NOVA ZEMBLA DISCOVERED. 



261 



tons, commanded by Richard Chancellor, pilot-major of the ex* 

 pedition, with fifty-four men, and the Buona Confidentia, of 

 ninety tons, with twenty-four men. The ships were victualled 

 for fifteen months. On board of them were eighteen mer- 

 chants interested in the discovery of a northeast passage to 

 India,— a route, therefore, attempted by the English previous to 

 that by the northwest, as the voyage of Sebastian Cabot can 

 hardly be considered a serious effort. A council of twelve, in 

 whom was vested the general direction of the voyage, was 

 composed of the admiral, pilot-major, and other officers. 



The squadron sailed from Deptford on the 10th of May, 1553, 

 and fell in with the Norwegian coast on the 14th of July. On the 

 30th, while near Wardhus, the most easterly station of the Danes 

 in Finmark, Chancellor's vessel was driven off in a storm, and 

 was not seen again by the two others. The latter appear to have 

 been tossed about in the North Sea for two months, in the course 

 of which they landed at some spot on the western coast of Nova 

 Zembla, being the first Europeans to visit that uninhabited waste. 

 On the 18th of September they entered a harbor in Lapland 

 formed by the mouth of the river Arzina. Here they remained 

 a week, seeing seals, deer, bears, foxes, "with divers strange 

 beasts, such as ellans and others, which were to us unknown 

 and also wonderful." It was now the 1st of October, and the 

 Arctic winter was far advanced. They resolved to winter there, 

 first sending out parties in search of inhabitants. Three men 

 went three days' journey to the south-southwest, but returned 

 without having seen a human being. Others who went to the 

 west and the southeast returned equally unsuccessful. This is 

 the last positive intelligence we have of the fate of these hardy 

 and unfortunate explorers. A will, however, alleged to have 

 been made by one Gabriel Willoughby, and signed by Sir 

 Hugh, bearing the date of January, 1554, shows, if authentic, 

 that at least two of the party were alive at that period. 

 Purchas, one of the oldest authorities upon navigation and 



