152 A^CCOUNT OF THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



Cherie Island, though not immediately adjoining 

 Spitzbergen, is, however, nearer it than any other 

 country, and may b^ noticed here. It lies in lati- 

 tude about 74° 30', and longitude 20° E., being 130 

 miles S. S. E. (true) from Point-look-out. It was 

 discovered in the year 1596, by the Dutch naviga- 

 tors Barentz, Heemskerke and Ryp, on their ad- 

 vance towards the north, in search of a northern 

 passage to India, and named by them Sear Isla7idy 

 from the circumstance of a large bear, whose skin 

 was twelve feet in length, having been killed upon 

 it. Stephen Bcnnet, who was sent by Sir Francis 

 Cherie, in the year 1603, on a voyage towards the 

 north, partly for trading and partly for discovery, 

 fell in with this island, and in honour of his patron 

 and owner, called it Cherie Island. Abounding in 

 sea-horses or morses, it soon became an important 

 place for taking these animals, of which a thousand 

 were once killed in seven hours. Hence it was the 

 constant resort of adventurers in this traffic for se- 

 veral years, until the morses began their retreat to 

 the northward, and the discovery of the whale- 

 fishery presented a much more lucrative occu- 

 pation. 



The greatest extent of this island is about ten 

 miles. It is somewhat of the saddle form, being 

 high at each end, and low in the middle. On the 

 north-east end are three regular hills of consider- 

 able elevation, covered, in general, entirely with 



