West Coast he said the Spaniards went to Chile a nearer way I answer'd 't was into the River of Plate and over Land which we could not do My Company are all in good health but some of a puny Race grow weak in being so long on Shipboard I give them Vinegar once a Week which is very good to prevent the Scurvy in their Mouths also I order'd every Man to wash his Mouth Face and Hands before the receive his daily Allowance of Bread and appointed one Man to see it performed if any neglected it the Steward kept their Allowance for one day likewise every Man is commanded to keep himself clean and free from Lice upon forfeiture of his daily Allowance to the Party accusing him by these means the Ship is kept neat sweet and clean tho' the dirty foggy Weather is a great Enemy to this Discipline February 19. I sounded often to day and had fifty and fifty three Fathom dark black Sand wth some bright fine Sand in it Beds of Rock-weed Seals and Porpoises such as are in the European Seas seen to day three Whales many Fowls flying about and some Penguins in the Sea swimming near the Ships at 2 a Clock in the Afternoon the Wind was at E. b. S. a stout gale and a great Sea I stood to the Southward close haled under my Courses the Pink half a Mile to Wind-ward of me udner her's she out-sails us now it blows and puts us past our Top-fails and steers along with us with only her Main-sail set the Sea runs lofty Monday February 21. At a quarter of an hour past eight this Morning I saw the Land bearing West of me and distant about 4 Leagues I sounded and had 21 Fathom small Stones and Sand still I stood in West by my Compass The Land makes but an ordinary heighth towards the Sea side but farther up round high Hills and looks reddish the Northermost Land I could see which was Cape Blanco bore North-north-west of me about two Leagues and the Southermost Land at the face of the Cape The Land trented away to te Southward of me Southwesterly of an ordinary height by the Water side but up in the Land are Hills like Tables on the top a little higher than the rest the Land makes in Hills and Valleys all along like Downs of an ordinary heighth at nine a Clock this Morning I braced the Head-sails to the Mast and lay so half an hour till the Fog cleared up that I might make the Land plainly being within five miles of the shore side which made a kind of Bay breached on the shore I sounded and at 17 Fathom had rough ground with some small stones drawn up in the Tallow of the Lead which was dinted by Rocks between nine and ten a Clock there was a fine clear by which I saw the Land very plainly it look'd reddish like seared Grass no Woods to be seen on any of the Hills or Valleys but all as bare as the Grass-Downs in England I durst not send my Boat a-shore for fear of losing her in the Fog or being sunk at the shore whereon the Sea breaks very much the Wind was at North and by East a fresh gale blew almost along the shore and being out but 24 hours before made the Sea run high the Land lies by the Sea-side South-south-west and North-north-east as far as I could see to the Southward no fire or smoak to be see upon the Land Course made true after several Courses from yesterday Noon till to day at nine a Clock when I was 3 Leagues off the Land true Course is West 6 d. 50 m. Northerly distance sailed fifty miles seven tenths Departure West 50 miles difference of Longitude West 1 d. 15 m. difference of Latitude North 0d 6 m. Latitude by account is 47 d. 14 m. South no Observation this three days being foggy Weather Meridian distance from the Lizard West 1014 League 1 mile 7 tenths Longitude at 9 a Clock from the Lizard West 61 d. 56 m. 6 tenths Longitude from Port Praya West 44 deg 38 m. 5 tenths Meridian distance from Port Praya West
was several bags of Skins with red Earth and white Earth and Soot or paint in a Bag this is the Trade they paint themselves with they had Flint-stones and Arrow-heads in the Bundle I searched the Bundle all over to see grains of Gold but could not find any There were Bracelets of Shells and bits of Sticks and braided Thongs and Arrows and Muscle-shells and Armadillo-shells and a small point of a Nail in a stick for a Bodkin Their Skins were pieces of Seal-skins and pieces of Guianaco-skins sewed together with small Guts all very old and full of holes and smelt of grease There were pieces of Flints made fast with a green Gut in the split of a Stick which they hold fast to knock their Arrow-heads into shape There were also pieces of Sticks to get Fire with This was all that was in the Bundle it was made fast with Leather-thongs braided round like Whip-cord and the Dogs were coupled with such strings The Muscle-shells are their Knives I put all things up in the Bag and made it fast Their Dogs are much of the Race of Spanish dogs a good large mungrel Cur but very tame any Man might handle them they were grey in colour and painted red in spots they were very lean there were two grcat Staves of four foot long which was tough Cane in short joints I carried them a-shore next day Tuesday August 30. Foggy close Weather this morning Wind at North. We travelled away West into the Land ten or twenty miles farther The Land all dry with Grass and Bushes in some places like Thorns the Hills high and many and Snow on the tops no Woods nor Trees to be seen Fresh-water comes running out of the Hills in fine Rivulet no Fruit many sedgy Bushes grow on the Brink and brave green Grass and a green Herb of a pretty strong hot taste some Teal in the Water and Water-birds this is all I saw about the Rivulet Many large Ponds in the Country but salt Water in those Ponds we saw Fowls like Herons but all red in the Valleys we saw hundreds of Guianacoes in a company and twenty Ostriches some Heres and some Partridges greyer and bigger than ours some Snipes and small Birds several Penne-wrens we saw several Kites and small Hawks and Owls we caught two Armadilloes I saw two Foxes and a wild Dog and many brant-Geese the Land is in Hills and Valleys as far as we could see and bad travelling on foot the Soil is gravelly and dry sand of a Salt-petre nature the Grass in some places long and dry and in some places short and dry the Hills are rounding aloft like large Downs We red Earth in some places such as the Indians use we saw the Footsteps of people in many places in the Clay and places where they had been and had killed Guianacoes and made a fire there I gathered Guianacoes-Wooll and Ostriches Feathers were scattered about the place and Bones there lay the Skulls of three People no flesh on them they were very clean and no larger than the Skulls of European Men smooth and even Teeth close set one of those Skulls was broken Whether these people be Man-eaters or not I cannot tell I judge they have Wars one with another by reason here are so few People in this great Land and food enough to live on and the Land all clear and good Pasturage for Cattle and no Mountains in all the Land there are Plains and grassy Meadows here wants only Wood to build with it that were here it would be as good a Land as any part of America for the Counrry is very healthy This Afternoon it rained and was very thick and foggy so as we could not tell which way to go although we had a Compass with us for there is no going into the Land without one because a Man will mistake his way the Country is so open in great Plains and Downs We were very much wet and cold We got to Bushes and there made a Fire and dried our selves we stayed here all Night we neither heard nor saw any thing to Night Tuesday September 1. 1670. Close hasey Weather the Wind at North a small gale so as I could not Sail this day we tried for Fish but caught none the Water is so cold I was on the Land when I was at the farthest twenty five miles West-north-west from the Harbour-mouth and all things as I saw I have mentioned excepting some small Creatures like Efts which run in the Grass no manner of Snake or venomous Creature have I seen in this Country here are some Earth-worms and Caterpillers and other Buggs but few in number no wild Beast of prey or any other thing to annoy the Inhabitants but Cold and Hunger Here lies a large Country open to receive any Inhabitants from forein Parts and large enough to satisfie the Undertakers The Land would produce European Grain if planted here and breed Cattle September 16. I considering my Men being very weak thought it most fit to go for Port Desier and there to refresh the Men for I knowing there I could have what Penguins and Seals I would have which are good Provisions also I do intend to salt up a quantity of each to carry to Sea with me to lengthen out my Provisions This Forenoon I steered from St. Julian North-north-east and made what Sail I could to get to Pert Desier This Night it was a small gale and veered to the West-south-west I judge it best to make my easie Sail in the Night for fear of running up with the Eady Stone-Rocks before day-light Wednesday September 21. Fair Weather to day the Wind veerable round the Compass This Morning I had both the Boats leden with Seals and Penguins and Penguin-eggs ten Men may kill ten thousand Penguins in less than an hours time the Seals and Penguins are numberless a Man cannot pass on the Island for them This Evening I got on board and landed our lading ashore fair Weather to Night The Eggs are very good Nourishment and the Fat serves for Oil to the Lamps Thursday September 22. Fair Weather Wind at West This day I divided the Eggs amongst the Men we skinned the Seals and the Penguins and salted the Flesh in bulk on the Rock and covered it to keep the Wind from it good Weather and little Wind to Night Friday September 30. The Wind at North this Morning this forenoon it came to the South-east and blew hard and rained This day I went up the River about ten miles and Don Carolus with me and ten Men to see for People we lay out all Night on the South-side but saw no People this Night the people of the Country came to our little Well which is up in the Valley and stole an Iron Pot and three suits of Cloaths of the Mens that were laid there a drying with some other Linnen but did not meddle with the Beads which are hung up on a Pole on the Hills and they will
not come near it nor meddle with it The People of the Country have made in a Valley the form of the Ship in Earth and Bushes and stuck up pieces of sticks for Masts and redded the Bushes all over with red Earth the Model I imagine is to record our Ship for they cannot have any Records but by imitation This Fancy we let alone untouched only I laid a string or two of Beads on it and came away close Weather to Night These People must certainly have received some injury in former times from some People that have been here in Shipping otherwise they would come in sight of us or else they have heard of the cruel dealings of the Spaniards toward the Indians where they lived near I have used all endeavours possibly by fair means to have Conference with them but all is in vain Tuesday October 11. The Wind at West-south-west a stout gale very cold Hail and sleety Snow to day Our Men are all in good health and are lusty and fat those wihch had the Scurvy are got very well with eating of fresh Meat and such green Herbs as they can get on the shore as green Pease-leaves and such trade they mince it fry it with Eggs and Seal-oil and it hath raised every Man in as good health as they were at our coming out of England We fare very well and have great plenty of good Provisions Here is Provision enough of Seals and Penguins if salt be plenty to lade Ships I can confidently say that on the Island of Penguins there are more Seals and Penguins at this present than three hundred Tuns of Cask can hold when dressed and salted besides what are going off and coming on if any Men should have occasion for provisions of Flesh If they have Salt here they may furnish themselves with what quantity shall seem fit for them and I can assure them it will last four Months sweet if not longer if care be taken in bleeding and dressing and salting as I have prescribed before the Salt may also be had at Saint Julian's Salt-pond in Summer-time also I believe that Salt may be made at Port Desier in the Summer-time for here is some dried Salt on the holes of the Rocks Here are several Flats where Men may make Pits and let in Salt-water and so make Salt as I have seen in other places The Penguin is a Fowl that lives by catching and eating of Fish which he dives for and is very nimble in the Water he is as big as a brant-goose and weighs near about eight pounds they have no Wings but flat stumps like Fins their Coat is a downy stumped Feather they are blackish grey on the Backs and Heads and white about their Necks and down their Bellies they are short legged like a Goose and stand upright like little Children in white Aprons in companies together they are full-necked and headed and beaked like a Crow only the point of their Bill turns down a little they will bite hard but they are very tame and will drive in herds to your Boats-side like Sheep and there you may knock them on the head all one after another they will not make any great hast away Here are a great many Sea-Pies and Ducks and Ox-Birds and Sea-Mews and Gulls and white Sea-Pigeons and white-breasted Divers and Dobchicks October 13. I weighed and sailed out of Port Desier standing Southward Octob. 16. I was in Lat. 49 d. 8 m. South Octob. 19. I passed by the Cape called Beachy-Head by our Men and the Hill of St. Ives Lat 50 d. 10 m. The Compass has variation 16 d. 37 m. Easterly The Land here makes in a Bay where the River of St. Cruce goes in Octob. 21. We passed by Cape Fair-weather in 51 d. 30 m. South-Lat Here goes on the River of Gallegoes Octob. 22. We came to Cape Virgin-Mary at the entrance of the Streight of Magellan Cape Virgin-Mary at the North-entrance lies in the Latitude of 52 d. 26 m. And in Longitude from the Lizard in England West 65 d. 42 m. Meridian distance form the Lizard in Leagues West 1062. Leagues Variation of the Compass here I find to be Easterly 17 Degrees Here is Anchoring all about this Part of the Streights in the fair way from Cape Virgin-Mary till you come into the Narrow I did not find much Tide any where hereabout but in the Narrow and there the Tide runs stronger than it does in the Hope a good matter the floud Tide sets into the Streights and the Ebb sets out it keepeth its course as on other Coasts it is six hours Floud and two hours Ebb it riseth and falls near four Fathom perpendicular it is an high Water here on the change day of the Moon at eleven of the Clock as far as I could perceive Many beds of Rock-weed are driving to and fro here This day at two of the Clock I was a-breast of Point Possession I steered from thence West-north-west about two Leagues and then West and West-south-west and South-west and by South rounding by the North-shore As I shoaled my soundings I had 22 and 18 and 16 and 12 and 9 Fathoms sandy and sometimes gravelly Ground and pebble Stones I sailed rounding the shore being unacquainted and could not tell certainly where the Narrow lay for it was shut in one Land with the other so as I could not see the opening I was open of the Narrow at five a Clock having a fine gale at North-north-east I steered in South-west and by South into the chops of it but could not get past a League into it the Tide being bent out and run so strong as I could not stem it I was in danger of running the Ship against steep Rocks which lie in the North-side the taking a shear with the Tide and the Wind was a fresh gale at North-north-east There grew long Rock-weed on the Rocks I went and sounded over them and had five foot Water on them and fourteen Fathom by the side of them next the Channel they come trenting from the point of the Narrow of the North-side a mile off At six of the Clock the Wind came to the North at eight of the Clock it came to the North-west it fell very dark and rained much I was forced to fall back again out of the Narrow as well as I could the shore I could not see it was so dark it fell a flat Calm I finding twenty five Fathom Water pebble Stones and oary I anchored and rode all Night little Wind at South-west and dark It is eight Leagues from the first Narrow to the second and something better the Course from one to the other is West and by South and East and by North. This Reach from the first Narrow to the second is seven Leagues broad from the North-shore to the South-shore it shews like a little Sea when one comes into it for we could not see to the second Narrow till I had sailed therein three
Kent Hugh Cooe Trumpeter aged twenty eight Years and born in Wappen Thomas Highway Linguist aged thirty five Years and born in Barbary of Moorish Parents He turned Christian and lived in London This Thomas Highway is a Tawny-Moor he speaks the Spanish Tongue very clear for he had lived formerly at Cadiz with an English Merchant All these four were very healthy sound Men and of good Presence and Spirit which gives me great hopes that they will live to give an Account of that Country and of their Travels Cape-Gallery which is the outermost Point on the South-side of the Harbour of Baldavia lieth in the Latitude of thirty nine Degrees fifty seven Minutes South of Equinoctial as also in Longitude to the Westward of the Meridian of the Lizard of England seventy Degrees twenty Minutes according to my Account and in Meridian distance one thousand one hundred and eight Leagues West and in Longitude East from the West-mouth of Magellan Streights and Cape-Pillar two Degrees and forty Minutes and in Meridian distance 42 Leagues nearest according to my reckoning Thursday December 22. This Morning it prov'd very fair Weather at Day-light the Wind was at South-west a fresh gale the Sea indifferent smooth I plied to the Windward along the Coasts and was about three Leagues off the Shore somewhat to the Southward of Cape-Gallery out of sight of the People of Baldavia for the Cape was shut in with the Land to the Northward of the Harbour At twelve of the Clock I had a good Observation of the Sun with my Quadrant and I found my self in the Latitude of 40 degrees 3 minutes South I was then three Leagues off the Shore and could not get ground at eighty Fathom I was to the Southward of Baldivia Harbour December 31. This afternoon it blew hard at N. W. and rained I steered South-west and by South by my Compass this Afternoon and to Night Here are several sorts of Porpus Fishes in these Seas unlike ours in Europe some pied white and black and some grey and large ones Rainy Weather to Night and no Observation to be made of the Shore January Anno. Dom. 1670-71 Sunday January 1. Raw cold cloudy Weather Rain and some Hail the Wind at N. W. a stout gale and a great Sea I was much afraid that I should lose my Main-mast it fetched such way and broke the spikes that fastned the Fetches with working I steered S. S. W. to ease the Ship from rolling what I could After several Courses made from Saturday Noon till to day Noon I make the true Course to be South 39 d. 00 m. Westerly and distance sailed 105 Miles and departure West 66 Miles and difference of Longitude 101 d. 37 m. 4 tenths difference of Latitude 1 d. 22 m. 3 tenths Latitude by Account 47 d. 47 m. South Wednesday January 4. Indifferent fair Weather the Wind at North-west and sometimes at W. N. W. a fine gale I kept on my Course South Some Porpus Fishes seen to day and some Whales and Sea-Fowl many little Peterels This Morning I took the Suns Amplitude and I find the Compass to have 10 Degrees 28 Minutes variation Easterly My Course made true from Tuesday Noon till to day Noon is South distance sailed 84 Miles and the difference of Latitude is 1 d. 24 m. 8 tent Lat. by good Observation of the Sun on the Meridian 51 d. 31 m. South Meridian distance from Point-Gallery West 70 leag 1 mil. 5 ten Longitude at Noon from Point-Gallery West 4 d. 48 m. 4 ten Longitude at Noon from the Lizard West 75 d. 8 m. 4 ten Meridian distance from the Lizard West 1178 Leagues 1 Mile 5 Tenths Friday January 6. Hasey foggy Weather this Morning the Wind at W. S. W. a stout gale I steered in for to make the four Islands which I called the Isles of Direction or to make Cape Desiade My Course was E. N. E. by my Compass the Nights being but short and light for the Moon was at the full so that I could see at some time clear a League before us At four of the Clock this Morning it being fair day-light I caused the Lead to be cast forth but could not get ground at eighty Fathom I reckon my self about ten Leagues from Cape Desiade and on the Latitude of 52 d. 53 m. South A little past four of the Clock it cleared up on the East Horizon we looked well abroad and saw the four Isles called The Directions which lie at the Mouth of the Streights N. N. W. from Cape Desiade distance from thence abought eight Leagues These Islands made in four Hommaccoes like Hay-cocks when I saw them they bear N. E. of me distant about four Leagues they lie in the Latitude of 52 d. 42 m. and at five of the Clock the Islands bore North of me distant three Leagues off I sounded but could not get ground at 70 Fathoms I saw Cape Desiade it cleared up for the Fog was much on the Hills the Cape was E. S. E. of me distant near eight Leagues the tops of the ragged Hills or rocky Spires were clouded with the flying Fog so as I could not see the Cape sooner for in clear Weather the Land at Cape-pillar and Cape Desiade may be seen fifteen or sixteen Leagues it is so high and ragged I steered by Cape-pillar East and by South the Wind at West-south-west a fresh gale a great humming Sea ran here which came out of the South-west I saw the Sea break upon broken ground which lieth at least four Leagues from the point of Cape Desiade West into the Sea and many Rocks that were sunk and prints of Rocks above Water which the Sea breaketh terribly these lie off Cape Desiade about two Leagues and a League and some not half a Mile off very dangerous As I came nearer the Streights-mouth I raised the Land on the North-side by Cape Victory and the broken Islands within the Streights which I called Westminster Isle and the Lodgers Isle they make ragged in Hillocks at the first sight At nine of the Clock Cape-pillar bore South of me being distant about a Mile and an half from me No Tide or Current as I could perceive set either in or out of the Streights so as to prejudice Navigation The difference of Longitude East is 1 d. 39 m. 4 tenths the Latitude by my Account now is but 52 d. 51 m. South but formerly my Account of the Latitude of this place was South 52 d. 58 m. Meridian distance at 9 of the Clock from Point Gallery West 35 leag 00 mil. 2 10. Longitude at 9 of the Clock from Point Gallery West 2 deg 43 min. â— Longitude at 9 of the Clock from the Lizard West 73 d. 3 m. â— Meridian distance at 9 of the Clock from the Lizard West 1153 leag 00 mil. 2 10. I find but very little Tide or Current in this Sea of Mare del Zur for I am but 3 Minutes of Longitude out of my Account in
out of a Lake of fresh Water in a Valley amongst the Hills we made the Boat fast and marched all into the Land five or six Miles being stop'd from going further by Hills rising very steep and Mountains and impenetrable Woods we made several Fires but could not see any sign of them so far in the Land No Beast or other Creature to be seen many small streams of fresh Water come running from the snowy Mountains with great Falls from the steep Rocks we looked in many places of the Earth and in the streams of Water for Gold c. but found none nor any other Metal of Mineral Here grow on the Bushes many small red Berries much like Hurts very good to eat the Grass-Land is very loose and Boggy the Rocks are a kind of white Marble the Trees like those at Port Famen here are small Pepper-trees To Night I got on Board Calm Weather I rode fast with the Ship Here ends Sir John Narbrough's Manuscript Journal which we shall continue home to England from the MS Diary taken by Sir John's ingenious Lieutenant Nathaniel Pecket Wednesday January 11. Fair Weather Wind variable from South-east to South-west This Morning we made the best of our way to get into Port Famen Here we had Fishes from the Shore to Fish our Main-mast At twelve a Clock we Anchored in nine Fathom Waaer This place afforded what we wanted as very good large Trees for Fishes good Water good wild Fowl good fish like Mullets and large Smelts here we fitted our Ships Masts and Rigging as well as we could Careen'd her and filled our Casks with good fresh Water and took as much Wood aboard as we thought fit January 16. Fair Weather and little Wind Westerly This Morning the Lieutenant was ordered to go up with the Boat in Segars River as high as he could with convenience and to see for Indians He went up about nine Miles but could nor get higher with the Boat by reason of the Trunk-timber and shoaliness in the Water So I landed and went up two Miles by Land to see for Indians but I could not see any not any thing worth the Observation How far the River runs up I know not for I saw not the end of it so I returned a-board again January 29. Fair Weather and little Wind at South-west This Morning the Captain went over with the Pinnace to the South-shore to see for Indians and if there were and Harbour for Shipping short of Port Famen This day came an Indian to the Point of Port Famen and made a Fire and I went a-shore to see what he had but he had neither Bow nor Arrow nor any thing else to the value of the Farthing I would have had him come a-board with me but he would not as far as I understood by the Signs he made to me he had been a slave to some other Indians and had run away from them and was travelling home Tuesday January 31. Fair Weather Wind variable This Evening the Captain came a-board again having been over on the South-shore to see for an Harbour but could find none nor see any Indians Saturday February 4. Fair Weather Wind at West by North. This Morning at four a Clock we set Sail for Port Famen and at eleven a Clock we were short of Fresh-water Bay and at six a Clock in the Evening we Anchored in twelve Fathom Water in a fine sandy Bay about four Leagues to the Northward of Freshwater Bay February 5. Fair Weather but very much Wind at South-west and West-south-west This Morning the Captain sent me to Freshwater Bay to see for Indians but I saw none there so I returned again aboard February 7. Fair Weather Wind Northerly This Morning the Captain ordered me to take the Pinnace and to go along the North-shore and between Elizabeth's Island and the Shore to see for Indians In the Afternoon it blew hard Northerly that we could not row a head so I put back into a sandy Bay and went a-shore and stayed there all Night and in this Bay we haled the same and got a great many good and large Smelts Smelts of twenty Inches long and eight Inches about Wednesday February 8. Fair Weather Wind West-south-west This Morning at four a Clock I run down the Streights with the Pinnace keeping the Norht-shore a-board and run berwixt it and Elizabeth's Island but saw no Indians yet saw several places where they had been very lately and where they had built their Canowes From Cape Desiade to Elizabeths Island there is Wood and fresh Water plenty but from Elizabeths Island to Cape Virgin-Mary Wood and fresh Water is very scarce to come by This Afternoon at three a Clock I got a-board again and at four a Clock we came to an Anchor in eight Fathom Water black Sand we rid within a Mile of the North-shore St. Georges and St. Bartholomew's Island were both shut in one and they bore South-south-east of me and Elizabeths Island bore South and by East And here we rid with the Ship all Night February 9. Fair Weather Wind Westerly This Morning the Captain sent me to see for Indians but I could see none yet I fell with a good Harbour for small Vessels on the North-side and at the South-end of a great deep Bay thwart of Elizabeths Island the entrance of this Harbour is not a Bow-shot from side to side I sounded it and there was twelve foot Water at a low Water but within there was three Fathom Water at low Water from the entrance of this Harbour to the upper end of it is about seven Miles Here is in this Harbour great stone of Geese and Ducks and a-shore there is great store of Heath-berries and Hicts and small Black-berries good and well-tasted but I saw no Indians so I returned a-board again the Captain went into another Harbour a Mile to the Southward of the second Narrow on the North-shore and sounded and had four Fathom Water in it it is very broad within and there is great store of Sea-Crabs Saturday February 11. Fair Weather Wind variable This day the Captain ordered me to go with the Pinnace and discover the North-shore and if I could with convenience discover some part of the South and to go to the first Narrow and there to stay for the Ship so I went through the second and landed on the South-side in a fine sandy Bay or Cove expecting to fall with Indians for I saw a many Fires up in the Land I went up about five or six Miles but could see no Indians Then the Night coming on I returned again to the Boat and there we pitched a Tent to lie in and lay all Night and at High-water we set the same thwart a Pond of Water and there it stood until Low-water then we halled the Pond all over and haled a-shore about 700 good and large Fish like Mullets This Land is very dry barren Land and nothing to be seen in it worth the Observation
the Long-Boat in order thereunto we raised her two Foot and laid a Deck upon her to keep the Sea out as much as was possible and with this Boat and 30 Men. for she could carry no more I intended to Row and Sail to Russia but the Men not being satisfied who should be the Men began to be very unruly in their mind and behaviour every one having as much reason to save himself as another some holding Consultation to stave the Boat and all to run the like Fortune But here Brandy was our best Friend for it kept them alwaies Fox'd so that in all their Designs I could prevent them some were of the mind to go by Land but that I knew was impossible to any Man neither had we Provisions nor Ammunition to defend us from the Wild Beasts and if it had been passable that is any going on the ground for Bogs that they would have met with Rivers that they knew not whether to go so there being no probability of going by Land nor for any to attempt going in the Boat without forty Men having been first destroyed I will leave it to the consideratiion of any whither we were not in a very miserable condition without Divine Providence to Write my thought I had at that time to save as many Men as I could it is not pertinent at all to the Discourse since it cannot but be imagined to be Tragical The Weather continued still very bad with Fogs Snow Rain and Frost till the 9. Day of our being on Shore which was the 8. Day of July when in the Morning it cleared up and to our great joy one of the Sailors cried out a Sail which proved Captain Flawes as reasonable may be imagined so we set fire to our Town that he might see where we was which he presently saw so come to us and sent his Boat to us but before I went off I Writ a brief Relation of the intention of the Voyage with the Accidents that had befallen us and put it in a Glass-Bottle and left it in the Fortification I had there built So by twelve a Clock we all got safe on Board but left all on Shore that we had saved from the Ship for we much feared it should prove foggy again Now I intend to give a brief description of the Land and the Observations I made there NOva Zembla is so called by the Russians which signifieth New Land in their Language to prove it is either an Island or whither it joyneth to the Continent of Tartaria would be a very hard Task nor is it certainly known to any for by Circumstances I think it impossible to prove and by Experience the search thereof is so impossible that it will hardly be tryed But let it be either I think the matter is not much since it is the most miserable Country that lyeth on the Foundation of the Earth a Country most part of it covered perpetually with Snow and that that is bare is not to be walked on being like Bogs upon whose Superficies grows a kind of Moss which beareth a small blue and yellow Flower and this is all the Product of the Earth of this Country Under the superficies of this Earth about two Foot deep after we had dug so low we came to a firm Body of Ice which as I think was never heard of before so these Men that did imagin if they were forced to Winter to the Northward would dig Caves in the Earth to preserve themselves from cold would find here but very bad Lodging The Snow lieth here contrary to what it doth in any other Country for in all other Climates the Snow melteth soonest away near the Sea side but here the Sea beateth against the snowy Clifts which in some places are as high as either of the Forelands in Kent the Sea has washed underneath the Snow a prodigious way and the Snow over hanging most fearful to behold and up from the Water side upon the first Ridge of Hills the Snow was melted till you come to the next Ridge which are Mountains and they all the way up are covered with Snow which I believe hath lain there evere since the Creation but after we had ascended this which in some places was almost Perpendicular we came to the top of all the Mountains as we supposed for we could not see far for we could hardly see one the other the Fog was so thick and remained so all the time we were in the Country but on the top of these Hills we found it bare from Snow and indifferent good walking The best that I found in the Country were only Bears I continued on the top of those Hills fome two hours and went as far as was convenient that we might find the way back again Here I found the Track of many large Deer also we found an Horn of Beam of Deer besides Deer there be abundance of large White Bears and some Foxes and a little Creature much like a Coney but not so big as a Rat and some few little Birds like Larks and these be all the Beasts or Fowls we found in the Country Every quarter of a Mile there runneth down from the Hills into the Sea a small Rivulet of very good Water which is melted from Snow Upon the Hills we found abundance of Slate-stone which made it good walking but at the Sea side where the Rivulet came down we found very good Black Marble with White Veins in it The Point where we lost our Ship I called Point Speedill the high Hills I called King Charles's Snow Hills and the next Point to the Southward which is the Westermost Point of Nova Zembla I named James Foreland and the Point to the Northward York Point Point Speedill lieth in the Lat. of 74 d. 30 m. North and in the Longitude East from the City of London 63 d. 00 m. The variation of the Compass is 13 d. West and it is full Sea at South-west Moon The Tide riseth 8 Foot and setteth directly upon the Shore which is a certain sign that there is no Passage to the Northward The Sea Water about the Ice and Land is very salt and much salter than any I ever tasted and a great deal heavier and I may certainly say the clearest in the World for I could see the ground very plain in 80 Fathom Water which is 480 Foot there being few Steeples so high as that was deep and I could see the Shells at the bottom very plain If the Voyage had succeeded I should God willing have given a more full and nice account of all the Experiments I had and should have made especially those of the Magnet which I forbare here to mention because I intended to Publish them in a Treatise by themselves so having with the Ship lost all my Papers and with them all I had in the World beside I most humbly beg Pardon that I have given no more Ample a Relation A Collection of Curious
half the Ship â—t two Miles you see only the uppermost Mast at three Miles distance you see only the Flagg and when it goeth farther you have quite lost it Land and Mountains may be seen at a great distance at Sea we saw Spitzbergen at twelve Miles distance off at Sea the Country looked like a black Cloud full of white stroaks as is in the Cut D marked with a b c g h i. Near the Ice of this Sea it is coldest where the Waves are quiet and the sea-Sea-water is so clear that at twelve and more Fathoms deep you may see the bottom There is no ground to be found near the Ice to drop an Anchor It is also to be observed that according to the colour of the Skies the colour of the Sea is changed If the Skies be clear the sea looks as blew as a Saphir if it is covered somewhat with Clouds the Sea is as green as an Emerald if there be a foggy Sun-shine it looketh yellow if it be quite dark like unto the colour of Indico in stormy and cloudy weather like black Sope or exactly like unto the colour of black Lead If the wind be quite calm one may hear beating or knocking at a great distance on the the Sea by which we also observe the Whale hears as shall be mentioned in its proper place Among the Ice the stream runs Southwards which we observed by our driving back a great way At the Muscle-Haven the stream ran Northwards Those that sail yearly to those places cannot give any certain information concerning ebbing and flowing only they have observed the water to be higher about the Land when the winds have been higher then at other times And this I have also observed that if there was an orderly or continual ebbing and flowing the Eggs of the Birds would be drowned upon the Islands Certain information concerning ebbing and flowing is not easily to be had I know no more of it then what I have written CHAP. III. Of the ICE IN the Months of April and May the west Ice breaks because it lyeth Westward which drives dispersed in the Sea by the Island of John Mayen and reacheth to Spitzbergen where at that time it was firm still as you may see in the Plate A marked with e. The difference between the Ice of Spitzbergen and that of our Country is that it is not smooth there so as to slide upon it Neither is it so clear nor transparent nor so sharp and cutting but a great deal harder and is not easily broke or split but it looketh likest unto the Ground-Ice of the Rivers in our Country or like unto Loaf-sugar Where the Ice is fixed upon the Sea you see a snow-white brightess in the Skies as if â—he Sun shined for the Snow is reflected by â—he Air just as a Fire by Night is but at a â—istance you see the Air blew or blackish â—here there is many small Ice-fields that are 〈◊〉 the Meadows for the Seales you see no lustre 〈◊〉 brightness of the Skies The Sea dasheth against these Ice-fields â—hich occasioneth several fine Figure not 〈◊〉 they are naturally framed so but just as 〈◊〉 flowers on our Glass-windows get all 〈◊〉 of figures for these are framed by the â—shing of the Sea like unto Mountains Steeples Tables Chappels and all sort of Beasts These Ice-fields are a great deal deeper under water then they are high above it and are of a paler colour under water then above the top of them might be called the Kernel and Marrow of the Ice because the colour is much deeper then that of the other The highest colour is delicate blew of the same colour with the blewest Vitriol somewhat more transparent yet not so clear as that in our Country which you may see through let it be never so thick it is as hard as a stone and it is not easily split or cleav'd because it is spumgy like unto a Punice stone Among this Ice the Ships sail up and down until they come to bigger Ice fields for the small ones incumber the Sea that the Ships sail often against them and perish for when the winds arise the Waves drive against the Ice-fields as if it was against Rocks and beat the Ships to pieces When we are passed by these small Ice-fields that swim at a great distance from one another then we sail in between them and draw a small Ice-field behind the stern of our Ship that it may be the sooner stopt and kept from swift sailing without letting the Sails strike for else it might easily run against an Ice-field Every Ships Master is left to his free-will whether he will sail into the Ice because in the Spring the Whales are in great numbers seen there in the West-Ice as they call it The Masters do not willingly sail in amongst the Ice when it is dark or foggy or stormy which must be expected in the Spring and the small sheets of Ice swim up and down in the Sea which the Skippers must avoid lest they lose their Ships It may seem something strange that they sail so often to the Ice and back again but there is the same reason for it as is in hunting after Deer if we do not find Whales in one place we must seek them in others for the fortune in ketching of Whales is like the Chances of Gaming and there is no great understanding required to find them some see and catch more then they desire and others but at half a mile distant from them see not one which is very common When they go in amongst the Ice the men stand ready with great Ice-hooks to keep them off that the Ship may not run against them The farther you sail into and amongst the Ice the greater Ice-fields you shall foe so that you cannot look over them for about the West as they call it are larger Ice-fields to be seen then about Spitzbergen quite white at the top covered with Snow so that there is but ill walking upon them because you fall deep into the Snow See A marked with l and B marked c. The prints of the Bears footing we saw on the shoar of the Ice-fields for they seek their Prey in the water which is the dead Carkases of the Whales the Foxes generally accompany them for their choicer food of Birds is here scarcer then at Spitzbergen for they flock not together but fly singly When they sail some Miles into the Ice where there is pretty large Ice-fields they joyn their Ships to them with great Ice-hooks fastned to strong Cables where they lie at Anchor several Ships about the same Ice-field but they rather chose to be alone because they are an hindrance to one another in Whale-catching and the hunting of them from one to another maketh them shie Amongst the Ice we find no great Waves but it is pretty smooth even when it is somewhat stormy All the danger is from one Ice-field being bigger then the other
and the little ones swiming faster then the great ones which often causeth a stoppage so that they crowd upon one another not without great danger of the Ships which are often catcht between and broken by them See the Plate B at a. The Seamen hinder the pressing on of the Ice as much as in them lieth with great Ice-hooks but what small help this affordeth them daily experience testifies sufficienty In fair weather the mischief is as soon done as in tempestuous because the Ice drives in the Sea either with the stream or wind as either of them is the more prevalent crashing and grinding against each other whence the danger arises to the Ships for after such a manner many Ships perish See Plate B. They say that a dead Whale tied to the Ship is the best defence against the Ice Others hang the Tails and Fins about their Ship which way is not to be rejected for it is of great use to them to prevent the danger of the squeezing of the Ice they have examples that in such squeezing of the Ice a dead Whale hath preserved them The Ice rises out of the Sea as high as a Mountain the striking of them together makes so great a noise that one can hardly hear his own words and from this joyning together of the Ice the great Ice-hills are made that drive up and down in the Sea Other great Ice fields are not so high as the Ice hills yet notwithstanding they are hardly ever quite plain and without a Hill you see the Ice under water as deep as you can see It is all of a blew colour but the deeper you look the purer blew you see which beautiful colour changes with the Air for if it be rainy weather this colour groweth paler I also have often seen the Ice underneath the water very green the occasion whereof was the troubled Air whence the Sea assumeth this colour I wonder that upon the largest Ice-fields no high Mountains are seen as are seen where the Ice grinds and dashes one against the other I am of opinion that the Ice melts towards the bottoms for one may see it spungy for else if one would compute from the beginning it must have reached the very ground even in the middle of the depth of the sea I have seen in Spitzbergen white Ice that was frozen quite curled it look'd just like Sugar-candy was very hard and thick and swam even with the Seas surface The Ships are not always in this danger of sqeezing for often times there is little or no Ice to be seen there although you are a great way in the place where it usually is but as soon as a wind arises you would admire from whence so great a quantity of Ice should come in less then an hours time At the greatest Ice-fields of all Ships do not always ride the safest since by reason of the bigness and the motion of the Sea these Ice-fields break not without danger When such Ice-fields break they part asunder which causeth a Whirl-pool in the Sea where all the out-parts press to the Centre and by that means the pieces of the Ice-fields raise themselves up and dash and grind against each other When we came to 71 degrees in the Month of April we saw the first Ice and so we failed up and down by the Ice until that Month was spent for so early in the year no body dares venture himself into or amongst the Ice by reason of the stormy winds and some times the Ice is still fixed and stands firm and therefore there is but a few Whales seen for underneath the Ice they cannot breathe Into the Ice we sailed at 77 degrees and 24 minutes and drove with that sheet of Ice towards the South In this Month and also in the following Month of May are the most Whales seen here which run towards the East and we follow them all along by the Ice to Spitzbergen Near to the Land smaller Ice-fields are seen because the Ice cannot give way by reason of the Land which causeth greater grinding and breaking and upon that account smaller Ice than is in the open Sea Yet for all this some greater Ice-Mountains are seen there that stand firm on the shoar and never melt at bottom but increase every year higher and higher by reason of the Snow that falls on them and then Rains that freezes and then Snow again alternately and after this manner the Icy-hills increase yearly and are never melted by the heat of the Sun at the top These Ice-Mounts change their first colour in time by the Air by Rain and by the Clouds and the fairest blew that can be is seen in the cracks of these Ice-hills From these same Ice-hills oftentimes break off great pieces that swin in the Sea and is more compact than the other Ice by far I once saw one of these pieces that was curiously workt and carved as it were by the Sea like a Church with arched Windows and Pillars the Doors and Windows hung full of Icikles on the inside thereof I saw the delicatest blew that can be imagined it was bigger than our Ship and somewhat higher than our stern but how deep it was under water I cannot exactly tell Near unto the Muscle-Haven a great Ice-hill came driving towards our Ship that was as high as our Poop and went so deep under water that it took up our Anchor which lay fifteen Fathoms deep I have also seen several others and of other figures viz. round and foursquare Tables with round and blew Pillars underneath as in Plate B marked with f the Table was very smooth and plain at the top and white with the Snow at the sides hung down a great many Icikles close to one another like a fringed Table-cloth I believe that near forty men might have sat about it I have seen of these Tables with one foot and with two or three Pillars and abundance of Seales swam about it The Dishes that furnisht this Table were a piece of Ice like an Horses head and a Swan I doubt they were but salt You must observe that this Ice becometh very spungy by the dashing of the Sea and from thence grows salt like sea-Sea-water and thence also changeth its colour viz. from the Sea and rain-Rain-water mixt with it for you shall commonly see the Water look blew or yellow if you walk under water with your eyes open and look upwards The other Ice as far as it is above water is of a taste like other Ice but that below the Sea salt like the Sea-water When we arrived at Spitzbergen the Ice at Rehenfelt was as yet fixed but a few days afterwards it was driven away by the winds The Ice begirts these Countries on all sides as the Wind sets either from the Island of John Mayen Old Greenland and Nova Zembla We found at this time that the Ice reached from the other side of Spitzbergen and the Ships sailed between the Ice and
not forget that we see in these falling Needles a Bow like a Rain-bow of two colours white and a pale yellow like the Sun reflected by the dark Shadows of the Clouds After this I proceed to the Description of an other Bow which I call a Sea-bow This is seen when the Sun shines clear and bright not in the great Waves but in the Atmosphere of the sea-Sea-water which the Wind blows up and which looks like a Fog Commonly we see this before the Ship and sometimes also behind to the Lee-ward so they call that side of the Ship towards the Sea over-against the Sun where the Shadow of the Sail falleth It is not the Shadow of the Sail but a Bow sheweth it self in the Shadow of the Sail. We see this pleasant reflexion in the small drops of the Salt-water of several colours like the Rain-bows in the Skies that are seen over-against the dark Clouds This brings to my Mind another Phanomenon viz. that in the Clouds near the Sum a very bright Light is seen like a Parelion or Mock-sun These Lights are called Weather-galls by the Sea-men This bright Light we find in the lower-most Air in the dark shady Clouds that are not unlike to a Cloud of Rain because it is full of drops wherein the Sun is represented as things are in a Looking-glass This clearness of the Sun causeth a Heat which drives from it a Rain-bow figured by the Sun which Bow are the Drops that by the Heat of the Sun are changed into a Vapour or Fog and this Vapour shews like smoak in the Air when the Cold remits wherein these Colours are no more seen But in these raised Drops as aforesaid the Sun represents it self and causeth these Colours which are truly distinct and represent Blew Yellow and Red which are the three primary Colours of the Bow Concerning the bigness thereof I did considered and minded the Bow that I saw in Spitzbergen and found that it moved about with the Sun by Day and by Night and that it appeared much bigger in the Morning Evening and at Night than in the Day-time I will not mention the Whirlwinds which are unknown in these cold Countries that used to take up the Water into the Air But yet I will not omit the small Whirlwinds that proceed from the high Mountains from whence the Wind recoils and so turneth round about We see farther in Spitzbergen that the Sea as well as the other Waters sends forth a Vapour when the Clold encreases which Vapour is turned into Rain in the Air or into Snow and it smelleth like a Fog or steaming Water It is likewise an Observation there that when we see great Vapours or Fogs in the Air and that such a Vapour riseth almost every moment in a clear Sun-shiny Day without Wind or other Causes the cold Weather is about to remit But when the Air is overburdened by these Vapours the Couds are dissipated and they last a great while with constant Wind. Such Vapours as we see in the Air stick to our Cloaths and Hair like Sweat Out of these small vaporous Drops the Snow is first generated First of all you see a small Drop as big as a single Sand in the Plate E marked with A. This is augmented or encreased by the Fog until it cometh to be like unto a Shield or Plate with six corners as clear and transparent as Glass to these six corners sticks the Fog like Drops as B. then it freezes and splits asunder so that you see the Figure of a Star as C. which yet is still frozen together until in time it is quite parted or divided asunder one from the other and then you see a Star with six Points as D. which Points are not yet quite frozen because there are still hanging some wet drops between the Points until at length it assumes the perfect Form of a Star with Points serrated at the sides like Ferne on the Points whereof still hand some Drops as you see at E which are lost and so it is turned into an exact and perfect Star And this is the Formation of the snowy Star which is seen in the severest Frost so long until at last it loseth all its Points See F. as to the many sorts of Snow that fall in Spitzbergen and in what Weather I have made these following Observations and Distinctions Number 1. in the Plate of E. sheweth the Snow that falleth when it is tolerable cold and rainy withal then it falls like unto small Roses Needles and small Corns When the cold Weather doth remit the Snow falleth like Stars with many points like the Leaves of Ferne. Plate E. Numb 2. If it be only a Fog at last and it snoweth much it looketh as you see Numb 3. If it is very cold and windy like Numb 4. When it is very cold and not windy withal the Snow falleth like unto Stars in a cluster because the Wind cannot blow them asunder like Numb 5. When the Wind was North-West or the Skies were thick of Clouds and it was stormy withal there fell Hail that was round and oblong all over full of Prickles and of the same bigness as you see it as Number 6. There is many more sorts of starry Snow to be seen with more Points and some like unto a Heart but they are all generated after the same manner by the Eastern and Northern Winds The needly Snow is generated by Westerly and Southerly Winds If the Snow is not dispersed by the Wind it falleth down in cl usters But when the Wind driveth it Stars or Needles only fall every piece by it self like the Atoms in the Sun Thus much have I observed hitherto of the Snow and find that also when it is cold and a North Wind blows all sorts of Snow both starry and of other shapes fall as well in these Countries as in Spitzbergen The End of the Second Part. THE THIRD PART OF THE VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN CHAP. I. Of the Plants of Spitzbergen GEnerally the Figures of the Plants I here present you with were all drawn by the Life upon the place when they were fresh and of their natural size except the Rock-plant with but one Leaf and the Plant like Horse-Tail that stands by it which because of their largeness could not be well drawn so big at the Life All the Herbs and the Mosses grow upon the Grit and Sand of the Stones where the Water falleth down and on that side of the Hill which the East and North Winds cannot easily come at The Plants owe much of their growth to the Dung of the Birds There were a great many small Herbs which for want of time I could not delineate but I purpose to do it hereafter if God bâ—esseth me with Life and Health when I make my second Voyage thither I omitted the white Poppy whereof we stuck the Flowers in our Hats the whole Plant was but about a Span long Besides I have not mentioned the
that so the Hunger compels them to the Ships for Food Tab. K. at b. III. Of the Ice-birds I saw also in the English Haven a very beautiful Ice-bird which was so tame that we might have taken him up almost with our Hands but we would not go too near him with our Gun for fear that we should shoot him all in pieces and so spoil his curious Feathers so we missed him and he flew away The Sun shined at that time upon him which made him look like Gold so as it dazled our Eyes almost He was as big as a small Pigeon I would willingly have delineated him if we could have catched him I saw but this one of the Kind II. Of the Pigeon The Pigeon or rather the Pigeon-diver is also one of the beautifullest Birds of Spitzbergen It is of the bigness of a Duck the Bill is somewhat long thin and sharp pointed at the point the upper Bill is somewhat crooked about two Inches long and hollow within It hath but three red Toes on its Feet with crooked Claws it hath short redish Legs and a short Tail Some of these Birds are black all their body over but others and so was that which I delineated about their Wings and in the middle they are white pyed with black but underneath the Wings they are quite white others are in the middle of their Wings quite white their Bill is red within the Tongue is also red and hollow they cry like young Pigeons whence they have their Name for they are in nothing else like them In their Crops I found Shrimps or Prawns and small Sand-stones They do not flie high over the Sea and their flight is very like the Partridges They do not flie many together as the Lumbs but usually by pares and sometimes one alone by its self They can keep a great while under Water wherefore they may be called Diving Pigeons But chiefly when they are pursed by Men or if their Wings be hurt by a Shot they will dive and keep a great while under Water and sometimes they get underneath the Ice and there they are suffocated they were as nimble and quick under Water if their Wings or Feet are not quite shot off as we could row with our Boat Their Flesh is good to eat when the Fat is taken away from it if afterwards it be fryed in Butter The first Diving Pigeon I got the 23 th of May on the Ice and afterward at Spitzbergen where they are seen more frequently See Tab. L. at b. III. Of the Lumb This Bird is the likest in his Bill unto the Diving Pigeon only it is somewhat stronger and crookeder He hath black Feet with three black Toes and as many black Nails his Legs are black also and short He is quite black at the top but underneath his Belly even to the Neck he is snow white his Tail is short His Cry is very unpleasant most like that of a Raven and they cry more than all the other Birds except the Rotger-divers he is bigger than the Diving Pigeon as big as a midling Duck. In their Crops I find small Fish and Prawns and also some Sand-stones and one of them flying over our Ship dropp'd a large red Prawn into the Ship I also delineated it in the mentioned place They say likewise that small fresh River Fish are their Prey but this I cannot relate for certain When they have young ones they commonly sit by the old ones one or two on the Water who teach them to dive and swim After the old ones have brought their young in their Bill from the Rocks to the Water the Preying Bird called Burgermeister sometimes catches the young ones when the old ones are not present and sometimes when they are also for they are not able to resist them They love their young ones so well that they will be killed before they will leave them and will defend them as a Hen doth her Chickens swimming about them at other times they are very hard to be shot for as soon as they see the Fire they are immediately under Water or fly away They fly in great flocks with pointed Wings like Swallows and move their Wings much in their flight One can hardly know the young Lumbs from the old ones at the first sight if you do not take exact notice of their Bills for the upper part turns beside the under part at the point and the undermost beside the uppermost as you see in the Cross Bill yet not so much in these and it is commonly done in the 15th 16th to the 20th year of their Age. The old ones are full of Flesh but it is very dry and tough and therefore unpleasant to eat They boil them like the Pigeons and scum off the Fat when they boil then they fry them in Batter I did not see them upon the Ice but abundance of them upon the Mountains They go waddling from one side to the other like the diving Pigeons I have seen many Thousands of them together in the Danish Harbour on the Mountains on that side where the East and Northern Winds could not blow hard or not fully upon them and so do all other Birds chuse such places on the Mountains for their Habitations where the Herbs do grow But I saw not so many by the Haven of Magdalen where I drew my Figure on the 25th of July Afterwards I saw some of them in the Spanish and North Sea not far from the Heilgland See Tab. M at a. IV. Of the Mew called Kutge-gehef This is beautiful Mew and is called Kutge-gehef because it cryeth so He hath a Bill somewhat bent as the Burgermeister on the undermost part of its Bill is a small knob or rising About his black Eyes he hath a red circle as the Burgermeister and he hath but three Claws joyned together with a black Skin The Legs are also black and but short the Tail is somewhat long and broad like a Fan. All the Belly is as white as Snow the Wings and Back are grey and the point of the Wings black He is almost as big as an ordinary Mew but something less than the Strunt-jager When we cut the fat off from the Whales we saw abundance of them fly by the Ship and heard them cry When the Seamen have a mind to catch some of them they bait their Hooks with a piece of Whales Fat and so tye the Hooks to a Line and fling it into the Sea and so they catch not only these but all the other Birds of Prey He flieth with small Wings as a common Mew and dives not His Food is the Fat of the Whale He is hunted by sthe Strunt-jager in English Dung-hunter who leave him not till he dungs which the Strunt-jager eats This is not only to be understood of this Bird but also of all the rest for they look against the Wind that their Feathers may not be blown asunder and opened for if they should sit or
the middle at the side towards their Belly it is flat but it is round without and it is every where covered over with Sinews They turn also Knife hafts and other things out of this Bone What their Food is I cannot certainly tell they may perhaps eat both Herbs and Fish that they eat Herbs I conclude from hence that their Dung looks like Horse-dung That they eat Fish I judge because when we cut the Fat off a Whale one of them did often take the Skin with him under Water he did also fling it up and catch it again The Burgermeister doth eat his Dung as is said before when I writ of the Birds The Seaâ—horses keep generally about Spitzbergen for amongst the Ice-hills I saw none They lay upon the Ice as I have already mentioned in the First Part by the 12th of July very nastily as the Seales in great numbers and roar most terribly They dive with their Head under the Water before like the Seales They sleep and snore not only upon the Ice but also in the Water so that we take them several times for dead ones They are very stout and undaâ—nted Creatures they stand by one another as long as they have Life and if any of them be wounded they make to the Long-boat notwithstanding that the Men strike and cut and push at them some will dive under the Water near unto the Long-boats and cut holes in them with their great Teeth under Water and others without any fear at all make to the Boat and stand up with half their Body out of the Water and endeavour to get into the Boat In such a Battel a Sea-horse did once strike with his Teeth or Tushes into the Boat and took hold of our Harponier with his long Tooth between his Shirt and the Wastband of his Breeches so that the Wastband broke otherwise he had pulled him under Water When they roar if they are imitated they strive which shall get underneath the Water and fall a fighting and biting one another till they fetch Blood Others strive to set at liberty the Sea-horses taken by the Men striving before each other to get to the Boat biting and gâ—ashing with their Teeth and roaring terribly They never give over so long as one of them is alive and if you are forced to fly because of their unspeakable number they will follow the Boat till you lose them out of sight for they cannot follow far their great number hindring one another This we found by Weiheg at by Spitzbergen where they got together in great numbers and made our Boat take in Water so that we were forced to flee yet they followed us as long as we could see them on the 12th day of July We take them only for their Teeth You shall see almost a hundred of them before you find one that hath good Teeth for some of them are but small others have but one and others none at all CHAP. V. Of the Crustaceous Fish that I observed I Found two sorts of them viz. Crawfish and Starfish of the Crawfish I saw four sorts the Sea-spider as the French-men call them the red Prawn the small Prawn or the little small Shrimp and the Whale's Louse The Starfish I put to them also because they have their Arms or Legs wherewith they move themselves and are incrustrated with Shells I. Of the Sea Crawfish without a Tail or Sea Spider This sort of Crawfish has no Tail but six Feet and two Claws They are else very like Lobsters in the shape of their Body They are of a dark brownish colour somewhat prickly on their Backs and hairy all over their Body I have seen many of this kind with six Feet and two Claws in my Voyage to Spain whereof I have also made a draught in my Voyage into Spain which I shall God willing communicate to the Curious but they differ form these of Spitzbergen in their Bigness and Head this of Spizbergen hath a Head like a Lobster but the male of them that I saw in my Voyage to Spain made with its Head and Tail just the shape of a Lute I did not eat any of the Spitzbergen Sea Crawfish neither have I drawn them at Spitzbergen for want of time for I thought to have them brought along with me but they were carried away by the Rats I got them in the English Haven on the 19th of June I afterwards saw them in the North Sea not far from England where we bought from the Hilgeland Fishermen a great Tarbut in whose Stomach we found a Sea Crawfish two spans long when its Feet were spread out II. Of the Garnels or Prawns Betwixt our Prawns and those of Spitzbergen is no difference only that those of Spitzbergen are red before they are boiled Their Head is peculiar consisting of two parts with several Horns the whole Head is broad at the end of the Head are the Eyes which stand out as Crawfishes do he doth not look downwards but streight before and sidewards The Scale of his Back is like a Back-piece of Armour which also behind the Head in his Neck is somewhat bended in and behind it is a Prickle After that follow six Plates like the Armour for the Arms and Legs and about the brims thereof are small black spots as if they were the Nails of the Armour These Plates lye exactly round one upon the other The Tall consisteth also of five parts when he expands it it is like the Tail of a Bird. He hath two Claws before the further part whereof looks somewhat like the Phangs of a Tooth-drawer He hath 18 Legs wherof those that are nearest to the Claws are the shortest The first eight Legs have four Joints whereof the uppermost is the longest and the undermost the shortest They are not hairy at all The ten hindmost Legs whereof the furthermost are the longest and the uppermost Joint is much thicker and shorter than the lowermost long ones have but two Joints the Feet whereof are somewhat bended under and are hairy On these hindmost and undermost Joints grow out two shoots below on the rest but one He shoots very swiftly along in the Water He was as big as I have delineated him according to the Life They are Food for the Birds as I have mentioned before III. Of the lesser Garnel or Shrimp I have also taken notice in my Voyage to Spitzbergen a sort of Shrimps that are like Worms the Head thereof is like the Head of a Fly it hath on the foremost part of its Head two Horns standing out it hath Scales like the Hogâ—louse its Back is round and broad downwards it hath 12 Legs on each side of the foremost Scale it hath three Legs after you have told four Scales more there is on each side three Legs more they are no bigger than I have drawn them The Birds eat them as their best Food being always in great numbers in those places where these Worms were I found great
Beasts At the sides of Pudendum stand out the two Breasts with Nipples on them like unto those of Cows Some of these Breasts are quite white some are speckled with black and blew spots like a Lapwing's Egg. When they have no young ones they have but small Breasts I am informed that when they couple together they stand upright close to one another with their Heads out of the Water which seemeth very probable because they cannot keep long under Water and chefily in such a heat They say that they have but two young ones at a time for they have never found more than two young ones within them How long they carry their young is not easily determined some say they go as long as a Cow but it is very uncertain he that will believe it may The Sperm of a Whale when it is fresh smells like Wheaten-flower that is boiled in Water when it is still hot it is very white one may draw it out in Threads like hot Sealing-wax Glew or the like when it groweth cold it turns to a Musk-colour and smells strong and little red Worms grow in it like unto the grey ones that you may see in the Tab. P. marked with C. I have tryed several ways to keep this Sperm sweet and fresh but I could never make it like unto that Sperma-caeti which the Apothecaries sell in their Shops One may dip of this Sperm whole Pails-full out of the Water for as well this as that of the Sea-horses and Seals swims upon the Sea like Fat and we see abundance of it in calm weather so that it doth make the Sea all foul and slimy I tryed to dry this Sperm of a Whale in the Sun and it lookt like Snot and when the thin Slime was dryed away from it looked like unto Fila meteorica save only that they are thicker and more heavy Another parcel I boiled in Sea-water just as I took it out of the Water until the Water was evaporated from it then I had some Sea-salt and a nasty brown Slime The third parcel I boiled in fresh Water and afterwards again in Sea-water and the longer I kept it afterwards the more it stunk and the harder it grew The fourth parcel I intended to keep in the Salt Water with an intention to carry it along with me to Hamburgh but it dissolved in the Water like Glew and the Water became foul and stinking so that I could no ways make it like the Sperma-ceti of the Apothecaries Where the Yard doth begin it is four-square consisting of many strong Sinews if you dry them they are as transparent as Fish-glew out of these Sinews the Seamen make twisted Whips Their Bones are hard like unto them of great four-footed Beasts but porous like unto a Spunge and filled with Marrow when that is consumed out they will hold a great deal of Water for the holes are big like unto the Wax of a Honey-comb Two great and strong Bones hold up the under Lip they lye one against the other and both of them make a Figure like unto an Half-moon but one alone by itself makes a Figure like to a quarter of the Moon Some of these Bones I saw at Spitzbergen lying on the Strand about 20 foot long of a very white colour as if they had been calcined Our Seamen bring some of these along with them home to shew us how big some Whales are which are already whitened to their Hands for those that come fresh from a Whale stink abominably because of the Marrow that is in them Their Flesh is course and hard m and it doth look like unto that of a Bull it is intermixd with many Sinews it is very dry and lean when it is boiled because their Fat is only between their Flesh and Skin Some looks green and blew as our Pouder'd Beef chiefly where the Muscles meet together if one lets it lye a little it grows black and stinking The Flesh of the Tail boils tenderest and is not quite so dry as that of the Body When we have a mind to eat of a Whale we cut great pieces off before the Tail where it is four-square and boil it like other Meat good Beef I prefer far before it yet rather than be starved I advise to eat Whale's Flesh for none of our Men dyed of it and the French-men did eat almost daily of it they fling it sometimes on the tops of their Tubs and let it lye until it is black and yet they eat it for all that The Flesh of a Whale as well as that of the Seales is alone by itself and the Fat at the top thereof between the Flesh and Skin It is about six inches thick on the Back and Belly but I have also seen it a foot thick upon a Finn according as they are great or little Fish The Fat of their under Lip is thicker than two foot and is the thickest of all the Whale The Tongue as I have said before is fasten'd to it but very soft but it costs too much labour to cut it The Fat of some Whales is much thicker than than that of others as it is with other Animals or Men where one is much leaner that another In the Fat are little Sinews interspersed which hold the Oyl as a Sponge does Water which one may squeeze out The other strong Sinews are chiefly about the Tail where it is thinnest for with it he turns and winds himself as a Ship is turned by the Rudder but his Finns are his Oars and according to his bigness he rows himself along with them as swiftly as a Bird flies and doth make a long track in the Sea as a great Ship doth when under Sail so that it remains dividid for a while The Whales of the North Cape they are so called because they are caught between Spitzbergen and Norway being not so big therefore do not yield so much Fat as those of Spitzbergen for of those of the North Cape you shall not fill above ten twenty or thirty Cardels of Fat the middling sort of those of Spitzbergen yield commonly seventy eighty or ninety and they are about fifty or sixty foot long Our biggest Whale was fifty three foot long and we cut off him as much Fat as filled seventy Cardels his Tail was about three fathom and an half broad The Skipper Peter Peterson of Friesland informed me that they found a dead Whale whereof they did cut as much fat as filled One hundred and thirty Cardels his Tail was three fathom and an half broad but he was not much longer than our biggest as one may guess by the Tail also yet much thicker and fatter from whence one may inâ—er that they do not grow much longer but only in thickness or fatness as we daily see Nor did I ever hear that a bigger or fatter Whale was ever caught and even those but seldom for if there were many such our Ships could not hold so much Fat as is cut
arise who sits always before in the Boat where the Harpoon or the sharp Iron made like unto an Arrow fixed to a Stick doth also lye on the foremost Board of the Long-boat which the Seamen call the Staffen that is the broad piece of Wood that cometh up before the Boat from the bottom and stands up higher than all the rest But when the Whale runs streight down towards the bottom underneath the Water then he doth draw the Rope very hard so that the upper part of the Long-boat is even with the surface of the Water nay he would certainly pull it down to the bottom if they should not give him Rope enough This he doth commonly where the Sea is deepest and this doth require an incredible force to draw so many hundred fathoms of Rope under Water This giveth me occasion to remember that when we on the 27th of April in the Year 1672. did fling out our Lead near St. Kilda behind Scotland into the Sea where it was 120 fathom deep when the Weather was calm and when we would pull it up again it was so heavy that 20 Men had much to do to heave it The Harpoonier taketh his Harpoon and holds the Point or the Iron thereof together with the Fore-runner towards his Left hand this is a Rope or Line of five or seven fathom long about an inch thick and is laid up round like a Ring that it may not hinder the Harpoon when it is flung for as soon as he doth fling or dart the Harpoon this Line follows for it is more plyable than the rest that are fastened to it wherewith they pursue the Whale It is made of the finest and softest Hemp and not daubed with Tarr but it doth swell in the Water and so it grows hard The Harpoonier darts his Harpoon with the Right hand at the Fish as you may see by m in the Tab. A. When the Whale is hit with the Harpoon all the Men that are in the Long-boat turn themselves about and look before them and they lay their Oars nimbly upon the sides of the Long-boat There is a Man in the Long-boat whose business it is to look after the Rope as you may see at N in the Tab. A for in each of these Long-boats there is a whole heap of Lines between the two Seats or Benches this Heap is divided into three four or five parts and each of them is of eighty ninety to one hundred fathoms long The first of them is tyed to the Forerunner or small Line as the Whale runs under the Water they tye more and more Line to it and if in one Boat there should not be enough they make use of those that are in the other Long boats These Ropes or Lines are thicker and stronger than the Fore-runner and are made of strong and tough Hemp and Tarred over The Line-furnisher or the man that doth look after the Ropes and also the other Men that are in the Long-boat must have great care that the Ropes or Lines may not be entangled when they run out so swift or that they may not run towards the side of the Long-boat for then the Long-boat would be overset and many Men lose their Lives if other Long-boats were not near to their assistance The Line must run just before in the middle of the Long-boat that is called the Stave by the Seamen and by reason of this strong and violent motion the Wood and Rope would be set on fire But to prevent this the Harpoonier hath a wet Rag tied to a Stick like unto a Mop ready at hand wherewith he wets the Wood without ceasing The other three Men that are in the Long-boats take also care of the Lines as well when they are let out as when they are taken in again and when they cannot hold it with their Hands they wind it about the Staves of the Boat and so they do stop it from going any further Another that is called the Steerman stands behind in the Long-boat as you may see by o in the Tab. A and steers the Boat with an Oar and he takes great care and minds the Rope to see which way it runs out for if it doth go towards either side and doth not run just before over the Stave he so guides the Boat that it may run exactly out before The Whale runs away with the Long-boat as swift as the Wind. If the Harpoonier can he doth dart the Harpoon just behind the Spout-hole of the Whale or in the thick Fat of his Back where they also do launce him for that maketh him spout Blood sooner than if wounded in any other place and dye sooner than if you should launce them into their Belly or through the Guts The first Whale we caught spouted Blood in such a quantity that the Sea was tinged by it where-ever he swam whereunto the Mallemucks flock'd in great numbers as I have mentioned before They also launce the Whales near their privy parts if they can come at it for if they are run in there it doth pain them very much nay even when they are almost dead if you run in your Launce thereabout it causes the whole Body to tremble For the most part they do not much mind where they launce or push them for there is no time to take great deliberation but they strike at him as well as they can But about the Head the Harpoon can do him no hurt because the Fat is but very thin there upon the Bones which the Whales know as well as we for when they find themselves in danger so that they cannot escape the Harpoon they rather leave their Head than their Back undefended for there the Harpoon breaks out easier and so the Whale gets away like one that hath no mind to fight any longer The Use of the Harpoon is to tye as it were the Whales with them that they may not run away It is shaped like an Arrow before as you may see at f in the Tab. que it hath two sharp Beards they are sharp at the edge and have a broad Back like unto a Hatchet that is sharp before and blunt behind or on the Back so that it may not cut with its Back for else it would tear out and all your Labour would be lost The Iron Handle is thicker behind than before and it is hollow whereinto they put the Stick as you may see in the Tab. Q marked with h. Before this hollow part the Fore-goer is fasten'd or tyed that is to say the foremost Rope as you may see in the Tab. Q marked with i. Those are the best Harpoons that are made of clean and fine Steel and are not hardened too much so that you may bend it without snapping for oftentimes Two hundred Pounds are lost for a midling Whale is esteem'd at so much in a minutes time for want of a good and well-temper'd Harpoon The Wooden Stick is fastened within the Iron Collet or Funnel of the
Harpoon with Packthread wound all about the Iron somewhat higher up about two spans off there is a hole made through the Stick as you may see marked with k in the Tab. Q. The Harpoon is light behind and heavy towards the point or before like an Arrow that is made heavy before with Iron and light behind with Feathers so that fling it which way you will it doth fall always upon the point Through this hole cometh a piece of Pack-thread wherewith the end of the Fore-runner is fastened to the Handle or Stick of the Harpoon but this is soon torn off and it serveth for nothing more after the Harpoon sticks in the Body of the Whale neither is the Wooden Handle of any further use and so it doth soon come out from the Iron When the Whale is struck with the Harpoon all the other Long-boats row out before and take notice which way the Line doth stand and sometimes they pull at the Rope or Line as you may see in the Tab. A marked with p. If it is stiff and heavy the Whale doth draw it still with his might but if it doth hang loose so that the Long-boat is before and behind equally high out of the Water then the Men pull in the Rope again as you may see in the Tab. A marked with q and the Rope-giver layeth it down in very good order as you may see at n in the Tab. A round and one row above the other that if the Whale should draw on again he may have it ready to give him without being entangled Here is also this to be observed that if the Whale runs upon the level they must not give him too much Rope for if he should turn and wind himself much and often about he might easily wind the Rope about a Rock or heavy Stone and so fasten it to it and so the Harpoon would come out and all the Labour would be lost which hath often hapned and we ourselves lost one that way The other Long-boats that are towed behind wherein the Men look all before them and sit still and let the Whale draw them along If the Whale doth rowl upon the Ground so that the Long-boats or Sloops lye still they draw their Lines in again by degrees and the Rope-master doth lay them down again in their proper places as they had been laid before When they kill the Whale with Launces they also pull their Lines in again until they come near to the Whale yet at some distance that the others may have room to launce But they must have great care that all the Lines of every Sloop may not be cut off together because some Whales sink and others do swim even with the Water when they are dead which no body can tell before-hand whether they will do one or the other The fat ones do not sink presently after they are fresh killed but the lean ones sink immediately after they are dead but after some few days they come up again and swim on the Water But it would be too long a while for a Man to stay until he cometh up again and the Sea is never so quiet that one can stay long in the same place and where the Sea is quiet and without Waves there the Stream doth carry the Ships and the Ice along together so that we should be forced to leave the Whale unto others that would find him dead some days after ' T' is true this is the easiest way to catch Whales but it is very nasty and stinking work for long and white Maggots grow in their Flesh they are flat like unto Worms that breed in Mens Bellies and they smell worse than ever I smelt any thing in my Life The longer the Whale lies dead in the Water the higher he doth swim above it some swim a foot high above the Water others to their middle and then they do burst easily and give a very great report They begin immediately to stink and this encreases hourly and their Flesh boils and ferments like unto Beer or Ale and holes break in their Bellies that their Guts come out If any Man is enclined to sore Eyes this Vapour enflames them immediately as if Quicklime was flung into them But when the live Whales rise and swim again some of them are astonish'd others wild or stark mad To those that are wild we come softly or gently from behind as we do when we are going to trapan them for when the Wind is down the Weather calm and Aâ— serene so that the Sea doth not foam or roar the Whales hear immediately the striking of the Oars If many small Ice-sheets lye near to one another so that we cannot follow the Whale with our Sloops or Long-boats we fetch in our Line with all might and strength and if with one or more pulls we can fetch out the Harpoon it is well if not we chop off the Rope or Line The Whale is best and surest struck with a Harpoon when he spouts Water as is already said above for we do observe that when they lye still and very quiet that they then listen and are sometimes under and sometimes above Water so that their Back doth not quite dry and before we are aware of it he flings up his Tail behind out of the Sea and so bids us good-bâ—wy as you may see at s in the Tab. A. The Whales may easily be caught when the Air is very serene and clear and the Sea quiet and where there float neither great nor small Ice-sheets so that we may go in between them with our Boats or Sloops to follow them â—or at the Ice-fields the Whales do commonly lye and rub themselves at them perhaps by reason of the Lice that bite them Besides against the Ice-sheets the Sea beats dashes and foams with small curling Waves so that the Whales do not observe nor mind the striking of the Oars and so they are easily struck with the Harpoon It is very dangerous to kill a Female chiefly when she is big with young for they defend themselves very long and are harder to be killed than a Male one Oftentimes the Long-boats wait six or seven hours nay a whole day for a Whale before they see one Where great quantity of small Ice is crowded together there it is also very dangerous and hard to come to the Whale for he is so cunning that when he perceives where the Ice is he retires thither immediately The Harpoonier stands at the Head of the Long-boat and doth draw on the Rope as you may see at p in the Tab. A to try whether it is heavy or light if it feels heavy so that we are afraid that it will pull the Boat under Water then we give him more Rope if he runs streight out before he draweth the Sloops after him If he doth run underneath a great Ice-field the Harpoonier taketh a Knife into his Hand as you may see at R in the Tab A which they
call the Chopping-Knife and if the Ice-field be hollow or spungy or full of holes in the middle so that the Whale can fetch breath underneath it and the Rope is not long enough to follow him and if the Ice be several miles long they draw the Rope in as much as possibly they can until it be streight and then he chops it off loosing the piece of the Rope whereon the Harpoon is fastened that sticketh in the Body of the Whale yet not without great loss for oftentimes they run away with the Lines that belong to five and more Sloops It happens very often that they run to the Ice with the Long-boats so that they dash against it as if they would break it into pieces which also very often happens But when the Whale rises again they oftentimes fling one or two more Harpoons into him according as they find he is tired more or less then he dives under Water again Some swim or run even all along on the Water and they play with their Tail and Finns so that we must have great care that we may not come too near them When the Whales fling their Tails about after this manner they wind the Line about their Tail so that we need not to fear the Harpoon tearing out for then they are ty'd strong and firm enough with the Rope After they are wounded they spout with all their might and main so that you may hear them as far off as you may a Cannon but when they are quite tired it cometh out only by drops for he hath not strength enough to force the Water up and therefore it sounds as if you held an empty Mug or Bottle under Water and the Water runs into it And this sound is a certain sign of his feebleness and that he is going to expire Some Whales blow Blood to the very last after they have been wounded and these dash the Men in the Long-boats most filthily and dye the Sloops as red as if they were painted with a red colour nay the very Sea is tinged red all along where they swim Those Whales that are mortally wounded heat themselves that they reek while they are alive and the Birds sit on them and eat on them while they are still alive When the Whales blow up the Water they fling out with it some fattish substance that floats upon the Sea like Sperm and this Fat the Mallemucks devour greedily of which several thousands attend him so that a Whale often hath more Attendants than a King hath Servants as you may see by T in the Tab. A. Sometimes also the Harpoons break out then often Long-boats of other Ships attend and as soon as they see that the Harpoon is come out they â—â—ing their own into him and the Whale is theirs although the first Harpoon hath almost killed the whale yet if he doth get loose the second Party claims him and the first must look for another Sometimes at the same time two Harpoons belonging to two several Ships are struck into the Whale such ones are divided equally and each one hath half as you may see at MM in the Tab. A the other two or three or more Sloops as many as there is of them wait for the Whale's coming up again and when they see that he is tired they kill him outright with Launces In doing this is the greatest danger for the first that do â—â—ing the Harpoon into him are drawn along by the Whale and are at a good distance from him but those that kill him with Launces are as well upon his Body as at his Sides according as the Whale turns and winds himself and they receive many severe Blows Here the Steersman must take care to observe how the Whale runs and turns himself about that the Harpoonier may reach him with his Launces all the other Men in the Sloops row diligently sometimes forwards and sometimes backwards which they call rowing on and striking and when the Whale lifts up himself out of the Water he commonly doth strike about with his Tail and Finns that the Water dasheth up like Dust A Long-boat he values no more than Dust for he can beat it all into shatters at a blow but a great Ship is too hard for him and if he strikes against it with his Tail he feels it more that the Ship for he doth so paint the Ship with his own Blood that it maketh him very feeble A good Steerman is next unto the Harpoonier most useful in the Sloop he steers with one Oar and doth look out before the other four Men turn their Back to the Head and look towards the Stern therefore doth the Steerman and Harpoonier always cry Row on or strike that is to say row near to the Whale or else keep farther off The Launces have a Wooden Stick or Handle above two fathoms long or somewhat shorter than a Pikestaff as in the Tab. Q. you may see at g the Iron thereof is commonly a fathom long and pointed before like unto a Pike it is made of Steel or tough Iron that it may bend without breaking for after you have made a deep hole in his Body with your Launces you poke into it with them one way and the other way as they do when they poke for Eels as you may see at Z in the Tab. A but if he doth get one or more out of your Hands you take another for every Sloop hath at least five six or seven and yet sometimes he has them all out of three four or more Boats sticking in his Body CHAP. IX What they do with the dead Whale AFter the Whale is killed they cut off his Tail some keep the Tail and Finns and hang them up at the outside of their Ship for that defends them from the Ice when it presseth upon the Ship The Tail hinders the Boat in its course because it doth lye cross and that is the reason why they cut it off Before the Tail they fasten to a piece of a Rope and at the other end at the Stern of the last Sloop as you may see in the Tab. A marked with W. There is in all four or five Sloops fastened to one another behind and so they row one behind the other to the great Ship When they have brought the Whale to the Ship they tye it with Ropes fast to the Ship that part where the Tail is cut off they fasten the fore-part of the Ship and the Head towards the Stern about the middle near the great Shrowds of the Mainmast on the Larboard of the Ship it is seldom that a Whale doth reach farther than from the Poop to the middle of the Ship except the Vessels are very small as you may see at X in the Tab. A. By the Larboard is to be understood that side of the Ship that is at your Right Hand as you go from before towards the Stern but that side of the Ship that is on your Right Hand as
it is cut into such pieces as they bring it hither in The Whale-bone doth only belong to the owners of the Ship and the others that run their hazard whether they catch few or many Whales The rest which take their Pay by the Month receive their Money when they come home whether they have caught many or none and the Loss or Gain falls upon the Merchants The Hooks that they crane up the Whale-bone withal are made on purpose for it like a Beam of a pair of Scales on each end are two sharp points which they knock in between the Whale-bone in the middle of the Beam is fastened a long Handle with a Ring whereon the Ropes are fastened on this Handle there are fixed two other crooked Hooks like Birds Claws in the Ring where the Ropes are fastened is another crooked Hook at the top fastened by a Ring such a one as we make use of here when we wind any thing up by a Crane but in the middle between these two Hooks is fastened another Rope which keeps the lowermost Hook steddy the two hindmost points are knocked into the Whale-bone behind and the two foremost short ones before which hold the Whale-bone fast between them when it is wound or pulled up The dead Whales when the Fat is cut off of them they let float and are the Food of the Birds of Prey when they are hungry but but they had rather have dead Whales that have still their Fat left on them The white Bear is generally not far off whether there be any Fat left on them or no and look like Dogs that only feed upon Carrion and at that time their white Furr is turned into a yellow colour and at the same time they shed their Hair and their Skins are worth very little Where a dead Whale is near we see it by the Birds whereof are many and also the white Bears discover it as you may see at g in the Tab. B chiefly in the Spring when but a few Whales are caught for then they are greedy of their Prey afterwards when many Whales float on the Sea they have their Bellies full and we do not find so many by a Whale because they are dispersed CHAP. X. Of the Trying out of the Train-oyl from the Fat. Formerly the Dutch did try out their Train-oyl in Spitzbergen at Smerenberg and about the Cookery of Harlingen where still for a remembrance all sorts of Tools belonging thereunto are to be seen whereof I have make mention before The French-men try up their Train-oyl in their Ships and by that means many Ships are burnt at Spitzbergen and this was the occasion of the burning of two Ships in my time They try out their Train-oyl at Spitzbergen that they may load the more Fat in their Ships and they believe it to be very profitable for they go their Voyage upon part that is to say they receive more or less according to what they catch But I do not account it Wisdom to fill up the room of the Ship with Wood where they might stow Vessels But our Country-men as I told you before put the Fat into the Vessels wherein it doth ferment just like Beer and I know no instance that ever any Vessel did fly in pieces although they are stopt up very close and so it becometh for the greatest part Train-oyl in them Of the fresh Fat of Whales when it is burnt out you lose Twenty in the Hundred more or less according as it is in goodness At the place where they try up the Fat into Train-oyl near Hamburgh they put the Fat out of the Vessels into a great wooden Trough or Tub and out of this two Men empty it into a great Kettle that stands near it that doth hold two Cardels of Fat that makes 120 130 and sometimes 140 Gallons Underneath this Copper that is made-up with Bricks they put the Fire and so they boil it and try it up into Train-oyl as you try up other Fat This Copper is very well secured as the Dyers Coppers use to be it is very broad and flat just like a Frying-pan made of Copper When the Fat is well tryed or fryed out they take it out of the Pan with small Kettles into a great Sieve that the liquid only may run through the rest is thrown away This Sieve stands over a great Tub which is above half filled with cold Water that the hot Train-oyl may be cooled and that what is unclean and dirty of the Blood and other Soil may fall to the bottom and only the clear Train-oyl swim at the top of the Water like other Oyl In this great Tub or Trough is a small Spout or Tap which doth run out over another as big as a Tub out of which the Train-oyl runs into another Tub when it is almost ready to run over which is also filled with cold Water to the middle wherein it is more cooled and becomes clearer and more refined than it was before In this Trough is another Spout through which the Train oyl runs into the Warehouse into a Vatt whereout they fill it into Cardels or Vessels Some have but two Tubs A Cardel or Hogshead holds 64 Gallons A true Train oyl Barrel doth hold 32 Gallons The Greaves they try up the second time and make brown Train-oyl out of it others that think it not worth their while fling them away CHAP. XI Of the finn-Finn-fish THE finn-Finn-fish is of the length of a Whale but in bulk the Whale is three times as big They know the finn-Finn-fish by the Finns that are upon his Back near unto his Tail and also by his vehement blowing and spouting up of the Water which the Whale doth not do His Knob on the Head is split in length that is at his blowing hole through which he forces up the Water higher than the Whale and with more fierceness which is not so high as that of the Whale neither is the Back bended or dented in so much His Lips are of a brownish colour and like a twisted Rope On his upper Lip the Whale-bone hangs as it doth on the Whale but whether he doth open and shut his Mouth there are different Opinions Some believe that he cannot open his Mouth yet this is not true but he doth not always run open Mouth'd that the Whale-bone may not hang out of his Mouth at the sides as it doth in Whales for else he can open his Mouth if he pleases Within his Mouth between the Whale-bone he is all over hairy like unto Horses Hairs which grows within to the Whale-bone that is but new growing and it is of a blew colour The other Whale-bone is of a brown colour and dark brownish with yellow stroaks which are esteemed to be the oldest The blew Whale-bone cometh from young Whales and Finn fishes He is not as black as Velvet as the Whale is but like a Tench The shape of his Body is long and small neither is he
bigger than I have delineated them We saw many of them in the South Harbour at Spitzbergen on the 20th day of June Amongst the Ice I saw none The Seamen take these small Fish for Spiders and I should also have taken them to be such if I had not had them in my Hand and looked more couriously upon them and found they they had no affâ—nity at all with the Spiders In the Tab. Q it is marked with e. III. Of the Hat Slime-fish It s upper part is like the Fungusses or Toad-stools for it is as it were a round and thick Stalk that goes just into the middle of the Head It hath a blew Button or Knob that is as thick again as the Stalk And this upper part may also be compared unto such a Straw Hat as our Women wear From the Stalk downwards it doth grow thick again and round yet it is a great deal less than the Button I have seen them force themselves up from below and then from the top down again just as a Stick that is forced down underneath the Water reboundeth up again I got them in the North Sea between Holly-Land and the Elbe where the Sea-water mingles with that of the Elbe I have also seen them at Kuck's-Haven in the Elbe And I am also informed that sometimes they come as far down as to Freyburg By reason of its shape it may be called The Hat Slime-fish or Stalk Slime-fish IV. Of the Rose-like-shaped Slime-fish This Slime-fish is a round as a Circle yet in his circumference between his double strokes a little indented The Rays spring out single from the middle of the Body and there are sixteen of them in number but they divide themselves into two branches wheer they run somewhat closer together and are split in two The Body thereof is white and transparent as is mentioned before he draws it together and opens it again as he pleaseth but the Rays or Spokes are brownish red On the end of these Spokes towards the outward circumference are several Spots 32 in number In the middle of this Plate is another small Circle and from the circumference of that the before-named Spokes begin It is hollow within which Cavity may perhaps be his Belly wherein I found two or three of the small Shrimps Round about did hang down seven brown small Threads like spun Silk or like unto the Threads that flye in the Air about Autumn he cannot move these I believe he weigh'd about half a pound he was about half a span broad the Threads were about a span long This sort we got about Hitland One might very well call him the Plate or Rose-like Slime-fish by reason of his figure and shape I have heard some relate that the Macarels do suck their Colour out of these two but I cannot affirm it but leave it undecided until I can assert it by my own Experience These three first Sea-qualms are numerous in the North Sea as Atomes in the Air but about Spitzbergen we do not find many of them I have seen them swim at top only in calm weather but in stormy weather they sink to the bottom V. Of the Slime-fish like a Cap. At Spitzbergen near the Muscle-Harbour on the 8th of July when the weather was calm I saw two sorts of Slime-fish whereof one had six the other eight Corners That with six Corners had also six purple Streaks with blew Brims Between these Streaks the Body is divided like unto a Pumpkin into six Ribs From the middle of his Body hang down two Threads that are red like Vermilion and rough of small Hairs they are shaped like unto the Letter V I did not see him move them when he swam Within his Body he hath other broader Streaks of a purple colour and on the edges or brims of a lightish blew one they represent themselves like unto a great W The whole Body is as white as Milk and not so transparent as thâ— Body of that that cometh next It is shaped just like a Cap with Corners wherefore one might call it the Cap-like Fish It is about as big again as it is delineated here It weighed about two ounces I did not perceive when I had him in my Hand that he did burn me but it dissolved like snot or Slime In the Tab. P it is marked with g. VI. Of the Slime-fish like a Fountain The sixth and last is a very notable Fish it hath a hole at the top like unto a Quill of a Goose that may perhaps be his Mouth which goes into a cavity like a Funnel wherefore we might call him a Funnel-fish From this hole coem down four Strokes two and two exactly opposite to one another two of them are cut transversedly and two are not cut Those that are not cut are about half the breadth of a Straw and the others that are like unto the Backâ—bones of a Snake are as broad as a Straw both of them come down beyond the middle of the whole Body From the middle of the Funnel come down four others like unto the Back bones of a Snake and they come down lower than the others so that all of them make eight in number They changed their colour as we looked upon them into blew yellow and red with such delicate colours as a Rainbow They looked in my Eyes to be like unto a Fountain with eight Streams or Spouts wherefore we might call it a Fountain-fish with eight Streams Within him came down from the end of the Funnel something like a Cloud that divides itself into rows which I take to be his Intrails Where the before-mentioned outward Streaks end themselves the Body is first bent in somewhat then it turns round and there it hath many small Streaks The whole Body is as white as Milk of the same bigness as it is here delineated I believe it weighed about four ounces I did not perceive that he did burn ones Skin but he did like him I mentioned before dissolve like Slime Since I have seen other sorts of these Sea-nettles in the Spanish Sea that weighed several pounds and they were of a blew purple yellowish and white colour that burn more violently than those of the North Sea they suck themselves so close to the Skin that they raise Blisters and cause sometimes St. Anthony's Fire The Cutts whereof together with the Description I hope to communicate to the Reader at another time This is marked with h in the Tab. P. The Whale fishing killing of Morsses Supplem t. Tab S. Pag. 179. A SUPPLEMENT To Capt. Wood's and Marten's North-East Voyages CONTAINING Some Observations and Navigations to the North-West of Groneland and other Northern Regions A SUPPLEMENT To Capt. Wood's and Marten's North-east Voyages c. CHERRY and other Islands OUR Men conceive Greenland to be broken ken Land or a great number of Islands at least very near to one another On the West side they discovered as far as 82 deg the most
Northerly Point they called Point Purchas there they found very many Islands which they thought not worthy to give Names to being careful only to take notice of those six or eight Harbours which were commodious for their Fishing On the East side they went no farther than 78 deg because the Dutch disturbed their Trading on that side There are also many Islands some of which are named as Hope-Island discovered in 1613 which may be that the Dutch call Willoughby's-land or John Mayen's Island though indeed it corresponds well to neither but rather to the later I belongeth to Greenland and is but a small Island and lies North-east and South-west whereas the Country Sir H. Willoughby landed upon was a large Countrey inasmuch as he sailed many days by the side of it and lies North and South which must be Greenland Edges-Island was discovered 1616 by Capt. T. Edge who had made that Voyage ten times Wyches-Island so called from a Gentleman of that Name was found out 1617 but there being nothing remarkable come to our knowledge concerning these we pass them over Only it is worth noting that both the Whale and Morss-fishing was known and practised 800 years ago as appears by the Relation which Octber the Norwegian made to his Lord Alfred King of England where he also saith that the Morsses were hunted for their Teeth which were mightily esteemed Cherry-Island when first discovered I know not but it received not its Name nor was known to be of any profit till 1603 when a Ship set out at the charges of Sir Francâ—â— Cherry touched upon it and found there some Lead and a Morsses Tooth but stayed not to fish because the year was too far spent However they called it in honour of Sir Francâ—s Cherry for whose use they took possession of it Cherry-Island In 1604. a Ship set sail Mr. Welden the Merchant and Stephen Bennet the Master from London April 15 and arrived at Cola in Lapland May I. They stayed in Lapland till July 1. and July 8 they came in sight of Cherry and they came to an Anchor on the South-south-east side but because of the Stream could not land so that they sailed round about the Isle and at length anchored two miles from the Shore Going on Land one of them with his 〈…〉 as many Fowl as almost laded their Boat July 9. they found on Shore nothing but store of Foxes that part of the Island was in 74 deg 45 min. July 10. they weighed Anchor and stood into another Bay and came to an Anchor in eight fathoms where they saw an incredible number of Morsses swimming in the Sea Coming to shore they espied a vast company of them lying on the Ground they shot at them with three Guns they carried with them but with all their Weapons they could kill but fifteen of above 1000 that lay there like Hogs huddling together on heaps but they found as many Teeth as filled an Hogshead Before the 13th they killed near 100 more making use only of their Teeth In 1605 the same persons went again arriving there July 2. They went on Shore and July 6. slew abundance of Morsses and not only with Shot as they did the year before but with Launces dexterously used directing them to certain places of their Bodies they began also to boil their Blubber and made eleven Tuns of Oyl five of their Bellies will yield one Hogshead and abundance of Teeth Here also they found a Lead-mine under Mount-misery and brought away about Thirty Tun of the Oar. In 1606. the same Ship with the same Persons was sent again and landed July 3 in 74 deg 55 min. where they stayed till the Ice was all cleared for the Morsses will not come to Shore till the Ice be all vanished where at one time in six hours they slew betwixt Seven and Eight Hundred Morsses and Two great 〈…〉 they made 22 Tuns of Oyl and 〈…〉 Hogsheads of Teeth In 1608. June 21 was so hot that the melted â—itch ran down the sides of their Ship 〈…〉 hours time they slew above 900 Morsses making 〈…〉 Tuns of Oyl and above 2 Hogsheads of Teeth besides 40 more They took alive into their Ship two young Morsses a Male and Female the Female died the Male lived ten weeks in England where they taught it many things In 1610 at another Voyage with two Ships they killed many Bears and saw divers young ones no bigger than young Lambs very gamesome and lusty they brought-two of them into England Much Fowl also they slew and many Seals and June 15 set up an Ensign in token of possession of the Island for the Muscovia Company in Gull Island they found three Lead mines and a Coal-mine on the North side of the Island Three Ships more also came to fish at Cherry-Island they killed 500 Morsses at one time at other times near 300 more one Man killing 40 with his Launce at one days hunting The Morss Walrush Horse-whale Rosmarus or Sea-horse for so he is by the Ancients often called though of late they have discovered another Fish not unlike him with streight Teeth which they call the Sea-horse hath a Skin like a Sea-calf with short and sad yellow Fur a Mouth like a Lion if any hardly discernable Ears yet they hear well and are frighted with noise which also is said of the Whale that he is driven away with the sound of a Trumpet large Breast short Thighs four Feet and upon each Foot five Toes with short sharp Nails with which they climb the Ice and as large as a great Ox having a great semicircular Tusk growing on each side of their upper Jaw which are very much valued especially by the Northern People partly for their uses in Medicines as to make Cramp-rings which they make also of the Bristles upon his Cheeks to resist Poison and other malignant Diseases wherein they are at least equal to that called the Unicorn's Horn but more for their Beautry which is equal to if not surpassing Ivory The heaviness of it makes it much sought after for Handles of Swords Their Skins being dressed are thicker than two Ox-hides yet light and excellent to make Targets against Darts and Arrows of the Savages They feed upon Fish and Herbs and sleep if there be Ice upon that where if surprized the female casts her young ones of which she hath commonly two at a time into the Sea and her self after them swimming away with them in her Arms and if provoked after she hath secured them returning many times to set upon the Boat into which if she can fasten her Teeth she will easily sink it But if they be farther from the Water they all arise up together and with their weight and force falling upon the Ice endeavour to break it as they did when surprized by Jonas Pool 1610 where himself and divers of his Men escaped drowning very narrowly one of them being in the Sea the Morsses