A.D. 



1675 



294 CAPTAIN WOOD: 



but the enterprise was now patronised by the 

 Government ; and the Admiralty, at the head of 

 which the king in those days presided, ordered 

 the Speedwell to be equipped for this service, and 

 the command to be given to Captain Wood, 

 who had so warmly espoused the cause. At the 

 same time the Duke of York, with several noble- 

 men and gentlemen, purchased the Prosperous, a 

 pink of one hundred and twenty tons, to accom- 

 pany her, and she was placed under the com- 

 mand of Captain Flawes. 

 1676. These two vessels left England in May, 1676, 

 and appear to have held a course between Spitz- 

 bergen and Nova Zembla; but on what me- 

 ridian it is impossible exactly to determine, 

 as " the Journal of Captain Wood," observes the 

 author of ' Chronological History of Voyages to 

 the Arctic Regions,' "is so meagre that, if it 

 were not for his supposed latitudes, and his situ- 

 ation ' according to judgment,' it is not easy 

 to follow his track or to trace his place on any 

 particular day." He appears, however, to have 

 kept along the ice towards Nova Zembla, which 

 he saw on the 26th June ; and before he had 

 time to make any discovery, or even advance 

 along* that coast, he had the misfortune to lose 

 his vessel. His consort was prevented rendering 

 him any assistance at this time, and a fog coming 

 on, he lost sight of her for several days ; at length, 



