236 
THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. 
[chap. 
the present Kostin Schar, a Knssian name still in use for the 
sound which separates Meschduschar Island from the main 
island. It ought to he observed, however, that on old maps 
Matotschkin Schar is often marked with some perversion of the 
word Kostin Schar. 
South of '' St. Laurens Bay,” ^ in 70f°, Barents, on the ~ 
August, found upon a headland across erected, and in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of it three wooden buildings, the hull of a Bussian 
vessel and several sacks of meal, and at the same place some 
graves, all clearly remains of some Russian salmon-fishers. On 
the |th August he arrived at Dolgoi Island, where he fell in 
with the two other vessels from Zeeland and Enkhuizen that 
had come thither shortly before. All the four vessels sailed 
back thence to Holland, arriving there in the middle of 
September. The narrative of this voyage closes with the 
statement that Barents brought home with him a walrus, which 
had been fallen in with and killed on the drift-ice. Barents 
during this journey discovered and explored the northern part of 
Novaya Zemlya, never before visited by West-European seafarers. 
The two other vessels, that left the Texel at the same time as 
Barents, also made a remarkable voyage, specially sketched by 
the distiuguished voyager Jan Huyghen van Linschoten.^ 
The vessels were manned by fifty men, among them two 
the Danish service. For we know that an Oliver Brunei during the reign 
of King Fredrik II. in Denmark offered to explore Greenland, and for that 
purpose in 1583 obtained the right to settle in Bergen and there enjoy six 
years freedom from taxes (Cf. Groenlands historiske MMesnmrher, Copen¬ 
hagen, 1838, vol. hi. p. 666). 
^ Probably the Sachanich Bay of the Russians. 
2 Voyagie^ ofte Schip Vaert, van Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, van hy 
Noorden om langes Noorwegen de Noortcaepj Laplant, Vinlant, Ruslandt 
. . . tot voorhy de revier Oby, Franeker, 1601.' Another edition at 
Amsterdam in 1624, and in abstract in Saeghman’s collection of travels in 
1665. The voyage is also described in Blavii Atlas Major, 1665. Lin¬ 
schoten was “ cornmis ” on board, a post which included both the employ¬ 
ment of supercargo and that of owners’ commissioner. 
