390 T& History bf 
Nations ; and from perfifting in which the Dutch have a6tu- 
aliy raifed one of the moft confiderable Branches ot their 
Commerce; forfuch, next to their Herring, th.t Greenland 
Filliery is efteemed, and very juftly too, as fnall be ful- 
ly lliewn in its proper Place. This Advantage however 
maybe faid to have refulted to us from thefeDifcoveries, 
that it has given us an indubitable Right to refume and 
purfue them whenever it fhall be judged neceffary or 
expedient *, and perhaps there may come a Time when 
this will be thought an Undertaking worthy of En- 
couragement. 
Cherry IJland, before-mentioned, lies in the Latitude 
of 74 Degrees ; the \¥eather in June^ Jvdy^ and Augufi^ 
is not only warm, but extreamiy hot, fo that, in i6io, 
the melted Pitch is faid to have run down the Ship-fides. 
In this Ifland there are both Lead and Coal Mines, and 
In the Seafon of the Year a very profitable Fifliery might 
be carried on there ; perhaps too, greater Advantages 
might be found out by leaving People to winter in that 
Ifland, which is very well feated for Difcoveries. But it 
may be faid, that this can never be attempted, becaufe 
there is no Reafon to imagine that any Englijh would be 
prevailed upon to ftay in fuch a miferable Place. But 
to this I anfwer. That two Things ought to be con- 
fidered; thefirftis, th.2X: Cherry IJland, in all Probability, 
cannot be a worfe Place than fome of the Faftories be- 
longing to the Hudfon’s Bay Company *, where fome 
People actually refide at no very confiderable Expence •, 
and that in the Compafs of a Year, we have many 
condemned in England that, either from the Nature or 
Circumftances of their Crimes, are very juftly held to 
be no fit Objeds of Royal Mercy ; but if fuch Perfons 
would make it their Choice to go and winter in this 
Ifland, in order to obtain their Pardon, in cafe they 
furvived, it might turn to the Advantage of their 
Country. And I do not doubt, if the Profits that might 
be probably acquired by a regular Voyage thither every 
Year were clearly ftated, there would be People enough 
found willing to furnifli the Expences neceffary for re- 
covering this Trade, which in a few Years would be- 
come equally beneficial to them, and to their Country in 
general. I hint this Matter here for the Employment of 
their Thoughts, who have a truly public Spirit, and 
would be glad to fee any thing attempted that may 
encourage Induftry, promote our Navigation and en- 
creafe our Commerce. I fhall add but one thing more 
upon this Head ; which is, that fo long ago as King 
Alfred., the Founder of our naval Force, thefe Seas were 
vifited, and a very profitable Fifliery carried on ; and 
therefore I can fee no Reafon why we fliould fuppofe 
that it is impradicable now; and if not impradicable, 
why it may not be attempted with reafonable Hopes of 
Succefs, by the prefent Generation ; We confider our- 
felves as much more knowing, and at the fame time 
as much more powerful, than our Anceftors were in 
thofe Days, and therefore it ought to be thought fcan- 
(dalous in us, to fall fliort of them in Induftry, which 
every one muft acknowledge to be the Cafe, when 
Branches of Commerce which were enjoyed by them are 
loft to us, and that Lofs too abfolutely unregarded. 
22. We are very far from having any Certainty that 
Greenlan, ■ is united, on the Eaft, to any other Country 
whatever : Some have imagined that it was joined to 
JSfova Zemhla, but the Difcoveries made by the Dutch in 
1670? have difproved this ; for they advanced a great 
way behind the laft-mentioned Country, and found no- 
thing but Snow and Ice. In order therefore to give 
fome Account of the Ardic Regions lying next to Green- 
land on this Side, we muft have Recourfe to the Expe- 
ditions made for Difcovery from Japon. We have, in 
our former Volume, given fome Account of the Land 
■o^2''edz6, or JeJo, which lies to the North of the great 
Ifland , of Niphon^ which is the largeft of thofe known 
tom by the general Name oEJapoJt, and from which it 
is moft probable that Word was framed. The Japonefe- 
are very bad Sailors, and confequently have not been 
able to make any great Difcoveries on that Side. Our 
Countryman Mr. William Saris^ of whom I have given 
the beft Account I was able, in the former Part of this 
Work.3,, had n Commiflion from the Governmeiit of 
the Countries Book 11. 
Japan to make Difcoveries on t hat Side ; but it does 
not appear that he had any Opportunity of executing 
this Commiffion ; if he had we fliould probably have 
had a better Account of this Country than we have at 
prefent, or indeed are ever like to have, in confequence 
of any Difcoveries made from Japon by the Natives. 
This Commiffion was granted to Mr. Saris in the Year 
1613; and about feven Years after. Father a 
Sicilian Jefuit, adually went thither to plant theChriftian 
Faith, and from him we had the firft tolerable Account 
of this Country. Some other Miffionaries followed him, 
and from their Accounts it appeared, that Jeffo was nei- 
ther a very excellent nor a very defpicable Country, in 
fome Things very far fliort, in others rather better, than 
Japon. The Climate they found to be very cold, but 
withal very wholefome ; the People lefs fprightly, but 
muchhonefter, than the the Produce of thePlaca 
they found not much to be boafted of, but as they came to 
be better acquainted with it, they were well informed 
that it was very rich in Silver Mines, and that prodigious 
Quantities of this precious Metal were yearly tranfported 
to Japon ; notwithftanding which the Traders from this 
Country brought thofe People, annually, confiderable 
Quarititiesof filver Ear-rings, and otherToys; for which 
they paid a high Price. I mention this Circumftance becaufe 
fome of the Portugueze Writers would perfuade us, that 
becaufe fiiver Rings are brought from Japon to JejJo.f 
there can be no Silver Mines in the laft-mentioned 
Country ; whereas, by comparing the original Authors, 
from whom they take their Accounts, it is very evident 
that the Fa6t is as we ftate it ; neither is there any thing 
ftrange in it ; for in Mexico., where Silver is the principal 
Commodity, Silver-Toys, and indeed all forts of 
wrought Plate, fell very dear. 
Thefe Miffionaries however deliver it as their Opinion, 
that the Country of JejJo is an Ifland, which agrees very 
well with the Japonefe Accounts ; but then they diftin- 
guifli better the Upper and Lower JeJfo ; the latter they 
make an Ifland, the former a Continent, the Northern 
Parts of which they fay are not difeovered, that is, they 
are not known to the Japonefe ; but, as we fhall fhew 
hereafter, they are not only known, but have been con- 
quered by the Ruffians., who have extended their Em- 
pire to the Frontiers of that of Japon., if we allow the 
Country of Jeffo to make a Part of the Japonefe Do- 
minions ; and that it is really dependent upon the Empire 
of Japon., is no longer to be queftioned. 
But it is now time to fpeak of the Difcoveries 
on this Side ; and in order to have a clear Notion of 
thefe it is requifite to obferve, that the Dutch Eafi India 
Company, after they had eftabliflied themfelves in the 
Ifland of Formofa., and had fettled their Commerce in. 
Japon., began to think that it would contribute greatly 
to the Advancement of their Affairs, if they could find 
a nearer Palfage into Europe from thofe Countries, and 
therefore they determined to try whether a North-weft 
Palfage might not be found on that Side, which would 
have been the fame Thing as finding a North-eaft 
Palfage from Europe. In 1643, Company fitted out 
from Batavia two Sloops for this Difcovery ; the firft 
was called the Bujkins, commanded by Capt. Henry- 
Cornelius Schaep ; the other, the Caflricoom., under the 
Orders of Martin Heritfzoom Van Uriez, The Inftruc- 
tions that the Commanders received were, that they 
fliould fail on the moft Northern Point of the Ifland of 
Japon., and from thence to the Height of 56 Degrees ; 
but the former of thefe Veflels being feparated from the 
latter in a Storm, and obliged to feek for Shelter in one 
of the. Ports of Japon., there was an End of their Ex- 
pedition, it being feized, and the Crew made Prifoners ; 
but Capt. Uriez., in the Caflricoom., continued his Voyage, 
and made thofe Difcoveries which will render his Name 
immortal. In the Latitude of 42 Degrees he difeovered 
Land, and failed to the Height of 43 Degrees, along a 
Coaft which was tolerably well peopled, and landing 
feveral times, was informed by thofe People, that there 
were feveral rich Mines in their Neighbourhood. 
As he failed higher, he found the Country mountain- 
ous, covered with very high Trees, and, as the People 
informed him, abounding with Silver Mines ; he called 
the 
a -* 
