1597, M^LLIAM BARENTZ. 155 



gave God hearty thankes for his grace shewed unto 

 us, that that glorious hght appeared to us againe." 

 Their joy, however, was somewhat damped by the 

 death of their sick companion on the preceding 

 day. 



The accuracy of the Dutch journahst, respecting 

 the re-appearance of the sun, has been called in 

 question by most philosophers and astronomers 

 who have adverted to this account, but it has also 

 had its defenders. It is possible, and indeed not 

 improbable, that after the freezing of the clock, 

 and in the darkness of a long night, they might 

 have lost some time, however much they wxre in- 

 terested in marking even the hours as they passed 

 away- — but so very few observations have yet been 

 made in high latitudes, on atmospherical refraction, 

 that a circumstance stated with so much honesty 

 and simplicity in a daily journal, should not, 

 perhaps, be rejected as untrue, because it is un- 

 common. Under ordinarv circumstances of re- 

 fraction the appearance of the sun would seem to 

 have been premature by seven or eight days. 



The bears did not fail to return w ith the light of 

 the sun, and were now, if possible, more than ever 

 troublesome after their long sleep ; the cold became 

 more intense as the days lengthened, the frost 

 more severe, and the snow more frequent, so that it 

 was the month of June before they could set about 

 repairing their two boats, and fitting them for a 

 long voyage from their dreary place of residence. 

 To repair the ship was out of the question, as she 



