8 SPITSBERGEN 



Harwich on the 31st of May, 1580, in the George, of 

 forty tons, accompanied by Charles Jackman, in the 

 William, of twenty tons. His orders were to avoid 

 the open sea and keep the coast in sight all the way 

 out on the starboard side, and William Borough- 

 Stephen's brother, afterwards Comptroller of the Navy 

 gave him certain instructions and notes. 



Arranging with Jackman, whose little vessel sailed 

 badly, to wait for him at Waigatz, Pet went ahead 

 and endeavoured to pass through Burrough Strait, but 

 meeting with trouble from the ice, missed the passage, 

 and working round Waigatz to the south, entered the 

 Kara Sea through Yugor Strait, or as it used to be 

 called after him, Pet Strait. Coasting eastward with 

 the mainland in sight, he was, as might be expected, 

 much hampered by the heavy pack. On being joined 

 by the little William he made for the northward, seek- 

 ing a way to the east, but the " more and thicker was 

 the ice so that they could go no further," and, after 

 talking the matter over on the 28th of July, Pet and 

 Jackman reluctantly decided to return to Waigatz 

 and there decide on what should be done. 



Their way back was difficult. They became shut in 

 so that " they could not stir, labouring only to defend 

 the ice as it came upon them." For one day they 

 were clear of it, but next day, the 16th of August, 

 they were encumbered again, though they got out of 

 the trouble by sailing between the ice and the shore, 

 which was a new experience. In this way they just 

 scraped through Pet Strait, and bore away in the open 

 sea to Kolguiev, both vessels grounding for a time on 

 the sands to the south of that island. On the 22nd of 



