Part 21

The one and twenteeth of July wee tooke the height of the sunne, and found that it was eleuated aboue the horizon thirtie fiue degrees and fifteene minutes; his declination was one and twentie degrees, which being taken from the height aforesaide, there rested fourteene degrees, which substracted from ninetie degrees, then the height of the Pole was found to be seuentie sixe degrees and fifteene minutes: [652] then wee found the variation of the compasse to be iust twentie sixe degrees. The same daye two of our men went againe to the crosse, and found no beares to trouble vs, and wee followed them with our armes, fearing lest wee might meet any by chance; and when we came to the second crosse, wee found the foote-steps of 2 beares, and saw how long they had followed vs, which was an hundreth foote-steps at the least, that way that wee had beene the day before.

The two and twentie of July, being Monday, wee set vp another crosse and made our marke[s] thereon, and lay there before the Cross Island till the fourth of August; meane time we washt and whited [653] our linnen on the shoare.

The thirtie of July, the sunne being north [½ p. 10 P.M.], there came a beare so neere to our shippe that wee might hit her with a stone, and wee shot her into the foote with a peece, wherewith shee ranne halting away.

The one and thirteeth of July, the sunne being east north-east [¾ p. 2 A.M.], seuen of our men killed a beare, and fleaed her, and cast her body into the sea. The same day at noone (by our instrument) wee found the variation of the nedle of the compasse to be 17 degrees. [654]

The first of August wee saw a white beare, but shee ranne away from vs.

The fourth of August wee got out of the ice to the other side of the island, and anchored there: where, with great labour and much paine, wee fetched a boate full of stones from the land.

The fifth of August wee set saile againe towardes Ice-point [655] with an east wind, and sailed south south-east, and then north north-east, and saw no ice by the land, by the which wee lauered. [656]

The sixth of August we gate about the point of Nassawe, [657] and sayled forward east and east and by south, along by the land.

The seuenth of August wee had a west south-west wind, and sayled along by the land, south-east and south-east and by east, and saw but a little ice, and then past by the Trust-point, [658] which wee had much longed for. At euening we had an east wind, with mistie weather, so that wee were forced to make our ship fast to a peece of ice, that was at least 36 fadome deep vnder the water, and more than 16 fadome aboue the water; which in all was 52 fadome thick, for it lay fast vpon ground the which was 36 fadome deepe. The eight of August in the morning wee had an east wind with mistie weather.

The 9 of August, lying still fast to the great peece of ice, it snowed hard, and it was misty weather, and when the sunne was south [¾ p. 10 A.M.] we went vpon the hatches [659] (for we alwayes held watch): where, as the master walked along the ship, he heard a beast snuffe with his nose, and looking ouer-bord he saw a great beare hard by the ship, wherewith he cryed out, a beare, a beare; and with that all our men came vp from vnder hatches, [660] and saw a great beare hard by our boat, seeking to get into it, but wee giuing a great shoute, shee was afrayd and swamme away, but presently came backe againe, and went behinde a great peece of ice, whereunto wee had made our shippe fast, and climbed vpon it, and boldly came towardes our shippe to enter into it: [661] but wee had torne our scute sayle in the shippe, [662] and lay with foure peeces before at the bootesprit, [663] and shotte her into the body, and with that, shee ranne away; but it snowed so fast that wee could not see whither shee went, but wee guest that she lay behinde a high hoouell, [664] whereof there was many vpon the peece of ice.

The tenth of August, being Saterday, the ice began mightily to breake, [665] and then wee first perceiued that the great peece of ice wherevnto wee had made our shippe fast, lay on the ground; for the rest of the ice draue along by it, wherewith wee were in great feare that wee should be compassed about with the ice, [666] and therefore wee vsed all the diligence and meanes that wee could to get from thence, for wee were in great doubt: [667] and being vnder sayle, wee sayled vpon the ice, because it was all broken vnder us, [668] and got to another peece of ice, wherevnto wee made our shippe faste againe with our sheate anchor, [669] which wee made fast vpon it, and there wee lay till euening. And when wee had supped, in the first quarter [670] the sayd peece of ice began on a sodaine to burst and rende in peeces, so fearefully that it was admirable; for with one great cracke it burst into foure hundred peeces at the least: wee lying fast to it, [671] weied our cable and got off from it. Vnder the water it was ten fadome deepe and lay vpon the ground, and two fadome above the water: and it made a fearefull noyse both vnder and aboue the water when it burst, and spread it selfe abroad on all sides.

And being with great feare [672] gotten from that peece of ice, we came to an other peece, that was size fadome deepe vnder the water, to the which we made a rope fast on both sides.

Then wee saw an other great peece of ice not farre from vs, lying fast in the sea, that was as sharp aboue as it had been a tower; whereunto wee rowed, and casting out our lead, wee found that it lay 20 fadome deepe, fast on the ground vnder the water, and 12 fadome aboue the water.

The 11 of August, being Sunday, wee rowed to another peece of ice, and cast out our lead, and found that it lay 18 fadom deepe, fast to the ground vnder the water, and 10 fadome aboue the water. The 12 of August we sailed neere [673] vnder the land, ye better to shun ye ice, for yt the great flakes that draue in the sea [674] were many fadome deepe under the water, and we were better defended from them being at 4 and 5 fadome water; and there ran a great current of water from the hill[s]. There we made our ship fast againe to a peece of ice, and called that point the small Ice Point. [675]

The 13 of August in the morning, there came a beare from [676] the east point of the land, close to our ship, and one of our men with a peece shot at her and brake one of her legs, but she crept [677] vp the hill with her three feet, and wee following her killed her, and hauing fleaed her brought the skinne aboard the ship. From thence we set saile with a little gale of winde, [678] and were forced to lauere, but after that it began to blow more [679] out of the south and south south-east.

The 15 of August we came to the Island of Orange, [680] where we were inclosed with the ice hard by a great peece of ice where we were in great danger to loose our ship, but with great labour and much paine we got to the island, the winde being south-east, whereby we were constrained to turne our ship; [681] and while we were busied thereabouts and made much noise, a beare that lay there and slept, awaked and came towards vs to the ship, so that we were forced to leaue our worke about turning of the ship, and to defend our selues against the beare, and shot her into the body, wherewith she ran away to the other side of the island, and swam into the water, and got vp vpon a peece of ice, where shee lay still; but we comming after her to the peece of ice where shee lay, when she saw vs she leapt into the water and swam to the land, but we got betweene her and the land, and stroke her on the head with a hatchet, but as often as we stroke at her with the hatchet, she duckt vnder the water, whereby we had much to do before we could kill her: after she was dead we fleaed her on the land, and tooke the skin on board with vs, and after that turned [682] our ship to a great peece of ice, and made it fast thereunto.

The 16 of August ten of our men entring into one boat, rowed to the firm land at Noua Zembla, and drew the boate vp vpon the ice; which done, we went vp a high hill to see the cituation of the land, and found that it reached south-east and south south-east, and then againe south, which we disliked, for that it lay so much southward: but when we saw open water south-east and east south-east, we were much comforted againe, thinking yt wee had woon our voyage, [683] and knew not how we should get soone inough on boord to certifie William Barents thereof.

The 18 of August we made preparation to set saile, but it was all in vaine; for we had almost lost our sheat anchor [684] and two new ropes, and with much lost labour got to the place againe from whence we came: for the streame ran with a mighty current, and the ice drave very strongly vpon the cables along by the shippe, so that we were in fear that we should loose all the cable that was without the ship, which was 200 fadome at the least; but God prouided well for vs, so that in the end wee got to the place againe from whence we put out.

The 19 of August it was indifferent good weather, the winde blowing south-west, the ice still driuing, and we set saile with an indifferent gale of wind, [685] and past by ye Point of Desire, [686] whereby we were once againe in good hope. And when we had gotten aboue the point, [687] we sailed south-east into the sea-ward 4 [16] miles, but then againe we entred into more ice, whereby we were constrained to turn back againe, and sailed north-west vntil we came to ye land againe, which reacheth frō the Point of Desire to the Head Point, [688] south and by west, 6 [24] miles: from the Head Point to Flushingers Head, [689] it reacheth south-west, which are 3 [12] miles one from the other; from the Flushingers Head, it reacheth into the sea east south-east, and from Flushingers Head to the Point of the Island [690] it reacheth south-west and by south and south-west 3 [12] miles; and from the Island Point to the Point of the Ice Hauen, [691] the land reacheth west south-west 4 [16] miles: from the Ice Hauens Point to the fall of water or the Streame Bay [692] and the low land, it reacheth west and by south and east and by north, 7 [28] miles: from thence the land reacheth east and west.

The 21 of August we sailed a great way into the Ice Hauen, and that night ankored therein: next day, the streame [693] going extreame hard eastward, we haled out againe from thence, and sailed againe to the Island Point; but for that it was misty weather, comming to a peece of ice, we made the ship fast thereunto, because the winde began to blow hard south-west and south south-west. There we went [694] vp vpon the ice, and wondred much thereat, it was such manner of ice: for on the top it was ful of earth, and there we found aboue 40 egges, and it was not like other ice, for it was of a perfect azure coloure, like to the skies, whereby there grew great contentiō in words amongst our men, some saying that it was ice, others that it was frozen land; for it lay vnreasonable high aboue the water, it was at least 18 fadome vnder the water close to the ground, and 10 fadome aboue the water: there we stayed all that storme, the winde being south-west and by west.

The 23 of August we sailed againe from the ice south-eastward into the sea, but entred presently into it againe, and wound about [695] to the Ice Hauen. The next day it blew hard north north-west, and the ice came mightily driuing in, whereby we were in a manner compassed about therewith, and withall the winde began more and more to rise, and the ice still draue harder and harder, so that the pin of the rother [696] and the rother were shorne in peeces, [697] and our boate was shorne in peeces [698] betweene the ship and the ice, we expecting nothing else but that the ship also would be prest and crusht in peeces with the ice.

The 25 of August the weather began to be better, and we tooke great paines and bestowed much labour to get the ice, wherewith we were so inclosed, to go from vs, but what meanes soeuer we vsed it was all in vaine. But when the sun was south-west [½ p. 2 P.M.] the ice began to driue out againe with the streame, [699] and we thought to saile southward about Noua Zembla, [and so westwards] to the Straites of Mergates. [700] For that seeing we could there find no passage, we hauing past [701] Noua Zembla, [we] were of opinion that our labour was all in vaine and that we could not get through, and so agreed to go that way home againe; but comming to the Streame Bay, we were forced to go back againe, because of the ice which lay so fast thereabouts; and the same night also it froze, that we could hardly get through there with the little wind that we had, the winde then being north.

The 26 of August there blew a reasonable gale of winde, at which time we determined to saile back to the Point of Desire, and so home againe, seeing yt we could not get through [by the way towards] ye Wergats, [702] although we vsed al the meanes and industry we could to get forward; but whē we had past by ye Ice Hauen ye ice began to driue wt such force, yt we were inclosed round about therewith, and yet we sought al the meanes we could to get out, but it was all in vaine. And at that time we had like to haue lost three men that were vpon the ice to make way for the ship, if the ice had held ye course it went; but as we draue back againe, and that the ice also whereon our men stood in like sort draue, they being nimble, as ye ship draue by thē, one of them caught hould of the beake head, another vpon the shroudes, [703] and the third vpon the great brase [704] that hung out behind, and so by great aduenture by the hold that they took they got safe into the shippe againe, for which they thanked God with all their hearts: for it was much liklier that they should rather haue beene carried away with the ice, but God, by the nimbleness of their hands, deliuered them out of that danger, which was a pittifull thing to behold, although it fell out for the best, for if they had not beene nimble they had surely dyed for it.

The same day in the euening we got to the west side of the Ice Hauen, where we were forced, in great cold, pouerty, misery, and griefe, to stay all that winter; the winde then being east north-east.

The 27 of August the ice draue round about the ship, and yet it was good wether; at which time we went on land, and being there it began to blow south-east with a reasonable gale, and then the ice came with great force before the bough, [705] and draue the ship vp foure foote high before, and behind it seemed as if the keele lay on the ground, so that it seemed that the ship would be ouerthrowne in the place; whereupon they that were in the ship put out the boate, [706] therewith to saue their liues, and withall put out a flagge to make a signe to vs to come on board: which we perceiuing, and beholding the ship to be lifted vp in that sort, made all the haste we could to get on board, thinking that the ship was burst in peeces, but comming vnto it we found it to be in better case than we thought it had beene.

The 28 of August wee gat some of the ice from it, [707] and the ship began to sit vpright againe; but before it was fully vpright, as William Barents and the other pilot went forward to the bough, [708] to see how the ship lay and how much it was risen, and while they were busie vpon their knees and elbowes to measure how much it was, the ship burst out of the ice with such a noyse and so great a crack, that they thought verily that they were all cast away, knowing not how to saue themselues.

The 29 of August, the ship lying vpright againe, we vsed all the meanes we could, with yron hookes [709] and other instruments, to breake the flakes of ice that lay one heap’d vpō the other, but al in vaine; so that we determined to commit our selues to the mercie of God, and to attend ayde from him, for that the ice draue not away in any such sort that it could helpe vs.

The 30 of August the ice began to driue together one vpon the other with greater force than before, and bare against the ship wh a boystrous south [by] west wind and a great snowe, so that all the whole ship was borne vp and inclosed, [710] whereby all that was both about and in it began to crack, so that it seemed to burst in a 100 peeces, which was most fearfull both to see and heare, and made all ye haire of our heads to rise vpright with feare; and after yt, the ship (by the ice on both sides that joined and got vnder the same) was driued so vpright, in such sort as if it had bin lifted vp with a wrench or vice. [711]

The 31 of August, by the force of the ice, the ship was driuen vp 4 or 5 foote high at the beake head, [712] and the hinder part thereof lay in a clift [713] of ice, whereby we thought that the ruther would be freed from the force of the flakes of ice, [714] but, notwithstanding, it brake in peeces staffe [715] and all: and if that the hinder part of the ship had bin in the ice that draue as well as the fore part was, then all the ship [716] would haue bin driuen wholly vpon the ice, or possibly haue ran on groūd, [717] and for that cause wee were in great feare, and set our scutes and our boate [718] out vpon the ice, if neede were, to saue our selues. But within 4 houres after, the ice draue awaye of it selfe, wherewith we were exceeding glad, as if we had saued our liues, for that the ship was then on float againe; and vpon that we made a new ruther and a staffe, [719] and hung the ruther out vpon the hooks, that if we chanced to be born [720] vpon the ice againe, as we had bin, it might so be freed from it.

The 1 of September, being Sunday, while we were at praier, the ice began to gather together againe, so that the ship was lifted vp [bodily] two foote at the least, but the ice brake not. [721] The same euening [722] the ice continued in yt sort still driuing and gathering together, so that we made preparation to draw our scute and the boate ouer the ice vpon the land, the wind then blowing south-east.

The 2 of September it snowed hard with a north-east wind, and the ship began to rise vp higher vpō the ice, [723] at which time the ice burst and crakt with great force, so that we were of opinion to carry our scute on land in that fowle weather, with 13 barrels of bread and two hogsheads [724] of wine to sustaine our selues if need were.

The 3 of September it blew [just as] hard, but snowed not so much, ye wind being north north-east; at which time we began to be loose from the ice whereunto we lay fast, so that the scheck brake from the steuen, [725] but the planks wherewith the ship was lyned held the scheck fast and made it hang on; [726] but the boutloofe and a new cable, if we had falled vpon the ice, brake by the forcible pressing of the ice, [727] but held fast againe in the ice; and yet the ship was staunch, which was wonder, in regard yt ye ice draue so hard and in great heapes as big as the salt hills that are in Spaine, [728] and within a harquebus shot of the ship, betweene the which we lay in great feare and anguishe.

The 4 of September the weather began to cleare vp and we sawe the sunne, but it was very cold, the wind being north-east, we being forced to lye still.

The 5 of September it was faire sunshine weather and very calme; and at euening, when we had supt, the ice compassed about us againe, and we were hard inclosed therewith, the ship beginning to lye upon the one side and leakt sore, [729] but by Gods grace it became staunch againe, [730] wherewith [731] we were wholly in feare to loose the ship, it was in so great danger. At which time we tooke counsell together and caried our old sock saile, [732] with pouder, lead, peeces, muskets, and other furniture on land, to make a tent [or hut] about our scute yt we had drawē vpon the land; and at that time we carried some bread and wine on land also, with some timber, [733] therewith to mend our boate, that it might serve vs in time of neede.

The 6 of September it was indifferent faire sea-wether [734] and sun-shine, the wind being west, whereby we were somewhat comforted, hoping that the ice would driue away and that we might get from thence againe.