An account of several late voyages & discoveries to the south 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.

THE FIRST PART OF THE VOYAGE INTO Spitzbergen and Greenland: CONTAINING The Passages of the whole voyage, toge∣ther with some Account of the Weather, from the 15th of April to the 21th of August, An. 1671. (Book 1)

CHAP. I.

Of the Voyage from the Elbe to Spitz∣bergen.

WE set Sail the 15th of April, 1671. about noon from the Elbe. The Wind was North-east. At night, when ••e came by the Hilge-land, it bore to North-west. The name of the Ship was Jones in the ••hale, Peter Peterson of Friseland Master.

The 27th we had storms, hail and snow, with very cold weather, the wind North-east and by east, we were in 71 degrees, and came to the Ice, and turned back again. The Island ofJohn Maien bore from us South-west and by west, as near as we could guess within ten Miles. We might have seen the Island plain enough, but the Air was haizy and full of fogs and snow, so that we could not see far. About noon it blew a storm, whereupon we took down our Top-sails, and furling our Main∣sail, drove with the Missen-sail towards South-east.

The 29th it was foggy all day, the wind North east and by north, we came to the Ice, and sailed from it again, as you may see in the PlateA.

The 3cth, the first Sunday after Easter, was foggy, with rain and snow, the wind at North, at night we came to the Ice, but sailed from it again; the Sea was tempestuous, and tossed our Ship very much.

The 3d of May was cold, snowy, with hail, and misty Sun-shine, the wind North-west and by west, the Sun set no more, we saw it as well by night as by day.

The fourth we had snow, hail, and gloomy Sun-shine, with cold weather, but not exces∣sive, the wind at North-west, the weather e∣very day unconstant. Here we saw abundance of Seales, they jump'd out of the water before the Ship, and which was strange, they would stand half out of the water, and as it were dance together.

The 5th-in the forenoon it was moderately cold, and Sun-shine, but toward noon darkish and cloudy, with snow and great frost, the

wind North-west and by North. We saw dai∣ly many Ships, failing about the Ice, I obser∣ved that as they passed by one another, they haled one another, crying Holla, and asked each other how many fish they had caught, but they would not stick sometimes to tell more then they had. When it was windy, that they could not hear one another, they waved their Hats, to signifie the number caught. But when they have their full Fraight of Whales, they put up their great Flag as a sign thereof; then if any hath a Message to be sent, he delivers it to them, as you may see in the Plate A by A.

The 7th we had moderate frost, clouds and snow with rain. In the evening we sailed to the Ice, the wind was quite contrary to us, and the Ice too small, wherefore we sailed from it. In the afternoon we saw Spitzbergen, the South point of the North-foreland, we supposed it the true Harbour. The Land appeared like a dark Cloud, full of white streeks, we turned to the West again, that is, according to the Compass, which is als to be understood of the Ice and Harbour.

The 9th was the same weather, and cold as before, the Wind South-west and by west. In the afternoon a Fin-fish swam by our Ship, which we took at first to be a Whale, before we saw the high fins of his tail, and came near to it. We had let down our Sloop from the Ship, but that labour was lost, for he was not worth taking.

From the 25th of April to this day, we had not taken the Sun's altitude, we were then in 70 degrees and 3 minutes, and sailed towards the North and the Ice. It may seem strange, that we so often sailed to the Ice and from it

again, but I shall give you a reason for that hereafter.

The12th it was stormy and excessive cold, the wind North▪ and we had the greatest frosts in this Month of May.

On the 14th the wind was North-west, fine weather, with Sun-shine, we were within 75 degrees and 22 minutes. We told twenty Ships about us, the Sea was very even, and we hard∣ly felt any wind, yet it was very cold.

In this place the Sea becomes smooth pre∣sently again after a storm, chiefly when the wind blows from the Ice; but when it blows off the Sea, it always makes a great Sea.

The same day we saw a Whale not far off from our Ship, we put out four Boats from on board after him, but this labour was also in vain, for he run under water, and saw him no more.

On the 19th we had a dull Sun-shine, the wind was North, and it was so calm that we could hardly feel it; we rowed in the Ship∣boat to the Ice, and killed two Sea-hounds or Seales; there were so many of them on the Ice that they could not be numbred.

On the 20th it was exceeding cold, so that the very Sea was all frozen over; yet it was so calm and still, that we could hardly perceive the wind, which was North; there were nine Ships in our Company which sailed about the Ice; we found still the longer we sailed the bigger the Ice.

On the 21th (which was the fourth Sunday after Easter) we sailed into the Ice in the fore∣noon, with another Hamburger-ship, called the Le peler, with 8 Hollanders. We fixed our Ship with Ice-hooks to a large Ice-field, when the Sun was South-west and by south; we num-bred

[illustration]

30 Ships in the Sea; they lay as it were in an Harbour or Haven (as you may see Plate A at B.) Thus they venture their Ships in the Ice with great hazzard.

On the 30th it was fair weather in the morn∣ing, snowy about noon, the wind was South∣west and very calm. We rowed in the great Sloop, before the Ship, farther into the Ice. In the morning we heard a Whale blow, when the Sun was in the East, and brought the Whale to the Ship, when the Sun was at South-west and by east; the same day we cut the Fat from it, and filled with it 70 Barrels (which they call Kardels.) By this fish we found abundance of Birds, most of them were Mallemucks, (that is to say foolish Gnats) which were so greedy of their food, that we kill'd them with sticks. This fish was found out by the Birds, for we saw every where by them in the Sea where the Whale had been, for he was wounded by an Harping Iron that stuck still in his flesh, and he had also spent himself with hard swimming; he blowed also very hollow, he stank alive, and the birds fed upon him. This Whale fermented when it was dead, and the steam that came from it inflamed our eyes, and made them sore. See Tab. A at a.

This same night Cornelius Seaman lost his Ship by the squeezing and crushing together of the Ice, for in this place are very great Sheets or Islands of Ice, and the Seamen call it West-Ice, be∣cause it lieth towards the West, as you may see in the Plate B marked with b.

On the 2d of June we had a severe frost in the forenoon, and in the night we saw the Moon very pale, as it used to look in the day time in our Country, with clear Sun-shine,

whereupon followed mist and snow, the wind North-east and by north.

In the morning, June the 4th, we were a hunting again after a Whale, and we came so near unto one, that the Harponier was just a going to fling his Harpoon into her, but she sunk down behind, and held her head out of the water, and so sunk down like a stone (as is to be seen by d on the cut A) and we saw her no more; it was very like that the great Ice-field was full of holes in the middle, so that the Whale could fetch breath underneath the Ice. A great many more Ships lay about this sheet of Ice, one hunted the Whales to the other, and so they were frighted, and became very shy. So one gets as many fishes as the o∣ther, and sometimes they all get one. We were there several times a hunting that very day, and yet we got never a one.

On the 8th it was foggy, and snowed all day; we saw that day very many (Sea-dogs or) Seales on the Ice about the Sea-side, so we set out a Boat and killed 15 of them.

On the 12th it was cold and stormy all day, at night Sun-shine; he that takes not exact no∣tice, knows no difference whether it by day or night.

On the 13th in the afternoon it was windy and foggy, we were in 77 degrees; we sailed along by the Ice somewhat easterly towards Spitzbergen, as is to be seen in the Cut A at e. That night we saw more then 20 Whales that run one after another towards the Ice; out of them we got 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, Mag∣dalens, 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, un∣til 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 under∣neath 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 a∣gain; 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 bu∣sie 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 a∣bout him so that the other Boats could not come to this Boat to assist him, till the Ice se∣parated 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 Bar∣rels. This night the Sun shined very bright∣ly.

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 Ves∣sels full, together with the Image of St. Nicho∣las, 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 with∣al; 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 af∣ternoon 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 fierce∣ly, that one might hear it at a Leagues di∣stance.

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 An∣chor; 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 weather, and warm Sun-shine all night. Hard by us rode a Hollander, and the Ships crew busie in cutting

the fat of a Whale, when the fish burst with so great a bounce, as if a Canon had been dis∣charged, and bespattered the Workmen all o∣ver.

On the 8th the wind turned North-west, with snow and rain. We were forced to leave one of our Anchors, and thank'd God for get∣ting off from Land, for the Ice came on fierce∣ly upon us; at night the wind was laid, and it was colder, although the Sun shined.

On the 9th we got another male Whale, be∣ing the eighth, which was yellow underneath the head; we filled with him 54 Kardels with fat; the Sun shined all night.

On the 12th we had gloomy Sun-shine all day. At night we sailed with three Boats into the Ice before the Weigatt, and got three white Bears, an old one with two young ones, they swam in the water like fish. On the Ice lay abundance of Sea-horses, and the further we came into the Ice there were the more of them, we rowed up to them, and when we came near to them we killed ten of them, the rest came all about our Boat, and beat holes through the sides of the Boat, so that we took in a∣bundance of water, we were forced at length to row away from them because of their great number, for they gathered themselves more and more together; they pursued us as long as we could see them, very furiously. Afterwards we met with another very great one who lay in the water fast asleep, but when he felt our Harpoon within him he was very much fright∣ned, and ran away before the Boat again, where he was soon eased of his fright by our Lances. We saw but very few Whales more, and those we did see were quite wild, that we could not

come near them. That night it was so dark and foggy, that we could hardly see the Ships length; we might have got Sea-horses enough, but we were afraid of loosing our Ships, for we had examples enough of them that had lost their Ships, and could not come to them a∣gain, but have been forced to return home in other Ships. When after this manner any have lost their Ships, and cannot be seen▪ they discharge a Cannon from the Ship, or sound the Trumpets, or Haut-boys, according as they are provided in their Ships, that the men that are lost may find their Ship again.

On the 13th we had cloudy Sun-shine, the wind towards night turned to North-east and by east. The Ice came a floating down apace, we sailed from the South-east Land to the west, and we could but just get through by the North side from the Bear-Harbour or Bay. We sailed on to the Rehenfelt (or Deer-field) where the Ice was already fixed to the Land, so that we could but just get through; we sailed further to the Vogelsanck (Birds-song) as you may see by b in the Plate D. Then we turned toward the East with a North-east wind, in company with twelve Ships more, to see whether there were any more Whales left, with George and Cornelius Mangelsen, and Michael Appel, who sail∣ed in four fathoms water, and touched upon the wreck of a Ship that was lost there.

On the 14th in the morning we sailed still amongst the Ice, the wind being North-east and by east; we had a fogg all that day, with Sun-shine, with a Rainbow of two colours, white and pale yellow, and it was very cold, and we saw the Sun a great deal lower.

On the 15th it was windy, cold, and foggy the whole day; the wind turned North-west, and the Ice came on in abundance, so that we could hardly sail, for it was every where full of small sheets of Ice. At this time there were many ships beset with Ice, in the Deer or Muscle-Bay. We sailed all along near the shoar, and at night we entred the South-Harbour (marked with c in the Cut D) where 28 Ships lay at Anchor, 8 whereof were Hamburgers, the rest Dutchmen. From that time, when we sailed out of the South-haven, we kept always within sight of the Land, and saw it always, except it was foggy; and so long the Skippers stay by the Ice, to see whether there is any more Whales to be had. That night we fetched water from the Land, near the Cookery of Har∣lingen, out of a hole, marked by b in the Plate C.

On the 16th in the morning we saw the Moon, and afterwards it was windy, with a∣bundance of snow.

On the 18th we had fair weather, with Sun∣shine, and we were also becalmed that we could not sail, wherefore we towed with a Boat into the Danish Harbour, to gather some Herbs from the Rocks. In the South-Haven rode 30 Ships at Anchor.

On the 19th we had warm Sun-shine and fair weather, but in the night stormy and rain.

On the 20th storms, rain, and a great deal of snow, the wind South-west.

On the 21th rain all day long.

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CHAP. II.

Of our home Voyage from Spitzbergen to the Elbe

ON the 22th day of July in the morn∣ing, when the Sun was North-east, we waied our Anchors, and sailed out of the South-Haven: we had a fogg all day long, and Sun-shine at night; in the night we saw abundance of Fin-fishes.

On the 24th it was so warm with Sun-shine, that the Tarr wherewith the Ship was daubed over melted; we drove, it being calm, before the Haven or Bay of Magdalen.

On the 25th it was cloudy, and Sun-shine, but cold withal; at night we came to the Fore∣lands; the night was foggy, the wind South-west.

On the 26th we had the very same wea∣ther all day, the Sun was very low in the night.

On the 28th we turned from the side of the North-Foreland towards the west, when the Sun was South-east; and we did sail South-west and by west towards the Sea; then we changed our Course southwards, and stood South-east.

On the 29th, 30th, and 31th we sailed South-east and by south all along by the Land, the south side of the Foreland was 8 Leagues from us, bearing North-east, then we sailed South-west and by south, it was very cold with

a North-west wind. We saw daily abundance of Fin-fishes, but no more Whales.

On the 9th of August it was windy all day, with a gloomy Sun-shine in the forenoon; it cleared up towards noon; the wind was South-east, when we took the Meridian heighth of the Sun, and were at 66 degrees 47 minutes; we sailed South-westward all along the Nor∣thern shoar of the Country.

On the 13th, being Sunday in the morning, the wind was North-west, stormy, with rain and west winds. In the night we had very clear Moon and Star-light. In the morning we saw the northern part of Hitland, we sailed southward; after the rain we saw Fair-Isle, and sailed in betwixt Hitland and Fair-Isle, first South-west, and afterwards South-west and by south, and then southward.

On the 20th it was fair weather, warm Sun-shine, and somewhat windy. When the day began to appear we saw Hilgeland, South-eastward of us, 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.