CHAPTER XI. 
“ True fortitude is seen in great exploits, 
Which justice warrants, and true wisdom guides : 
All else is tow’ring frenzy and distraction.” 
In the last chapter we mentioned a fresh proof of 
the conservative nature of the Arctic climate, and the 
most recent fact which goes to illustrate it is the 
discovery of Barentsz relics at Nova Zembla last year. 
To understand these facts we give at some length.the 
story of that remarkable man. 
According to Burney the historian, permission to 
discover a way to India by Nova Zembla and along the 
coasts of Tartary, was readily obtained, in 1580, from 
the States-General of Holland, who took so great an 
interest in the enterprise, that they promised a gratu¬ 
ity of twenty-five thousand florins to the individuals 
who should undertake the voyage, if they succeeded, and 
also special privileges of trade during the space of eight 
years, to commence from the date of the discovery. 
The first of these expeditions was undertaken by a 
ship of Zealand, a ship of Enchuysen, one of Amster- 
