v.] THE SECOND DUTCH PZXPEDITION. 187 



last six weeks. They also stated that the land to the north- 

 ward, which was called Vaygats, was an island, separated on its 

 north side from Novaya Zendya; that it was visited in summer 

 by natives, who towards winter returned to the mainland ; that 

 Russian vessels, laden with goods, yearly sailed through Vaygats 

 Sound past the Obi to the river Gillissy (Yenisej), where they 

 passed the winter ; that the dwellers on the Yenisej were of the 

 Greek-Christian religion, &c. 



On the ^jf^^ the Dutch came in contact with the Samoyeds 

 south of Vaygats Sound. Their "king " received the strangers 

 in a very hospitable and friendly manner, and informed them 

 that in three or four weeks the cold would begin ; that in some 

 years the diift-ice did not disappear; that during winter the 

 whole sound and the bays and coves were frozen over, but that 

 the sea on both sides did not freeze ; that beyond the mouth 

 of the river Ob there were the mouths of two other rivers, 

 of which the more remote was called the " Molconsay," the 

 nearer, which was often visited by Russian trading vessels, the 

 Gillissy ; that the land continued beyond the Ob to a cape which 

 projected towards Novaya Zemlya, and that beyond this pro- 

 montory there was a great sea, which extended along Tartary 

 to warm regions.^ 



When the Dutch sailed into the Kara Sea they fell in with 

 much ice, on which account they anchored at the island, Staten 

 Eiland, where during the preceding voyage rock crystal had 

 been found. Here two men were killed in the way that has 

 already been described."^ Depressed by this unfortunate oc- 

 currence and afraid to expose their vessels, laden with valuable 

 goods, too late in the season, to the large quantity of ice which 

 drifted about in the Kara Sea, the commanders determined to 

 turn. The fleet returned to Holland without further adven- 

 ture, passing through Vaygats Sound on the S?th September. 



This expedition did not yield any new .contribution to the 

 knowledge of our globe. But it deserves to be noted that we 

 can state with certainty, with the knowledge we now possess of 

 the ice-conditions of the Kara Sea, that the Dutch during both 

 their iirst and second voyages had the way open to the Obi and 

 Yenisej. If they had availed themselves of this and continued 

 their voyage till they came to inhabited regions on either of 

 these rivers, a considerable commerce would certainly have 

 arisen between Middle Asia and Europe by this route as early 

 as the beginning of the seventeenth century, 



^ These remarkal)le statements are found in Linschoten's above-quoted 

 work printed in ICOl, and cannot therefore be spurious. They thus show 

 that Taimur Land was inhabited by Samoyeds, and that tlie geography 

 of this region was then well known. 



- See atjove, p. 110. 



