v.] THE SECOND DUTCH EXPEDITION. 185 



saluted the departing strangers, bowing themselves to the earth 

 with uncovered heads and crossed hands. 



On the ^^~ August the Dutch, full of hope, sailed into the 

 Kara Sea, or, as they called it, the " North Tartaric Ocean." 

 They soon fell in with ice, on which account on the ^ they 

 sought protection under Mestni Island (Staten Eiland). Here 

 they found a sort of rock crystal resembling diamonds in all 

 respects except hardness, a disaiDpointing circumstance which 

 was ascribed to the action of cold. Here also were seen images 

 and sacrificial places, but no houses and no trees. 



When Nay and Tetgales sailed on, they came to an extensive 

 open sea, and on the ^||th August they believed that they were 

 otf the mouth of the Obi. Two of its principal mouth-arms 

 they named, after the vessels, " Swan " and " Mercurius," names 

 which have since been forgotten. It is quite evident that the 

 river which the Dutch took for the Obi was the Kara, and that 

 the mouth-arms. Swan and Mercurius, were two small coast 

 rivers which debouch from Yalmal into the Kara Sea. 



On the 5^ August they determined to return home, taking it 

 for proved that, from the point which had been reached, it would 

 be easy to double " Promontorium Tabin," and thus get to China 

 by the north-east passage. A large number of whales were seen 

 raising half their bodies out of the sea and spouting jets of water 

 from their nostrils in the common way, which was considered a 

 further sign that they had an extensive ocean before them. 



On the j-^th August, Nay and Tetgales sailed again through 

 Yugor Schar (Fretum Nassovicum). and the day after at three 

 small islands, which w^ere called Mauritius, Orange, and 

 New Walcheren, they fell in with Barents, and all sailed 

 home to Holland, fully convinced that the question of the 

 possibility of a north-east passage to China was now solved. 

 It was shown indeed, in the following year, that this supposition 

 rested on quite too slight a foundation, but the voyages of Nay 

 and Tetgales deserve in any case an honoured place in the 

 history of navigation, for they extended considerably the know- 

 ledge of the northern regions through the discovery, or at least 

 through the first passage of, Yugor Schar, and, like Barents, 

 tliese seafarers must get the credit of carrying out the task 

 assigned to them with skill, insight, resolution, and resource. 



The Second Dutch Expedition, 1595.^ — After the return 

 of the first expedition a report of the discoveries which had 

 been made was given in to Prince Maurice of Orange, Jan _ 

 VAN Oldenbarnevelt, Advocate of Holland, and the other 

 authorities at home. They were so convinced by this report 



1 Accounts of this expedition are given both by De Veer and Linschoten 

 in the above-named worivs. 



