24 A VOYAGE TO SPITZBERGEN. 
clrecl miles. It is believed to be inhabited'. How far 
north it extends has not been ascertained. This, then, 
is the most northern land known in this region, and is 
almost as northerly as the Liakhow Islands. 
The voyages in search of the North-East Passage and 
in the Spitzbergen Sea may now be resumed. The 
last we noticed was Burroughs. Pet did little more 
than follow in his footsteps, the principal novelty 
being the discovery of the southern passage of Vaigatz, 
known as the Strait of Nassau, in 1580. About 
this time some English vessel had crossed the Sea of 
Kara, and had thus gained the mouth of the Obi. 
Barentz, in 1594, coasted along the west side of Nova 
Zembla, from Langenes to the islands of Orange. In 
1596 he and Rijp discovered Bear or Cherie Island, in 
74° 30' N., and soon after the Spitzbergen group of 
islands. They followed the south coast of North East 
Land, passed through the Hinlopen Strait, and doubled 
the north end of New Friesland and "West Spitz¬ 
bergen, in 80° N. In 1607 Henry Hudson attempted to 
sail straight across the Polar Sea. He struck the east 
coast of Greenland, in 67° 30' N., and after proceeding 
north for seven or eight leagues he saw a headland, 
which he named Young’s Cape. He continued on a 
N.N.E. course, and at his farthest point, which he 
considered to be 73° N., he saw land, which he called 
