And in the meane time caused some of
his men to fill our baricoes with water, and to help our men to beare wood
into their boat: and then he put on his best silke coate, and his coller of
pearles, and came aboord againe, and brought his present with him: and thus
hauing more respect vnto his present then to his person, because I
perceiued him to be vainglorious, I bade him welcome, and gaue him a dish
of figs: and then he declared vnto me that his father was a gentleman, and
that he was able to shew me pleasure, and not Gabriel, who was but a
priests sonne.
After their departure from vs we weied, and plied all the ebbe to the
windewards, the winde being Northerly, and towards night it waxed very
stormy, so that of force we were constrained to go roome with Cape S. Iohn
againe, in which storme wee lost our skiffe at our sterne, that wee bought
at Wardhouse, and there we rode vntil the fourth of Iuly. The latitude of
Cape S. Iohn is 66 degrees 50 minutes. And it is to be noted, that the land
of Cape S. Iohn is of height from the full sea marke, as I iudge, 10
fadomes, being cleane without any trees growing, and also without stones or
rockes, and consists onely of blacke earth, which is so rotten, that if any
of it fall into the sea, it will swimme as though it were a piece of wood.
In which place, about three leagues from the shore you shall not haue aboue
9 fadom water, and clay ground.
Iulie.
Saturday (4) at a Northnorthwest sunne the wind came at Eastnortheast, and
then we weied, and plied to the Northwards, and as we were two leagues shot
past the Cape, we saw a house standing in a valley, which is dainty to be
seene in those parts, and by and by I saw three men on the top of the hil.
Then I iudged them, as it afterwards proued, that they were men which came
from some other place to set traps to take vermin [Footnote: Probably
mountain foxes. Remains of fox-traps are still frequently met with along
the coast of the Polar Sea, where the Russians have carried on hunting.]
for their furres, which trappes we did perceiue very thicke, alongst the
shore as we went.
Sunday (5) at an East sunne we were thwart off the creeke where the Russes
lay, and there came to an anker, and perceiuing the most part of the Lodias
to be gone we thought it not good to tary any longer there, but weyed and
spent all the ebbe, plying to the windewards.
Munday (6) at a South sunne it was high water. All alongst the coast it
floweth little, onely a South moone makes a full sea: and as we were a
weying we espied the Russe Lodias, which we first lost. They came out of a
creeke amongst the sandy hilles, [Footnote: Kija Bay.] which hilles beginne
15 leagues Northnortheast from Cape S. Iohn.
Plying this ebbe to an end, we came (7) to an anker 6 leagues
Northnortheast from the place where we saw the Russes come out: and there
the Russes harboured themselues within a soonke banke, but there was not
water enough for vs.
At a North sunne we weyed and plied to the Northwards, the land lying
Northnortheast, and Southsouthwest, vntill a South sunne, and then we were
in the latitude of 68 degrees and a halfe: and in this latitude ende those
sandy hilles, and the land beginneth to lie North and by West, South and by
East, and Northnorthwest, and to the Westwards, and there the water
beginneth to waxe deepe.
At a Northwest sunne we came to an anker within halfe a league of the
shore, where wee had good plenty of fish, both Haddocks and Cods, riding in
10 fadom water.
Wednesday (8) we weyed, and plyed neerer the headland, which is called
Caninoz, [Footnote: Canin Nos, latitude 68 deg. 30 min. N.] the wind being
at East and by North.
Thursday (9) the wind being soant we turned to windwards the ebbe, to get
about Caninoz: the latitude this day at noone was 68 degrees 40 minutes.
Friday (10) we turned to the windward of the ebbe, but to no purpose: and
as we rode at an anker, we saw the similitude of a storme rising at
Northnorthwest, and could not tell where to get rode nor succor for that
winde, and harborough we knew none: and that land which we rode vnder with
that winde was a lee shore. And as I was musing what was best to be done, I
saw a saile come out of a creeke vnder the foresayd Caninoz, which was my
friend Gabriel, who forsooke his harborough and company, and came as neere
vs as he might, and pointed vs to the Eastwards, and then we weyed and
followed him, and went East and by South, the wind being at Westnorthwest,
and very mistie.
Saturday (11) we went Eastsoutheast and followed Gabriel, and he brought vs
into an harborough called Morgiouets, which is 30 leagues from Caninoz, and
we had vpon the barre going in two fadome and a fourth part: and after we
were past in ouer the barre, it waxed deeper, for we had 5 fadoms, 4 and a
half, and 3 fadom &c. Our barke being mored, I sent some of our men to
shoare to prouide wood, where they had plenty of drift wood, but none
growing:
