PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE 55 



to the three kings. And therewith we had two pounds 

 of meal, which we had taken to make paste for the 

 cartridges wherewith, of which we now made pancakes 

 with oil, and to every man a white biscuit, which we 

 sopped in wine. And so supposing that we were in 

 our own country and amongst our friends it comforted 

 us as well as if we had made a great banquet in our 

 own house. And we also distributed tickets, and our 

 gunner was king of Nova Zembla, which is at least 

 eight hundred miles long and lieth between two seas." 



In time the sun reappeared as also the bears and 

 the rigours of the winter relaxing, the men, on the 

 9th of May, applied to Barents asking him to speak 

 to Van Heemskerck with a view to preparing for 

 departure. This, after two other appeals, he did on 

 the 15th of May, Van Heemskerck's answer being 

 that, if the ship were not free by the end of the month, 

 he would get ready to go away in the boats. The two 

 boats, or, to be exact, the boat and the herring skute, 

 were then repaired and made suitable for a long sea 

 voyage, and on the 13th of June were in proper con- 

 dition with all their stores ready. Then Van Heems- 

 kerck, " seeing that it was open water and a good west 

 wind, came back to the house again, and there he 

 spake unto Willem Barents (that had been long sick) 

 and showed him that he thought it good (seeing it was 

 a fit time) to go from thence, and they then resolved 

 jointly with the ship's company to take the boat and 

 the skute down to the water side, and in the name of 

 God to begin our voyage to sail from Nova Zembla. 

 Then Willem Barents wrote a letter, which he put 

 into a powder flask and hanged it up in the chimney, 



