34 
A VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN 
the Muscovy Company; sometimes in that of the mer¬ 
chants of Hull; and sometimes they conducted the 
ships of Holland, France, or Spain. Thomas Marma- 
duke was one of these; another was Allen Sallowes; 
and another, Nicholas Woodcock. They were all ap¬ 
parently skilful navigators, and familiar with the North¬ 
ern seas. Marmaduke was a discoverer; and, in 1612, 
went, according to Purchas, as far north as 82° in a Hull 
ship. 1 He was with the expedition of 1613, as a ser¬ 
vant of the Muscovy Company. Sallowes had been 
employed by the company in their Northern voyages 
for twenty years ; but, “ leaving his country for debt, 
was entertained by the Hollanders to bring them to 
Greenland for their pilot.” 2 Woodcock had been Poole’s 
pilot in 1610, but piloted a Spanish ship in 1612, and 
is said to have been the cause of so many Dutch ships 
being at Spitzbergen the following year. For that of¬ 
fence, he was arrested, and suffered sixteen months’ 
imprisonment in London. 3 
There seems to have been a general rush for the new 
fishing-ground, by vessels of various nations, in the sum¬ 
mer of 1612 ; and it is remarkable, that the Dutch, who 
were the original discoverers of the country, should 
have been no less dependent than others upon English 
seamen for guidance. 
At this juncture, the Muscovy Company, in addition to 
their privileges derived from previous patents, obtained 
a charter from King James, excluding all others, whether 
natives or aliens, from participating in the fisheries; 
1 Poole’s Narrative (in Purchas), vol. iii. p. 714. 
2 Purchas, vol. iii. p. 466. 
3 Ibid., p. 464. 
