74 <d rctic and A ntarctic Exploration [part i 
Bear Island, continued on a northerly course from the 
13th to the 19th June. But no part of Spitsbergen was 
sighted until they reached its north-western point in 
79° 49' N« A marvellous fight with a bear is recounted 
by Gerrit de Veer, and two landings on the coast to 
get ballast and birds' eggs. There was another landing 
on the 23rd to observe the variation of the compass. 
Then, as the ice stopped the way northward, a southerly 
course w T as shaped on June 28th. The land was supposed 
to be a part of Greenland. By the 1st July they were 
again at Bear Island. 
How our ship stuck fast in the ice. 
There was much dispute between Barentsz and Rijp 
as to the course, and it ended in Rijp returning with his 
ship to Holland. Heemskerk, under the guidance of 
Barentsz, then made for Novaya Zemlya, and coasted 
along to the northward, until he doubled Cape Nassau, 
and passed the furthest point reached by Barentsz on 
his first voyage. Here the ship was beset and, after 
fruitless attempts to extricate themselves from the ice 
by tacking about in various directions, Heemskerk and 
Barentsz found themselves on the west side of a bay 
which was named Ice Haven. Here " they were forced, 
