“Truly,” replied Gerhard, “you could have chosen no more appropriate time to remind me of my promise than this evening. The storm, which now sweeps through the street, and drives the snow against the windows, brings most vividly to my recollection the wretched hut in which I and my unhappy companions, of whom few ever saw their homes again, passed the most miserable portion of our lives, tormented by hunger and sickness, and in continual dread of the fierce and ravenous polar bears; shut up in that distant part of the world, where the winter lasts for eight months, and there is unbroken night from the beginning of November to the end of January; where the cold is so intense that it is impossible, even when wrapped up in thick furs, to remain in the open air for any length of time; where the breath is changed to rime; where one’s hands, nose, and ears, freeze if exposed to the air for a moment; where brandy is quickly congealed, and quicksilver becomes hard enough to be struck with a hammer.”
“You have roused our curiosity so,” remarked the young man, when Gerhard, who had betrayed considerable 127 warmth of manner, suddenly ceased speaking, “that it will really be an act of kindness to satisfy it; therefore, pray commence, at least this evening, a recital of your adventures, but steer your course so as not to fatigue yourself too much; sail along gently, for a day’s journey, more or less you know, is of little consequence. But heave the anchor, Father Gerhard, if it please you.”
“In God’s name then,” said Gerhard, and commenced as follows:
“You all know the difficulties and dangers of a voyage to the East Indies, but you do not know what wealth may be gained by a commercial intercourse with those distant regions, or that, as is very natural, men for a long time have had their attention turned to the discovery of a nearer route than any one at present known of. At first, repeated attempts were made to find out a strait which, as many still believe, divides the continent of America, but as the voyagers met with no success whatever, their attention was drawn to the Arctic Ocean, which washes the northern coasts of Asia and Europe. The enterprising merchants who had been engaged in former expeditions, now resolved to send one to that part of the world which though so near to them was so little known. It is true that a small squadron which was sent out for the purpose, and with which I sailed, failed in reaching its destination, owing to the advanced state of the season, but it was found that the northern coast of the continent ran off in a southeasternly direction, and great hopes were entertained that an expedition sent out at a more favourable season, would be attended with the happiest results. Although many who 128 had engaged in enterprises like these, had lost both money and courage, yet, induced by the accounts which we brought home, and by my advice, the city of Amsterdam resolved to make another and final attempt. It fitted out at its own expense, a couple of vessels, and having provided them with all things necessary, entrusted them to the care of myself and three others, viz: Jacob Heemskerk, John Cornelius Ryp, and William Barents.
“On the 10th of May, 1569, we left Amsterdam, accompanied by the good wishes of the whole town, and as a favourable wind filled our sails, we made our way so rapidly towards the north, that by the 5th of June, we encountered vast floes of ice, which covered the sea as far as the eye could reach. Four days later, we discovered land, which was not noted down on the chart; it proved to be an island some four miles long, and evidently hitherto unknown. Some of the men took one of the boats and went ashore; they found many gull’s eggs, and had a narrow escape from losing their lives. They ascended a hill of snow which was as solid as a block of marble, but in attempting to descend, they found themselves obliged to slide to the bottom, and were in imminent danger of being hurled upon the sharp rocks by which it was surrounded; happily, they received no injury. The next day we had a hard struggle with a polar bear, for dangerous as these creatures were, we always felt desirous of attacking them, and we now undertook to take one alive. Accordingly, seeing a big fellow not far from us, we took a boat, and set out with the intention of capturing him, by throwing a noose over his head, but when we came near to him 129 we did not dare to attack him, on account of the ferocity he exhibited, but returned for more men, muskets, and pikes. Ryp’s people were coming to our aid; we went after him again, but we were obliged to fight for more than four hours, as our shots did him very little harm. After having received a blow in the back with a hatchet, which was wielded by such a strong arm that it remained sticking in him, he attempted to swim off, but a cut on the head finished him. We took the carcase on board Ryp’s vessel, and stripped off the hide, which measured twelve feet in length. The flesh we cooked, and some of us liked it as well as beef. In consequence of this adventure we named the island ‘Bear’s Island.’
“After remaining here for a few days, we continued our journey towards the north, and after sailing for ten days, through a sea blocked up with masses of ice, we arrived at a coast which ran off in an easterly direction, where we determined to cast anchor. We imagined it to be a part of Greenland, and as it was formed of sharp pointed hills, we gave it the name of ‘Spitzbergen,’ (pointed mountains.) We were not a little surprised to find an active vegetation existing in this high latitude, and went on shore to gather sorrel and scurvy grass, which are excellent preventatives against the scurvy, a disease which, as you know, breaks out with great violence on board of vessels going so far north, and is occasioned by a want of fresh meat. We saw also a great many bears, foxes, and reindeers, and also immense flocks of wild geese, which we drove from their nests in order to procure their eggs, which we found excellent.
“As the wind remained unfavorable, and the masses of ice continued to press closer together, we were obliged to give up our plan of reaching the most northern point of Spitzbergen, and then sailing towards the east, and return to Bear’s Island. The two captains now differed in their opinion as to the best course to be pursued; Ryp persisted that if we were to keep on towards the north, we would without doubt, reach an open sea, while Barents thought we were already too far north; so it was finally determined that each should go his own way. Accordingly, on the 1st of July, the two vessels parted company, Ryp sailing for Spitzbergen, whilst we steered towards the south coast. From this moment commenced all the suffering and danger, which we experienced on our adventurous voyage.”
II.
“After having with great difficulty and danger, worked our way between huge blocks of ice, for two weeks, we at last, on the 16th of July, at noon, came in sight of Nova Zembla, a spot very frequently visited by whalers, and steered our course along the western shore, as our object was to sail round the island, in order to make our way towards the east. But although it was now the middle of summer, we were much impeded by floating masses of ice, which covered the sea in every direction, as far as the eye could reach, and obliged us to wait until an opening offered, through which we might sail. We arrived at last at an island which from the number of crosses the whalers have there set up, is called the “Isle of Crosses.” Here we anchored to take in a supply of fresh water. Heemskerk 131 took one of the boats and went ashore to visit the crosses. I accompanied him, and we were walking along, not dreaming of danger, when suddenly we came upon a couple of bears, who were hid near by. As we were totally unprovided with weapons, we were not a little alarmed at the sight. The bears, as is customary with these animals, raised themselves on their hind legs, to find out what was going on, as they can smell further than they can see. As soon as they became aware of our presence, they came running towards us. Our hair now actually stood on end at the frightful danger we ran, and we started off for our boats as fast as we could go. But Heemskerk, who had far more presence of mind and courage, stood still, and swore that he would put a boat hook he held in his hand, into the first man who attempted to fly. ‘If we run away one by one in this way,’ cried he, ‘some of us will most assuredly be torn to pieces, but if we stand still and raise a shrill cry all together, the bears will be frightened and retreat.’ We followed his advice, and it turned out exactly as he predicted, so that whilst the bears stood stupified, we regained our boat. This shows how good a thing presence of mind is; fear always rushes into danger sooner than courage.