148 DISCOVERIES OF 1596, 



that no man that ever wee knew had ever been 

 under 80" : nor that land under 80° was never set 

 down in any card, much lesse the red geese that 

 breed therein." This is,, unquestionably, the first 

 discovery of Spitzbergen ; and it is further ob- 

 served, and very truly, that " there groweth here 

 leaves and grasse, yet in Nova Zembla, under 76°, 

 there groweth neither leaves nor grasse ;" and such 

 is the providence of nature in the appropriation of 

 the animal to the vegetable kingdom, that while the 

 more southern climate of Nova Zembla produces 

 only carnivorous animals, the northernmost part 

 of Spitzbergen is supplied with herbivorous deer. 



He does not exactly state that they wxre unable 

 to proceed higher to the northward, though a good 

 deal of ice appeared around them. By their lati- 

 tude it would seem they were off Amsterdam 

 island^ on whicli is that famous foreland, since so 

 well known to whalers under the name of Haklui/fs 

 headland. The variation of the compass was found 

 to be \()^ W. From hence they steered soutli- 

 west to avoid the ice, and on the 1st of July were 

 again opposite to Bear island. Here the ships 

 mutually agreed to part company, Jan Cornells 

 being of opinion that he should find a passage to 

 the eastward of that land which lay under 80°, 

 and accordingly returned to the northward; while 

 Jacob Van Heemskerke, or rather his pilot, Barentz, 

 deeming it more likely to find the passage to the 

 eastward, in a lower parallel, steered for Waigatz 

 Strait. 



