BARENTZ. 33 



jnade his way to the sea between Spitzbergen and Nova 

 Zembla, until, to quote the narrative of the third voyage, 

 " we came to so great a heape of ice that we could not 

 sayle through it." In August of the last-mentioned 

 year, the vessel was embayed by an unusual drifting of 

 the ice, which, crushing around them with a violence 

 that " made all the haire of our heads to rise upright 

 with feare," forced them "in great cold, povertie, 

 miserie, and griefe, to stay all that winter." They 

 exerted themselves to the utmost to avoid so terrible 

 an alternative ; but on the llth of September, as is 

 related, "we saw that we could not get out of the ice, 

 but rather became faster, and could not loose our ship, 

 as at other times we had done, as also that it began to 

 be winter, we tooke counsell together what we were 

 best to doe, according to the time, that we might winter 

 there, and attend such adventure as God would send 

 U3 ; and after we had debated upon the matter (to 

 k'jepe and defend ourselves both from the colde and 

 wilde beastes), we determined to build a house upon 

 the land, to keepe us therein as well as wee could, and 

 so to commit ourselves unto the tuition of God." While 

 casting about for material for the edifice, to their great 

 joy they discovered a quantity of drift timber, which 

 they regarded as a special interposition of Providence 

 in their behalf, and "were much comforted, being in 

 good hope that God would show us some further favour ; 

 for that wood served us not onely to build our house, but 

 also to burne, and serve us all the winter long ; other- 

 wise, without all doubt, we had died there miserably 

 with extreme cold." 



Parties were thereupon set to work to build the house, 

 and drag their stores from the ship on hand-sleds, in 

 which labors they were grievously interrupted by bears 



and severity of the weather. If any one held a nail 

 3 



