276 
LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. 
Hammerfest three or four miles on the starboard hand, 
on the evening of the 28th of July, we passed out 
between the islands of Soroe and Bolsvoe into the 
open sea. 
My intention was to go first to Bear Island, and 
ascertain for myself in what direction the ice was lying 
to the southward of Spitzbergen. 
Bear—or Cherie Island, is a diamond-shaped island, 
about ten miles long, composed of secondary rocks— 
principally sandstone and limestone—lying about 280 
miles due north of the North Cape. It was originally 
discovered by' Barentz, the 9th of June, 1596, on the 
occasion of his last and fatal voyage. Already had 
he commanded two expeditions sent forth by the 
United Provinces to discover a north-east passage to 
that dream-land—Cathay; and each time, after pene¬ 
trating to the eastward of Nova Zembla, he had been 
foiled by the impenetrable line of ice. On this occasion 
he adopted the bolder and more northerly course, which 
brought him to Bear Island. Thence, plunging into 
the mists of the frozen sea, he ultimately sighted the 
western mountains of Spitzbergen. Unable to proceed 
further in that direction, Barentz retraced his steps, and 
