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i f :

AMONG THE POLAR BEARS.

C&e SlibentureiS of Captam J&rmsfeerb

■o-

A TRUE NARRATIVE FROM THE GERMAN.

-o-

JAjMES B. KNAPP, 6, Sutton Street,

Commercial Road, E.

And 26, Paternoster Row, E.G.

LONDON
THOS. HUMPHREYS AND CO., PRINTERS,
HIGH STRHET STEPNEY, E.

CONTENTS.

•:o:-

CHAl'.

I'AGE.

I.— TiiK Far North

II. — Arrival at Nova Zembla

III. — A Winter Residence in Nova Zembla

IV. — HorES OF Sl'RING, AND DEPARTUE FROM NOVA

Zembla ...
v.— Ships at last, rut no Good Samaritans on

VI. — 'Friends in Need are Friends Indeed' ...
VII. — Meeting again

12
19

43
58

AMONG THE POLAR BEARS:

THE ADVENTURES OF

CAPT. HEMSKERK AND HIS CREW.

> ^#** 4

CHAPTER I.

THE FAR NORTH.

REVIOUS to the formation of the Suez
Canal, which connects the Mediterranean
with the Red Sea, all ships from Europe
to India and China had to proceed round
the Cape of Good Hope. This was a long and
tedious route for vessels on their way to Northern
Asia, and three hundred years ago it would have been
both difficult and dangerous to send merchandise by
way of Russia. It was in consequence of this that
the maritime nations of Northern Europe early en-
deavoured to discover a passage for their vessels

Among the Polar Bears,

through the Northern Ocean, the Dutch being fore-
most in this attempt. In the year 1596, two ships
were, for this purpose, sent north from the port ol
Amsterdam.

Of these two vessels, one was commanded by
Captain Jacob Hemskerk with Wilhem Harendz for
his first mate, and the other l)y Cornelius Kyp,
Barendz and Ryp having formerly sailed far up into
the Arctic Ocean.

In the hope of great commercial success, both
vessels carried large cargoes, which the city of
Amsterdam permitted to be taken free of toll or dues
of any kind. The sailors were promised high wages,
and with all ^'^ board full of hopeful expectation,
the good ships sighed anchor, under a favourable
breeze, on May loth, 1596.

One slight mishap, which occurred at the commence-
ment of the voyage, might have been considered a bad
omen — on the first day Ryp's vessel struck upon a
sand-bank, where it remained fixed for several days,
but as soon as it was extricated the two ships sailed
rapidly north, finding themselves towards the end of
the month at 64 north latitude.

On the first of July they saw, for the first time, the
sun remaining motionless on the horizon. Our young
readers have doubtless learned at school the cause of
this phenomenon, and why it is that in the far north

thnofKj the Polar Bears,

there is, for many months, scarcely any dayhght in
the winter, or any darkness in the summer. 'I'he
voyagers enjoyed at the same time, another strange
and beautiful si)ectacle. It appeared to them as if
there were four suns in the sky, an api)earance
which is seen when the light passes from a thinner
to a thicker stratum of air, or out of the air into the
water. The light becomes broken and a*deceptive
appearance is produced, such as may be illustrated by
a very simple experiment — putting a small piece of
wood into a glass filled with water. This refraction
from the passing of the rays of light from the rarified
air into the denser atmosphere which surrounds our
earth, is the cause of our 'mock suns,' and 'mock
moons,' of which we hear from time to time, and
which appeared, as we have seen, to our Arctic
voyagers.

At length they arrived as far north as lat. 7 1 north
of the equator, and now some decided resolution had
to be arrived at with regard to future proceedings.
Unfortunately, as it happened, the two commanders
differed as to the best route, and their disputes on the
subject proved a great obstacle to their arriving
at a wise decision. On the fifth of June they saw
in the distance what looked like wild swans, but
which, to their dismay, proved to be icebergs,
between which they had to keep passing for four

Ainonq the Polar Bears,

days and nij^hts in succession, until at length they
reached an island covered with snow, whose only
inhabitants appeared to he sea-^'uUs. The sailors
eagerly collected the eggs of these birds, as a
wholesome and agreeable change from their coarse
ship diet. Soon after this they managed to catch a
fine Polar bear, which came swimming towards them
over the water, as if he were master of the island.
They ultimately shot him, though they found him at
first a powerful antagonist, breaking their rudders like
twigs. The animal's skin was twelve feet long, his
flesh they roasted and ate, but it proved so indigestible
that those who partook of it became sick.

They soon (juitted the island, on which they
bestowed the name of * Bear Isle,' and continued to
thread their way between formidable icebergs. Some
of these bergs were very large, but the violence of the
storm-tossed sea soon split them into fragments, which
becoming piled one upon another, formed mountains
of ice, sunk deep in the waters below, and towering
high into the air. L-^ud is the thundering and
crashing produced by the winds and waves, tearing
them violently apart, and throwing them one upon
another, and a ship passing between two of these
bergs runs serious risk of being crushed like an egg.
Our voyagers were in great peril, even the small
fragments that came to them from the icebergs giving

^inong the J'ohir Hears.

their ships sufTicicntly disagreeable knocks. Happily
on the eighteenth of July they reached land at lati-
tude 80 north. 'I'he shores were covered with gras.s
and foliage, and deer and other grass-eating aniniaU
were seen. They found also numerous eggs of the
eider-goose. On account of the steep hills in this
newly-discovered country, they bestowed upon it the
name of Spitzbergen, />., ' Peak Hills.'

During the rest of the month, however, they got no
further, and on July ist, they saw ' Ikar Isle' again
lying straight before them. Another dispute now arose
between Captains Hemskerk and Ryp, and as each of
the men remained obstinate in his own opinion, it was
finally decided that the ships should go on indepen-
dently of each other. Ryp steered his very badly for-
ward, taking a course due north, but afterwards l)earing
west, in a direction where it had already been guessed
a passage was to be found. Hemskerk, on the con-
trary, took the Caristien route, between Nova Zembla
and the island of Waigatsch, a route which would
undoubtedly have brought them by the Sea of Corea
to China, had it not been for the ice which in many
places blocked it up. But in this matter the captain
and his brave but self-willed pilot had to find by ex-
perience that even with the best intentions one may
miss the right way, and fail to do the right thing.

CHAPTER II.

ARRIVAL AT NOVA ZEMBLA.

N July I ith, Hemskerk's ship came into open
and navigable waters, though not wholly
free from icebergs, some of which rose to
a height of about ninety fathoms. Much
knocked about and damaged, the ship arrived on the
sixteenth of the month at the north coast of Nova
Zembla, the largest of the, as yet discovered, islands
of the Polar Sea, between 70 and 78, north latitude.
The island is from four to fifty-eight square miles in
■diameter. It consists, in fact, of two islands, divided
by a narrow channel. On the north this strait is
surrounded by icebergs, which render landing diffi-
•cult. The west coast is but little known ; to the
east the Kara Sea lies between it and Asia, and
to the south, beyond the bay and island of
Waigatsch, is the Russian province of Archangel.
Nova Zembla belongs also to Russia. The greater
portion of it is always covered with ice and snow, it

Among the Polar Bears.

contains several salt-water lakes and rivers, its vege-
tation is that of the Polar regions, marshherries and
bilberries, reindeer-moss, and the like. During the
summer months it is frequently visited by Russian
hunters and fishermen, who come down for the swans,
geese, fish, wolves, bears, reindeer, otters, whales,
ermines, seals, sea-cows, walruses, and other animals
plentiful in Nova Zembla and the adjacent waters.
In winter, however, darkness reigns there for nearly
five months, and few sounds are heard save the crack-
ing of ice, and the growling of hungry animals.

Here, on the sixteenth of August, the Dutch
sailors landed, after a voyage of four weeks. The more
energetic of them climbed a hill near the coast, in
order to discover whether they could see in the dis-
tance any termination to the barrier of ice, but it was
in vain. Here also they had to encounter a Polar bear
sixteen feet in length, which happily they were able to
master.

On the twentieth of August they proceeded to
Cross Island, so named from two crosses standing
there. Hemskerk landed with seven of his sailors,
but while they were resting and examining the crosses,
two Polar bears came right up to them on their hind
legs, sniffed at and examined them and finally ran at
them, which so alarmed the men that they would
have immediately fled for refuge to their boat had

•*■

Among the Polar Bears.

not the captain absolutely compelled them to remain.
To frighten away the animals the sailors gave a loud
shout, and were at length able to get back safe and
sound to the ship.

The crew then set to work hard to make a wider
passage between the icebergs, but a thick mist coining
on, they threw the anchor on to one of these blocks
of ice, in order that it might hold the ship fast or
draw it along with it, so long as the iceberg itself held*
together. A slight thaw coming on, however, several
large masses detached themselves from the block and
fell with a loud crash into the water. The ship rocked
and reeled, and was several times near being crushed.
On one occasion the anchor loosened from the berg,
and the ship was driven some distance forward ; and
scarcely had this taken place ere the whole iceberg
broke up and burst in enormous masses into the sea,
producing a din terrible to hear. There were not
many visits from bears at this time, though one foggy
night Bruin did nearly succeed in climbing up into
the ship, but fled at the sound of the sailors' firing.

Several days after this the sailors effected a landing
in a bay on the south side of the island. Entering
this harbour, they saw masses of ice rising up like
walls before them, and their efforts to cut through
produced no other result than that the rudder broke
and one of the boats went to the bottom. And now,

Among the Polar Boars.

to his bitter disappointment, Hemskerk began to per-
ceive there was no hope of his being able to carry out
tiie commission which had been entrusted to him, of
finding a north-east passage to India and China, and
he began to think of the quickest and easiest way of
getting back to Holland, the more especially as his
men, sick and exhausted from the hardships they had
gone through, were beginning to exhibit a spirit of
discontent and insubordination.

Strenuous were the efforts they now made to cleave
for themselves a pathway through the barrier of ice.
Three of the strongest and most energetic of the crew set
to work for this purpose with axes and other tools, but
whilst thus occupied, the piece of ice on which they were
standing broke loose and floated away with them upon
it. The wind tossed the waves with violence, so that
it was with the utmost difficulty those on board the
ship were saved from perishing. But the Almighty Him-
self steered the course of the vessel and brought it to the
help of the men upon the ice, drifting it to where the chill
raft had floated. They were all rescued, one of them
getting in to the hinder part of the ship, and a second
planting his foot into the middle round of the rope
ladder, while the third contrived to climb up by means
of a cable hanging from the stern. Most heartily did
they all render thanks to their heavenly Father, who
liad saved their lives. But the efforts made by the crew

^liiiong the Polar Hears.

to extricate themselves from their icy prison were not
yet successful, for though now and again there arose a
soft wind which appeared hkely to open for them a
passage, a keen south-easter from Siberia would soon
render their exertions fruitless, by filling up the mouth
of the bay with huge blocks of ice. ' We must leave all
to God and await His help,' wrote Hemskerk in his diary.
The last day of August arrived, a day of much
anxiety. AVith greater violence than ever came
the ice-blocks against the side of the ship, piling
themselves one upon another, till the vessel was raised
by their force full ten feet above the water. To
the sailors in their anguish a speedy death seemed
inevitable. But marvellous to relate, at the expiration
of about four hours, the ice disappeared of itself, and
they began to think the time for their return to their
own country had at length arrived. •

But God willed otherwise. The first of September
was a Sunday, and the captain and crew had divine
service on board, and prayed most fervently
to Him who heareth and answereth prayer. Their
petitions ivere answered, though not in the way they
had hoped. They thought to return to Holland im-
mediately, but had they attempted to do so they would
have perished in the winter ice of the Arctic Ocean,
and therefore God in His providence obliged them to
remain where they were for a time. They did not.

^1
•1

5>»

Among the Polar Bears.

^.■.

indeed, as yet discern His guiding hand, and had to
be awakened from their deceptive hopes by a great
alarm at the very time when they were praying. • Such
huge masses of ice collected round the ship, that they
found themselves compelled to abandon it and return
to Nova Zembla in a boat which they stored with pro-
visions. After the lapse of some hours, the ice
having partly disappeared, they p lid a visit to the ship,
but found it lying so much on one side that all hope
of reaching in it even the nearest Asiatic Coast, to say
nothing of their own country, had immediately to be
relinquished.

to
[at

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ley
Irn

ice

•pe
)ay
be

CHAPTER III.

A WINTER RESIDENCE IN NOV^A ZEM3LA.

HE first thing our voyagers did on landing
at Nova Zembla, was to construct, out of
an old sail-cloth, a tent, which they made
as habitable as possible, and in which
they laid up tools, weapons, and provisions. In
the meantime, some of the sailors, who set out to ex-
plore the country, discovered about three leagues
from the coast, a fresh -water river. On the bank of
this river lay some large trunks of drift wood, such as
is often found in the Arctic Ocean, and which,
probably had been drifted from the vast forests of
North America, where it is carried down by the great
rivers to the sea. On the sandy bed of the river they
also came upon traces of the reindeer or eland, but
did not catch sight of any of the animals themselves.
The drift wood appeared to them nothing less than a
God-send, for they would now be able to build them-
selves a log-house, and directly they joined their

Among the Polar Bears.

companions began its erection, fearing lest, if they
delayed, the wood might be snowed over, and anxious
to make certain of a warm shelter from the cold.
First of all, however, they made a sledge, and on it
an officer and five men, all armed with guns and
hatchets, placed themselves, each man also providing
himself with a sabre for fear of bears. These animals,
desperately ^hungry from the effect of the cold in
diminishing their provisions, could smell the Europeans
at a distance, and left them no peace day or night.
No sooner had the sailors commenced the work of
building than they had to wage a pretty tough combat
with these ferocious animals.

So enfeebled had the sailors become that the house
they were building proceeded but slowly, and many
of the shortening days had passed before it had risen
much above the snowy surface of the ground. The
cold, meanwhile, had become indescribably severe, the
men's hands froze upon their tools, and when one of
them forgot for a moment what he was doing and put
a nail in his mouth, he found his flesh and blood adher-
ing to it. In order to force into the frozen ground the
boards which they took from the ship's sides, they
tried to render them less stiff by firing them, but
without success. To add to their misfortunes they
lost the ship's carpenter, their most skilful helper in
the work. He died on the twenty-third of September.

Among the Polar Bears,

It sometimes pleases God to remove our most useful
friend just at the time when his aid and presence
appear most indispen^-.able, in order that we might
learn to place our entire trust in God.

Although the ship had been so severely injured by
the ice-blocks, our voyagers made use of it as a
temporary lodging place until such time as they had
finished building their log-hut. But now the northern
winter had fairly set in with all its severity. The sea
froze to the depth of many feet, while the snow drifted
so thickly, the wind blew so violently, and the tempera-
ture was so low, that no one could expose himself in
the open air without great danger. There was the
chance, also, of being smothered by the snow and then
immediately buried beneath it. Many such snowy
days had our explorers to spend in the cabin of their
vessel, smoky with the coal fires, which, however,
scarcely sufficed to keep the vital warmth in their
bodies. At last one day, when the severity of the
weather had a little mitigated, one man did venture
out to see what progress was being made with the
house. But death nearly met him in the form of a
Polar bear, which approached iiim through the soft
snow without being heard. The sailor ran as fast as
he could, but a somewhat ailing man was no match
for the strong animal, and would soon have been
overtaken had it not stopped to examine and

<)*>

Among the Polar Beam.

sniff at the carcase of another bear which had been
placed there as a trophy. This diversion gave the
pursued man time to get back to the ship, before any
one on board knew the danger he had incurred.

On October 12th, half the crew went into residence
in the log-hut. The cold had become so intense that
several casks of beer were frozen, while others which
had been secured with iron hoops burst. Great
exertion were necessary in order to bring the boat into
a place of safety.

In the first month of winter, one half of the sun's
disc was already above the horizon, and its sickly
yellow glimmer made the snow look like a vast
winding sheet, under which all nature appeared
to be sleeping the sleep of death, and which,
as the sun became*? gradually less and less visible,
seemed as if threatening to bury the voyagers beneath
its snowy mantle. So dark had it become that it was
now necessary to keep a lamp constantly burning, for
which purpose large use was made of melted bear's
fat. So cold was it that when the men drew their
feet to the fire in the hut they were not aware that the
soles of their stockings had got burnt till they per-
ceived it by the smell. The poor fellows began to
feel great apprehension as to their fate, and whether
they would ever get back to Europe in safety. Anxious
were the looks they cast upon one another, conveying

jiinong the Polar Bears.

more than words could have dune, the uneasiness
they felt. Their physical sufferings too, were some-
times extreme. One night, after they had, l)y dint o!
great exertion, succeeded in getting some coals out of
the ship, they became so warm as to be able to get
comfortably to bed, but they soon began to experience
such- a feeling of giddiness and stu[)efaction coming
over them that they could scarcely move. Two of
their number happily managed to get to the door,
which they burst open, and the rushing in of fresh air
and letting out of smoke, saved their lives.

The experience and i)ower of endurance possessed
by the captain, proved of immense help to his crew
in this hour of need. He was, indeed, a true
father to his men during this enforced residence in
the inhospitable north. As the ship had not been
provisioned for so long an absence, he had to be most
economical in eking out the fast diminishing stores.
Each man had dealt out to him as his daily ration,
four pounds of bread, (no longer good) with the
addition of some salt meat, while snow had to be
melted for them to drink. The contents of the wine
and beer casks were now completely frozen, and when
melted, were found to have lost their flavour. A
welcome change in their scanty bill of fare was from
time to time furnished by the flesh of the Arctic fox,
which they occasionally managed to snare. This

. Imoiiij the Polar Hears,

n^iiinil, sometimes also called the stone-fox, Is found
on the shores of the Arctic Ocean — it is about
twenty-two inches in length— not including the twelve
inches long tail. The short, thick head bears a
resem')lance to that of the dog, while the fur, generally
bluish-white, but occasionally of an ashen grey colour,
is much prized. One variety of this species, known
as 'the cross-f()\,' is tlistinguished by being marked
with a cross upjn the back and shoulders. Cunning
and fierce as is the Arctic fox, its small size prevents
its being a formidable antagonist, especially to me
accustomed to contend with the gigantic Polar bear,
liut hunting in that rigorous climate was no agreeable
pastime, each animal caught generally costing the
huntjr a pair of frost-bitten ears, and it took, more-
over, some time to become accustomed to fox flesh as
an article of food— but hunger is not fastidious. The
fur, too, was a great boon to men starved with cold —
the cloth they had brought from Holland to be sold
had boon divided among the crew, but wraps in
addition were indispensably necessary, and the skins
of the foxes and bears they had killed, were worn by
the men (who did not concern themselves whether it
was fashionable or no), with the hair inside. Our
Dutchmen in tliis dress must have looked rather
grotesque, especially as, owing to the smoky atmos-
phere in which they constantly lived, the fur became,
on the outside, perfectly bkick.

Among the Pulav Bears.

Notwithstanding all these precautions against the
cold, the tcMnperaturc was so low as to oblige the men
to keep constantly close to the fire. They employed
themselves as tailors, cooks, and furriers, until the
ever increasing cold put a stop to all employment,
except such as was absolutely indispensahle. The
great exertions these brave fellows had sustained
U[)on poor and scanty food, and the continued and
exhausting anxiety they endured, had, by the end
of November, worn out the strength of the most
vigorous among them. Kvery one complained of
feeling unwell, and some were seriously ill. The
surgeon recommen(L'd vapour baths, and for this
purpose an empty wine cask was converted into a
bathroom. By means of hot water poured into it, it
soon became filled with steam; the patient, creeping in
through the little door, was soon in a profuse perspira-
tion, and was then well rubbed, 'i'his mode of
treatment cured many of severe and obstinate dis-
orders; but fresh hardshii)s brought fresh illness.

l*y this time, too, their hut had become buried
under the drifted snow, so that for the sake of air as
well as in order to [)rocure the necessaries of life, a
tunnel and a staircase had to be dug out of the snow
into the daylight. This severe labour and the close
air they breathed, made many of the men ill again,
and it is scarcely to be wondered that some of them

Among the Polar Bears.

were so terribly disheartened as to think it scarcely
worth while to make any exertion for the purpose of
prolonging so wretched an existence a few days 'onger.
Owing to the cold the pendulum-clock stopped, and
the hour-glass had to be continually shaken. Watches
were at that time rare and costly, and it does not seem
that any of our Arctic voyagers possessed one.

On the sixth of December, the weather began to
improve a little, the sky became less cloudy, and
the moon and iXars were to be seen, enabling the men
better to take count of time, as well as cheering
their spirits. It was also an advantage that the
Northern Lights were very bright, shedding sufficient
light for them to work and even read by. But after-
wards it again became colder, and ro low did the
temperature fall that the Spanish wine, which had
hitherto served as a cordial for the sick, froze to ice,
and had to be dealt out in pieces by weight.

The men's shoes froze to their feet, and though
when brought to the fire they became soft again, the
sailors were sure, when they woke from sleep, to find
them covered with ice, and as hard as horn. They
were accustomed to wrap their feet when they retired to
rest in five or six pieces of fur, and Captain Hemskerk
set to work to manufacture fur shoes for his men.

Great, too, was the difficulty they encountered in
procuring fuel, and the men had in turn to become

Among the Polar Bears.

wood-cutters, fox-hunters, cooks, and stokers. The
deadly cold penetrated through the thickest fur wraps,
and any one who remained out of doors, was sure of
frost bites. A second time they were threatened with
suffocation from coal-smoke, and a second exit
through the snow-wall had to be effected with spade
and pick-axe, owing to the drifting snow havinij again
imprisoned them. The north wind blew with terrible
force, every one's head was white with hoarfrost and
vapour, and all hearts sunk to the lowest ebb of dis-
couragement. Some of the men cursed the day of
their setting out on the expedition, but the wiser
among them suffered in silence, confident that their
sighs and che mute utterances of their hearts would enter
into the ears of the merciful and loving Father of men.
Tl,e last day of the year 1596 was the saddest of all
In trouble and sorrow they retired to rest; with tears in
their eyes they fell asleep, and on the morning of
New Year's Day they awoke with an overpowering
sense of anxiety. The only gleam of hope in their
dark prospect arose from the knowledge that the
period of the sun's greatest distance was at length
over. And, in fact, on the thirteenth of January the
weather became sensibly milder. A soft west wind
came blowing over the fields of snow and ice, and the
men no longer ran the risk of being frozen to death
every time they stepped out of the block-house. Their

Among the Polar Bears.

house was at the same time becoming easier to vrarm,
and it was possible to ward off chilblains and frost-bites
without the aid of so large a number of wraps. In
order to exercise their limbs, which were beginning to
grow stiff and lame, the Dutchmen made a skittle
ground upon the snow.

As spring drew nearer one herald after another
announced its approach. The two first signs of its
coming, indeed, were by no means agreeable ones :
the Polar bears came nearer, and the foxes kept
away. But when, on the twenty-fourth of January,
Hemskerk and Barcndz went down to the shore, a far
more welcome indication of spring greeted their eyes ;
it was the blessed sun, which they had never sr jn since
the third of November, but which was once again begin-
ning to peep over the horizon. The captain went back
at once to his men to tell them the good news, but he
could not get them to believe him, and even Barendz
distrusted the evidence of his own senses, affirming
that it could not have been the sun they saw, because,
as he tried to prove from his knowledge of Astronomy
it would not l)c visible for another fortnight.
Hemskerk, however, preferred believing his own eyes
rather than the calculations of his pilot, and on the
twenty-seventh of January he proved to be in the right.
That day, however, was to bring an event less cheering
to the voyagers than the appearance of the sun. One

Among the Polar Bears.

of the sailors had sunk under his long protracted
hardships and sufferings, and was on this day laid to
resyt amid the snows of Nova Zembla, in a grave
they dug with much dit'liculty, and with prayers and
the singing of psalms. A short address was delivered
heside the new-made grave, and as they returned in sad-
ness to their temporary and inhospitable home, each
thought within himself, 'Who knows whether I may
not soon be carried to my grave.' But soon their
hearts began to exult with joy, for the sun, the glorious
sun, arose ; not merely showing part of his orb, but
in his full beauty, though but for a short time. Bright
as on the morning of the resurrection did he shine
upon the grave of their departed friend, bright also
into their dark hearts. Cries of joy echoed from the
snowy hills of that desolate region, and almost for-
getting the grave, they returned to tlie snow-house,
and in true Dutch fashion (tliough certainly a fashion
that strikes us as somewhat incongruous,) they spent the
rest of the day in skating and running races on the ice.
At the same time they were as yet far from having
reached the end of their troubles, for on the sixth of
February they found themselves buried under fresh
masses of snow. It is true that when the weather
became finer again and the sun shone, they felt some-
what warmer, but they were still unable to get the
frost melted from their beards and hair.

CHAPTER IV.

HOPES OF SPRING,

AND DEPARTURE
ZEMBLA.

FROM NOVA

was not until March that the day fully
broke in that desolate region, but on the
fourth of that month the sun rose six
degrees above the horizon. The sitk
men were now able, from time to time, to take a few
steps into the open air, and rejoiced that they were
permitted once more to behold the spring. Such of
them as were able to manage longer rambles were
gratified by a most delightful prospect. Far as the
eye could reach, they beheld a sea completely free
from ice. This glimpse was, no doubt, granted them
that they might not sink into despair ; but, alas ! on the
following morning they again beheld the ocean covered
with icy hills and valleys. It became as cold as ever,
and on the twelfth of March, the weather was as
terribly severe as on any day in the stormiest
December. Until the fourteenth of April, the cold
continued unabated, and in the meantime no other

Among the Polar Bears,

messenger of spring appeared for their consolation
than a solitary bird, which they saw diving in the
water, but to them it was as welcome a sight as was
that of the dove with the olive leaf to Noah, and
hungry, well nigh starving as they were, — for the daily
rations were becoming scantier and scantier, — they
could not find it in their hearts to kill it. At the
same time their contests with the bears had not ceased ;
one of these animals managed to get into the snow-
house over the roof and down the chimney, but
took itself off as quickly as it had come. When
on the fifteenth of April, some of the sailors paid a
visit to the ship, (which had long beeen forsaken by
thorn all) they found that it had been converted into
a barrack for bears, and that empty casks and other
utensils had been crushed by the huge creatures.

With the last day of April came full daylight ;
oven at midnight the sun shone with unbroken splen-
dour. The weather had now become beautiful, but
the ice had not yet begun to give way, and Captain
Hemskerk was not provided with sufficient food to
last his crew more than three weeks longer. The
ship had drifted away among the ice fields, and was
now as much as eight hundred paces from the Nova
Zombla shore, liable at any time to be carried yet
further away by the winds and waves. Those in
command felt it to be their bounden duty to endeavour

TT^

Among the Polar Bears,

to save, not only the crew, but, if possible, the ship
also, — and for this purpose they patiently awaited a
thaw. At Icngtli the captain saw that longer to wait
would be impossible, the crew were growing impatient,
the thaw had not come, and on the twentieth of May
he yielded to the urgent entreaties of his men, and
gave orders to prepare for departure. This order
revived the spirits of the sailors to energetic action, and
even the sick exerted their feeble strength to the utmost.
The two boats, large and small, were put in readi-
ness to convey the men across the sea, the ship being
so fast lodged in the ice that it appeared probable
she might never be extricated. They made haste
to get from on board everything they were likely
to require, using more especially every exertion to
dig the sloop, or larger boat, from under the snow ;
but the exhausted powers of the poor seamen were
inadequate for such severe labour as this required,
and although they worked hard at it for many days,
almost ready to weep from disappointment and
vexation, they saw there was nothing to be done
but to try and render the smaller boat seaworthy by
heightening its sides. Their hut which was already
doomed to be broken up, served to furnish materials
for this purpose. The work, however, came to a
r andstill for i time, owing to a fresh outbreak of
sickness among the men. The want of adequate

Among the Polar Beam.

provisions had rendered them imprudent in what they
ate, and among other things they roasted and partook
of the liver of a bear they had killed. The last
morsels of this singular dish were scarcely in the
sailor's mouths when they all begun to feel ill, and the
captain threw away what was yet left of the unwhole-
some dainty. Three, however, of those who had
eaten it became dangerously ill, and among other
painful effects it caused the skin to peel off from head
to foot. They all recovered, however, without having
recourse to any medicine.

Meantime, June had arrived. The ship was
thoroughly ransacked, every nook and corner, carefully
searched in the hope that perhaps some articles of
food might still be left, and when, at length, they did
manage to discover a small cask of salt fish, every
one heartily thanked God. The cargo was carefully
secured, but in the way of provisions nothing more
was now left but thirteen casks of ship biscuits and
one keg of wine, frozen to perhaps ten degrees of
frost. At length the boat was made ready, and to
every one's delight, the sloop was got out of the ice,
but to steer both these small craft along the edge of
he uneven ice was a task requiring such exertions,
that had it not been for the untiring patience and in-
exhaustible courage which God had given these men,

they would have sunk under it.

vimottg the Polar Bears.

■ The long-looked for day of departure arrived but
to damp their satisfaction Barendz, the pilot, a man
whose endurance, and wisdom, and experience, had
rendered invaluable service to both captain and crew,
became so seriously ill that he had to be taken on
board in a sledge. Another sailor was also ill. Three
papers were drawn up containing the names of the
crew, with a short account of the hardships they had
undergone, and the reasons for their return without
fulfilling the object for which they had embarked on
their expedition. These lists were written out and
enclosed in boxes or flasks, one of them being placed
in each boat, and the third in the chimney of the
block-house for the information of such as at any
future time, might chance to come there.

On the fourteenth of June, just ten months from
the time of their leaving Amsterdam, both vessels put
to sea. * With God,' Hemskerk had written in his
diary, * did we set forth on our voyage full of cheerful-
ness and contentment.' But what a voyage was
before them. At least eight hundred leagues to be
traversed amid the storms of the Arctic Ocean in two
miserable boats, by voyagers already weakened by ill-
health and privations of all kinds. But God had
prepared better things for them.

The same route was followed on this return voyage
which had been taken on their way out. They doubled

Ainong the Polar Bears.

the northernmost point of Nova Zembla, and on the
same evening reached the promontory ^■hich they named
* Cape Hemskerk.* It was a spot ever memorable to
the Dutch sailors, as it was there that they had first
begun to suffer the hardships they had been so long
experiencing, and which, happily were over now. At
least they were not again to endure them to the same
extent. On the third day of their homeward voyage
they landed on an island to which they gave the name
of 'Orange,' (the royal title of Holland), and here
they found a most welcome change of diet, both for
the sick and the healthy, in the shape of sea birds and
their eggs ; food as nourishing as it proved palatable.
Ten more leagues brought them to the Ice Cape,
where Barendz seemed to revive a little, though he
knew that he was looking for the last time at the
dreary part of the world he had so often visited before.
On the eighteenth of June, after they had come
about sixty miles, some of the men were obliged to
land for the purpose of repairing one of the boats
which had become leaky. * God providentially en-
abled us to find some wood,' Hemskerk wrote in his
journal, and with it they were able to fill up the fissures,
with the tar they melted for caulking. For some days
longer they had to sail between icebergs, and on one
occasion it was only the presence of mind of one of
the sailors which saved one of the boats from destruc-

Among the Polar Bears,

tion. Holding in his hand one end of a stout rope,
he sprang from one block of ire to another, till the
rope, and with it the boat, could be fastened to a large
iceberg, in the shelter of which it was able to proceed
safely, spite of the violent current which was hurrying
it along. It was an anxious voyage to perform in so
small and crazy a craft through the wastes of ocean
and the crashing ice. God enabled many of the men,
however, to keep up their hope and courage to a
wonderful extent, and the example of these had upon
the minds of the others the effect of spring, rain, and
sunshine upon drooping flowers. Their very expres-
sion of countenance, cheerful and bright in the midst
of all they had to endure, shamed the more timid and
downcast, and so joyfully and confidingly did they
praise the mercy of God that the most desponding of
the crew took courage to endure all and dare all.

Barendz was not the only person of the party who
was sick unto death. Andris, one of the seamen,
lay worn and emaciated, but patient as a lamb, rock-
ing in the rough sea-cradle, and frequently did he
speak of his approaching departure. Barendz him-
self was in the other boat, friendly and heart-cheering
were the messages he sent to hi^- dying mess-mate,
adding to his farewell the words * It will not last much
longer with me, either.'

And so out of the floods and deep waters of misery,

t
r
f
h
v
ti

Anwivg the Polar Bears.

did Andris ascend to the peaceful shores of the
everlasting home. Harendz lingered for a short time
longer. Knowing that he himself was to arrive at the
end of the toilsome voyage so much before the others,
he endeavoured to trace upon a chart which lay before
hiin, the further route his companions should take.
He then asked for something to drink, but immediately
afterwards fell into convulsions, and when they had
passed off, he slept peacefully away. >Vith many
tears the survivors gathered round his remains and
reverently committed them to that unknown sea,
which several times traversed ijy him before, was thus
destined to be his grave.

After having, with considerable ditificulty, Igot the
boats across the vast fields of ice (the two vessels
losing sight of one another on the stormy waters
between the ice-masses), Hemskerk and his men at
length found themselves in safety at their former
landing place. From thence, on the twenty-second
of June, they again set sail, and being favoured by
wind and weather, they hoped to reach Cape Nassau
the same day, but God willed otherwise. They
managed to get within a few leagues of the Cape, but
found it impossible to land, owing to the enormous
heaps of ice which lay piled up around it, and to a
violent storm which arose, and which lasted all night,
tearing their sails, and setting at naught all the cal-

Among the Polar Bears,

culations and exertions of the now exhausted sailors.
In their mortal anguish these poor fellows could only
sigh and pray, but their prayers were heard, for He
who calmed the wind and waves on the sea of Galilee
did the same on the Arctic Ocean now, and saved
their lives from destruction. As they coasted the
shores of this frozen sea they came in sight of enor-
mous herds of walrusses. These animals measure
from eighteen to twenty feet in length, the skin alone
being some four hundred pounds in weight. In the
under jaw they have two tusks turned downwards, about
two feet long, and weighing several pounds, which
yield a beautiful species of ivory. The flesh of the
young is eaten, the old ones are generally caught for
the train oil they yield. The walrusses are dangerous
to Polar bears, and are courageous enough to attack
whales with great ferocity, that is to say when they
are asleep. Our Dutchmen did not venture to
attack them, but a couple of shots brought down a
dozen sea- fowl, which procured for tliem just the
nourishing food which they were at the time especially
needing. Their boat had again become leaky, and
had to be repaired afresh, for which purpose they
unloaded it and drew it up to an ice-field, while the
exhausted sailors laid themselves down to rest under
the shelter of a sail. But they had not long enjoyed
their much-needed repose ere they were awakened by

Jlmong the Polar Hears.

3i)

a cry from one of their companions, * Three I'ular
hears ! ' ( Juns were speedily loaded, and in a minute's
time one of the three bears lay prostrate at their feet.
The two others managed to escape, but returned at
the same hour of the following day, when they threw
themselves upon the body of their former companion,
which they dragged, heavy as was its weight, over the
sharp peaks of ice, and then devoured hair and skin,
every part being eaten. In these circumstances
dawned the first day of July on our voyagers. A
milder and softer air was all that told of summer, and
even this change, welcome as it might have seemed,
brought them, during the night of the first of July,
nearer to destruction than all the furious storms of
winter had done. The island of ice on whi<:h they
had landed their damaged vessel, brc ke to pieces
under the thaw, and floated away in huge fragments.
One of the boats, in which a sick sailor was lying
fell into the water, while on the other side the money
chest, two casks of bread, and a chest full of weapons,
mathematical instruments, so necessary in navigation,
all sank in the dark abyss.

In one place there was a cry for the wine keg, while
in another the thirsty might be seen eagerly gulping
down the bitter sea water. The fine cloth and other
valuable wares from Holland lay strewn upon the
water and on the neighbouring icebergs, as if upon a

Among the Polar Bears.

Jew dealer's booth, and old ocean took them off, not
only without paying, but with a threat that he
would devour any venturesome sailor who put forth
his hand to rescue the property.

But by God's mercy the boat on board which the
invalid was lying, was saved, and the voyagers, weaker
in l)ody, poorer in goods and provisions, and with
diminished courage and dimmed hopes, had again to
seek some shore to encamp on. They found in time
a place of shelter, but it was a perilous one. The
men were vet through, and terribly short of provisions,
so much so that bread had now to be dealt out to the
starving men by ounces. On the fifth they lost
another of their number, Zoon, the sick sailor of
whom we have already spoken, and who was related
to Andris, the other man who had died.

On the ninth of July, they found themselves able
to leave their camping place, but they were obliged to
drag their boat, with much difficulty, more thr.n three
thousand paces over the ice, and when they imagined
themselves to have reached the open water, they found
themselves upon another ice-field, upon which as on
a raft, boat, sailors and cargo floated across the sea,
happily, in the direction they wished to take. The
same thing befel them again on the following day,
when, for a second time, they were obliged, after a short
voyage in open water, o unload upon an ice-field.

'i'

FIGHT WITH BEARS (pa^e 42J.

Among the Polar Bears.

On the eleventh of the month, these much-tired men
arrived at Cross Island, but in vain did they look out
over sea and land from a lofty eminence, in the hope
of catching sight of some ship that might chance to
pass here in summer. Among the cliffs of the island,
however, they made a most fortunate discovery, namely
a quantity of sea-fowls' nests, out of which they
collected u large store of eggs. One of the sailors
drew off his long trousers, fastened the legs together,
and filled them with eggs to the number oi" seventy,
two men carrying this singular egg basket to the boat
upon a stick. The last of the wine was now divided
between the men, and they were all regaled on this
(suppobwJ to be) strengthening repast. They kept
the day as a sort of holiday, enjoying 'le unwonted
feast, and glad of the rest, enforced though it was, for
until the nineteenth of the month they were prevented
by ice and storms from proceeding further on their
way. Part of their idle time was spent in looking for
crvstals, and so fine were the specimens they found,
that some of the men persuaded themselves that they
had found diamonds. They also had the excitement
of another encounter with bears.

CHAPTER V.

SHIPS AT LAST, BUT NO GOOD SAMARITANS ON BOARD.

O the great delight of Captain Hemskerk
and his men they at length succeeded in
reaching the open sea, and found them-
selves able to continue their voyage.
Another ice-field, six hundred feet wide, had, indeed
to be passed, but a favourable wind soon carried them
to Admiral's Isle and its neighbouring headlands.
Here they managed to secure as many as one hundred
and twenty sea-fowl, some with the hand, some by
thro'' 'n<^ 'tones at them. On the twenty-fifth of the
monn t.i T'leir great delight they saw in St. Laurence
roadsteacis, :wo ships lying at anchor on the desert
coast. ' We are saved ! God has sent us help ! ' they
thought, and uiih the last remains of strength their
weakened arms possessed they rov/ed to shore. There
approached them from the land as many as thirty
Rusi^ian sailors, no very encouraging sight to the
Dutchmen, who knew that the Russians saw with no

Among the Polar Bears.

favourable eyes the advance of the Dutch commerce
in the north. However, they were permitted to land
without opposition and the representatives of the two
nations approached one another, touching their caps
amid many courteous gesticulations. But neither
understood the language of the other, and signs were
their only mode of testifying friendliness. But the
Russian commander touched Hemskerk on the shoul-
der in a familiar manner, ' the two captains
recollected that they had met .wany years before in
these same Polar regions. The Russians gave the
Dutchmen some brandy, but it was very bad, and to
their questions about the direction in which they
should steer their vessel, they merely replied with
another question ' Krabble ! Krabble ! ' (your ship).
When it was explained to them by signs that the ship
was sunk in the Polar Sea, their sole reply was
* Krabble propal,' (ship is lost.) But Hemskerk and
his men were not satisfied with this sort of attempted
conversation, when they were in a starving condition
and beginning to suffer from scurvy, so they put
their hands to their mouths. The scurvy is a com-
plaint which is apt to show itself in damp localities,
especially on the sea-coast and in the Polar regions,
and is a disease that frequently attacks sailors. The
gums become covered with burning spots, the teeth
decay and fall out, extreme weakness, breathless-

Among the Polar Bears.

ness, pains in the limbs, haemorrhage, and at last
swellings all over ^he body, and powerlessness in all
the limbs, are the symptoms that follow, and if want
of proper remedies or bad food cause the disease
to proceed unchecked, death is the result. But God
in His providence has so ordered, that in the cold
climates where this disease is especially violent, an
infallible remedy is to be found for it in the shape of
a plant called the cochlearia. Failing this, mustard,
radishes, cresses, the acid of lemons, and vinegar, are
good remedies. The Russians, however, did not
understand what it was their guests wanted, they had
no idea they were ill, (though their faces testified
plainly to it,) and only thought they were hungry.
They brought them a loaf but it was perfectly stale,
as hard and as coarse as sand, and great was the tor-
ture it caused to the mouths of the sick men. The
Russians perceiving this, then softened some meal
and bread in water for the Dutchmen, but this food
proved not much better than the other, and tasted
like bookbinders' size. Nevertheless, the hungry
voyagers thanked God for this poor provision with
heart-felt gratitude, feeling as thankful for it as do
those who in hotels or palaces sit down to splendid
repasts. But the Russians did nothing more for them,
and they had to sail away without gaining any more
information as to the route they ought to take. Thus

Among the Polar Bears.

does it often happen th»it those very things on which
we have built most hope deceive us.

The Russians steering their course in the direction
of Waigatsch, Hemskerk followed them, in hopes of
finding the way, by so doing, to some place already
known to his crew. But a thick fog hanging over the
sea, the Russians were soon out of sight, and the
Dutch sailors found themselves on the third day sail-
ing in unknown waters. As they proceeded hunger
and scurvy increased, while their strength and their
store of provisions daily diminished. Hour by hour
death seemed to be stealthily approaching nearer to
them, but * the Lord's hand is not shortened that it
cannot save.' On the third of August the southern-
most point of Nova Zembla came in sight, and though
nothing was to be procured to eat there, they found
a good deal of cochlearia, that health-giving herb,
which the whole crew devoured with loud and hearty
thanksgivings, and through God's blessing upon which
they all speedily recovered. In the meantime they
steered past the island of Waigatsch towards the
mainland, which they reached on the following day.
Here again they found the healing plant, and this
second curative process completely restored them to
health. But with their delight at recovered strength
mingled anxiety as to how to procure the means of
life, for all their bread had become mouldy. Two

Among the Polar Bears.

ounces of ship-biscuita day, with water from melted
snow could do but little to appease their gnawing
hunger. And as they continued their voyage, ice was
still everywhere to be seen, though it was the month
of August.

As well as they could in their exhausted con-
dition, they rowed forward, but after making forty
leagues they did not reach land, and had already
begun to despair, when at last a low-lying shore
became visible. It was, however, a place where
to land would have been impossible, and they were
obliged to sail past it. But just at the edge of the
horizon, where sea and sky appeared to be touching,
they thought they beheld something in motion and
drawing nearer and nearer to them. The Dutchmen
steered towards this object, and discovered it to be a
Russian ship. Hemskerk did not as yet exactly know
his whereabouts, but hoped that at least he was not
far from Kanin Noss, the north-western cape of the
peninsula of Kanin, which lay between Iseheskaja
Bay and the White Sea. In a loud voice he called
out to the Russians as they sailed past, * Kanin
Noss? Kanin Noss?' but their answer was
* Petschora ' (the name of a spacious bay at the south
of Nova Zembla). Their thougl ts travelled much
further than did the boat, and the most dangerous
part of their voyage seemed to be still before them.

Amnnri the Polar Bears.

The Russian, whose answer * Pctschora ' had so
alarmed them, did, indeed, indicate to them which
way they ought to have taken, but then coolly left
them to their fate.

Following the direction indicated by the compass,
the voyagers continued their way, but soon discovered
that they were taking a wrong course. The needle of
the compass was carefully examined, but not the
slightest defect was to be found in it. At last, how-
ever, it was discovered that by accident the needle
had been placed upon a chest fastened with iron
clasps, and that these had drawn the needle slightly
sideways from the north. This apparently trifling
circumstance had proved sufficient to lead them
wrong, for while they were intending to go south-west
they were really taking a northerly direction. Wander-
ing over the sea in the darkness of night, tossed to and
fro by the waves, and still more so by a multitude of
terrible apprehensions, the unfortunate men found
themselves in a condition that tempted them to des-
pair. But they knew the feeling was a temptation, and
leaned with all their might upon the invisible Helper.

At the dawn of day the sailors again took to their
oars. They sighted some land, the shores of which
were clothed in green, but they found nothing growing
on it which could supply their wants. They were
prevented, too, by violent winds from getting out of

Amuiiij the I'ular Dears.

[

the l)ay in which they had landrd, the waves perpetu-
ally driving them back. Strength, ho[)e, and courage
forsook the hearts of the strongest among them, even
as the oars slipped out of their hands, and when at
last the wild waves of the sea helped them out of the
bay, there was rain falling from the sky, water in the
boat, lack of necessary food, failing strength, above
all, failing faith, for their misery and distress had
reached such a point that many of them wished them-
selves dead.

When at night we lay ourselves down in a good bed
in a comfortable room, after having all day long en-
joyed the various gifts of Providence, we should not
forget, as we express our gratitude for our own
happy lot, to lift up a prayer for those who, amid
the storms of the sea and of life, have to struggle
with suffering, want, and anxiety. We should never
forget that we enjoy an easier lot, a more com-
fortable existence, not because we deserve it, but
owing to His grace and goodness who ' hath not dealt
with us after our sins,' and Whose will is that we
should ever be mindful in our prosperity of those who
are less highly favoured.

Just when some of the crew were beginning to
reproach God by saying, * He has forgotten us,' He
was about to interpose for their rescue. A ship, with
all her sails set, came towards the disheartened

Amuny the Volar Bears.

voyagers. Every heart now beat with expectation, as
they hailed the coming rescuers, on hoard whose sliip
Hemskerk went imniediatey. They were also
Russians, and their knowledge of the Dutch language
does not seem to have been much more extensive
than that of their countrymen whom he iiad previously
met, for they only answered his (piestions by signs.
In reply to Hemskerk's en([uiry ' Kanin Noss,' each
of the Russians held out five fingers. What could this
l)ossibly mean ? It seemed utterly incomprehensible,
and Hemskerk was about to leave the ship when his
eyes lighted upon a cask of fish. With one hand he
pointed to it, and with the other showed the Russians
some money. This universal language opened their
hearts at once, the chink and glitter of his Dutch
ducats spoke with more force to their imaginations
than did the sight of men whose appearance bore un-
mistakable evidence of the misery and hardships they
had undergone. Such love of money is not unusual
in others beside Russians, and it is not only in the far
north, nor in the hot south alone, that the heart is
kindled into warmth by the sight of gold.

It was with great delight that Hemskerk brought
back to his starving crew some hundreds of delicious
fish, nor wojld it be possible to estimate the boon
this proved to these starving men, who, amid all their
hard work and pressing anxiety had, during the previous

tlinoiKj the Polar Hears.

r>i

twenty-f.)ur hours tasted nothinj^ Ijcyotul four ounces
of six niontlis-oUl biscuit, washed down wiili a scanty
allowance of water. Cheered ui) and strengthened,
they proceeded on their way, and on the following
day they again sighted land, a wild shore ui)on which
lay a stranded ship, with a house and an oven close
beside it, both empty. They sailed along the pro-
jecting shore which bended towards the south, and
supposed that they would soon be in the White Sea.
In the middle of the night, howe\'er, there arose a
violent storm, in which the two little vessels became
separated from each other. Hemskerk and those on
board his boat gave u[)the slooi) for lost ; both, however,
were saved, and every one on board exclaimed, —

* If those in the other boat are still alive, ',<c nuist
hope that the day when we are rescued will bring us
all together again.'

The men on board the smaller boat met in the
meantime six more Russian ships, from the crews of
which they gained the unwelcome tidings that they
had not yet reached the peninsula of Kan in, to say
nothing of its northernmost point, and they denied
the possibility of their being able to get through the
White Sea, so ill-provisioned as they were, and in so
miserable a vessel. In spite of this the Russians had
not sufficient humanity to invite the poor fellows on
board their ships — even bread had to be begged for
by the starving Dutchmen.

CHAPTER VI.

'IRIKNDS IN NEED AKL 1 UIKNDS INDEED.*

N the 1 6th of August the smaller boat, now
separated from the sloop, was lying in a
bay, apparently on the north side of the
peninsula of Kanin, but before her arrival
those whom Ood had designed to be the
guides of her crew were already there. They, too,
were Russians, but unlike those whom they had pre-
viously met, proved to be true friends. Hems-
kerk, still under the delusion that they were already
upon the White Sea, enquired if they were nearing
Kildnin, but the only response he met was a dis-
couraging shake of the head. He bought some fish
of the Russians, but went away from them anxious and
down-hearted, and, with his crew, arrived at the deter-
mination of striking out a path according to their own
Judgment. But as soon as the kind Russians per-
ceived that the Dutchmen were rowing in a wrong
direction, they sent out at once from the ship a boat

-•"-t.

t'fjnotig the l*<tUir Beam.

with the sailors on hoard, to su[)ply thcni witli hrcad
and show them the right way. They gave them the
bread first, as if they wished, by a kind deed, to earn
the right of turning them aside from their wrong course.
It was not till after much persuasion that Hemskerk
and his men allowed themselves to be set right. The
captain gave the Russian sailors some money and
linen cloth for their trouble, and wanted to send
them away ; but these brave fellows had nobler ideas
on the subject, and begged, with every gesture of
entreaty, that Hemskerk would return to them with
his boat. They accepted the invitation, and the hos-
pitaljle foreigners again and again handed to them
down the ship's side meat and other provisions.
Comi)ass and charts had to take the place of words,
the two crews being ignorant of one another's lang-
uage. Hemskerk and his men discovered, however,
that they were only now beginning to have the White
Sea before them. But the White Sea is, in point of
fact, only a vast bay in the Arctic Ocean, and, owing
to the strong current prevailing at the Pole, the irre-
gularity of ebb and flow, and the periodical winds,
is very stormy and difficult to navigate. Even large
ships have been driven about and thrown out of
their course on this voyage ; how then could so mise-
rable a craft as this poor little boat live in such a sea ?
How could Hemskerk venture upon such a voyage

Among the PoJav Bears.

when he had not even provisions, except of the very
scantiest ? This latter difficulty, however, he managed
to overcome, by purchasing victuals from the kind-
hearted Russians, but other troubles pressed suffi-
ciently hard upon him from the dangers that still lay
before him and the loss of so many of his companions.

On the 17th of August the hearts of the Dutch
sailors were again cheered by the sight of friendly
Russians. Like those whom they had just parted
with, however, these men could only talk with their
fingers, but this time with two more, for they kept
holding up seven fingers, and, at the same time point-
ing to the bont. Hemskerk's men kept guessing first
one thing and then another as to what this could mean.
The Russians then produced a compass, which the
Dutchmen immediately recognised as the same which
their seven mess-mates had had with them on board
the sloop. They must, therefore, have fall ^n in with
the Russian sailors, and were consequently themselves
somewhere to be met with. Thus another weight
was lifted from the hearts of Her'skerk and his com-
panions.

On the following day the longsought-for Kanin
Noss was reached — at least, it lay but a short distance
off. On the steep cliiT which rose before them, five
crosses were standing. The Russians, wher. ques-
tioned respecting this locality, had held out two fingers*

THE VOYAGERS PUT INTO A BAY (page ^6).

Among the Folur Bears,

and our voyagers, by this time quite accustomed to
the language of signs, understood this, and knew that
there lay before them a dangerous voyage across the
White Sea. Their minds, depressed by the discom-
forts they had already endured, becjan sadly and dis-
trustfully to anticipate new misfortunes. But, strange
to say, they were able, within the space of thirty hours,
to traverse as much as eighty leagues over the White
Sea without the least hindrance from violent winds, or
the strong high waves their open boat had previously
encountered. And thus it is that a kind and watchful
Providence rebukes, not by harshness, but by mercy,
our distrustful anxieties.

The northern coast of Lapland was now soon
reached, and the voyagers put in to a bay, and found
that, without knowing it, they had reached what was
a most suitable place for landing. Some crosses and
casks served as guiding posts to the best place for
getting on shore between the rocks, and some kindly,
good-natured Russian fishermen were ready with offers
of hospitality.

These men, fifteen in number (two of them being
in a position of command over the others) subsisted
entirely upon the ocean's larder, dried fish serving
them for bread, and fish having also to take the place
of butcher's meat, poultry, eggs, vegetables, fruit, pud-
dings, and pastry.

Among the Polar Bears.

Two poor Laplanders, who accompanied these men
in the capacity of servants, had no other food than
the heads of the fish which their masters threw to
them ; but the gratitude of the poor creatures for this
miserable fare, so contemptuously bestowed on them,
might shame thousands of Christians, who every day
of their lives, without prayer or thanksgiving, abuse

God's good gifts.

These men, from whom Hemskerk experienced
more kindness than he had met with during his whole
voyage, set before the Dutchmen the best food they
had to give, dried their dripping clo.hes, and brought
them into well-warmed rooms.

■f'Xi-*-.

CHAPTER VII.

ftl E E T I N G A C; A I N .

N order to obtain the health-])ringing
cochlearia our voyagers went inland, and
while there espied, upon a steep rising-
ground, some men who were evidently
trying to descend from the rock, appa-
rently a feat neither easy nor safe. So strangely muf-
fled up were they in furs and various kinds of wraps
that recognition seemed impossible in such disguise,
especially at a distance. Two of them however, ran
down to the boat that was moored ' > the share, and
on reaching it gave such cries of delight as of merb
bereft of their senses. They proved to be two of the
party belonging to the sloop which, on the nigh-, of
the tempest, had been separated from the other boat.
In describing their adventures they related how
they had been wrecked on the opposite side of the
narrow coast; had endeavoured to barter some of
their numerous furs and other wraps Yor provisions ;
had espied the Russian ships after they had succ'cded
in scaling the rock, and had at length[^recognised^ from

Among the Polar Bears.

thence the little boat of their companions, whom they
had so long believed to be lost.

Great was the rejoicing on both sides, each wishing
to be the first to announce to the other the dan<i;ers
they had gone through, and the wonderful help which
God had sent them, On the folio ving day quite a
festival w\is held on board Captain Hemskerk's ship,,
wrh the rescue.! ones and his other men. The Rus-
siar\ commander, too, though unable to understand
a word that was said, rejoiced with them and did all
in his power to supply the needs of the Dutchmen.

On the 24th of August they again made for the
open sea, the kindly Russians having given them so ne
gunpowder as a parting gift. At ' the Seven Islands ^
Hemskerk enquired of some fishermen how they could
get past Kildnin, and were glad to find, from their
answers, that they were on the right tack. The
fishermen, for corroboration of their statement, throw-
ing a fine large dried codfish into the boat. At the
last island of the group the boat stopped, and when
the islanders, making use of the Russ word 'crabble,''
'ship,' enquired concerning the other vessel, the reply
made was * Grabble propal ' (the ship is lost). These
two words, which during this voyage our friends had
learnt from the Russians, proved, through God's pro-
vidence, the means of saving their lives, for the
fishermen called to them in reply, ' Kola Brabant
Grabble ' (at Kola there is a ship of Brabant, />., Hol-
land).

Welcome, indeed, was this intelligence ; it was more

Among the rolar Bears.

than either Hemskerk or any of his men had dared
even to hope. And when, on the following day, they
had succeeded in actually effecting a landing on the
Island of Kildnin, they were again received with the
exclamation, ' Kola Brabant crabble.' .

However, as the political relations between Holland
and Russia were at that time somewhat disturbed,
Hemskerk determined that he would not put into any
Russian port, but would make for the Danish har-
bour of Oardoshus, in Northern Norway. Seldom,
however, do men take the shortest way out of
trouble, either temporal or spiritual — self-will inducing
them to some circuitous course of their own devising.
Such was the case on this occasion. Hemskerk and
his crew steered, not according to the directions they
had received, but straight for the mouth of the Kola
river. Scarcely had they started, however, before
their vessel was caught in a violent storm, and forced
back again to the shore. Though it was not of their
own will, they returned. They thanked God for their
preservation, and disembarked, climbing up the steep
shore, and, getting under the shelter of a projecting
rock, like children who know they have been naughty
and try to hide from fear of punishment. But the
sight, first of a dog, then of a cottage, and after that
of three Russians, brought comfort to their hearts by
proving them to be in an inhabited part of the island, and
they found that in the rude huts of the poor Russian
settlers there dwelt virtues not always to be found in
the elegant mansion or the splendid palace— hospi-
tality, true sympathy, cordial friendship. Here also

Among the Polar Bcftrs.

they were met with the exclamation, ' Kola Brabant
Grabble.'

The Russians being themselves unable to quit
their posts, despatched a Lapp to show one of the
sailors the way to Kola. W^hile these two were
speeding on their way the two vessels were, to avoid
danger from the storm to crew and cargo, drawn up
against the shore.

On the third day, as after anxious waiting, two of
the crew were on a rising ground looking out, and
trying to find out whether their companion and the
Lapp had returned, they caught sight of the latter
running towards them and perceived that he had a
letter in his hand. He had spent forty-eight hours
with the Dutchman, whose exhausted po\» jrs were
scarce equal to the exertion of this long expedition,
but had accomplished the return voyage in a much
shorter space of time and had managed to shoot a
partridge. Further intelligence — for which the good-
natured Lapp had not sufficient Dutch at his com-
mand to convey— was given in the letter, which he
handed to Hemskerk. The captain read it aloud to
his men, who, unused to correspondence, were greatly
astonished at their own language in written words,
and surprised at the expressions of joy it contained.
The main topic of the letter was astonishment at
hearing that Hemskerk and his men, so long supposed
to be dead, were still alive and shoitly coming to their
help. The letter concluded with the words — 'Truly
yours, J. K. Ryp.'

*Who can this be?' was the surprised exclamation.

Among the Polar Bears.

•* Surely not tiie pilot Ryp, who came with us from
Holland, and with his ship parted from us at Spitz-
hergen. Impossible, for he must have long ago died of
his hardships, as he went furthernortheyen than we did.'

But it so happened that Hemskerk possessed some
handwriting of this Ryp— a letter the pilot had
written to him before—and, by comparing the two,
and seeing the writing in both to be exactly alike, he
felt convinced that the man he had believed dead was
5till alive.

' Yes, it is his own handwriting. He is still living,'
he exclaimed, in a tone of the greatest delight. The
men shouted for joy, and the Laplander was richly
rewarded.

On the following morning, that of the 30th of
August, while the whole ship's company were still
gazing in eager hopeful expectation towards the sea
and the River Kola, they saw a barcjue gliding
towards them down-stream. She lay to, and several
men disembarked, shouting for joy. The poor sailors
had been so long accustomed to trouble that they
could scarcely bring themselves to believe that these
shouts and this gladness could have anything to do
with them, but the new-comers rushed with open arms
to their astonished messmates. Yes, it was Cor-
nelius Ryp himself waiting in readiness to meet his
companions and bear them home safely to their
native land. Never could he have deemed it possible
that Providence had chosen him to be their deliverer.
Hemskerk said in his diary, * It seemed to us all as if
■we had been raised from the dead.'

.Invoiiij the Volar Bears.

Ryi) had brought plenty of provisions witli liiin,
and, at a cheerful meal, they united together to thank
God heartily for all His goodness. With gifts and
warm exi)ressions of gratitude they took leave of the
kind Russians, and, on the 2nd of Sei)teml)er, reached
Kola safely on hoard Ryp's vessel, eagerly awaited and
welcomed with great delight by the other sailors.

The two damaged boats were willingly accepted
by the officials stationed there, to be kei)t in the
warehouse as curiosities, which indeed they were, for
they had been Clod's instruments for bringing them
more than eight hundred leagues across the Arctic
Ocean and the White Sea.

On the iSth of September all the collected remnants
of Hemskerk's crew set out from Kola for their native
shores in a good, well-provisioned ship. At the end
of October, 1597, after a prosperous voyage, they
safely reached Amsterdam harbour.

Thus ended one of the earliest voyages of discovery
undertaken from Western Europe to the Arctic regions
of the far North-east. The sight of the crew, in the
fur garments and caps they had brought from Nova
Zenibla, excited universal interest. Large wages were
paid them for the trying service in which they had
])een engaged ; and they were glaa, after all they had
gone through, and the effect it had had upon their
constitution in the form of frost-bitten limbs and im-
paired health, to bid farewell to the hard life of the
mariner. Every one was anxious to see them, and
the richest and most distinguished people invited
them to their tables in order to hear from their own

Aiui)ii{f the J*<)/(ir licdrs.

lips their thrilling adventures. And many were stirred
up, by their simple unadorned tale, tu admire and
praise more than they had ever before done the
power, wisdom, and love of (iod, and were encouraged
to put in Him their hope and confidence. And you,
too, my young readers, you have before you a long
and dangerous voyage— I mean the voyage of life.
You do not know how long it will last, when and
where the end will be, nor what will occur during its
course. May you learn from this true history that
(iod is strong enough to order all our ways according
to His will, and that this will of (Iod alone is holy,
wise, and good. So may you, like the voyagers in our
story, recognise, through the long windings of your
course, the love and grace of Him who is training you
for heaven.

And just as the Russian sailors in the far north
erected here and there, upon islands and promontories,
crosses to :>erve as guides, to enable them to find
their way over that stormy sea, so, before your eyes
rises that , Cross upon which died the only One who
perfectly lulfilled the will of His heavenly Father, and
by whose life and death we urc saved.

O then, receive Him into your ship as did the
fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, and let His holy
Word be your chart and compass, and so He will
bring you to the desired haven. Through all the
storms and waves of life's voyage He will bear you
safely to ycur everlasting home, to your heavenly
fatherland where the voyage of life will at length find
a good and blessed

END

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♦