Part 4

For the rest, the account of Witsen is rather vague, and exclusively depends upon verbal communications. These old voyages of the Dutch walrus-hunters, as well as those of the Norwegian fishermen in the present day, clearly show us that here, as well as in every other part of the Arctic Regions, a favourable season might allow the fortunate navigator who happens to be on the spot to penetrate in a few days further than any of his predecessors, notwithstanding their unequalled perseverance and energy.

Within the last ten years the Norwegians, like the Dutch walrus-hunters of old, have been making continual inroads into the Kara Sea. This has been principally due to the discovery of rich fishing-grounds in that direction. The first of these Norwegian explorers was Captain Carlsen. With a small fishing-boat of Hammerfest he sailed through Pet Strait, and, following the Siberian coast, he reached White Island, near the mouth of the Obi river, without having fallen in with any signs of ice. It was, indeed, a bold undertaking to penetrate thus with so small a boat into the Kara Sea; but Captain Carlsen was fully rewarded for the risk he had run, in making a vast capture of blubber-yielding animals, which handed him over a profit of £1,100.

The voyage of the intrepid English walrus-hunter, Captain Palliser, who in that same season sailed as far as the north coast of Novaya Zemlya, was of no less importance. Being about half a degree north of Cape Nassau, he fell in with extensive ice-fields, which, however, were soon broken up by stormy weather.

Captain Palliser writes:—

“After the ice was broken up and driven away by the heavy gales, I believe I could have circumnavigated all Novaya Zemlya without much trouble. We were however prevented from doing so, on account of having on board the crew of a wrecked fishing smack. For this reason a great decrease in our provisions had taken place, and consequently our store would not have been sufficient for so long a voyage.”

Captain Palliser then shaped his course south, came through Matthew’s Strait into the Kara Sea, and penetrated to within three or four miles of White Island.

However, both these voyages were surpassed in intrepidity by the interesting cruise of the Norwegian, Captain Johannesen.

On the 1st of May 1869, the schooner Nordland, Captain E. H. Johannesen, anchored at the Mersduscharsky Island, south of Kostin Shar. After sailing for some time in the direction of Burrough Strait, Captain Johannesen changed his course northwardly, and keeping the west coast continually in sight, he eventually passed Matthew’s Strait on the 9th of June.

Ten days later he was close to Cape Nassau, where he experienced a strong easterly current.

From here, turning south, the Nordland sailed on the 17th of July through Matthew’s Strait, and running south in the land-water along the east coast, Captain Johannesen was, on the 26th July, in Burrough Strait. At once he resolved to penetrate into the Kara Sea. He followed the low coast of the country of the Samoyeds in an easterly and afterwards north-easterly direction, and found himself on the 8th of August in the immediate neighbourhood of White Island without having been hindered by the ice.

The day following he shaped his course north-west, and attained, on the 15th of August, the estimated latitude of 75° 6′ N. and 71° E. longitude, where he encountered his first ice. Thence, in a westerly direction, he returned to Novaya Zemlya, which he sighted on the 20th in 75° 10′ N. latitude and 64° E. longitude. He now sailed along the east coast, and passed through Burrough Strait on his homeward voyage. He had repeatedly encountered a heavy swell from the south-east, but had scarcely met with ice. He must, undoubtedly, have been close to Barendsz’s winter house, which is placed by Captain Carlsen in 76° 12′ N. latitude and 68° E. longitude.

Induced by these advantageous voyages, several Norwegian fishermen entered the Kara Sea in the following year.

Again the skilful Captain Johannesen made a cruise which almost surpassed his former one, having this time circumnavigated Novaya Zemlya, a feat never before achieved. He visited the east coast of that island, passing close to, but without perceiving, Barendsz’s winter quarters.

F. Torkildsen, commander of the schooner Alpha, was less fortunate. On the 24th of June he passed through Burrough Strait and entered the Kara Bay, where he, on the 13th of July, in 68° 40′ N. latitude and 68° E. longitude, lost his ship. The crew was, however, saved. Captain E. A. Ulve sailed with his schooner Samson along the west coast of Novaya Zemlya, and on the 1st of August attained the high latitude of 76° 47′ in 59° 17′ E. longitude, without sighting any ice.

Entering on the 8th of August through Matthew’s Strait into the Kara Sea, and keeping between White Island and the Island of Vaigat, he, on the 24th of August, when homeward-bound, sailed through Burrough Strait.

F. E. Mack, with his schooner Polarstern, found, on the 5th of July, Matthew’s Strait blocked up with ice; but thirteen days afterwards he sailed through it, and after crossing the Kara Sea in all directions, returned on the 21st of August through Burrough Strait.

Another navigator, Captain P. Quale, pushed more eastwardly. With his yacht, the Johan Mary, he, in the latitude of 75° 20′ N., attained the longitude of 74° 35′, and thus found himself eastward of the meridian which goes across the mouth of the Obi River.

The following year, encouraged by the partial success of these cruises, we find the Norwegian seal-hunters again entering this new and prosperous ground. The southern entries being closed by the ice, the captains directed their course northwardly, in order to penetrate into the Kara Sea by rounding Novaya Zemlya.

Passing over in silence the cruises of Captain F. C. Mack and those of the brothers Johannesen, we come to the interesting voyage of Captain Carlsen, the first navigator, who, since 1597, has entered the Ice Harbour of Barendsz. Captain Elling Carlsen, with his sloop The Solid, left the harbour of Hammerfest on the 22nd of May, 1871. When rounding the North Cape of Norway, he met with very heavy squalls and snow-storms from the north-west.

On the 28th he passed Vardo, and on the 10th of June, in 68° N. latitude and 40° 36′ E. longitude, at the northern outlet of the White Sea, he fell in with the first ice. On the 16th of June he met two other ships, of which the one had already killed five hundred and the other a thousand seals.

On the 19th of July Captain Carlsen reached the coast of Novaya Zemlya, in the neighbourhood of Mersduscharsky Island, and shaping his course towards the north, he passed Cape Nassau, rounded Novaya Zemlya, and anchored on the 18th of August at Cape Hooft, on the east coast.

On the 24th of August, when he had advanced in a southerly direction almost as far as 76° N. latitude, he observed much drift ice at a distance of forty miles from the coast.

On the 29th of August Carlsen again steered north, and anew anchored at Cape Hooft. North of Matthew’s Strait, Captain Carlsen had fallen in with Captain F. Mack, who was provided with better instruments, supplied by the Meteorological Institution at Christiania. By means of these instruments, both captains made very correct observations, with such success that they noted down the north-east point of Novaya Zemlya as lying in 67° 30′ E. longitude, instead of in 73°, as was given in the latest charts. They found that the land to the north-east of Novaya Zemlya lay pointing more towards the north than to the north-east, as given in the previous charts. These observations proved the calculations of the old Dutch navigators to have been perfectly correct, and restored to them the reputation of which they had been so long defrauded.

As for the subsequent part of Captain Carlsen’s voyage, we had better follow his own ship’s log. In it he says:—

“Sept. 7. Strong breeze from the south with weather overcast, and two reefs in the mainsail. Anchored in the afternoon under the land near Barendsz harbour, where Barendsz wintered. Pumped the ship free.

“Friday, 8. Gale from the west with detached sky. We began to flinch (the animals we had caught on the 6th). Afternoon we finished flinching and repaired the gaff, which was broken. Let go also our port anchor. 8 o’clock pumped the ship free. During the night strong breeze.

“Saturday, 9. Strong breeze from the S.W. Sky overcast. 8 o’clock forenoon we went under sail and coursed south along the land. 6 o’clock in the afternoon, we saw walrus on the ice, boats were lowered, and we caught two of them; we also saw a house on shore, which had fallen down. At noon we observed the latitude 76° 12′, the distance from shore guessed. The house on shore was 16 metres long by 10 metres broad, and the fir-wood planks, of which it was composed, were 1½ inches thick by from 14 to 16 inches broad, and as far as we could make out they were nailed together. The first things we saw amongst the ruins of the house were two ships’ cooking pans of copper, a crowbar or bar of iron, a gun-barrel, an alarum, a clock, a chest in which was found several files and other instruments, many engravings, a flute, and also a few articles of dress. There were also two other chests, but they were empty, only filled up with ice, and there was an iron frame over the fire-place with shifting bar.

“Sunday, 10. Light breeze from the N.W., almost calm, clear sky, we sailed along the coast S.S.E. In the afternoon we caught two walrus. 8 o’clock pumped the ship free. During the whole night calm.

“Monday, 11. Light breeze from the west. Sky overcast. In the afternoon the wind freshened from the west. We put three reefs in the mainsail. 8 o’clock pumped the ship free. The whole night gale from the S.W.

“Tuesday, 12. Gale from the S.W. We are obliged to return to Ledenaji Bay (Ice Harbour), where, on the evening of the 9th we had found the ruined house. At noon we anchored in the bay, and went again on shore and found several things, viz., candlesticks, tankards with lid of zinc, a sword, a halberd head, two books, several navigation instruments, an iron chest already quite rusted.

“Wednesday, 13. Gale from the W.N.W. At noon we went under sail, but as we made a little south the wind shifted to the S.W., and in order to keep off we had to let go both anchors. Storm with snow. 8 o’clock pumped the ship free. During the night, light breeze.

“Thursday, 14. Calm with clear sky. 4 o’clock in the morning we went ashore further to investigate the wintering place. On digging we found again several objects, such as drumsticks, a hilt of a sword, and spears. Altogether it seemed that the people had been equipped in a war-like manner, but nothing was found which could indicate the presence of human remains. On the beach we found pieces of wood which had formerly belonged to some part of a ship, for which reason I believe that a vessel has been wrecked there, the crew of which built the house with the materials of the wreck and afterwards betook themselves to the boats. Five sailors’ trunks were still in the house, which might also have been used as 5 berths, at least as far as we could make out. We now set to work to build a cairn, and erected a wooden pole 20 feet high. We placed in the cairn a description of what we had found, shut up in a double tin-case, after which we returned on board and went under sail. At noon the wind was N.E., observed latitude about 76° 7′ N., longitude 68° E. (Greenwich). We steered in the direction S. by W. along the land. 8 o’clock pumped the ship free. The whole night light breeze.”

Thus far, we have let the log speak for itself. After having quitted the house, Carlsen intended to return home by circumnavigating the island. Following, therefore, the east coast in a southerly direction, he soon passed several icebergs.

On the 16th of September he fell in with much ice, which probably by the west and north-west wind was driven from the land.

On the 18th it froze so stiff that they had to cut their way through the ice.

On the 19th, being becalmed, the ship could move neither forward nor backward. During the afternoon the wind freshened from the south-west, upon which they tried to approach nearer to the land.

On the 20th they had again to cut their way through the ice, which was already strong enough to bear them. Till eight o’clock in the evening they worked to reach a lead close to the land.

On the 21st, Carlsen, in about 74° N. latitude, was, during a storm from the north-east, in great danger of losing his ship. Closed in by the ice, he drifted that and both the following days with the ice, in a south-western direction, during which time he could see from the crow’s nest open water towards the north-east and east. Not before the 30th of September, in 72° 25′ N. latitude, did he again succeed in reaching open water, thus, fortunately, escaping a fate similar to that of Barendsz.

The 3rd of October he sailed through Burrough Strait, and anchored on the 4th of November at Hammerfest, thanking God for his prosperous voyage. Thus Carlsen (like a true seaman) ends his log.

News of the discovery, by Captain Elling Carlsen, of a great number of relics on the beach of Ice Harbour, was soon spread in Hammerfest. In consequence, on the 12th of November, 1871, in the Hammerfest newspaper called Finmarksposten, there appeared a leading article entitled “Captain Elling Carlsen’s Voyage around Novaya Zemlya”. A detailed account was given in it of the old Dutch voyages towards the north-east. Notwithstanding some faults, the article was in its main points correct, and proved that in the far North of Europe the expeditions of Barendsz had attained a legendary celebrity.

About the discovery of the winter quarters at Novaya Zemlya the Finmarksposten communicates a few details which seem to have been given to the writer by Carlsen himself.

“After a lapse of 275 years” (says the Finmarksposten), “Captain Carlsen found himself in the very spot where, in 1596, Barendsz and his companions had come on shore, and near to the ruins of the simple hut constructed by the unfortunate Dutchmen. Captain Carlsen, as far as lay in his power, made researches on and about the spot, but the season being far advanced and the obligation he was under of circumnavigating Novaya Zemlya, obliged him to seize the first opportunity of proceeding on his voyage. Consequently on the 10th of September, without having brought his work to a conclusion, he was obliged to sail.

“On the 10th and 11th he remained cruising, but in the evening of the latter day he found himself under the necessity of returning to Ice Harbour, and thus he was enabled to proceed with his investigations.

“On the 13th he set sail, but was again forced to return and anchor.

“On the 14th he was enabled to complete his researches. The house, fallen completely into decay, was so to speak covered and almost hermetically enclosed by a thick layer of ice. All the objects were likewise covered by a thick sheet of ice, and this explains the excellent condition in which many of the articles were found. Such was their unimpaired condition that one would be inclined to suppose that they had been placed there but a short time previously, and one never would believe that they had, during almost three centuries, been left uncared for. The house, as far as Captain Carlsen could make out, was 16 metres long by 10 broad, and nailed together out of fir-wood planks 1½ inches thick by from 14 to 16 inches broad. The house was in part constructed out of the materials of the wrecked ship, indications of which still existed in the remnants of a few oaken timbers scattered on the beach. The house seemed to have contained for the occupants 5 standing bed-places. There were 5 ship’s chests, which were however too decayed to be taken away. In two of the chests were found a few instruments, such as files, sledge-hammer, a borer, two pairs of compasses, a few caulking-irons, engravings, a flute, pieces of navigation instruments, as well as a few books in the Dutch language, which latter makes it almost certain that the relics belonged to Barendsz and his companions of the year 1596. In the centre of the house, where the fireplace had probably stood, a great iron frame was found, on which two ship’s copper cooking pans still remained. A few porringers were so rotten that one could only take away their copper mountings. In addition to these were found candlesticks and tin-tankards, a crow-bar, two or more gunbarrels, a gunlock, an alarum with the clock and clock weight belonging to it, a great iron chest, a grindstone, a few spears and a halberd. Carlsen relates that round the house were found several large casks which had been provided with iron hoops, but the staves as well as the hoops were so rotten that no part of them could be brought home. Before Captain Carlsen left the place he erected in the neighbourhood of the house a cairn, on which he placed a pole 10 metres long. In the cairn was deposited a double tin case, containing a written account of his having been there on the 13th of September 1871, and of his having found articles belonging to the men of the Dutch expedition under Barendsz, who had wintered there in the years 1596–97.”

Such are the particulars about the discovery of the relics in the winter-house of Novaya Zemlya.

Up to February 1872, the public in Holland remained ignorant of the discovery of the winter quarters of Barendsz, and that several objects, including a few books written in the Dutch language, were brought home. This news, however, when spread, caused a general sensation throughout the Netherlands, and measures were immediately taken by the Government to obtain possession of these interesting relics. Information was at once obtained as to their whereabouts, and it became known that they were already in the possession of Mr. Ellis C. Lister Kay, who, travelling as an English tourist in Norway, and being by chance at Hammerfest on the arrival of Carlsen, had immediately bought them. Upon learning the interest which the Netherlands Government took in these relics, Mr. Kay kindly gave them up, accepting only the same amount as he had given to obtain possession of them. This courteous behaviour of Mr. Kay restored to the native land of the great explorer these precious relics, which had remained hidden for nearly three centuries. They were afterwards deposited in the model-room of the Naval Department at the Hague, where a model-house, having an open front, has been constructed for their reception. This is an exact imitation of the original at Novaya Zemlya. There these old and touching memorials of a noble achievement have found a final resting-place in the worthy company of a number of ancient objects, which each for itself silently points to some one of the many glorious pages in the annals of Dutch naval history. To demonstrate that these objects found by Captain Carlsen originally appertained to Barendsz and his companions, Mr. De Jonge says:—

“The relics bear in themselves the undeniable proof—1st, that they have belonged to Dutch navigators; and 2nd, that they must belong to the last period of the 16th century, and especially to that part included between 1592 and 1598, as I will prove out of the following description of the objects:—

“1. An iron frame on four iron feet, with three iron cross bars of which one is moveable (a kind of iron trivet), was found by Captain Carlsen in the centre of the house of Barendsz and Heemskerck, exactly resembling that iron frame which we see also represented in the centre of the house in the old illustration by Levinus Hulsius in 1598.

“2. A round copper cooking pan with handle. Found standing on the iron frames.

“3. A ditto larger one, with broken handle, the pan on the upper side a little dinted. Found standing on the same place.

“4. Three copper bands, remains most likely of porringers, found close to the three objects above alluded to.

“5. A fragment of a copper scoop with handle.

“6. A round grindstone with iron axis.

“7. Fragments of a chest with metal handle belonging to it, besides four other pieces of iron. An iron box made to fit within the chest, in order therein to deposit valuables. All these things were half crumbled away.

“8. The iron cover of the chest (spoken of in No. 7), with intricate lock-work.

“9. An iron crow-bar, bent in the middle, at the lower end a point, the upper end formed like the tail of a swallow. The part which opens out is worn in a circular shape, having in all probability served as a rest for the axis of a spit.

“10. The sieve of a copper scummer.

“11. A tin plate.

“12. An iron bar in two pieces. This bar was sawn across at Hammerfest, as it was presumed to be a gun-barrel.

“13. Iron striker or sledge-hammer; the handle is broken.

“14. A borer or auger, with auger-bit. Such an auger is represented in the illustration, ‘How made ready to sail back to Holland’.

“15. A ditto, one with larger auger-bit.

“16. Three gauges, without handles.

“17. A large chisel, with a wooden handle.

“18. An adze, of which the handle was broken.

“19. A caulking-iron.

“20. A borer, with the handle broken, and two other boring irons.

“21. Seven iron files, of different dimensions.

“22. A stone to whet tools.

“23. Two iron pairs of compasses.

“24. A broken pocket-knife or cutlass, with horn handle.

“25. A copper tap of a wine or beer cask. Excellently preserved.

“26. A wooden siphon of a beer or vinegar cask.

“27. A wooden trencher, painted red.

“28. An old Dutch earthenware jar, in which there was still a little grease. (See a similar jug in the illustration, ‘How we were wrecked, and with great danger had to betake ourselves to the ice’.)

“29. A tin tankard, with lid and handle. Decayed.

“30. The lower half of another tankard.

“31. Three tin spoons, of which one is broken. Of the form used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

“32. The inner works of a lock.

“33. A ditto, larger one, with a part of the key.

“34. An iron weight, of 8 lbs.

“35. A padlock.

“36. Two leathern shoes or slippers. These shoes are too small for a full-grown man. They must consequently have belonged to the ship’s boy, of whom there is mention in the journal of De Veer, on the 19th of October, 1596.