A history of geographical discovery in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

Front matter

Id .

McKEW PARR COLLECTION

MAGELLAN

Preface

THE period dealt with in this book Hes for the most part outside what has been well termed the Age of Great Discoveries, and has in consequence met with less attention, perhaps, than it deserves. While the main episodes have formed the theme of many and competent writers, few attempts have been made to present such a connected view of the whole course of Geographical Discovery within the limits here adopted as might bring out the precise position occupied by each separate achievement in relation to the general advance of knowledge. It is this task which has been attempted in the present volume. The reasons which give a certain unity to the period are discussed in the following pages, but it may be briefly characterised here as that in which, after the decline of Spain and Portugal, the main outlines of the World-map were completed by their successors among the nations of Europe.

In dealing with so wide a field, both as regards time and space, the arrangement of the subject-matter presents considerable difficulties. To take the major portions of the world in turn, and trace the course of discovery for each from beginning to end, would, it was thought, lose much by failing to bring out what may be called the general perspective of the story. Successive periods were marked by more or less definite characteristics all the world over, and both the aims and methods of discoverers

VI PREFACE

changed with the times. On the other hand a strict chronological arrangement of the whole material would have its own disadvantages, and a compromise between the two methods seemed to offer the only suitable solution. For each part of the world the whole epoch has therefore been broken up into periods, possessing a general unity in themselves, and sufficiently prolonged to escape the drawback of frequent interruptions of the story.

Whilst original sources of information have been consulted as far as possible, it is obvious, in view of the extent of the field, that this could not be done universally, in a text-book that does not, primarily at least, profess to present the results of original research. The contributions of so many previous workers in the field have been drawn upon that it is impossible to acknowledge the indebtedness in each separate case ; more especially as the narrative is based on notes collected during a long series of years. A few of the more particular obligations must however find expression. Of earlier dates, works like Burney's classical collection of South Sea voyages, Southey's History of Brazil, M tiller's and Coxe's accounts of Russian North- East voyages, and Barrow's History of Voyages into the A rctic Regions, have of course been consulted ; while, of more recent times, Markham's Threshold of the Unknown Region, Ravenstein's Russians on the Amur, Parkman's and Winsor's historical works on North America, and Theal's on South Africa, Bryce's History of tJie HiLdson Bay Company, Burpee's Search for the Western Sea, Conway's No Man's Land, Nordenskiold's Voyage of the Vega, and many others, have furnished useful indications. The publications of the Hakluyt Society, with the valuable introductions supplied by the several editors, have also been an important source of information.

As regards the illustrations, special thanks are due to Mr Kitson, and his publisher Mr Murray, for permission to utilise the chart of Captain Cook's routes, and the

PREFACE Vll portrait of the navigator, given in the former's Captain James Cook (which appeared, unfortunately, after the chapter dealing with Cook's voyages was written) ; to Sir Martin Conway for similar permission to use the reproduction of the Muscovy Company's Map of Spitsbergen given in his No Man's Land\ and to Mr H. N. Stevens for supplying gratuitously for reproduction a facsimile of Foxe's Arctic Map. To Mr Addison, draughtsman to the Royal Geographical Society, I am indebted both for the actual drawing of the chart of Cook's routes, and also for useful advice in regard to the preparation of the other handdrawn maps, for which I am myself responsible.

The Index has been m.ade as complete as possible in the hope that it may serve as a guide, not only to the contents of the book, but also to sources of further information. Thus even where mere mention of a place is made in the present work, it is felt that the reference may be of use to students desirous of tracing the fortunes of such a place, or the course of European intercourse with it, in the narratives of the travellers themselves.

In deference to modern usage, such forms as Hudson'^ Bay, the Strait^- of Magellan, have been discarded, though at a certain expense of picturesqueness, and, in the second case, even of strict accuracy.

In conclusion, my warmest thanks are due to the Editor of the series, Dr F. H. H. Guillemard, not only for the great interest he has taken in the book from the outset, but for his unstinted aid in proof-reading, and for his many valuable suggestions, which have eliminated not a few inaccuracies.

EDWARD HEAWOOD.

I Savile Row, W.

August^ 191 2.

Contents

PAGE

Introduction i

CHAPTER

Chapter I The Arctic Regions, 155o-1625

In the remarkable outburst of maritime enterprise which followed the discovery of America, it was the equatorial regions, with their real or supposed wealth in the precious metals and other valuable commodities, which above all stimulated the energies of such nations as, by their political influence or favourable geographical position, had been called upon to take part in these adventures. But, side by side with this principal current of activity, there had begun to flow, in the course of the sixteenth century, a subsidiary stream of enterprise in the direction of the inhospitable North — a stream which, though at first but feeble in comparison, was destined to lead to results of great importance for the widening of the geographical horizon. And as it was the more southern peoples of Western Europe who had gained the chief glory and profit from the earfier quest, so it was the hardy seamen of the north who, as an equally natural result of geographical position, carried off the laurels in the still more arduous task of seeking new routes through the frozen Arctic seas.

The first beginnings of enterprise in this direction belong to still earUer times than the search for a route to the Indies, and are in fact to a great extent lost in obscurity. Long before the Venetian and Portuguese navigators began to venture into the unknown wastes of the Atlantic, the seamen of the north had carried out voyages unsurpassed for their daring even by the more fruitful exploit of Columbus. Before the end of the tenth century the most northern point of Europe seems to have been rounded by Other in the voyage narrated by him to our King Alfred, while in the following century the Norsemen (who had already colonised Iceland) found their way to the distant shores of Greenland,

CHAP. l] THE ARCTIC REGIONS, 155O-1625 1 5

where, according to the story, two separate settlements were founded and existed for some centuries. They even appear to have reached some part of Eastern Canada or Newfoundland. The supposed voyages of the Venetian noblemen, Niccolo and Antonio Zeno, in the fourteenth century, have been proved almost with certainty to have been mainly, if not entirely, fictitious ; but that some gUmmering of knowledge of these northern regions was possessed by the cartographers of the following century is shown by various maps that have come down to us, especially that of Claudius Clavus, the " earliest cartographer of the North." The rising spirit of maritime adventure found its first outlet in England in the voyages of the Cabots, father and son, though those of Sebastian, the son, have not yet been satisfactorily elucidated, and the idea once held that they reached as far north as the mouth of Hudson Strait rests on no sure foundation. The arguments put forward by Robert Thorne in 1527, as to the feasibility of a north-west passage, led to no immediate result, and it was some years later that the English merchants took the first important step towards securing a share in the benefits of distant trade, from which the jealousy of their continental rivals had hitherto excluded them.

Mainly through the agency of Sebastian Cabot, an association was formed for " the discovery of lands, countries, and isles not before known to the English," and this received a royal charter in 1549^ At this time the thoughts of the merchants were directed chiefly to the opening up of trade with the East by way of Northern Russia, and for this purpose an expedition of three ships was fitted out in 1553 and despatched under the command of Sir Hugh Willoughby, with Richard Chancellor as "pilot-major." It was furnished with "letters missive " from King Edward VI to the potentates of the regions likely to be visited, and sailed from Ratchffe on the Thames, full of high anticipation, on May 10, 1553.

^ In the successive charters granted to this association of merchants, the title given to it varies considerably, giving rise to some confusion. It was for a time most generally known as the " Company of Merchant Adventurers," but this gave place in an act of parliament of 1556 to "The Fellowship of English Merchants for Discovery of New Trades," while the more commonly used title was that of the Russia or Muscovy Company.

l6 THE ARCTIC REGIONS, 1550-1625 [CHAP.

But it was doomed to meet with disaster. After sailing along the coast of Norway the ships encountered boisterous weather, and two of them, the Bona Esperanza and Bona Co7ifide?iiia (the former Willoughby's own ship), were driven hither and thither, and though they sighted land in the latitude of 72° (probably on the south-west coast of Novaya Zemlya), were finally forced to take refug'e in the haven of Arzina^ in Lapland, where the whole of the crews perished miserably of cold and hunger. The third ship — the Edward Bo?iaveniure, with Chancellor for captain, became separated from the others and succeeded in reaching the mouth of the Dwina in the White Sea, whence Chancellor and some of his companions travelled inland to Moscow, and were well received by the Emperor Ivan VassiUvich, thus paving the way for future trade relations between Great Britain and Russia. On his return Chancellor wrote a short account of the country and the manners and customs of its people — the earliest firsthand information on the subject which reached this country. He was drowned when returning from a later voyage in 1556.

In 1555 a second voyage was made, and trade definitely established, while in 1556 the Company despatched Stephen Burrough, in the pinnace Searchthrift, to explore still further east in the direction of the river Ob. Burrough reached Vaigatz Island on July 31, and soon afterwards entered the Kara Strait between that island and Novaya Zemlya, which has been sometimes known, from him, as Burrough Strait. He was unable however to advance any distance into the Kara Sea, but turned back on August 5, wintering at Kolmogro at the mouth of the Dwina.

The success of the trade with Russia diverted the energies of the merchants from the search for a north-east passage for some years, and it was not until 1580 that any serious attempt was made to prosecute discovery in this direction, attention having meanwhile been once more directed to the north-western route. Yearly voyages were however made to Kolmogro, and agents were regularly established in Russia to buy up commodities in readiness for the arrival of the ships, while some made their way on behalf of the Company as far as Persia and Central Asia. Hakluyt

^ The Varzina river debouches on the north side of the Kola peninsula in about 38^° E. It is already shown on Ortelius's map of Europe.

I]

THE ARCTIC REGIONS, I550-1625 prints the commission issued in 1568 (given as 1588 by a misprint) to three servants of the Company — Bassendine, Woodcocke, and Browne — to explore eastwards beyond the Pechoray but nothing is known of the result. In 1580 the Company determined to renew their efforts for the discovery of a north-eastern route to Cathay, and commissioned two captains, Arthur Pet of Ratcliffe and Charles Jackman of Poplar, to sail for that purpose, in the barks George and William of London, the former

Novaya Zemlya, showing entrances to Kara Sea.

of 40, the latter of 20 tons only. In spite of the ill-success of Burrough's attempt, it was still hoped that by passing through the strait between Vaigatz and Novaya Zemlya, a passage might be found to China in a generally eastward direction, as indicated on a chart which had been drawn by William Burrough. With our present knowledge of the difficulties to be encountered — difficulties

1 8 THE ARCTIC REGIONS, IS50-1625 [CHAP.

so great that the wished-for passage was not made until three centuries after Pet and Jackman's time — we can only wonder at the sanguine spirit which regarded it as possible that China could be reached, in the small and frail vessels employed, during the same summer in which they set out, or at worst after one winter had been spent on the northern coast of Asia\ It was only in case the land should be found to extend to 80° N., or even nearer the Pole, that the impossibiHty of the passage was thought probable. In such a case, after as much of the coast as possible had been explored during the first summer, the explorers were recommended to winter in the Ob, and ascend it the next summer to the "City of Siberia." In any case all possible care was to be taken to enter into friendly relations with the inhabitants, and lay the foundations of future trade. A point to be specially kept in view, either on the outward or return voyage, was the examination of " Willoughby's land," and its relation with Novaya Zemlya. Notes for the guidance of the voyagers were also supplied by William Burrough, Dr Dee, and Richard Hakluyt, the last dealing particularly with the commodities to be taken as specimens of English wares, and the points on which information was needed in regard to the countries visited.

Although the amount actually accompHshed fell very far short of these expectations, the two captains made a determined fight against heavy odds, and only turned back after trying every means in their power of pushing east across the Kara Sea. The ships separated, after passing the " Wardhouse " (Vardoe), owing to the bad sailing of the William, but a rendezvous was arranged at Vaigatz. The first land sighted by the George seems to have been the south-west coast of Novaya Zemlya, but after vainly searching for a passage Pet went south and explored the mainland coast east of the Pechora, a part of which he took to be the island of Vaigatz.

^ A representation of the northern coast of Asia current about this time, as seen in Mercator's map of 1569, was still to a large extent based on the old classical writers. It showed one decided promontory — Cape Tabin — running up into the Arctic Sea, but, beyond this, little further hindrance to a voyage to China in latitudes far lower than the reality. Cape Tabin still appears in the map of Barents's discoveries drawn by Hondius for Pontanus's History of Avjsterdam (r6ii), of which a portion is shown on p. 26.

Going north again a meeting was happily effected with the William^ and the two ships entered the Kara Sea either through Yugor Shar, the narrow strait between Vaigatz and the mainland, or through the broad opening north of Vaigatz already discovered by Burroughs They were constantly beset by ice and baffled by fog, till at length, after vain endeavours to make headway, the navigators turned their faces homewards, only escaping from the ice with much difficulty. Further dangers were encountered on the shoals of Kolguev Island, and the ships again separated, the George safely reaching Ratcliffe on December 26, 1580, while Jack man. in the William, after wintering on the coast of Norway, set out in the following February towards Iceland in company with a Danish ship, and was never again heard of.

Pet and Jackman deserve great credit for the boldness with which they fought their way through the ice-pack of the Kara Sea, as well as for their judgment and resource in avaihng themselves of any opening which promised to afford a passage. The difficulties of this navigation have baffled many a voyager even in modern times, and it is no matter for surprise that with their small advantages they were unsuccessful in pushing further east. Little serious effort in this direction seems to have been made by the Muscovy Company for some years after this, though a rumour was current about 1584 that an English vessel had previously been lost at the mouth of the Ob, and its crew murdered; while information obtained in that year by Anthony Marsh, one of the Company's factors, points to a knowledge on the part of the Russians at this time of Matyuskin Shar, the strait between the two large islands of Novaya Zemlya.

The search for the north-east passage was now taken up with much zeal by the Dutch, whose heroic attempts to open up the much desired route must now be spoken of, before recurring to the efforts of the Muscovy Company. The first Dutch voyage to the extreme north of Europe seems to have been made in 1565, when a trading post was established at a spot to which the name

^ It has been generally held by English writers that the passage was made by Yugor Shar, which has therefore been often known as Pet's Strait, but reasons were put forward by Baron von Nordenskiold for supposing that the route was to the west and north of Vaisratz.

20 THE ARCTIC REGIONS, I55O-1625 [CHAP.

Kola was given. It is but little after this that we first meet with Olivier (or Oliver) Brunei, a man who took no small part in the further prosecution of Dutch northern enterprise, though himself a native of Brussels. Having undertaken a voyage from Kola to Kolmogro on the White Sea, he was made prisoner by the Russians, apparently at the instigation of the English, and remained so for several years. Being at last liberated through the good offices of the Anikieffs, Russian merchants associated with the Strogonoffs, he made several journeys of exploration on their behalf in the direction of the Ob, visiting Kostin Shar on one occasion. He helped to establish mutual trade relations between Holland and Russia, and eventually secured the support of the famous merchant De Moucheron for a voyage of discovery. Brunei set out in a ship of Enkhuysen in 1584, but met with no success, being baffled in an attempt to pass through Yugor Shar, and losing his ship, with a cargo of furs, etc., in the mouth of the Pechora. He is said to have afterwards entered the service of the King of Denmark, and possibly took part in the voyage of John Knight to Greenland in 1606.

The town of Enkhuysen, which thus had the honour of leading the way in the Dutch voyages of northern discovery, was not long in organising another attempt in the same direction. Among its citizens were several men who had interested themselves in geographical and commercial matters, including the famous Linschoten (whose long residence in the East Indies made him the foremost authority on all matters connected with the eastern trade of the Portuguese) and Cornells Nai, an experienced seaman. The Middelburg merchant De Moucheron continued to turn his thoughts to the north-eastern route, and the divine and geographer Peter Plancius was a zealous advocate of further enterprise. He did much to improve his countrymen's knowledge of navigation, and among his pupils were Willem Barents and Jacob van Heemskerk, each destined to play an important part in northern discovery. Both were capable seamen, especially Barents, who seems, like John Davis in England, to have been well versed in the science of navigation \ In 1594 two vessels

^ Either he, or a contemporary of like name, was author of a saiHng directory for the coasts of the INIediterranean.

were fitted out — the Swan, commanded by Cornells Nai, and the Mercury, by Brant Tetgales, both natives of Enkhuysen. With Tetgales Linschoten went as commercial agent. At the same time the merchants of Amsterdam decided to take part in the enterprise, and fitted out a third vessel — also named the Mercury — and this was placed under the command of Barents^, with whom a small fishing-boat from Terschelling also sailed. The plans laid down by the Amsterdam adventurers differed from those of the men of Enkhuysen, the former considering that a route round the north coast of Novaya Zemlya would offer the greatest prospects of success, while the latter adhered to the idea of entering the Kara Sea through one of the straits separating the several islands. As we have seen, some knowledge of Matyuskin Shar seems to have been gained by the Russians before this date, but the greater part of the coasts of the northern island were certainly unknown, so that the attempt to sail round its northern end betokened great hardihood, though quite justified by the measure of success now and subsequently attained by this route.

Almost the whole of the voyage was made independently by the two parties, though all the vessels met at a rendezvous at Kildin, in Lapland, towards the end of June. On the 29th, Barents sailed for Novaya Zemlya, which was sighted on July 4 in 73° 25' N., and followed northward to Cape Nassau, which was reached on the loth. Now began a heroic struggle to advance through the ice, which was here encountered in great quantities. It has been calculated that the various courses run by Barents on this coast make up a total of over 1600 nautical miles, the furthest point reached (July 31) being near the Orange Islands. The men now grew discouraged, and seeing but slight probability of accomplishing the object of the voyage, Barents reluctantly agreed to turn back. On August 15 he reached the islands " Matfloe and Dolgoy " (Matthew Island and Long Island) to the SSW. of Vaigatz, and fell in with the other captains, who had hkewise returned from an ineflfectual attempt to push eastward to the Ob. They had sailed through Yugor Shar, to which they

^ The full name of the navigator was Barentszoon, contracted by the Dutch to Barentsz, but the form Barents may conveniently be retained in English. Nai is sometimes spoken of merely as Cornells Corneliszoon.

gave the name Nassau Strait, being the first navigators, with the doubtful exception of Pet, to pass through this passage into the Kara Sea. They claimed to have sailed eastward as far as the meridian of the mouth of the Ob, but as the distance given is only 50 to 60 Dutch miles (each equal to four geographical miles), this can hardly have been the case. All four vessels now sailed home together, reaching their respective destinations about the end of September.

The report made by Linschoten after the return of the voyagers estimated the chances of future success more favourably than was perhaps justified, and this encouraged the merchants to set on foot a more ambitious undertaking for the following year. Seven vessels took part in it, and this time the Amsterdam merchants were willing to combine with those of the other towns interested, their two ships being placed, like the rest, under the command of Nai, who was appointed admiral of the whole fleet. He sailed in the Griffin of Zeelandt, while Tetgales and Barents commanded, respectively, the Hope of Enkhuysen and the Greyhound of Amsterdam (both new war pinnaces), Barents also undertaking the post of chief pilot of the fleet. The chief commercial agents were Linschoten, who again represented the merchants of Enkhuysen, etc., and Francois de la Dale, who looked after the Moucheron interests. It was arranged that one of the smaller vessels, a yacht of Rotterdam, should return alone with the news, in case of a successful rounding of Cape Tabin, still supposed to be the crucial point of the whole navigation, the remainder of the passage to China being thought comparatively short and easy. As on the former voyage, a Slav named Spindler went as interpreter, to facilitate the hoped-for intercourse with the peoples of Eastern Asia. The fleet sailed on July 2, 1595, and on the 19th of the same month approached Yugor Shar, having the day before passed Matthew Island ("Matfloe"). The strait was blocked by immense masses of ice, and it soon became evident that its passage would be a matter of unusual difficulty, if not quite impossible. The ships anchored in a bay on the Vaigatz side, behind the point known to the Dutch as Idol Point (not to be confounded with the spot at which Samoyed idols were found by Burrough, which was at the northern end of Vaigatz),

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THE ARCTIC REGIONS, 155O-1625 and thence an examination of the strait was made both by sea and land, but with little success. Barents appears to have been the most energetic of the captains in his efforts to find a passage, and he repeatedly renewed his attempts when the rest were ready to abandon the task as hopeless. But after immense exertions, which brought the ships only a small part of the way through the strait, the outcome of various councils was that the men of Amsterdam, whose obstinacy seems to have given some offence to

Boats' adventure with a polar bear.

{From De Veer's narrative of Barents' s Voyages.^ their fellow-adventurers, at last agreed to turn back and joined in a protest signed by all the captains and the two commercial agents, declaring that all had done their utmost to fulfil their commission, and that the only course open to them was to sail homewards. Thus ended the voyage on which such great expectations had been built, but which had in reality met with much less success than many of the previous ventures, owing, it is true, to the unusual severity of the season, which had kept the ice in the Yugor Strait packed into a solid mass throughout the summer.

24 THE ARCTIC REGIONS, 1550-1625 [CHAP.

In spite of the ill-success of the expedition of 1595, the merchants of Amsterdam, encouraged no doubt by the ardour and sanguine spirit shown by Barents, were ready to make yet another attempt in the following year. It was the belief of Barents, founded on his experiences during the voyage of 1594, that the greatest chance of success lay with the route round the north of Novaya Zemlya, and in this he had the support of the opinion of Plancius. Being now independent of their former associates, the Amsterdam merchants were able to form their plans in accordance with these views. Two ships, the names of which are not recorded, were fitted out, and placed under the command of Jacob van Heemskerk and Jan Corneliszoon Rijp, who had been associated with Linschoten and De la Dale as commercial agents during the second voyage, Heemskerk having Barents with him as pilot and apparently leaving to him a large share in the direction of the voyage. The expedition sailed from Vheland near Amsterdam on May 18, 1596, and in deference to the opinion of Rijp a course was steered further to the west than on the previous voyages, and this led to the discovery, on June 9, of Bear Island, long called Cherie Island by the English, being so named by Stephen Bennet seven years after its discovery by the Dutch. Here the voyagers landed, and gave the island its name from an encounter they had with a bear. Continuing their voyage towards the north, they reached the ice-pack on June 16, and after tacking to keep clear of it, found the latitude on the 17th to be 80° 10'. On the same day high, snow-covered land was sighted, which was evidently the coast of Spitsbergen, east of Hakluyt Headland (as the extreme N.W. point of the group was afterwards named by Hudson), this island group being thus brought to light for the first time in the history of discovery. Before the end of the month the west coast was explored, southwards, to 76° 50' N., the name still in use for the whole group being applied to the newly discovered land by reason of its sharp summits (though it was taken to be part of Greenland), while that of Vogel Hoek was given to the north point of the Foreland (the long island lying a Httle off the coast) on account of the multitude of birds there seen. The mouths of Ice Fjord and Bell Sound were also noted. Bear Island was once more reached on July i.

I] THE ARCTIC REGIONS, 155O-1625 25

and here the two ships parted company, Rijp returning along the coast of Spitsbergen after a fruitless effort to push north through the sea to the east, while Heemskerk, yielding no doubt to Barents's persuasion, sailed for Novaya Zemlya\ The farthest point of the voyage of 1594 was successfully passed, the north-eastern promontory of the group being rounded and a bay reached on the east coast which received the name of Ice Haven. Here the ship was beset, and the navigators were forced to spend the winter in great misery. A house was built of drift-wood, which gave them some shelter from the cold, but scurvy broke out and caused much suffering, Barents himself being one of those most severely attacked. Time wore on, but summer approached without any prospect of the release of the ship. It therefore became necessary to attempt the homeward voyage with no better resource than two open boats, in which, on June 13, they embarked, fifteen in all, Barents and another man being still very ill. On June 20, when with incredible difficulties they were making their way down the west coast of Novaya Zemlya, the indomitable navigator, who had done more than any other to keep alive the hope of effecting the north-east passage, breathed his last, and two others of his comrades soon shared his fate. The survivors at length reached open water, and having obtained some help from two Russian vessels met with on July 28, made their way to Kola, where they found three Dutch ships, one of them commanded by their old comrade Rijp, who took them home to Holland.