Book II. 
- ( 
^le HISTORY of the 
S E C T I O N V. 
A fuccinB AcCQU7tt of the Grounds upon which ^North-east Passage into the Sea of 
Japon has been expeBed and fought for* "The Attempts of the Englifh and Dutch on 
that Sidcy with the Reafons why all Thoughts of a Paffage that Way have been for many 
Tears given tip* 
\ 
Colleded from Dutch as well as Englifh Authors, 
I . A View of the Advantages propofed from the Dif cover y of a North- eafl Fafagei cmd of the 
principal Reafons which have induced fkilful Geographers^ and able Seamen^ to believe that fiich a Rafjage 
might be found. 2. Tdhe Attempts made by Sir Hugh Willoughby, Captain Stephen Burroughs, 
Captain Arthur Pett, and Captain Charles Jackman, for the Difcovery of that Paffage, without 
Effe 5 l. 3. An Account of three Voyages made by the famous Dutch Pilots William Barentz, 
for that Purpofe^ a?td with no better Succefs j the Reafo?2s that induced Barentz to die in the Perfwafon 
that fuch a Paffage tnight fill be found ; and the Motives upon which the Hopes of difcovering thisPafjage 
Were revived,^ after all Vhoughts of it had ^ for a long Time ^ been laid afde. 4. A jhort Account of 
Captain Wood’i Voyage^ in Search of that Pafage, by the HireBion of King Charles II. and his Mif- 
carriage. 5. fhe Reafons publijhed by him, after his Hifappointment^ to prove the finding fuch a Paffage 
impofjible^ or at leaf impraBi cable. 6. Khe Difcoveries made by theKxxVmns in their hKAio. I)o?ninions^ 
and more particularly their late important Difcovery, that there is a very eafy Pafage that Way to North, 
America. 7. Dhe Conclufion of this SubjeB, with feme free Thoughts thereupon, tending to prove, that 
tf we are difappomted in all Attempts of findmg either a North-wefi or North-eafi Paffage, if will amount 
to a Dejneffiration that there is a clear Pafj'age by the No}-th, in or near the Pole. 
i. Advantages propofed by the Difcovery of a 
X Paffage to the North-eafb, may be reduced to 
three. The firft is. That it would fave a great deal of 
Time for, whereas we are now obliged to go round by 
the Cape of Good Hope, or, which is ffill a longer Naviga- 
tion, by the Streights of Magella?!, we might then pafs by 
the Coaft of Mufeovy-t and Great Tlartary, into the Sea of 
Japon, in little more than three Months. The fegond 
turns on the Wholefomenefs of the Voyage, which, ac- 
cording to the Methods now in Ufe, confumes abundance 
of Seamen ; but by this means would become as healthy 
as any Navigation can be, and be performed with very 
little Hazard. In the third Place, there is good Reafon 
to hope that it would change the very Nature of the Eajl 
Pndia Trade, by bringing the Balance over to the Side of 
Europe whereas in the Way we now carry it on, it is 
morally certain, that if the IVeJi Indies had not been dif- 
covered, the Eafi India Trade muff have eat up and 
deftroyed us, I mean the People of Europe in general ; 
for whatever there may be gained by us, or by the Dutch, 
it is an uncontroverted Point, that immenfe Sums in Silver 
are annually fent from Europe to balance the Accounts of 
our Traders with thofe in Eafi Indies •, but if a Paf- 
fage fliould be found to this Country by the North-eaft, 
we might then hope to gain as much by cloathing the 
Inhabitants of the Northern Countries as would balance 
our Commerce with thofe in other Parts. We are next to 
examine the Reafons v/hy fuch a Paffage has been expedl- 
ed and fought for j and this may be likewife reduced 
under three Pleads. The Firft is grounded on the Difpo- 
fition of the terraqueous Globe, which feems to require a 
perfeft Circulation of that great Body of Water which 
is intermixed with the Earth ; and as we find this Conjec- 
ture verified towards the South Pole, it makes the Argu- 
ment fo much the ftronger with refped to the North. 
The 'Second arifes from Obfervation, which affords Va- 
riety of Inftances, in Confirmation of the fame Notion. 
We will mention one or two : All theWood that is thrown 
on the Coafts of Greenland, Nava Zemhla, Lapland, and 
other Northern Countries is worm-eaten ; which is a 
Proof that this Wood came from a warmer Climate ; 
fmee it is certain that Ships are not worm-eaten in the 
Northern Seas. There is likewife a Kind of Molucca 
Bean thrown almoft by every Tide upon the Northern 
Coafts, which is with great Probability believed to be the 
Produdl of the Eaftern Climes ; and, what ftill more 
ftrongly corroborates this Manner of Reafoning, fome 
Dutch Seamen, who were fhipwrecked at Corea, obferved 
a Harpoon in the Head of a Whale caft upon that Coaft, 
which muft therefore have come thither from the Nor- 
thern Seas. Laftly, there are fome Faffs which, if they 
could be depended upon, would put this Matter out of 
Difputc, fince they relate to Ships which have affually 
paffed this Way, or at leaft have difeovered an open 
Sea through which they might have paffed ; but ns this 
cannot be verified by proper Vouchers, they ought to 
be confidered only as Reports, and as fuch I lay no great 
Strefs upon them. 
2. The firft who attempted the affual Difcovery of 
fuch a Paffage to the North-eaft, was Sir Hugh Willough- 
by, in 1553. He advanced as far as 72 Degrees North 
Latitude ; but finding himfelf blocked up by the Ice, he 
retired, as well as he could, into the Mouth of the River 
Arzina, in Lapland •, where he and all his Company were 
frozen to Death, and were the next Year found in that 
Condition. This did not difeourage Captain Stephen 
Burroughs, afterwards Comptroller of the Navy, in the 
Reign of Queen Elizabeth, from puifuing this Difcove- 
ry ; on which he failed in 1556, and having doubled the 
North Cape, entered the Streights of Weygatz, between 
the South' of Nova Zembla, and the Country of the 
Samcieds, believing the Gulph, on the Eaft of that 
Streight, to be a free and open Sea, in which Opinion 
he returned to England. This occafioned a third Voy- 
age, by the Direffion of that glorious Queen, who, in 
1580, fent Captain Arthur Pett, and Captain Charles 1 
Jackman, to perfect this Difcovery. They entered the : 
Streight, but found themfelves fo em.barraffed among the ; 
Ice, that after long ftruggling, with much Difficulty, , 
they got out again, and refolved to return home but 1 
meeting with very bad Weather, they were feparated, and J 
Captain Pett was never heard of afterwards, which gave c 
a Check to all farther Thoughts of fearching for a North- 
eaft Paffage, by our Countrymen. 
3. But the Dutch, who were extremely fenfible of the c 
Benefits that might refult from, fuch a Difcovery, and be- : 
ing withal very emulous of the Englijh Glory, refolved to 
try what might be done in this Refpeff •, and with this ■ | 
View they fent the famous William Barentz thither, in r.; 
1CQ4, who paffed the Streights oi Weygatz, and having 
examined u 
