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This masterpiece of Hendrik Tollens had long since been translated into French by the accomplished BelX !!!::i!!!:!!!^!^^ translation has go^ ologie d- Athfines, Chevalier des O dres detS N. r"'.' •'' ^'^^"^ '' "' Arch6- Chenc. Quatri6me Edition. Ut echt 'g ^^"'^"''^' ^«' ^e la Couronnc de Vin THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMJiLA, through several editions in Holland alnnc, having been prefaced with an historical introduction rendered from the historian Van Kanipen's account of the third voyage of Barents, in his " (lesrhiedenis der Nederlanders lUiiten Kuropa." Likewise an anonymous English trans- l.itioii (a translation barbarously literal, and to which Mr. Lindau alludes) was printed in Holland in r.S6o. The manifest inferiority of the latter, however, served but to incite mc the more to become, if possible, instrumental in giving to the public something fairly worthy of the original. Having many a time taken from the shelves of the British Museum Reading-Room Longfellow's " Poets and I'oetry of Euroi)e," in which there are some speci- mens from the Hutch poets, I came at length to asso- ciate with ////// the possible performance of this task, as one of whose competence there could be no doubt, if he could but be got to interest himself in the matter ; while on the other hand no i)oet in our language was more be- loved of Hollanders. To this end, in the spring of 1S79, I paid a visit to Longfellow, provided with a letter of introduction kindly furnished mc by a near relation of the poet's, and urged upon him the desirability of a translation of the " Overwintering," asking that he might undertake the work. \ i LA. ving been .•red from rd voyage Icrlaiulcrs lish trans- vliich Mr. Go. The c(l but to Lrumcntal ly of the cs of tlic > "Poets lie speci- i to asso- s task, as il)t, if he !r ; while more be- ; of 1S79, letter of elation of lity of a he might PREFACE TO THE TRAXSLATIOI^. ix If, Iiowcver, my mission was not successful, I was at least well repaid for my pains, and my visit to Cambridge and its courteous and kindly poet on that spring day will not soon be forgotten. Longfellow knew well the name of Tollcns and the esteem in which the Dutch held this poem ; but his literary plans were too many, and, evi- dently to me, he regarded his remaining days too few to admit of his taking in hand any strictly new work—work which had not come to him in his own way and to the I)-rformance of which he was not rather in duty pledged. He nevertheless quite appreciated the importance of my errand in the endeavor I was making, and though he could not think of any one to whom he could recommend me, he said he should " feel interested in knowing how I succeeded." But I could not bring myself to the point of trying further then. Indeed, with this effort the mat- ter practically rested, though to no little extent because of a preoccupation of mind for some time past with things other than Hterary-ever impatient albeit to return to my Dutch labors." '■4 4 •»%, S! X r//E HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. But all things are said to come to him who is able to wait. During the time these efforts were being made on my part, a young university graduate, reared on Amer- ican soil but whose birthplace was Holland, and whose " enthusiasm " for his native land is, naturally, not less ardent than my inherited love, was employing his vaca- tion periods in translating this Dutch masterpiece, and pluming the wings of his youthful muse in the endeavor ; attracted thereto by the thrilling interest of the poem in the original, and moved by a desire similar to my own of seeing it brought over into our language. Completed some months since, the translator finally sent the result of his patient love-labor to the editor of the Nnu Amsterdam Gazette, who, both on account of the celebrity of the poem and the merit of the rendering, welcomed the matter for his paper. Meeting with it in the hands of this gentleman, the MS. was shown to me, and on glancing through the first two or three pages, I at once thought I caught the true ring. Quickly I prophe- sied to myself that the long-sought poet had been at last discove-ed ; nor did the appearance of the complete boring isla.id. He, moreover, was aw.-ire thac I proposed to submit the matter to Longfellow, whose poetry he w.is familiar with and wliose name he revered. The packet enclosing the MS. w.-is sent to me in London, and is pcstmarked " Texel, 19th Aug., '75." The reader will. I trust, pardon this digression, for it is .it best but a faint tribute one can pay to the memory of an affectionate and l.ne friend in .1 note like this. I. J LA. is able to g made on on Amer- and whose ', not less his vaca- plece, and nideavor ; the poem ;o my own tor finally editor of unt of the rendering, kvith it in m to me, mges, I at I prophe- :en at last complete the matter to evered. The rked " Texel, r it is at best l»;>e friend in PREFACE TO THE TRANSLATION. xi translation in print change my opinion in this respect. Through the kindly mterven^ionof my editor-friend, an interview was in due time arranged between the translator and myself, and this interview served only the more to convince me of the correctness of my first impression. It seemed to me by no means certair: that the circumstances which had baffled my efforts for so long a time might not after all have p-oved fortunae ones ; for who could enter into all the niceties of the language of Tollens, or so truly mterpret its spirit, as one who had grown up in the knowledge of it ! And one, moreover, who was able thus to drink in the greatness of the theme itself, might be expected to give a rendering with much the same effect as if the poem were his own inspiration. Finding ourselves in full sympathy with each other in respect to this work, and sharing each other's veneration for Holland, the acquaintance speedily bore fruit The translator modestly deferred to my suggestion for an edi- tion in book-form ; while publishers were seen who, not Ignorant of his labor, were disposed to encourage the proposition, and accordingly the present volume was de- cided upon. Thus much for the circumstances which have given rise to the book. As to the poem itself, the historical basis of which is sketched in the Introduction, it cannot I) ill Xll 77/5 HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. cease to be of interest so long as Arctic expeditions are known and Northern research, either for commercial or scientific ends, continues. To-day some of our own countrymen,— performing an important part in the grand scientific campaign which the nations have been conducting for the past two years within the Arctic circle-are supposed to be either lost or passing the winter on the ice-bound shores of Green- land ; and at the country's call an expedition is being fitted out to proceed to their relief. Surely the bleak and dreary kingdom of the North commands much of our attention, and any page of its history may well be- speak a moment's thought and interest. The moral lessons of this voyage of Barents which the poem re- counts, have more than once inspired men engaged in such enterprises with encouragement and hope. Numer- ous, indeed, as are the recorded instances of indomitable courage, by the memory whereof the pioneers of great enterprises in later times have fortified their promptings to perseverance,-this it was which suggested to the heroic Kane the comparison of his position, at one time, with that of Barents, marvelling, however, at his own preservation. Nor has it been remembered only in the midst of fields of snow and ice. The immortal Livingstone, in a clime the farthest removed in its every condition from LA. litions are tnercial or orming an ign which two years either lost of Green- i is being the bleak much of '• well be- lie moral poem re- gaged in Numer- lomitable of great 3mptings 1 to the )ne time, his own ly in the ngstone, ion from PJ^J^FACM TO THE TRANSLATION. ' xiii Barents- career, and .o..^^ ^^Z^T "' -ounain, in .He ™id,s. or i fever Jl:" "Li: heroism, the extraordinary patienee and tl faj. in Providence, on JdUnX"""^^^"™^ lation, vet Hip ^uTf • ^"^^^st spiat to emu- have ;:: Vr'nTor*' '' ''-'' ^"'^'''"•- ••"• pitying s«; ;„ C JaTtf"*^ ''"'°'^'"^' thusiasm m„,t ever be ,, . ' *." """ ^^™'™g »- - read their annls In tlf-"' ^^"'""™' - highest perfection ^f sci L '! eLTt: r '■"'?' '"= '"' tage over the rude and ins- 4 e„ "° '''™"- with our forefather, J "''"^""'* appointments where- '"-vingt;:t::r::;rc'°;T'r'r^^"-^ expedition, though its prolonged lei: c'^r"'"" sohcitude, affords a happy exception . '"'"" cantiy alone in its good fort neT 1 h " " "■^"'"- Jol>n Frankh-„ needs neith e" letTl; ''"'' °^ ''^ We have been just freshly remin Td l"" '°™""'- details of J.icut. He Lon„'. / , , "^ "^" -'eart-rending fate, and the tears are '"""'^'^ '"^ ^^^ tears are scarce dry upon the cheeks of u I . I XIV r/fE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. those who were called more immediately to mourn the calamity to his party. Some in our midst, moreover, may even now be preparing to mourn lost loved ones whose fate is but too uncertain and most deplorably doubtful. It is a tale of woes similar to those experienced in the Lena. Delta three or four years ago ; a tale of death en- dured after horrible privations and untold agonies of mind ; a tale of life spared through a thousand threaten- ing dangers, that comes to us from three centuries ago in this poem, and is here told in enthusiastic strains by a countryman of the brave men who so nobly suffered and left so ineffaceable and worthy a record to the world. S. R. VAN CAMPEN. Gramercy Park, New York, March 22, 1884. I if I mourn the TRANSLATOR'S NOTE. IT ENDRIK TOLLENS, the author of the poem 1 1 of which a translation is here given, was born ■n the year ,780. at Rotterdam. No poet enjoyed a greater popularity in h,s native country, the favo, with w .ch he met being due to the happy and attracti measure m wh.ch his verse combines the qualities of power and sweetness, no less than to the patriotic fervor and ,e force w.th which he has depicted numerous str ktng ep,sodes m the history of the Fatherland greeted than the one now introduced to the English reader. It was published in :8r,, and its enthusif t c reception at that time has been repeated by every s cessive generation. Everyone in Holland Low' t hear from the school-boy, just beginning to be st red by he g onous htstory of the past, to the mature and rudi e sa7'a;?t m the hiehest senfQ r.f i • eruaite ^ ^ °^ learning, it may be intPr -ng to add that Tollens was also the autho of tie noble and sptnted national hymn of Holland, famml n \V I ■ I XVI T//E HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. known as the ** Wicn Neerlands Bloed." Tollcns died in 1 85 6, and his admiring countrymen, soon after his de- cease, reared to his memory a marble statue, conspicu- ously placed in the public park of Rotterdam, which was the city not only, as already said, of his birth, but also of his life-long residence. The translator may be permitted a word as to the reproduction of the poem in an English form. He has endeavored to give a faithful and honest rendering of the original ; but, as will be readily admitted, it is in some instances necessary to convey the thought, and catch and pursue the spirit of the original, rather than strictly to follow the words. In some cases liberties had to be taken with the text, to make the production suit- able to readers not thoroughly acquainted with matters which are perfectly familiar to the poet's compatriots. With a view to lessen the labor of perusal— if that should prove at all burdensome in the translation— the poem, which is of one continuous piece in the original, has been divided into twelve cantos, under appropriate titles.' A few passages of a dozen or more original lines were deemed advisable, which will be found duly indicated and accounted for in note 14, at the end of the volume. » The French translation mentioned in Mr. Van Campen's Preface is divided into four cantos : " The Departure " ; " Xova-Zcmbla " ; " The Wintering (/' Hivernage) " ; and " The Return." BLA. ens died in tcr his de- , conspicu- which was but also ot as to the . He has ndering of i, it is in •light, and ithcr than )erties had :ction suit- th matters impatriots. hat should the poem, ginal, has iate titles.' lines were icated and -ime. TRANSLATOR'S NOTE. xvli It may be added that the original poem is written in the Dutch heroic metre, the lines being of twelve sylla- bles, or six iambic feet, and rhymed in couplets. The translator deemed that the English heroic, of ten syl- lables, or five iambic feet, would fairly represent the Dutch metre, and he adopted blank verse as makin^^ possible a much more ready and exact rendering of the original ; besides, in long poems, the couplet of Pope becomes exceedingly monotonous. Finally, the translator wishes to state that his aim all along has been to eliminate as much as possible the air of a translation from his production. He has sought to present the Dutch original not only in an English dress (which seems to have been the simple and unpretending desire of his anonymous predecessor, referred to in the Preface), but he has endeavored as far as possible to make an English poem of it. This may have been an attempt too hazardous, and an aim too ambitious. But if he has succeeded to any extent, it is humbly believed that this will have secured the higher and more essential fidelity to the original. D. V. P. Face is divided he Wintering fli M P B i a» i& .- 'Sr-r'.-i'i-n'T-ri iwi^nrrfriiiTiimHiiti iriilBtOWi'tWiili >jj^,.aL.^^.-^Y''. j.—.-.^. -„-. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. T^HAT man should wish to inform h.mself concern- X .ng every portion of the globe whereon he dwells is natural ; but these grim northern climes, hidden i„ snow barred agamst mtrusion by their frozen seas, seem to have' had a strange fascination for him during the last three centunes Until within a comparatively recent period, however, the objects which have prompted men to Arctic discovery were almost exclusively based on self-interest or, m other words, were merely incidental in their char' acer. The hope of shortening the passage to "Far Cathay by sa.hng to the Northwest or to the North east has, induced by far the greater number of Arctic expeditions; and the story of these attempts would in ac.-at least until within the last forty years,-con'sti. lute the real history of Arctic exploration It was with this aim that the three Northern voyages of the Dutch were undertaken toward the end of the sixteenth century, one of which forms the theme of the following poem. These voyages are deservedly ranked I If t ; • i 1- 3 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. among the most remarkable exploits of that enterprising nation ; and the ten months' residence of the adventu- rous seamen, in the course of the third voyage, at the farthest extremity of the inhospitable region of Nova Zembla, within fourteen degrees of the North Pole, and their homeward journey of upward of seventeen hundred geographical miles in two small open boats, are events full of romantic interest. Although these essays to shorten the passage to India by sailing North involve incidentally almost the whole work of Holland in the Arctic field, yet in this com- mendable but futile struggle to force a passage to the East by the northward England has borne a conspicuous part above that of any other country, and as hers was the earliest work, it is impossible not to give it a passing mention in this prefatory survey. Almost from the hour when Columbus i)romised a way to the East ''by the West " England tenaciously held to the possibility of finding a navigable passage in that direction. Nor this only. She willingly employed in the great quest men of foreign birth, for the Venetian Cabots, sailing from Bris- tol, were the first to attempt a Northwest passage, unless we except the rather indefinite essay of Columbus, made only a little earlier. Englishmen, it is true, have sought to reach this goal I I. R wiwj t aiw^ s m.4j B ».rd, su^ce the names of the chief participants are cated with them all, and since the^hi ' '''°' the natural corollary of the wo nr '"'''"' '"' ff.TTP,! ;„ .1 r previous ones. En- f Sed^m^he^rs^^^^ ,,,^^^^^^^_ ^^^^^ ^_^^ ^ En^ • Phillip's t,a„.i„i„„ or De v«, (,&,, , i,;,;::;;;;; ^ — ! ;t I il II 10 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. westerly provinces of the country ; but the towns of Enkhuyzen in the north and Middleburg in the south were the prime movers in the enterprise. Enkhuyzen was represented by the syndic of West Friesland and pensionary of the town, Dr. Francis Maalson, and John Huygen van Linschoten, a native of Haarlem, but resi- dent during the greater part of his youth, and in later life, at Enkhuyzen, and who, by his travels and writings, had done much to inspire his countrymen to compete for the lucrative commerce which had hitherto been engrossed by Spam ; while Middleburg had for its moving spirit in this enterprise the eminent Zealand mer- chant, Balthasar de Moucheron— prompted by the experi- enced White-Sea trader, Olivier Brunei, to whom and to Moucheron, more than any others, the conception of this undertaking was due ; Moucheron, moreover, enlisting the cooperation of other merchants of the province. The necessary perr^.ission of the State authorities was obtained, while the enterprise had the willing assistance of the Courts of the Admiralty of the two provinces, who provided for half of the expense, with instructions to attempt the passage into the Sea of Tartary ihrough the Waigats between Nova Zembla and Russia. Two vessels, of about one hundred tons each, were fitted out and provisioned for eight months. These were AN ARCTIC POEM. n the "Swan" of Ter Veer, in Zealand, under command of Cornelius Corneliuszoon Nai, a burgher of Enkhuyzen and the "Mercurius" of Eni-huyzen, under command of Brant Ybrantzoon, otherwise Brant Tetgales, a skilful and experienced seaman, with Nicholas Corneliuszoon as his mate ; while the accomplished Linschoten was supercargo of the latter ship, and engaged likewise as journalist of the voyage. But the merchants of Amsterdam, catching the spirit of the Middleburgers and Enkhuyzeners, desired to par- ticipate in the enterprise, or rather in their own way to cooperate for the same general end, by sending out a ship. Most influential in enlisting this city had been the efforts of Petrus Plancius, a Flemish refugee and Calvin- ist divine, a devoted lover ot the sciences, and especially well known for his cosm.ographic and astronomic lore. Plancius prevailed upon the leading merchants of Am- sterdam to unite, with the active aid of the Admiralty, in the expedition. A third vessel was accordingly fitted out by Amsterdam, of the same size and character as the other two, and, like Tetgales', was named the " Mercu- rius," its command being entrusted to Wi^'iam Barents, a burgher of Amsterdam, - a notable, skilfull, and wise pilote," who took with him also a fishing yacht belong- mg to his native place, Ter Schelling. m ' \ I i- i I i f I 'StZ 12 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. On Whitsunday, the 4th June, 1594, the little fleet had assembled at the Texcl. Cornelius Nai, of the **Swan," was named admiral or commodore. An agreement was made that the three ships should keep company as far as Kildin on the coast of Lapland, when the Enkhuyzen and Ter Veer vessels should take the course proposed by Maalson by the Waigats ; while that of the Amster- damers under Barents, following the advice of the learned Plancius, would sail to the north of Nova Zcm- bla, deeming it probable that to the north would be found a more open sea than in the straits, and regard- ing that route in every way as far the easier and more preferable one. On the following morning the admiral set sail, commanding the others to follow. Having passed the North Cape, the weather was found as warm as in Holland in dog-days, and mosquitoes were exceed- ingly troublesome, The island of Waigats was covered with verdure, and embellished with every variety of beautiful flowers. The idols f.een by Burrough and his men years before were also seen by the Dutch, to the number of chree hundred or four hundred. They named that part of the island Afgodenhoek, or Idol Point ; and the Straits of Waigats, which had been legitimately enough baptized with the name of Burrough, these faithful Dutchmen, remembering the house to whom AN ARCTIC POEM. 13 I olland was so greatly indebted for her liberty and glory hastened ,0 rename the "Straits of Nassau" Whtle Barents was pushing his sturdy bark even to he northernmost point of Nova Zembla, and performing he almost m.raeulous sailing feats whieh geographers have noted also withstanding immeasurable difficultie the adnural s sh,p passed the straus we have mentioned' pushed ,ts way through the ice into the Sea of Kara, and' arrived in an open blue sea from which the Ru sian coast, trending toward the northeast, was visible T d,rect.on of the coast made them believe that the vessel had passed beyond Cape Tabin, designated by p:; (then an uncontested authority) as the northern extrem' ■ty of As.a, and that, therefore, they could from here by a short voyage, reach the eastern and southern part's of e contment. It was not known that, beyond t e Gu of Ob,, Asta st.ll extended for one hundred and twenty degrees w.thtn the Polar circle. The supposed faclw have mentioned, the direction of the coast, and the dpTh and openness of the sea gave our navigators such con dent hopes of a passage to Cathay being practicable tha return to Holland w.th the happy tidings • while too doubts as to their provisions holding out'tili the luld reach so distant a country admonished them that thl^ 'J 3 - 1/ \ ! ! 4 i^'l m m 14 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA, '0- I /. I , p. course was really expedient. In this politic resolution the commander of the southerly squadron was not alone, for he soon, to his rejoicing, fell in with the baffled voyagers to the " more open sea " of Plancius, who were also returning, and the whole fleet sailed to Holland, arriving at the Dogger-bank on the 14th September, and dispersing from thence to their several ports. The principal discoveries which resulted from this expedition in particular — much the most important of the three as to number of discoveries — have been care- fully enumerated by a revered national authority, Nicho- las Godfried Van Kampen, who makes the voyages of Barents the initiatory theme in his important history of the operations of the Dutch without Europe. The names, however, of points, capes, straits, and islands, upon which then for the first time, so far as we have record of observations, the gaze of civilized men rested, have been transferred to the thrilling pages of Motley, and that historian pertinently asks : ** Where are Cape Nassau, William's Island, Admiralty Island, Cape Plan- cius, Black-hook, Cross-hook, Ice-hook, Consolation- hook, Cape Desire, the Straits of Nassau, Maurice Island, Staten Island, Enkhuyzen Island, and many other simi- lar appelations ? " We fear the nations whose represent- atives on the seas have placed upon the chart of the .s . AK ARCTIC POEM. IS Nova Zambia and Spitsbergen region the names of Cher,e Island and Alderman Freeman's Strait (the Bear Island and Walter Tymans' Strait of the Dutch) Swedish Foreland and Ice Fjord-nay, and Capes Bis-' mark and Petermann,_may be held mainly answerable for this work of cosmographical sacrilege. But Hoi land's recent labors, going to show that she is deter mmed to assert her presence in the Arctic seas, may do somethmg toward restoring her northern land-raarks -nay more, by means of new discoveries she may yet grattfy the yearning of one of her distinguished geogra- Phers, " to give to some great unnamed spot in those .ce-bound regions the designation of ■ Prins Hendrik's i_/3.ncl. The reports made by Barents and Linschoten as to the results of this expedition-.he latter keeping with the admtral's ship.-differed to a degree not altogether creduable to the over-sanguine supercargo. However under the st„„ulus of Linschoten's narrative, the adven-' turers who fitted out the former expedition, with others who now joined them, determined to despatch in the followmg year a well-appointed fleet. This, moreover assumed the importance of a government expedition' havtng received the sanction and support of the States- General, and being projected, not merely with the hope « l6 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. of accomplishing the passage to China, which promised so fairly, but also with a view to the establishment of an advantageous trade with that kingdom and the other countries that might be discovered and visited in the course of the voyage. The fleet consisted of seven ships : two from Enkhuy- zen, two from Zeland, two from Amsterdam, and a sort of reporting yacht from Rotterdam. The latter was in- tended to merely accompany the squadron until it had sailed beyond the suppositious Cape Tabin, when it was to return with the news to Holland. As connected with this expedition we recognize nearly all the names ren- dered familiar to us by their association with the former voyage. Associated with this Government expedition, however, there are three important additions to the offi- cial list — namely, the annalist of these voyages, Gerrit de Veer ; the experienced sea-captain, John Cornelisz van der Ryp, supercargo of ol: of the Zeland ships; and the future hero of Gibraltar, Jacob van Heemskerck. The first of these names, it may be observed, was des- tined to gain a fame, if of a somewhat different kind, only second, perhaps, to that of the master pilot who constitutes the central figure in his quaint and faithful picture — certainly a literary celebrity which the frank and honest Hollander could never have dreamed of ; AN ARCTIC POEM. 17 and the last, whose name is the most conspicuous one in the poem of Tollens', was to prove himself no less indis- pensable to the Arctic expeditions he joined than to the nation at large in upholding the honor of the Dutch flag on the seas, and not less undaunted when - battling with the elements in Nova Zembla " than in his combat with the ancient enemy on the Spanish main, " when he dies, Nelson-like, in the arms of his conquering com- rades." ' On this second voyage Barents went as pilot-major of the fleet, and Linschoten and Heemskerck as principal supercargoes. Linschoten and De la Dale were further appointed as Chief Commissioners on behalf of his Ex- cellency Prince Maurice and the States-General, from whom they received credentials, signed by the celebrated Arsens, of which the following is the confident heading • '' Instructions to Jan Huygen van Linschoten and Fran- 9oys de la Dale, Chief Commissioners, for the regulation of their conduct in the kingdom of China, and other kingdoms and countries which shall be visited by the ships and yachts destined for the voyage round by the north, through the Vaigats or Strait of Nassau." This great expedition, however, merely sailed to the entrance of the Sea o f Kara and back again, finding the » N. O. V^.n Kampen : " Vaderlandsche Karakterkunde • of vZZ. \ van Tydperken en Personen, uit de ^^^^r^..,..^:^Zi:Ly:!^rCX I »«i S}' In )'i ''\ i V hi I i I8 77/i? HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMHLA. Straits of Waigats all encumbered with ice and a passage through impossible. And the only marvel connected with it is what the historian of the United Netherlands calls the "sublime credulity" which ac- cepted Linschoten's hasty solution of the polar enigma, and made it conclusive with his countrymen ; while pro- ceeding so deliberately in lading their ships with broad- cloths, linens, and tapestries for the anticipated China trade, as to lose nearly half the summer before weighing anchor in Maas Dicp on the morning of Sunday, July 2, 1595. Yet this very case of flattering self-persuasion was not a trait peculiar to the Hollanders, as the reader may be reminded by a passage in Froude's essay on " England's Forgotten Worthies." " There was no nation so remote," observes this acute living writer, " h^\ what some one or other was found ready to undertake an expedition there, in the hope of opening a trade ; and, let them go where they would, they were sure of Eliza- beth's countenance. We find letters written by her, for the benefit of nameless adventurers," in the same era which marks the stupendous faith of the Dutch naviga- tors, " to every potentate of whom she had ever heard — to the Emperor of China, Japan, and India, the Persian * Sofee,' and other unheard of Asiatic and African prin- ces ; whatever was to be done in England, or by English- ■ m r ■I!' If' AN ARCTIC POEM. '9 (I men. Elizal.eth asskcd when she could, and ,j„i,ed »iiL-n she coulvo«h,ly the public record in this resp;ct by olril a Ztht^e'"""""'"""^"^"-'^^'-'^^-''™'^- comphsh the voyage to China by the desired route and » pro,K>rt,onate sum to those whose efforts mi ht be darned commendable, even though not crowned" wi^h 11 i I I .-t 20 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. Yet, with 1 aspect to this expedition, it is but just to say that these worthy Hollanders did not return without putting on record a memorable protest, which shows that they did not lightly estimate the responsibilities im- posed upon them as servants of the Republic, nor wil- lingly relinquish their hopes of reaching their intended goal. It speaks well for the conscious purity of motive and integrity of conduct which marked the enterprises of the Netherlanders in those days, when men could thus express themselves : " The Admirals, Captains, and Pilots, consulting togethei as to what is best and most advantageous to be done and undertaken in respect to the voyage which they have commenced round by the North toward China, Japan, etc. ; and they having ma- turely and most earnestly considered and examined the subject, and also desiring strictly to carry out, as far as is practicable and possible, the instructions of His Ex- cellency and the Lords the States, for the welfare and preservation of the ships, their crews, and merchandise. It is found that they have all of them hitherto done their utmost duty and their best, with all zeal and diligence, not fearing to hazard and sometimes to pat in peril the ships and their own persons (whenever need required it) in order to preserve their honor in every thing, and so as to be able with a clear conjcience to answer for the same 'm AN ARCTIC POEM. 21 % to God and the whole world. But inasmuch as it has pleased the Lord God not to permit it on the present voy- age, they find themselves most unwillingly compelled, because of the time that has elapsed, to discontinue the same navigation for this time. * * * Protest- ing before God and the whole world, that they have acted in this matter as they wish God may act in the salvation of their souls, and as they hope and trust can- not be contradicted by any of those who have accompa- nied them," etc. It is clear, however, that Barents did not himself cheerfully sign even this paper, but rather desired to go on. Baron Nordenskiold, however, comes to the defence of the Dutch voyagers in the following positive language : "While this expedition did not yield any new contribu- tion to the knowledge of our globe, it deserves to be noted that we can state with certainty, with the knowl- edge we now possess of the ice-conditions of the Kara Sea, that the Dutch, during both their first and second voyages, had the way open to the Obi and Yenisei. If they had availed themselves of this, and continued their voyage till they came to inhabited regions on either of these rivers, a considerable commerce would certainly have arisen between Middle Asia and Europe by this route as^rly as the beginning of the seventeen ih century." ' ' " The Voyage of the ' Vega,' " vol. II., pp. o^.,, ~^^ " (M UP i \ st f > 'I 22 7V/E HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA, Happily for the credit of Dutch pertinacity, there still existed a faithful few, like Barents, Plancius, and Heem- skerck, who adhered firmly to the conviction that spirited enterprise, persevered in, would speedily be crowned with success. Moreover, the (lovernment itself, as we have seen, unwilling altogether to relinquish the hope of yet achieving a passage, and aware of the benefits that must accrue to the State from fostering a maritime spirit among the peoi)le by distant voyaging, offered a specific and liberal reward to such persons as should accomplish the desired end. We now come to the enterprise which furnishes the main incidents of the poem. The merchants of Am- sterdam were thus encouraged to organize, early in the year 1596, a third expedition. It consisted of only two vessels, the names and tonnage of which are not cited. Jacob van Heemskerck— 'Uhe man who ever steered his way through ice or iron " (according to his epitaph) — was again supercargo and nominal commander of one of the vessels ; William Barents being chief pilot of the same ship, and John Cornelisz van der Ryp cap- tain and superintendent of the other. With Heemskerck and Barents sailed also Gerrit de Veer. Select crews as far as possible of unmarried men, were secured for the enterprise, and the expedition was thus got in order for despatch, through which — A, there still id Heem- t spirited crowned If, as we i hope of efits that me spirit I specific complish shes the of Am- early in of only are not 'ho ever g to his inlander ief pilot Lyp cap- mskerck ;rews, as for the rder for ^A' ARCTIC POEM. " HoUancrs flag shall show tho .langerous way I o wondering Europe." 23 One lesson was learned from the previous expedition which admonished them not to delay their departure til! too late. These two vessels got away in good season • for, as early as the 5th of May, the men of both ships were mustered, and on the loth they sailed from Amster- dam, reaching the Vlie at the island of Texel on the 13th. The 16th they set sail out of the Vlie, but the unfavorable state of the tide and a strong northeast wind compelled them to put back again, when Ryp's ship ran aground on a treacherous bar. This furnished ominous m.sg,vmgs enough for the outset of an enterprise of this kmd ; but the delay, if vexatious, was not for long and on the i8th the ships successfully put out again to' sea sa.hng northwest. On the ..d May they sighted Fair Island, between the Orkney and Shetland Isles. Sailing now to the northeast, they made the first use, accordin.^ to I)e Veer, of ' it !i^ Wk 26 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. %mi. ;»i ii ! : 'w r I f water being " greene as grasse," which led our naviga- tors now to think that they were near Greenland. On the 9th June, in latitude 74° 30' N., they came to a small island, which they thought to be about twenty miles in circumference, and which presented f- ^''\^ nothing but steep, pointed cliffs. To this they ga name of Bear Island — so baptized from their contest of two hours' duration with a huge polar bear, the success- ful killing and flaying of which rendered it an event worthy, perhaps, of being thus signalized. In the neigh- borhood of this island they spent four days and made two landings. Leaving Bear Island on the 13th the two ships bore northerly, with some easting ; on the i8th land was sighted again, and on the 19th June t'^e navigators reached, according to their reckoning, latitude 80° 11' N., where they perceived the land to be "very great." Barred against further passage northward, as it would seem, they now sailed "westward along by it " till they were under 79°, and here, on the longest day of the year, they cast anchor. To this newly discovered land, whose jagged and precipitous peaks are clad in eternal snows, where intensest winter holds almost per- petual reign, and the sun is hidden for four months of the year beneath the horizon, they subsequently gave the appropriate and vernacular name of Spitzbergen. AN ARCTIC POEM. ^7 In regard to the latitude 80° 11' noted above, some doubts have been expressed as to the accuracy of the calculation ; Professor Moll, in particular, an eminent national authority of fifty years ago, doubting it, owing, as he considers, to the defective nature of the instru- ments employed. Dr. Beke, however, shows it to be rather an error in reckoning (here and in some other instances), placing the navigators himself in latitude 79° 49' N., while commending Barents generally for his extiaordinary accuracy. In any event, this was not only the now universally conceded discovery of Spitzbergen, but it was the highest latitude, so far as known, attained down to that time by civilized men.' Along this land they coasted until the 29th June, making numerous discoveries and occasional landings. They were perplexed at certain features of the island, lying thus several degrees north of Nova Zembla, yet revealing animals associated Avith the presence of vege- tation ; while in Nova Zembla they had found on the first voyage a country so totally bald and barren. Here in this new land were existing in harmonious companionship numerous deer and reindeer, white » Hessel Gerritsz, in his " Kistoire du Pays, nominfi Spitsbergen " (1613), asssmes to give u portion of the log ot Barents. In this " log " the date on which the highest latitude was attained is put down as June 17th, but the latitude is given as 80" 10' N., wliich bears out, practically, De Veer's statement in this respect. I I % S'\ >l 28 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. \ I') I't 11 bears, walruses, and seals. Rowing up a wide inlet they came upon great numbers of wild geese sitting on their eggs, which they found to he the same geese we are told, that were in the habit of visiting Hoi' land every summer, but until now it had not been discovered where they laid and hatched their eggs The high latitude gave them, day and night, the sun whose oblique rays, however, were insufficient to convey warmth to the ever-frozen ground, so that the presence of so many deer merited remark. But the sea was only richer in living creatures than the land ; nowhere else indeed, did the cetacean tribe or seals and walruses at- tain such an enormous size ; and the abundance of those creatures in the Spitzbergen waters afforded, years after- ward, a source of no little controversy between the Dutch and English fishermen. Tliey were now on the west coast of the island ; with a view of extricating themselves from the ice which was rapidly closing about them, the vessels were steered southward from Spitzbergen toward Bear Island, which was reached again on the ist of July. Here Ryp sepa- rated from Heemskerck and Barents, asserting his deter- mination to sail northward - beyond the 8oth parallel," for - hee was of opinion," says De Veer, - that there hee should find a passage through." Barents, meanwhile, as stoutly maintained that the c th AN ARCTIC POEM. oveted passage must c cast of Spitzbergcn and north of Nova Z 29 lie to accordingly sailed in that direct embla, and they say ling northward and ion — or, as De Veer says, wee southward, because of 10 win g the ice, the wind being east south-east " ; thus si withal that, on parting company with Ryp, the diarist of these voyages could henceforth record only what took place with the Barents and Heemskerck ship. Bidding adieu to Ryp, it may be observed that opin- ions are at variance as to whether that captain steered along the west, or wont north along the east, coast ; but the result of the latest researches would lead to the'con- elusion that he returned to about the point in 80° N. latitude, where he and Barents had been together. Dr. Beke's opinion, also, - that nothing worthy of remark can have occurred to him, or otherwise it could not have failed to be recorded," seems to be fully borne out by the latest investigation. We may therefore conclude that he found further passage interrupted by that ice- barrier now known to yearly obstruct the sea north of Spitzbergen, and so giving up the search returned to Holland, Though, no doubt, Ryp's and Barents' parties were equally anxious to make the discovery, it may be said that, by separating, they stood a better chance of realiz- li n >' i ji .0 THE HOLLANDERS J\V NOVA ZEMBLA, \l I' ing the object of the expedition, though increasing, pcr- hai)s, the individual peril. Barents lost no time in pro- ceeding to follow out his theory ; but the somewhat ir- regular course he was forced to make, l)rought him, on tlie 17th July, instead of north of Nova Zembla, against the northwest coast, in latitude 74° 40'. Mere, abruptly turning the prow of his sturdy vessel northward, he fol- lowed along the coast, groping his way amid icebergs and detained by fogs. On the 19th July, ice and wind opposed his further progress ; in all directions the sea was covered as with floating mountains. At length, the ice having opened so as to allow of a little progress being made, they had been able to reach Cross Island, where they were forced to come to anchor. On this spot during the first voyage had been erected two high wooden crosses, with trii)le bars, as sacred emblems of their faith, where- from they had baptized the dreary islet with that appro- priate nr.me. Next day, anchoring under the island as near as they could get, they put out a boat, manned by eight of their fellows. Proceeding to one of the crosses they rested a while, and then sought to visit the other,— when lo ! two hoary worshippers are there, and, rearing, stand erect as if to defend themselves and the cross against these new intruders. " We had little desire to laugh," says De Veer, "and in all haste went to our \ i |i| I AN- ARCTIC POEM. 31 boate again." But Skipper Hccmskcrck forbade a too precipitate retreat, saying this would be death to all- "The first man who shall runne away, I will thrust this boat-hook into his hide," said the future hero of Gib- raltar. But the adventure, after all, proved a harmless one, and they soon *' had the lysure to tell their fellows thereof." On the 2 1 St July they took the sun, finding their lati- tude to be 76" 15' N., and the variations of the compass 26 degrees ; next day, say these Dutch pilgrims to the Arctic, "we set up another cross and made our marks thereon." They were now freed from the ice, at least temporarily, and on the 6th August weathered Cape Nassau, gradually making their way northward, hugging the land in order the better to shun the ice. Next day they reached Cape Consolation {Troost-hoek\ "which," says the narrator, "we had much longed for." Again were they beset by icebergs, which towered above them in threatening forms like tottering pinnacles, —some grounded and stationary, some drifting fearfully and endangering the ship. On the loth they made fast to one of these which was aground ; but in the evening, just as they had eaten their supper, there were heard horrible and ominous sounds, when with one grand crash the vast iceberg burst into innumerable fragments. For N- w >w I if 1 1 ' ^1 ' 33 r//£ HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. days they were encountering these dangers and obstacles, tossing about in mist alternating with blinding snow- storms, running the gauntlet of icebergs shooting their sharp cones heavenward like turreted wall or cathedral spire. However, a little progress was made withal, and on the 13th July, under almost the northernmost point of Nova Zembla, they anchored again to a floating block of ice off a point which they named Little Ice Cape,— Great Ice Cape being reached and rounded the following day. This was familiar ground to Barents from the discov- eries of the first voyage, and he and his companions had been anticipating the arrival here anxiously and hope- fully. They looked upon it as signifying, they trusted, in a double sense, a turning-point in their perilous journey, which hitherto had been but one continued battle with polar conditions ; yet, whether bears or icebergs, these were now becoming familiar to them. They thought, having reached the extremity of the island, that the passage would now be less obstructed, and indeed that open water would soon greet their vision. They had never heard of the Gulf Stream, so could have formed no fanciful theory of sailing poleward or to India in the current of this warm ocean river which courses with mighty force round Nova Zembla. But Barents VI AM ARCTIC POEM. 33 was possessed with an intuitive feeling — a belief amount- ing almost to a religion — that a passage existed, and that he had only to persevere with true Dutch determi- nation to find it. Unfortunately, the dissolving influ- ences of this mighty current are unable to cope with the formidable ice masses which are ever succeeding one another in this frozen region, and hence its melting power is overcome, so that our mariners were rather en- dangered than benefited by the presence of this mysteri- ous stream. The experiences of the next two days — the istb and 1 6th August — alone marked almost epochs in this event- ful voyage. On the former they reached the Island of Orange, a precious landmark with these devoted Hol- landers, as the name with which Barents had previously christened it would indicate. But on his part it awoke memories of a peculiar kind and not unmixed with dis- appointment, as it recalled the visit of two years before ; for it was from this point, states Gerrit de Veer, that, " after he [Barents] had taken all that paine, and finding that he could hardly get through to accomplish and ende his intended voyage, his men also beginning to bee weary and would saile no further, they all together agreed to returne back again." But more than this. They were here so inclosed by vast drifting masses of ice that they : h ^ ^' 34 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. were in imminent danger of losing their ship, and it was only after the greatest labor and care that they actually reached the island,— encountering here, too, the omni- present bear, which engages them in an amusing contest. From their ice-anchorage off this island it was pro- posed, on the second day, to spy out the country, seeing that they were now on the extreme northern verge of Nova Zembla, and a party of ten men «' rowed to the firm land." Here climbing to the top of a high hill they found the land extending far southeast and south, and though not wholly gratified at the fact of its extending so far southward, yet when they perceived a little more to the east " open water " as far as the eye could reach, they " were much comforted again, thinking " says De Veer, " that wee had woon our voyage, and knew not how wee should get soon enough on boord to certifie William Barents thereof." But this gratifying illusion was destined soon to be dispelled. Alas ! the passage to Cathay was far from being discovered yet ; nor would it disclose itself to men of Maurice's time, if ever a poleward route to the far East would in reality be found. Herculean efforts were made to reach the open sea which presaged such speedy success to our struggling navigators. But untold obstacles bafiled them at every point. The '' mighty current of A. AN ARCTIC POEM. 35 nd it was actually le omni- ; contest. kvas pro- h seeing verge of i to the hill they Lith, and ctending le more i reach, 3ays De lew not certifie n to be ir from to men the far ts were speedy )stacles rent of the streame," which they had now come to recognize, drove the ice violently down against the ship, threatening them with the loss of anchor and cables ; but they thank God for another deliverance and take new courage. On the 19th of August they passed the Cape of Desire— " whereby they were once again in good hope." This proved, however, to be not well grounded, for they had not sailed far before they were forced back again by the ice, and for the moment held prisoners near the cape so significantly named. On the 2 1 St August they "sailed" says Gerrit De Veer, " a great way into the Ice Haven, and that night ankered therein." But they little thought that this would prove so ill-fated a harbor, and that strive as they would, they were destined to a long and dreary imprisonment therein. Next day they were encouraged by the stream and the movement of the ice to push out again in their effort to reach the open sea or find a passage. This was another vain attempt. On the 23d they were forced back by the contrary current to Ice Haven, again barely escaping shipwreck, and but to encounter in that horrible open harbor a tempestuous gale which there overtook them. The ice towered in mountains about them, and their boat was broken in pieces between the ship and the floating masses. i\ V. U ' .1 1 I V ; i I'. ! f f 1 n 36 TJ/E HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. By the 25th August the high hopes of a few days before had entirely vanished. Having sailed by Nova Zembla and found no passage by which they could hope to reach their intended goal, they thought to turn back ; besides in those regions the summer was already at an end. But instead of returning the way they had come, they thought to effect their retreat by sailing southward and westward, and so through the Straits of Waigat's home. Retreat in this direction was in vain. Hardly had they got out of Ice Haven— ''where" to quote De Veer's words, "they were forced, in great cold, poverty, misery, and grief to stay all that winter "—when they were again barred by the impenetrable pack against any passage southward and forced to return. Fertile in resource and still undaunted, these Hollanders now (August 26th) determined to sail back to Cape Desire, to round Nova Zembla on the north, and thus retreat by a route already familiar to their pilot. But alas ! here too were they baffled. When they had barely got past the luckless harbor, sailing the other way, the ice impelled by the resistless current, drove down in fearful force upon the ship, so that they were completely encompassed by it, finding it impossible to move either forward or back- ward. Three of their men barely escaped with their lives in the fruitless endeavor of making a way for the Hi i: ! ) AN ARCTIC POEM. 17 ship among the floes, the block of ice upon which they v/ere standing in their efforts happening for the moment to separate from it. But they were fortunately rescued and for this deliverance thanks went up again from pious hearts. Thus had they become imprisoned, lost in an Arctic solitude, surrounded by dense fogs, almost without hope, not knowing whither to turn, and every moment in im- minent danger of being crushed under the mountains of ice that groaned and thundered about the ship. This, too, behaved like a very thing of life. " During the re- maining days of August," says Mr. Motley, ''the ship struggled almost like a living creature with the perils that beset her ; now rearing in the air, her bows propped upon mighty blocks, till she absolutely sat erect upon her stern, now lying prostrate on her side, and anon righting again as the ice masses would for a moment float away iind leave her breathing-space and room to move in. A blinding snow-storm was raging the while, the ice was cracking and groaning in all directions, and the ship was shrieking, so that the medley of awful sights and sounds was beyond the power of language." But the terrible struggle was soon over. By the ist September the ship had become hopelessly fast, — at least for that year, if ever the nameless craft would float again. II I n li (! 38 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. With that philosophic resignation, therefore, which ac- cepts and prepares to adjust itself to the most desperate situations when these are not avoidable, the hapless voy- agers calmly set about making preparations against the long, dayless winter so near at hand. One only chance of safety remained to them,-to now follow mainly the Dutch historian cited early in this sketch,-or rather a means of delaying death : they were near the coast of Nova Zembla ; they could abandon ihe ship, and attempt to pass the winter in that desolate island. It was a desperate resolution, requiring not less courage than to remain on board ; but at least they could have action, struggle, a new form of danger. After some hesitation they left the ship and landed on the island It was uninhabited ; none of the northern races had ever set foot upon it ; it was a desert of snow and ice beaten by wind and sea, upon which the sun but rarely let fall a fugitive ray, without warmth or cheer. Never theless the poor shipwrecked men sent up a shout of joy when their feet touched the land, and knelt down in the snow to give thanks to Providence. They set to work at once to build a shelter. There was not a tree on the island ; but by good fortune they found a quantity of floating wood brought by the sea from the continent They went to work, returned to the ship, and brought - 3^ AN ARCTIC POEM. t ' 39 %\\ away planks and beams, nails, pitch, boxes, and casks ; planted the beams in the ice with all due ceremony, made a roof of what had been the deck, hung up their ham- mocks, lined the walls with sails, stopped up the holes with pitch. But as their work went on they suffered in unheard-of ways, and were in constant danger. The cold was so great that when they put nails in their mouths they froze there, and could only be taken out by tearing the flesh and filling the mouth with blood. White bears, wild with hunger, assailed them furiously among the ice, around their cabin, even in the interior of the ship, and obliged them to leave their labor in order to defend their lives. The earth was frozen so hard that it had to be broken with a pick like stone. Around the vessel the water was frozen to a depth of three and a half fathoms. The beer was solid in its casks, and had lost all flavor ; and the cold increased daily. At last they succeeded in rendering their cabin habit- able, and were sheltered from the snow and wind. They lighted a fire, which they kept blazing, and were able to sleep a few hours at a time when not wakened by the howls of the wild beasts that lingered about the cabin. They fed their lamps with the fat of the bears, which they killed through the cracks of the walls ; they warmed their hands in the bleeding bowels ; they made coverings y 111 \m ♦/ X t 'k 40 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. Of the skins, and they ate foxes, and herrings, and biscuits from the ship's stores. Meantime tlie cold increased. Food and drink were frozen hard even when placed close to tlie fire. The poor sailors burned their hands and feet without feeling any heat. To all these calamities one more was added. On the 4th of November they awaited sunrise in vain ; the sun appeared no more ; the polar night had begun. Then these iron men felt their courage fail them ; and Barents, concealing his anguish as best he could, had to spend all the eloquence that he possessed in persuading them not to give way to despair. Rut the moon at stated periods lent her pale radiance day and night, and relieved the impenetrable gloom. The bears happily disappeared with the sun ; they were replaced by vast numbers of white foxes, and these, when entrapped, furnished staple materials for both food and raiment. But the cold be- came, if possible, more intense, fuel began to grow scarcer, and the wood found upon the shore was thrown upon the fire with regret. One night— on December 7 th,— when the wood had become exhausted, having brought some sea-coal from the sliip, they made a big fire ; for once they thought to be comfortable. After the fire had become a mass of living embers, to stop out the cold they hermetically closed the cabin, chimney AN ARCTIC POEM, 41 ^ and crevice, when lo ! they were within a hair's-breadth of dying of suffocation. Now were they forced to brave once more that awful cold, which, however, in this instance became their savior. The 19th December brought to the party the consola- tion that, at all events, one half of the long night had passed, and that awakening day would disclose to their eager gaze fresh sources of sustenance, and possibly of escape. True to their national characteristics, they ob- served with due festivity Twelfth Night, or Three Kings' Eve. This periodic interval, consecrated to mirthful indolence, was fully honored in the midst of their suf- fering. The ice-girt prison which held them as in bonds mus'. : eeds restrain their freedom, at least as long as they had been thus far confined ; but this was not accepted as a sufficient reason for abstinence from en- joyable frolic. Accordingly they drew lots as to which of them should wear the crown of Nova Zembla, drank to the new sovereign in bumpers of wine — which from their scanty store had been reserved for this occasion, — tossed the pancake with the prescribed ceremonies, and made the barren realm of the snow-monarch ring again with the sound of human mirth and jollity. "We were as happy," says Gerrit De Veer, with pathetic simplicity, " as if we were having a splendid banquet at home. We 42 THE HOLLANDERS LN NOVA ZEMHLA, .1 .M \ I 1 If *!l imagined ourselves in our fatherland with all our friends so much did we enjoy our repast." At other times they plnycd cards, told stories, gave toasts to the glory of Maurice, and talked about their families. Every day they sang psalms together, kneeling on the ice their faces lifted to the stars. Sometimes the aurora boreal is broke the great darkness which surrounded them and then they came forth from their cabin, running along the shore, greeting with tender gratitude the fugitive hght as a promise of salvation. According to the computation of Barents, the sun should reappear on the 9th of February. He was wrong On the morning of the 24th of January, exactly at a mo- ment when they had reached the depths of sadness and discouragement, Hcemskerck, De Veer, and another visit- ing the shore, saw to their great delight the disk of the sun in the horizon ; they returned with the joyful news to their companions. Barents was incredulous, and scouted it as impossible ; he was not prepared for the anomalous refraction peculiar to that latitude, which had so dis turbed his calculations. But the fact was fully verified two days later, when one of them, opening the door, saw an extraordinary light, gave a shout, called his com- panions, and all went out of the cabin. There in the east the sky was illuminated with a clear radiance • the AN ARCTIC POEM. 43 n moon was pale, the air limpid, the summits of the rocks and mountains tinged with rose ; the dawn at last, the sun, life, the benediction of God, and the hope of once more seeing their country after three months of darkness and anguish ! For a few moments they stood silent and pensive, overcome by emotion ; then they broke into cries and tears, embraced each other, waved their ragged caps, and made those horrid solitudes resound with ac- cents of prayer and joyful shouts. But their joy was brief. They looked in each other's faces, and were filled with terror and pity one for the other. Cold, sleepless- ness, hunger, and anguish of spirit had so consumed and changed them that they were unrecognizable. And their sufferings were not yet over. In that same month the snow fell in such abundance that the cabin was al- most completely buried, and they were obliged to go in and out by the opening of the chimney. As the cold diminished and daylight came, the bears reappeared, and the danger, the sleepless nights, the fierce combats began again. Their strength declined, and their hearts, a little lifted, fell once more. One slight thread of hope, however, remained to them. The thought of getting their vessel out of the ice and making it seaworthy being in vain, they had brought ashore a boat and a shallop ; and little by little, always ■^1 ! I J ! I ? ;r : f 44 7-//^ HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEAf/iLA. defending their lives against the l)oars, which attacked them even on the threshold of their hut, tliey had suc- ceeded in repairing them. With these two small boats they intended to try and reach one of the small Russian ports, by running along the northern coast of Nova Zembla and Siberia, and crossing the White Sea ; to make, in short, a voyage of at least four hundred Clerman miles. During the whole month of Marc.i the variable weather kept them between hope and despair, when thoughts of home filled heroic minds. More than ten times had they seen the sea cleared of ice up to the shore, and had made ready to depart ; and as many times a great increase of cold had again piled up the ice and shut them in. At last, early in June, they were able to make ready to sail. The hour of departure being imminent, Barents, de- spite his illness, drew up, on the r 3th, a small scroll, and put it in a powder-horn and fastened it to the chimney of the hut ; while Heemskerck penned a more minute relation of their adventures, a copy of which was placed in each of the boats. On the morning of the 14th June, with beautiful weather, and the open sea on every side, after nearly ten months' sojourn in that fearful place, they set sail toward the continent. In two open boats, ex- hausted by protracted sufferings, tliey went to brave the 11 AN ARCTIC 'Ol'lM. 45 furious winds, the long rains, the mortal cold, the whirl- ing ice-fields of that immense and terrible sea, where it seemed a desperate enterprise even to venture with a fleet. For a long time during the voyage they had to repulse the attacks of the white bears ; now they suffered from hun- ger ; now fed on birds, which they killed with stones, and on eggs found on the desolate shore ; they hoped and de- spaired ; they were cheerful or they wept, sometimes be- wailing themselves that they had abandoned Nova Zem- bla, sometimes invoking the tempest and praying for death. Often had they to drag their boats over fields of ice ; to tie them down lest they should be carried away by the wind ; to gather themselves together in a close group in the midst of the snow in order to resist the cold ; to call to each other through the dense fog or, perchance, hold together in the fear of being scattered and lost, and at times to gather courage from each other's touch,* Graphic as is this picture of those awful trials, we know but too well from accounts of Arctic experiences in modern days that it is not overdrawn. But all did not resist such tremendous draughts upon their strength. > Van Kampcn, as given in Dc Amicis' " Holland and its People." The It,-il- ian writer, however, having allowed some historical inaccura-Jcs to creep into his rendering or adaptation, ihcse have been corrected, and something more. Hence it was not practicable to put the extracts in quotations. ; i^Stt . =7! n. 46 THE nol.LAXDKRS IN XOVA ZEMBLA. c carpenter n Already two of their number had died— th as early as September 23d; and they had just re- turned from giving the other Christian burial in the snow, suffering from intensest cold, on the day when the sun reappeared. Barents himself had been long ill when he embarked, and could not walk. He felt, after a few days, his end approaching, and warned his companions. On the i6th June, only two days after their departure from Ice Haven, they had weathered the Cape of Desire and were nearing Cape Consolation— lan( narks, as has been well said, on their desolate journey, whose nomencla- ture suggests the immortal apologue so familiar to Anglo- Saxon ears. Off Ice Cape the two boats came near to each other, and Skipper Heemskerck called out to William Barents to ask how he did. " Very well," replied Barents, with seeming cheerfulness, " I hope to be on my legs again before we get to Ward-huis." Then said the sick man to De Veer : " Gerrit, if we arc near the Ice Point, just lift me up again. I must see that Point once more." It afforded, doubtless, no small satisfaction to the dy- ing navigator to behold for the fourth time that north- ernmost point of Nova Zembla, the centre of his many discoveries, and notwithstanding his courageous talk, he knew probably but too well that he now saw it for the last time. Yet while tossing about in his open boat AN ARCTIC rOEM. 47 along those frozen shores, too weak to sit upright, reduced to a mere shadow l)y the sufferings of that hor- rible Avintcr, Harcnts had kept up his spirits, and main- tained that he would still, with God's help, perform his destined task. In his next attempt he would steer north- cast from the North Cape, he said, and so discover the passage. But the end was at hand. On the 20th June, while the hero was indulging in all these seeming high hopes, the boatswain of the other boat came on board and said that Claas Andriesz had begun to be extremely sick, and would not hold out much longer. Whereupon Barents spoke up, saying ; " Methinks with me too it will not last long" — but let the faithful annalist relate the scene. "We did not judge William Barents to be so sick," says he " for we sat talking one with the other, and spoke of many things, and William Baren's looked at my little chart which I had made of our voyage, and we had some discussion about it, at last he laid the chart away and spake unto me, saying, < Gerrit, give me to drink ' ; and he had no sooner drunk than he was taken ill with so sudden a tremour, that he turned his eyes and died presently." Barents had died so suddenly, indeed, that they had no time to call Heemskerck to come from the other boat. De Veer adds : " The death of William Barents put us 4 \ ''1 i Jl i I 48 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA, in no small discomfort, as being the chiefe guide and onely pilot on whom we reposed ourselves next under God ; but we could not strive against God, and therefore we must perforce be content." Thus the hero, the moving spirit, the genius of these memorable voyages was no more ! Life left him, it may be said, as he was examining a map ; his arm fell stiffly in the act of pointing out the distant land, and his last words were in reality those of encouragement and coun- sel. Fitting was it, too, that this first true poleward voy- ager should be laid to rest amid the scenes of his grand discoveries. In association with the name of Barents, we cannot know too well or too accurately the facts concerning his labors here. Let us therefore revert briefly to his ''storied scroll." De Veer states that, on the 13th June, Heemskerck and others, seeing that there was open water and a fair wind, had advised Barents that it would be wise to get their boats down to the shore and take their departure— then the diarist says : " And William Bar- ents had previously written a small scroll, and placed it in a bandoleer and hanged it up in the chimney, showing how we came out of Holland to saile to the kingdome of China, and what had happened unto us, being there on land, with all our crosses, that if any man chanced AN ARCTIC POEM. 49 to come hither, they might know what had happened unto us, how we had fared, and how we had been forced in our extremity to build that house, and had dwelt lo months therein. And for that we v/ere now forced to put to sea in two small open boats, and to undertake a dangerous and adventurous voyage in hand ; the skipper also wrote two letters, which most of us subscribed unto * * * of which letters each boat had one," etc. In order to perfectly understand the facts, therefore, it may be said— we have only to take De Veer literaPy at his word.' 1 Nearly all writers upon this subject hitherto have errontc.isly alluded to Bar- ents as having, previous to the departure of the party from Nova Zembla, drawn up " a tripple record of the voyage " ; one copy of which being fastened to the chimney of the house, and one placed in each of the boats. Fortunately we are now enabled to correct this very natural error. Writers have taken De Veer at his word as they supposed ; but for want of the positive knowledge which now exists, they did not carefully distinguish between the "small scroll" iflyne cedelfien), penned by liarents— which, as it turns out, was almost literally sketched by De Veer, in the passage quoted above— and the two " letters " {brieven) which the " skipper," or in other words Heemskerck, drew up, of which De Veer ^ives a copy (too lengthy for quoting here), and to which, as he says, most of them subscribed. It has naturally been supposed that the record left in the deserted house was the same as the document entrusted to the boats and given foimally by De Veer, and that Barents penned them all because of the statement with which De Veer starts out. The latter document, however, was clearly penned by Heemskerck. But th.inks to the extraordinary discovery of Mr. Charles L. W. Gardiner, who in 1876 recovered the final relics of the winter house at Ice Haven, and to the skill of the Royal Archivist at the Hague, we are enabled to give the contents of the "scroll" which Barents drew up and left in the powder-horn, June 13, 1597, supplying parenthetically such words as were lost. The " scroll," as may be readily comprehended, was, when turned over to the Archivist, a mere handful of pulp. The contents, translated, are as follows : " So (we) were sent (out) from (Burgomaste)rsof Ani(stcr)dam An(no) 1(596) in order to sai(l) by the (N)orth to the *'fl H 50 r//E HOLLANDERS IN NOVA /.EMBLA, But if the struggling crcws-now, after J„„e 20th re- duced to thirteen men-had no longer their beloved and trusted iHlot to inspire them and give them counsel there ren^ained to them the brave Ifeemskerck ; and the sk.Il and jtulgment with which he conducted the remark- able homeward journey, exposed for over forty days to the extremities of cold, famine, sickness, and fatigue was well worthy of the noble qualities he afterward dis- played on a grander stage, and entitled him to rank only second in their regard and veneration. In the Bay of St. Lawrence they met, it mny be imag- ined with what joy, a Rt.ssian bark, whic-h gave them some provisions, some wine, and lime-juice, a remedy aga.n.t scurvy, from which several c,f the sailors were suffering, and which speedily cured them. They coasted ah^mg^ru^^^^,t other Russian vessels more and Tar,c.,y) to the aforesaid "r'rtSllt" '" '^ ^r"'f '^ ""= ^'^^^ "^ Aug,.s(, in ,hc year) above ,nen lio u 1 ^ ^ '?•' °" "'" ^'^''^^'''^ ' '' ""= ^^'^^ emergency been compelled to l,„ilcl •» bfo,.s\or/ ' .'voUnoreovenn) this the winter if poss.ble from ^^^^T:^^^''^'^''''^'^^^^^^^^ -'— 506-all ,he .hole win.o .hro.^h II , ^ 'T ""^-— "'^'"•- pinched all fast in (the ice) with onrT f , ^'^ ^'^ '"''''" "'"■ -^'''P still lay we might come Home :;;;i; ^roi ^ n^,;;::'.-f "^ ^-- '-- '" -,.. thai; Kood health in ot.r fatherland. Amen. ' "''^" '°''"«=' ""' ^""S "s with "VVil(li)am Barents. " Ja(cob) Hcemskerck." (See Note ,3 on the recovery of the Barents Relics at the end of this volume.) AN ARCTIC POEM. 51 more frequently, from them receiving fresh provisions and thus gradually restoring their strength ; some Rus- sian fishermen recognizing Heemskerck and De Veer, having seen them on their previous voyage. On the 13th August they reached the entrance of the White Sea. Here a dense fog separated the two boats, but both weathered Cape Kanin Nos, and, favored by the wind, made one hundred and twenty miles in thirty hours, after which they met again with shouts of joy. But still greater joy awaited them at Kildin. Landing on the coast, they were informed that there were vessels from Holland at Kola. Straightway, on the 25th August, a messenger was despatched, guided by a Lap, to ascer- tain the fact. In four days the guide himself returned bringing a letter, which to their joyous amazement turned out to be from their old comrade John Cornelisz Ryp who, not i)ursuing his Spitzbergen researches of the year before, had returned to Holland, and was now, it is be- lieved, on a trading venture to the White Sea. On the 2d September the exhausted crews reached Kola, where they joined Ryp's ship, greeting the flag of their country in a perfect delirium of joy. The crews of Ryp and the companions of poor Barents embraced each other with tears, relating their adventures, lamenting their dead comrades, and forgetting their past sufferings in the joy of meeting. I (,' ' ( 52 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. Bequeathing their boats to the friendly people of Kola, they set sail with Ryp for Holland, arriving in the Meuse on the 29th of October, 1597, and becoming for the while— as, so to speak, men returned from the grave— the lions of Amsterdam and the Hague ; and when last heard from they are being received in their strange apparel of white-fox furs by Prince Maurice. i'*i \'A THE HOLLANDERS IN T^OVA ZEMBLA. it [Ui'l , hJB, l'> * *« ^ } tMM 'g 'p, fi *A t i •'* i S 1 i % J h ik 1. m !. f ' 1', M , , ' THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. AN ARCTIC POEM. L—THE PROJECT STILL hung the dread debate, and fiercely raged, 'Twixt Freedom and Oppression ; still the soil, Our fathers' heritage, unwilling bore The hosts of Spain, and with abhorrence drank The mingling blood of strangers and of sons. The bruising weight of War rolled heavily O'er Flanders' plains, and deeply furrowing marred The even bosom of the fruitful land ; All Holland felt— all the fair sisterhood Of allied Provinces — the galling woe ! H' i • Yet Holland's flag defiant waved in pride O'er land and sea, where glory led the way, 53 J It 1 1 ( 1 4 ') r^. i i 1 i ■ ,■11 54 77/Zi HOLLANDERS AV NOVA ZEMBLA. And oft to Victory pointed Freedom's sons When haughty Spain, that never knew defeat, Shrank in dismay from the triumphant sword Of Maurice, of the Princely Orange line. And still, though War his desolations spread, Commerce her ileets to farthest India sent, Carrying the spicy products of the East ; And Java's wealth e.i.iched the struggling State. Europe, astounded, saw the marvel rise : This land of marshes, where the rivers sank Into the joil, and the low surface lay Beneath the Ocean's bosom,' — saw it rise And wax to greatness, till it claimed a rank Among her proudest and her fairest realms,— A very jewel sparkling in her crown ! Then Holland's mariners with fearless hearts Pushed into every sea, exploring shores That until then were vainly sought on maps. Boldest of all, Van Noord, with hand secure Seizes the helm, and steers his scanty fleet : IM AN ARCTIC POEM. Thro' wild Magellan's straits, and round the globe Completes the second circuit man had made. 55 m. But Heemskerck has conceived a stouter plan, He would attempt a more adventurous course : His nights are spent in waking, days entire His thought is changeless fixed ; his reckonings run Transverse o'er all the globe ; the various seas Believes but parts of one encircling deep, And all the world an island, so that North, South, West, nor East, no obstacle will stay Man's circumnavigating course. He would, — Imagination startles at the thought ! — He would, to reach the Orient's torrid zones, Pierce chrough the icy Arctic. Past the coast Of Nova Zembla, lost in storms and snow, Beyond bleak Russia's northernmost confines, And all along vSiberia's ice-bound shores, Descending by Kamschatka's farthest capes,— To China would he sail, and, haply, find The Indus' mighty flood. And if such path » Through everlasting ice-fields may be found, j j: fi H I ! ■ l H it i. H Si ■ I 56 r//£ HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA, 'T is Holland's fla^ shall show the dangerous way To wondering Europe. Hearts as brave as his Are found, and Ryp will share the periloub toils, And dare the deaths that threaten. Two stout barks Is all they ask, with dauntless sailors manned. The bold design i^rogresses step by step, And soon two ships with dapper crews are theirs. Barents ' himself will govern Heemskcrck's helm : He, calm in danger, firm of soul, and young In zeal, tho' gray in knowledge, sailor-born, Stands ready on the deck. Impatient now They wait the longed-for hour that sees them start. It comes. The coast is thronged, the island-shores Of Texel teem with human life. The piers Are peopled, boats are decked in festive dress. And cruise about to view with nearer gaze The venturous - hips. Farewells and parting shouts, Rung lustily from the crowds, and answered back By cheers as lusty from the elated crews, AN ARCTIC POEM. 5; Make all the strand one scene of jubilee. All Holland breathes one wish to heaven ; she sees, Exulting, these her children fearless go, Despising dangers, braving fate, perhaps To add one laurel to her glory-vvrcath. . Begins the bold attempt ! of which the years To come shall speak to children yet unborn ! The cables wound, the sails unfurled, they wait With bated breath the signal to depart. . . See, sec ! the match is touched, the powder fires ; Forth bursts tae thundering shot, rmd booming speaks A well-timed prayer for the country's weal ! i! Sing, Muse ' and touch with skilful hand the lyre ! This exploit all too daring fitly s ng : Then, as they breast the waves of trackless seas That never were explored, O sweep the strings, Swelling with notes of stirring power, and praise The deed ; or when the issue asks it, mourn In melting strains their pitiab' : fate : And be th- skill's appropriate meed, a tear ! , )' ; 11 1 1 Iff' 1 M^ H.— TEMPEST. SEEMED Nature's self forbade the enterprise ; As pitying the misery they would reap, She sent opposing winds. But fruitless was The warning ; to defy and set the law To Nature, making the rebellious blasts Their servants,* now not first they were to learn, But custom long had taught. The flood-tide's rise Lifts them across the sandy bar : in face Of adverse winds and the grim surging waves, Proudly the bounding vessels forward leap, Divide the main, and Nature's grasp elude. Sail upon sail they crowd on creaking masts. And soon are lost to sight. To northern climes Attempt their steadfast course, and hasten on Like hunted deer that skims the grassy plain. Iv: iilf ll f''^ Ui Alas, and whither, wanderers, do ye haste ? Turn, turn your bows back to the shores whence late 58 AN ARCTIC POEM. 59 Farewells rung out— and flee your certain grave ! Behold your streaming pennant, fluttering high, Points to the land you all too reckless leave ! The unfriendly North ye seek hurls these rude blasts Against your ships that, as they wrestle, spring Full many a gaping leak. Your keels can scarce Resist the fearful strain upon them. See ! The rigging, shorn from the supporting yards, Falls in confr.sion down. The lofty masts Sway to and fro like reeds bent by the gale ; And now at length the helm defies control. . . . Wanderers, return ! the shores forsaken seek ! Ha, see ye not that Death is in these waves. And yearns to clasp you to his cold embrace ? ill i '. % 'T is vain ; their courage flags not, tho' their need Is utmost : spite of adverse tempest still They stagger on. Swells to more deafening roar, As by defiance more relentless grown. The angry storm. The billows, skyward reared, Descend with might gigantic on the ships, Till hull and framework tremble at the shock. IT- m ■If I', 'Ji. hi I ; I '. ■| I t i I 60 T//E HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. But long the gallant ships outride the storm, Undaunted and unconquered ; till at length, In one last effort of expiring rage, The tempest, blowing with a fiercer blast, Upheaves the ocean to unwonted height, And flings them far apart— each lost to each ! Whither, ye parted voyagers, so late Pursuing jointly your adventurous course — O whither wander now ? Why cruise in vain The watery plain around you, that ye may Each to the other hastening reunite ? Why sweep the horizon all the compass round ? The boiling seas and whizzing welkin, these. And these alone, your straining eyes behold ! Then thus spake Ryp, who knew no dread till now " Alas ! ye found your grave, ye comrades bold ! Holland, alas ! thy Heemskerck thou hast lost ! That last farewell thou 'It rue but all too soon, And sorrow reap for laurels. Come, my mates, Yon coast perchance a refuge may afford : AN ARCTIC POEM. 6 1 Refit the riddled ship, and thither steer ! Let Holland still be spared what in ourselves She has not lost as yet, though, unrepaired, She mourn the others' loss." He spake, and swift They speed them onward, and in silence wipe The moistened eye. " Now all my hope is fled " (Thus Heemskerck spake) ; " far as I gaze, and strain My utmost, whither I may turn, of Ryp I see no trace, no mast nor pennon more. My friends, 't is o'er, the sea hath whelmed them all ! No, no ! wipe not the tears that flood your eyes ; Not less a hero he who has a heart That feels another's woe. Weep, weep, my men ! — Rest^ brethren^ rest ! you 're worthy of these tears ! — But, comrades, see ! there 's that which cheers amid The press of our misfortunes ! Lo, the storm Turned in our favor its expiring wrath, - And prospered our adventure, — flung us past The North Cape. We shall feel the ice apace Crushing against our bows, and see it drift n w Ml I? si 63 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. On every side. The Path is near ! — the path Disclosed till now was never yet by man I On, onward to the East ! thro' ice-fields hence ! Success attends us, con^rades ! Courage, men ! " \H h His dauntless language sets their souls aglow ; Springs each to work with quickened sinews, strung To spirited endeavor. Soon the ship, Rigged and refitted, boldly rides the waves ; The canvas all unreefed, she onward hies Like some brave bird that spreads his tireless wing. On\vard they speed, thro' shattering ice-floes on, — On through the pelting hail, the drifting snow ; A mist enfolds them, icy in its touch ; It garnishes the streamers and the yards With glittering icicles ; the feet freeze fast To deck and moistened gangway ; soon the helm Hangs moveless, and the cordage freezes stiff. Thus on they journey, -ill the prospect drear, And growing dismal more with every hour. «l AN ARCTIC POEM. Helpless they drift where'er the varying wind May list to push them with the shifting ice. Ere long the ice-fields cease to move, the sea Lies solid, held in Winter's icy grip. And in the midst their ship fast riveted, Seems hopeless fixed, never to move again. 63 ung ng. ;> : ,•. J 1: N ' ^'] III.— SHIPWRFXK. \A/^^'^ '^ '■^g'O" this ? The leaden welkin hangs V V Sullen and heavy here; here Nature wears, Pallid and cold, the Jivery of death. Vacant 't is all and silent, soulless, drear. A single mew flits hungrily about: A solitary fir of stunted growth And faded verdure, only remnant here Of Earth's abundant life, on yonder cliff Api)ears above the snow. But hark ♦ a sound Disturbs the air : 't is a low rumbling noise, That wakes the echoes of this silent grave Like raumed thunder ; whence but all too soon They, horror-struck, perceive. An iceberg huge, Crushing the ice-floes in its onward path. Comes from afar : shuddering, they see it come, Nearer, and still more near ; on, on it sweeps, 64 M i AN ARCTIC POEM. 65 .rs, Horrid destruction seated on its front, And e'er expanding its colossal base, Still growing as it goes : it cleaves the main, \nd down the chasm drawn thro' the quivering deep The waves rush headlong with a deafening roar. It nears the ship ! each pours his latest prayer ! — Thank God ! it dashes past ; but many a plank Is wrenched from its firm fastenings. Farther on It plunges, till 't is seen and heard no more. und ! Now loosened from the ice grip, once again 'Mid wild confusion drifts the fated ship. The billows surge beneath, and beat and burst The heaving ice-floes, and the fragments fling From wave to wave ; these, hurtling thro' the air, Strike her rent sides with oft-repeated shocks. A helpless prey 'mid all this tumult dire. The vessel, whirled and tc ssed with easy force By warring elements, obeys in turn That which in turn predominates. At last, Driven by the gale where boils a narrow sea 'Twixt two approaching ice-fields, as they close I ■■ '-i J !l IK'i I ■f-.i (fr :»M! ' .< 66 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA They clasp the ship between them. High her bow Points to the sky, her stern the meanwhile fixed Within the frozen vice— upright she stands. Now wreck and ruin have their perfect work. Naught could withstand, tho' stanch and brave the ship, Naught could withstand destruction such as this. The gallant sailors now no more can hope To hold their own upon the hapless ship ; They seize the loosened rigging, tackling, ropes, With desperate effort swing themselves o'erboard. They speed them o'er the ice that human foot Ne'er trod before ; they wade thro* depths of snow That never felt a frotsten : on they haste. But know not whither terror urges them. Oh ! boon midst so much ill, with joy perceived And loudly cheered : see yonder tongue of land ! Thither they now direct their rapid course ; They feel that they are fleeing from a death That 's hunting them, loth now at last to lose The victims that so certain seemed his prey. 1 1 ship, AN' ARCTIC POEM. 6/ With every step they double still their speed To reach yon place of refuge. Rocks that rise Above the highest steeple Holland knows, And rent in perpendicular clefts,— they see Before them . . . mark their path, 't is difficult, Winding along, between, the rifted heights, Where scattered blocks of ice their way impede, And drifts of snow ; but naught can check them now, They halt nor hesitate, attain the land ; . . . And Nova Zembla's shores bear human feet ! ' '1 1-, if . i IV.— NOVA ZEMBLA. i' '*. HERE Winter has forever fixed his throne .' His heritage is here, his kingdom this ! Here bahny Spring-days venture not to bloom ; The Sun's low slanting rays that faint, and cold, And wearily lagging thro' the distance beam. May lap the snow, but leave the ice unhurt. What mortal here can live of man or beast ? The hardy Northman, searching every coast In quest of booty, shuns this ice-bound waste. No other spot on earth tho' scant endowed So miserably barren, stricken, dead ! The soil is frozen into stone, to be Never again dissolved to fruitfulness. •T is only snow-flakes here the clouds bestow, A deathly whiteness, all the landscape round, Creation's garb invariably here. Inhospitable cliffs forbidding rise, 68 AN ARCTIC POEM. 69 in ; I • 1. Where'er the eye its distant glances turns ; Seems only ice builds up their beetling front. Ha ! see them bending heavily o'er their base ; Unseated by the tides and by the winds, They threaten death to him who dares approach. The uninviting region this, from all Human society cut off ; and such The shores by Heemskerck and his comrades trod. And on this soil, before untrod by man, Kneeling, his fervent thanks to Heaven he pours, Who all his men preserved ; then, rising, he — In ecstasy of feeling mixed of joy And misery, of fear and gratitude — Clasps them to his brave heart in warm embrace. He seeks to pierce the endless distance through, With anxious looks explores the desolate scene, And . . . shudders. Shudders every soul that views Such aspects drear. Meanwhile the night descends. Compelling farther progress on the land, »f, I fi fji ii 'M i' 1 1 ,'V 'I I ;0 7-//^ HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. If haply they some shelter there may find. Alas ! no hut's protecting roof they see, Nor tree, its scanty refuge to afford To their exhausted limbs. At every step Their bosoms throb with ever-growing dread. Breaks not one star the still-increasing gloom ; They see not one another ; one by one. By weariness o'er-mastered, they sink down, Happy to nestle 'neath the chilly snow : Yet fatal were the sleep that courts them now ; They toss about and grant their limbs no rest. Ha ! see they not yon poiar bear advance? He sniffs the tainted breeze ; unwonted prey He scents ; with every pace he nearer draws, Infuriate hunger fires his appetite ; The snowy mantle of his shaggy fur Makes him an indistinguishable part Of the surrounding whiteness : now he marks His victim,— comes with stealthy, noiseless step,— Clutches the nearest of the luckless crew, And drags him bleeding to his distant den, rii i.i( AN ARCTIC POEM. 71 A terror seizes n' they know not why ; They hear faint nr rmurings of a smothen 1 groan, That ceases soon, expiring in a sigh. Stunned and ( stracted with a nameless i ear, They darkling grope, to know ^ .hat harm has come ; They close in narrower < ircle, land joins hand, And one by c le they call the several names, And onr is missed! A horr(;r thrills their frames : They seek the ground no more, but stan d watch, Scarce breathing, listening, hushed, and trembling stand. And long they wait the dawn, for tardy morn Delays, spite their strong wishes for the light. A stinging pain the biting frost imparts, Yet scarce dare move their limbs, lest they attract Some prowling enemy. At length they see The first faint ray just struggling thro' the gloom : Pale morn arrives and brightens by degrees. They trace their comrade's fate, too plainly shown : Where he was dragged along the virgin snow They mark his progress by the frozen blood ! Then, shuddering at the sight, they hasten back •f^ v:«^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // #.>.<^. m./ "% V ..V 4g- <:t^\€ {< i/.. z 1.0 I.I 11.25 1^ 150 !.8 M ? ■- 1 2.0 UUi. 11 1.8 1.4 1.6 Fnotograptiic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14S80 (716) 872-4303 ^•:^ <> iV A \ '^ % \ "O'^^.A 4^.r^% ^% ^ • , 1 V-AO 84 r//£ HOLLA MDEKS IJV NOVA ZEMELA. Offend we not His miglit and gracious care By desperation's murmurings : He sees And pities all our suffering ; only He Our hope, our help, and solace in this grief. Lo ! yonder placid moon, whose softer rays Bring us a silvery memory of the day, Bespeaks His care ; blest be that fainter light ! Tho* variable, now growing, and anon Lessening to a dark disc scarce visible,— 'T will often cheer our hapless sojourn, guide Our footsteps ; and if perils haunt our path Will faithfully announce them, and reveal The path of safety ; till the Sun awake. And light and hope together banish night ! " Thus Barents ; but none answered, for each heart Was filled with thoughts that asked no aid of speech ; One feeling swayed them all, subdued and sad. Some wi.itful gazed into the glowing coals ; Scaie wept the silent tear, or breathed a sigh- Tributes to distant hearths and happier days. Then, like brave men, they set their earnest minds "(■ ^■V^'^^^^^^SSHSMV AN ARCTIC POEM. To face the future, shuddering yet withal At the drear prospect. With severest care And inventory strict their hoarded stores They calculate ; fixed rations they appoint, That, thus eked out to the utmost, they may last. The fuel has its measured limits set ; The slender wick is split to half its width. To bring the lamp thro' twice lis length of cheer. 85 •t But cordial concord reigns, tho' penury Prevails, aud, uncompelled by strict commands, Rules discipline thro' all the exiled crew. And when the calendar brings in their course The Christian Holydays, tho' dire their need, Old-time Economy, the nation's boast, Knows how to deal with a more liberal hand. Then do they tear from the fast-frozen vat The salted meat, and in the roaring blaze Swings the broad kettle ; tempting fumes arise, And the unwonted dish sets to keen edge Their too abstemious appetites. Before They gather round the sumptuous board, they list ■^^^'iAi^ssS^b^Sm^ "''Siiiitfiir ' 86 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. With barrel brows the reading of the Word That tells the sacred story of the day ; They render to the Lord with pious hearts The special thanks which to the day belong ; And jointly sing the heartfelt hymn of praise, Till Nova Zcmbla's ice-bound desert rings With swelling numbers of Dutch psalmody,— Then with glad zest they celebrate the feast Before them spread. And next, if games, or forms Of sportive ceremony " custom long Hath joined to the memorial day, with these They pass the time, and court the generous glee That makes these days more dear, nor less devout The holy memories which the Church enjoins. ^.•M m - VII.— EVENING HOURS. tns AT Evening— marked not by declining day, But by the clock — at social eventide, Gathers the close-drawn circle round the hearth. Then penetrates thro' all their pressing cares A quiet joy, that lessens grief the while ; Then flows the wine, or in deep draughts of beer (The old-time custom of the Fatherland) They drink to loving maid, or wife, who claim Their heart's devotion true ; and if the tear Drops as they drink into the foaming bowl, The melting sorrow soothes the troubled breast. f And oft to serious themes inclined, they love To share their mutual minds, and speak of home, Of wife and children, whom they never more (Unhappy thought !) may to their bosom strain. Thus as the night wears on each in his turn 87 I Vi lij i U: 88 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. Has asked attention : one relates how dear His loving wife, recounts his children's names, How hard each parting as he sails abroad.— Another tells how much his oldest boy Resembles him, and seems a sailor born. Teasing each voyage to be gone with him ; The mother, sadly smiling through her tears, Looks fond, proud glances at the fearless boy.— A third remembers how on that sad day Of latest and perhaps of last farewell, His babe held forth its arms a hundred times, Pursed the sweet lips to kiss him, lisped and spake. The first of untried speech, a /.////^rV name. But 't is too much, these mem'ries overcome The spirit, and the words are choked in tears. On other nights they turn to games of chance. Rattle the dice, and place the checker-board, And challenge comrades to adventures safe In trials of skill and fortune : one by one They gather round the board, and heavy time Slips onward, all its misery unperceived H'l •' t. ike, ^A^ ARCTIC POEM. For a brief respite season. Some the while Look on, and fill the hours with useful work, Mending worn doublets, or the tattered sail. Or sometimes they recount with burning hearts The glorious history of the Fatherland. They tell with brave enthusiastic tongue Of Maurice and his princely deeds of war ; Whose military genius, joined to soul Heroic as old Rome's devoted sons, Swept out of Spain's presumptuous hands of might Full many a stronghold of the despot's power, Breda by stratagem, by valor Hulst ; » Loyal to memories of the illustrious sire, William the Silent, martyred for his land,* Linked to the glories of the martial son, — Their souls burst forth into the stirring strains, " Wilhelmus van Nassouwen,'"* till the hut Rings to the echo with the boisterous song. Warmed by these themes, their patriotic hearts Bound with a sympathetic bravery ; They seem transported to the scene of war, 89 *'l 90 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA, They join their comrades in the noble strife, And in their proud enthusiasm forget Their dire surroundings and imprisonment." ^ 11 ! But yet the night continues, nor will yield The hours that justly are the day's. And still, When what should be the morning comes, they look- But to be disappointed— for the dawn. lA, VIII.— AURORA BOREALIS. I, y look- T^UT 't is not always gloom, for even here -L^ Nature has that which the rapt soul compels To adoration. Yea, hath God not made All things, in all their times and everywhere, Marvellous and beautiful ? In this sad clime, Where stricken Nature seemed forever doomed To impotency, barrenness, and death, Is night made glorious, and all Heav'n bid shine With gorgeous beauties, such as wildest dreams Have never set before the thought of man. For lo ! in their supremest splendor seen, Here coruscate the sky-born Northern Lights." A strange exhilaration once possessed Their frames, nor seemed the frost so fierce as wont ; They ventured forth into the air to watch The stars, and tell the progress of the year ; 91 1^*J*^j...iH.^t-^-.-; *^*S=";*«»«?J^,i^,- '^1 92 THE liOLr ANDERS m NOVA ZEMBLA. To look on constellations that were hid By flaming day from lower latitudes ; Cold, but surpassing beautiful and clear The sparkling vault of heaven. When lo I from depths Unseen, beyond horizon's utmost bounds,- Where the smooth surface of the frozen sea Met the descending circle of the skies,- A sudden light leapt to the dark-blue heavens • With faintest radiance filled the farthest North' And scarce disturbed the shades of star-lit night • But soon beams brighter, and with blood-red hue' Suffuses earth and heaven. The ruby flame Glances along the snow-fields, and on high Glasses itself in the smooth crystal front Of beetling icebergs ! Then still other tints Succeed, till multitudinous rainbows bend Their many-colored arches o'er the sky. Anon the trembling light, in circling rings, Seeks loftiest skies ; and from their centres pour Streams of a liquid fire,--a thousand hues Sparkling and interchanging as it burns, - f.tf( '\\. 1 depti IS AN ARCTIC POEM. And, as arrested by some hidden rock, Gathering red foam, and spattering million sparks, That flash and die ujjon their wayward course. Next, mountains burnished gold bestud the sky. Darting the lightning from their flaminir sides. While at their lurid base burn sulphur seas, Beating their glowing waves upon the shore, Or whirling them in pools of livid light. At last a quick explosion scatters far The fragmentary splendors, — seems the light Devoted to extinction ; — but again, As suddenly renewed, intensifies Into redoubled brilliancy ; and shapes E'en more fantastically beautiful. Flash out again to startle the rapt view. 93 What soul that witnesseth such scenes sublime But must in speechless reverence bow the head ? They read amazement in each other's eyes. Tho' wrought to highest pitch of awe, their minds Conceive a joy 'mid all their dismal state : 94 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. A joy to see such wonders, to behold The strange ilhimination flash and play, And feel its fascination chain their souls ! 'L> IX.— DEATH. FREQUENT without, well armed against the frost, They until now went forth to watch the stars, To exercise the limbs, benumbed within The narrow quarters of their cabin rude ; Or to secure the drift-wood on the beach, For fuel thro' the unabating cold. But as the night continued fiercer grew The frost, and soon they venture forth no more. The ice-bear now no longer prowls about. The increasing cold confines him to his den, There to abide the winter's lesser phase. But still the hungry foxes, desperate grown, Maddened by scenting of the savory vats, Sniffing the frozen air, are tempted near ; They gnaw at walls and roof ; but snares are set, And many a victim yields them welcome dish, And helps to lengthen the fast-failing stores. 95 i 96 r//£ HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. It happened once, when evening's friendly hour Had kept the social circle closely drawn Till late, it was proposed to heap the hearth, And heat the room to more than common warmth ; A meagre handful coal, the remnant left From all the ship's supply, and long eked out With care, was cast upon the glowing brands ; Each slightest crevice in the walls was stopped, The chimney draft was checked, that not too soon The dying heat might pass into the sky. Now first real comfort steals along their limbs ; No shivering now, no 'numbing cold that wont To penetrate through all their densest furs, And blankets thickly heaped : delicious rest Visits each hammock. ',' J • . . But the laboring breast Heaves with a painful breath, the pulse beats low. The throbbing brain grows dizzy, and ere long The choking firedamp had o'erwhelmed them all. But one, scarce conscious, reeling from his cot Bursts door and shutters thro', lets in the air, AN ARCTIC POEM, 97 Tho' laden with the deadly frost, and saves The smothering crew, waked from the deadlier warmth. They shudder at the danger they escaped ; Scarce hoping to escape more distant death, They 're grateful for deliverance from a fate So near them ; and they praise God's Providence, Who through that same fierce frost, whose fatal touch Withers and kills, reanimated them. But scarce this peril past, another blow Dread consternation brought. Their trusty friend, Their counsellor, their refuge in distress. In swift calamity their moveless rock, The brave and pious Barents,--fails, and death Stands threatening near. His thoughtful care devised, And his own weak and trembling hand prepared, The troublous story of their sojourn here ; In plainest style set forth, omitting naught. Recounts their journey, and its issue vain And fatal. Beckons Heemskerk, clasps his hand, Attempts to speak but cannot ; shows the roll, And points him to the spot on topmost roof ■( -''•M nnn w iiH ii 'Mniiii hi '('!! H 98 T//£ HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. Where he should fix It ; that it might be found In after years, and thus posterity— If ever ship should reach these shores, and safe Return— may know what dreadful fate was theirs, Who braved the terrois of the rigid North To seek new paths for Holland's growing fame. Now for a last farewell his ebbing powers He rallies, prays whoever may escape— If ever atiy homeward turn his way— Would crrry greetings to his aged wife, And all a father's blessing to the loved And loving children ; tell them how his heart. Breaking with fruitless yearnings, beat for them With tenderest love, even to the final throb ; That no rebellious thoughts oppressed his soul. Nor robbed him of his peace with God, who still He can no more : he nods his last farewell. With blinding tears they watch his parting breath. Their wretched plight its veriest depths of woe Had now accomplished. Silent there those lips That wont to stir their hearts, to build their hopes AN ARCTIC POEM. 99 'Mid worst despair, to make their weakness strong, Their folly wisdom ; now no comfort theirs When comfort might not flow from that pale mouth. They yield themselves to an excess of grief : The fire demands replenishing ; their food Remains untasted on the waiting board ; They feel not, reck not, only know to grieve ! " ■sS«s«»«r"*i|l***S X.— DAY. I'lii L^^ NOR yet the night seemed ready to depart, And morning still delayed. And now their hearts, Unmanned by long-continued misery, And hopes still disappointed, still deferred, Gave way to desperation, wrung with fears That grew as dire necessity increased. The unwonted cold, and penury's ill supplies, Make fatal inroads on their robust health ; And stretches more than one his weary limbs Upon the bier by Barents' lifeless side. And now a thought takes shape, with horror thrills Their hearts as they conceive it : when the hour Of utmost need shall come, to try by lot Whose dying body shall support the life Of those who then remain. Nor dreaded less The hour when must survive alone the last (And each considers he may be the last) 100 % eir hearts, thrills r AN ARCTIC POEM. lOI Of all their number, and must singly brave His yet more frighttul death : in desperate fear They fling their hands lo heaven, and beg the death That all too slowly comes Thank God ! a beam Of the returning day pierces the East. They see it, doubt it, haste to wrench aside The tightened shutters, and, dumbfounded, gaze ! Yes, truly, there at last, and God be praised ! The morning twilight chases lingering night. The moon shines paler, fainter grow the stars, Reviving daylight paints with brightening hues The dull horizon, and illumes the tops Of icebergs : parts the heavy hanging clouds, Dulls the keen edge of Winter, seems to soothe The very blasts from Winter's icy caves ; And brings at last the Sun. He rises. See ! Light, Hope, Deliverance, in his happy beams ! The Night must yield her sway, too long endured : They greet the Day with shouts of boundless joy, And their devout thanksgivings stammer forth ! f.l h i ||i».ni iii r)ijOiH ii»|gpm gi|H i jjil.j i %, 102 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. i^%i). V *fl Now hoi)c revived gives to their sinews strength ; With spade and pick-axe they attack the snow, Heaped in liigh banks against their cabin door. They open them a i)ath, but gain each foot With labors all too great for their worn frames. But reck not, spare not, give themselves no rest Tho' hands and feet are almost paralyzed ; Their bending bodies stiffen, and will scarce Obey their stubborn wills : it matters not, So must they dig their grave, or win themselves Deliverance ! therefore bravely they maintain The desperate struggle, strain their utmost, near With every painful hour their goal, the boats, Their last resort, their only refuge now ! They find the craft, remove the covering snow, Repair the breaches, strengthen every point, Desi)oil the cabin to supjjly their lack. They gather nil the stores (alas ! too light A ballast), and are ready to depart. They launch the boats upon the ice-bound sea : Then turn for one last look at the lone hut "w«tees AM ARCTIC POEM, That gave them shelter in so fierce a clime ; Drop the sad tear for their de{)arted mates, To whom the steely soil refused a grave, Whose dear-remains repose in yonder cleft, lieneath the virg snowdrifts for their pall. They gaze with wistful eye and failing heart On Barents' storied scroll, surmounting high The cabin's roof ; and then commend to God Their souls, and to the waves their creaking craft ! 103 ' I i U ' W\ /» Ml ^ XI.— ADRIFT. PERILOUS tlie way on which they ventured now : Their boats' destruction, threatening famine, deaths Frightful and manifold, hung over them. Uncertain of their course, of distances Nor soundings knowing aught, and every coast Strange to their eyes, they steer their trembling skiffs Where'er the immeasurable ice-fields break, And leave a narrow space of open sea. Surrounds them now again that tumult wild Which shattered erst their ship's stout frame of oak : iMerce waves contending in their wrathful might With the vast iceberg's burden ; bowlders huge First rudely severed from the glittering mount, And hurled into the deep, and driven again To crash and crumble 'gainst the solid base. Or icebergs rush on icebergs, and the shock 104 ed now : ne, deaths ; skiffs oak : AJV ARCTIC POEM. Beats the surrounding seas to boiling foam, While the loud thunder of their bursting hearts Deafens the frighted ear. Dubious the course Through such commotion ; often death is near, Oft seems inevitable, but kind Heaven As oft with sudden rescue succors them. And many a scene of splendor greets their view, Where seas are calm, and unresisting bear Their icy burdens. When the distance lends Persi)ective's magic to the sight, they see Fair palaces transparent to the light, And hanging gardens ; huge cathedral-domes, With many a glistening spire ; high castle-walls, With angles salient and regressive, towers Octagonal and round, and glassy moats, And courts of tesselated pavements bright ; While over all the crystal fairy-world The sunbeams shed innumerable hues. 105 ''I !(■ ..( But painful grows the scene when the worn mind Controls not cruel Fancy's wayward whims ; w M 'f.'' I- nv '■ 1 06 7i7i? HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. Then various scenes of home she conjures up, Starting among the wondrous ice-forms there. Here rise the well-known dunes, where breaks the Rhine Into the North Sea ; yon majestic ])ile Is Utrecht's famous dome ; those battlements Are Haarlem's, whence her sons and daughters braved, Indifferent to sex," the oppressor's hosts ; And yonder lies the brave metropolis Of Holland's commerce : lo ! each several gate, Each bristling fortress, and each busy quay ! Glad exultation bounds within the breast, As they behold these scenes. Are they so near To the beloved land, which they despaired Ever to see again ? Then melt the scenes, And anguished disappointment takes their place ; They know themselves the sport of waves and ice, Hither and thither flung on the wide main, In i)athless waters, distant Far from home, Following where Heaven's good favor chance to guide. And now the ice-fields cease, while far beyond Their utmost ken the open sea extends. he Rhine braved, :e, guiae. AN ARCTIC POEM. But dark it heaves beneath the leaden sky, And more unfriendly still than deserts wide Of ice and snow : at least these offered them A foothold firm, if their frail craft should fail. But what in all yon limitless expanse, Those depths unfathomcd, shall afford escape Lonely and helpless in these open skiffs ? Shall they return or shall they dare advance ? There is no way : these ocean wastes must bear Onward to safety or to deaili. They press Into the dark and threatening depths, to reach The far horizon, and what there of help May them befall ; or else at last to find Beneath those waters not unwelcome graves. Thus days on days, and nights succeeding nights, Thro' many a week they gail the trackless deep. Each rising morn revives their waning hopes ; Each eve brings fresh despair, and pressing woe. Oft fortune leads them to some coast from far Espied, but nearer not familiar grown ; They scale the rocks, and look, but find no trace 107 u tdi^'i^.s^i ^M m ^^ i. I08 THE HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. Of luiman dwelling, nor a clue to guide Their knowledge of the country ; but secure Grateful supplies of game, and eggs of hirds, And relish strengthening food ; then they again Trust their frail boats to the unfriendly waves, And onward drag their way, but sailing now With greater safety near the winding shores. f )', t m . XII.— homp:wari). ONE night the clouds had darkling hung In the black sky, and blown the fitful winds In rapid blasts, plowing the billowy main, And heaping up the waves to dangerous heights. In haste the luckless mariners had fled The laboring sea, and on the safer shore Endured the pitiless storm. When dawned the day They launched again on the yet troubled deep, And drew with painful strokes the unwilling boats. 14 Wearied with toil, when now the ascending sun Had drawn the heavy mists from sea and sky, They drop the lumbering oars, and mean to rest ; They look with eye accustomed to despair And disappointment, to survey the scene. And ... ha ! what shores are these ? what harbor this ? 109 ■ r < 1 1 ifl i fl I^H ^1 '1 \ H ■ ' ^^^1 '^H I'^l 4 '^^H t'^H |H 1 91 1 ■ ■--J-l-iy... ..■,..^...,-:l ■^-■~t^.^'^y-^ , t. i i ii mr 'W ..) ' no THE HOLLANDERS LN NOVA ZEMBLA. Ships ride at anchor licrc, and . . . shrieks of joy Burst wild and sudden from their solibing breasts, — There, there ! one vessel rivets all their gaze ; On yonder mast they fasten eager eyes. Oh ! sight too happy ! can the sight be true ? T/icre floats upon the sunbright morning air, Holland's miiftjlag ! The shock of sudden joy O'crwhelms, unmans them, after hope deferred And life and rescue long despaired of. Now Icy delusions play not on their sense ; This is their nation's flag, yon vessel hers ; And these perchance are Texcl's island-shores, Whence they departed on their Arctic cruise ! Mi! With trembling hands they seize upon the oars. Row to the ship, but scarce can bide the time. • As they advance they icnd the air with shouts ; Soon grate the boats along the keel, they grasp The ropes thrown by the expectant crew above. They swing themseh'es aloft ; set foot on board. . . Fortune most unexpected, never hoped ! . . . Lo ! Ryp strains Heemskerck to his thankful heart ! \i rjoy AN' ARCTIC POEM. Ill 'Tis Ryp, his comrade, partner of his way Till that first tempest severed him, and cast On this same sheltering coast. Not Texcl's isle, Nor any region near their longed-for homes, But a far-distant White Sea harbor this, In Russia's rigid empire. Safely here Ryp passed the winter : now prepared to sail The favorable seas, to hasten back To Holland, and announce her Heemskerck's loss. ' rt! Astonishment and joy have paralyzed The tongue, and scarce coherent words express The excess of gratitude ; they know no grade Of rank, but officers and men embrace As friends and brothers long thought dead, and now Recovered from the grave. The anchors weighed. They spread all sails before the favoring winds ; But how their prayers and wishes far outstrip The hurrying breezes ! Oft the thrilling tale Of all their strange adventure, and the woes Of those long months of darkness, moves to tears The listening comrade ; for the mournful thought ■-»aiits>fftwtiTiiiHiiwniWrMKita»«' ■tj » i' n.»i»ai ii wi H I " "" ^/i, y'i. I r 2 THE HOLLANDERS IN NO VA ZEMBLA. Went back to those who had remained behind ; To him whom all these rugged hearts so loved, Who lay there lonely. Thus in converse oft They spent the hours, beguiling tedious time. Soon the blue distance yields the well-known shores ; They trace the silvery beach ; from yonder waves Start the familiar scenes ; rise towering spires, The landmarks of their birthplace : all the crew Crowd to the decks ; the anchors drop, the yawl Is soon afloat along the keel ; they row To shore, fall on their knees, and sobbing kiss. In ecstasy of joy, the very sand ! 'r:i The astonished nation greets with welcome warm The long-lost wanderers. Where'er they go Through all the land, enthusiastic crowds Press wonderingly about them. Old and young W'':h louJ applause their courage celebrate. And render thanks to Heaven for their escape. The grateful Fatherland receives her sons ; I. )res ; AN ARCTIC POEM, She glories in their bravery, for of such Heroes are made, and sucli the hearts will pour Their life-blood for her sacred liberties. This all the thought that fills her generous heart ; She crowns their hardships with abundant meed, And strews her laurels with a liberal hand : Counts not the issue, marks the intent alone ! "3 ■M And now the Muse has sung the enterprise ; In joyous notes has told the happy end, The glad return of these brave steadfast hearts ; But still her closing strains an echo have Of the dire region, where with plaintive harp She sat, and sang the woes she could not heal. For through the deafening shouts of welcome, still She hears the moaning of the icy wind On those bleak shores. From the safe hearths and warm, Where clasped in love's embrace the lost ones bask, She turns and penetrates the distant scene Where lonely stands the hut,'' and winters still Prepare the grave of Nature, and for man A thousand deaths. Then thrilled with pity sings : ..J] h»f 1^ Ik 114 T-A^^ HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. Farewell ! thou hapless and remorseless clime," Ye shores unblest, of every favor void, A long farewell ! Oh, never more may man Set foot upon you, nor may human breath Flow out upon your cruel atmosphere ! Be ye unvisited, ye wastes, cut off From the all else inhabitable earth ! Farewell, thou most inhospitable isle ! And may posterity record thy name, Famed by none other than our Heemskerck's woes ! !:|4 \ oes NOTES. »'%^ ff^i u I 1 J i w i ■< 1 : ' 1i r 1 ','1 ■ ' 1 # ;n I NOTES. 1. Page 54. " . . . the low surface lay Beneath the ocean's bosom, . , ," The geographical peculiarity of Holland, with its surface below the level of the sea at high tide, so that the country must be defended against the incursions of the waves by means of dykes, is too well known to need more than an allusion here. 2. Page 55. "... And if such path " It is interesting to observe that this is the ver^- course pursued by Nordenskiold in 1878-9. The famous " Northeast Passage," ao long the fond dream o' Arctic explorers, has thus been finally found and successfully accomplished. What it is worth to commerce, as a short and easy trade-route to China and the East Indies (which, at one time, it was seriously hoped it might prove to be), it is now not difficult to estimate. A simple perusal of the " Vega's " adventures will suffice. 3. Page 56. " Barents himself will govern Heemskerck's helm." The true relation which William Barents bore to the present undertaking has been explained in the Historical Introduction. lie was the one whose busy brain pondered day and night, who largely conceived the enterprise, whose enthusiasm infected others, until the requisite ships and crews had been procured. It seems almost like unpardonable injustice on the poet''- part to ascribe all this to Heems- kerck, who consented to occupy one of the secondary positions, after the project was fairly under way. But probably the following circumstances may explain the matter. Heemskerck, after his return from Nova Zemblp. lose to the rank of Ad- miral. In 1606 he was sent in command of a fleet into the Spanish waters. On April 25th of that year he engaged, in the Bay of Gibraltar, a fleet of the enemy's vessels of greatly superior calibre, and manned by greatly superior numbers. Vic- tory was on the side of the Dutch, but their Admiral was killed in the early part of the battle. Thus Heemskerck figures far more prominently in general history, "5 il!:n' 116 THE IIOLLAXDERS IN NOVA ZEMBLA. and is much better kno'vn in llollaml, tlian I'aronts, whose reputation is only great in tlie annals of Arctic exploration. Hence, prol)al)ly, by poetic license, the author was inilucetl tocxangcrate llceiuskerck's connection with the present expe- dition. The siiclliu); of the name of Harcnts deviates from tlic poet's, in the change of ";rcal and kocI man was assassinated l.y a poor deluded fanatic, who had heen tempted to the 'deed l.y the enormous price set upon the head of the I'ritice hy the King of Spain. 9. Pack 89. " Wilhelmus van Nassotirven." " William of Nassau." A patriotic sour, the nation.d hymn r,f those days,- composcd by St. Aldegonde, the Mayor of Antwerp .luring tli.^ famous siege l,y the Prince of I'arma, ,584-,. The .I'.inre of OranKc w.-.s als., Count of N,-,ssaii, henre the title, in which the anlicpiatea J)utch form of the word occurs. It is still sunR with enthusiasm in Holland, althouKh the recognized national hymn is the " Wien Neerlands IJlocd," by our author. 10. Pac;r 90. ". . . forget Their dire surroundings and imprisonment. ' ' In rcg.ird to the p.issage which this line closes, the translator wishes to say that he has here again t.-ikcn some liberties. In the original, ,>«<• individual gives utter- ance to all the experiences respecting wife and chiKlrcii ; o>,e man sings the song, and, instead of a general conversation concerning Maurice and his deeds, the same person .n>/i-.f about these deeds. The translator ventures to think that the poet has not been badly misrepresented, as his text furnishes the hints .uid for the most part the exact languagcof the variations. It was thought that more vividness to tlie scene, more reality and interest to the narrative, would be imparted by slightly altering the original in the way presented. 11. Page 99. ''They feci not, reck not, only know to grieve ! " That this grief was not extravagant, but warranted by the worth of the man, inay be seen from the following words of Motley : " And thus the hero, who for vivid intelligence, coiimge, and perseverance amid every obst.iclc, is fit to be classed among the noblest of maritime adventurers, had en'* 1 K 111 'a I 120 T//£ HOLLANDERS IN NOVA ZEMBIA. to the immortal ' etdelken ' or ' scroll ' which it was Mr, Gardiner's gootl fortune to bear away with him, and of which skill and patience have resolved for us nearly every word. To secure this tlociiment were alone a pri/o well worthy the quest of the English yachtsman. Indeed, if Hollanders may fairly blush that all these precious relics have been recovered hy means of foreign and not Dutch enterprise, they may in this instance console themselves with the reflection that it was owing to the zealous prompting of one of their own countrymen [the late I.ieut. Koolemans Ik-ynen] that the voyage was made which did the final work, and, above all, which gave back to them the paper identifying for the first time the signature of Barents. Nor, we may add, coidd foreigner have been found more inclined than Mr. Gardiner to perform the task with that same spirit of reverence which a Hollander would have felt in performing it, nor more willing to award honor to that early Dutch enter- prise which rendered his splendid achievement possible." (" The liareuts Relics : Recovered by Charles L, W. Gardiner, Esq., and Presented to the Dutch Govern- ment." Described and Explained by J. K. J. De Jonge, Deputy Royal Archivist at the Hague. Translated, with a Preface, by Samuel Richard Van Campen. Lon- don, Trllbner & Co., 1877, pp. 31, 22.) 14. Tage 114. " Farewell! thou hapless and remorseless clime." This apostrophe to Nova Zcmbla occurs in the Dutch poem after the lines de- scribing the party's departure from the island in their open boats; in the transla- tion its true place would be at the conclusion of the tenth canto. With all due deference to our author's taste and skill, however, it seemed as if his noble poem suffered from the lack of a more poetic conclusion than the plain recital of the re- turn of the explorers, and the reception which met them at the hands of the Fatherland. As the first canto (here.'n strictly following the author) closed with an appeal to the Muse to preside over the verse and sing the exploit, it seemed fitting to recall the conception of the Muse, awaiting her " skill's appropriate meed." So in a few lines of his own the translator has attempted to call up the vision of the Mistress of Poetic Numbers striking the lyre, and singing a last and long farewell to Nova Zembla. The fourteen lines preceding the apostrophe must therefore not be charged to the Dutch poet. Just here it may be well to state (as was promised in the " Translator's Note ") in what other instances the translator has been guilty of this temerity of interpo- lating lines of his own composition among those of his author. Twelve lines at the beginning of the eighth canto and nine at that of the twelfth come under this category. They were deemed necessary as introductions to these cantos, which in the nature of things could not be found in the original matter, as the poet himself did not contemplate any such divisions of his poem. It is hoped the translator has not committed an unpardonable offence. 1 I