to the Weftern Coaft ; and no Ruffian veffel has ever
paffed round its North Eaftern extremity
The
* Although this work is confined to the Ruffian Difcoveries, yet as
the N . E. paffage is a fubjeft o f fuch interefting curiofity, it might feeni
an omiffion in not mentioning, that feveral Engliffi and Dutch vefiels
have paffed through the Straits o f Weygatz into the.fea o f K a ra ; they
all met with great obftru&ions from.the ice, and had much difficulty in
getting through. See Hiftoire Gen. Des Voyages, tome XV. paffim.
In r696HeemfkirkandBarentz, after having failed along the Wefterh
coaft o f Nova Zemla,- doubled the North Eaftern cape lying.in latitude
77°.2o', and got.no lower along.the Eaftern coaft than 76°, where they
wintered.
See an account o f this remarkable voyage in Girard L e Ver’s Vraye
Defcription De Trois Voyages De Mer, p. 13 to 4 5 ; and Hift. Gen.
des Voy. tom. XV. p. 1 11 to 139.
No veffel o f any nation has ever paffed round that Cape, which extends
to the North o f the Piafida, and is laid down in the Ruffian charts in
about 78° latitude. W e have already feen that no Ruffian veffel has
ever got from the Piafida to the Chatanga, or from the Chatanga to the
Piafida; and yet fome authors have pofiti'vely afierted, that this promontory
has been failed round.' In order therefora to elude the Ruffian accounts,
which; clearly affert the contrary, it is pretended, that Gmelin
and Muller have purpofely concealed fome parts o f the Ruffian journals,
and have impofed upon the world by a mifreprefentation o f fadts. But
without entering into any difpute on this head, I can venture to affirm,
that no fufficient proof has been as yet advanced in fupport o f this af-
fertion ;-and therefore until fome pofitive information fliajl be produced,
we cannot deny plain fadts, or give the preference to hearfay evidence
over circumftantial and well attefted accounts.
Mr. Engel has a remarkable paffage in his Effai fur une route par la
Nord Eft, which it may be proper to confider in this place, becaufe
Jie afferts in the. moil pofitiye manner, that two Dutch vefiels, formerly
paffed three hundred leagues to the North Eaft o f Nova Zemla; from
thence
The navigation from the Lena to Kamtchatka now re- °f
mains to be confidered. If we may believe fome authors, ur.fZ"' ,h°
_ . Kamtchatka. this
thence he infers that they mult have doubled the above-mentioned Cape
which extends to the North o f the Piafida, and have got at leaft as far
Eaft as the mouth o f the Olenek. His words are L ’llluftre Société Roy-
ale, fous l’an 1673, rapporte ce voyage et dit, que peu d’années auparav
a n t une Société.de merchands d’Amfterdam avoit fait une tentative pour
. chercher le paffage du Nord Eft, et équippa deuxvaiffeaux les quels étant
paffé au feptante neuf ou huitantieme degré de latitude, avoient poulie felon
Wood, jufqu’ à trois cent lieues à l ’Eft de laNouvelle Zemble, & c .& c .
Upon this faét he founds - his proof that the navigation from Archangel
to the Lena has been performed. Par confequent cette partie de la routé
a été faite. He refis the truth o f this account on the authority o f the
Philofophical Tran factions, and o f Captain Wood, who failed upon a
voyage forthe difcovery o f the North Eaft pafiage in 1676. The latter,
m the relation o f his voyage, enumerates feveral arguments which induced
him to believe, the praéficability o f the North Eaft paffage.—
“ The feventh argument,” he fays, “ was another narration, printed in
.“ the Tranfaétions, o f two ihips of late that had attempted the pafiage,
“ failed 300 leagues to the Eaftward o f Nova Zemla, and had after profe-
“ cured the voyage, had there not a difference arofe betwixt the undertakers
. “ and the Eaft-India company.” We here find that; Captain Wood refers
to the Philofophical Tranfaétions for his authority. The narration
. printed in the Tranfaétions, and which is alluded to by both Captain
Wood-and Mr. Engel, is to be found in Vol. IX. o f the Philofophical
Tranfaétions, p. 209, for December, 1674. It confiftsof a very curious
“ Narrativé of fome obfervations made upon feveral voyages, under-
“ taken to find a way for failing about the North to the Eaft-Indies ;
“ together with inftruétions given by the Dutch Eaft-India Company
“ for the difcovery of the famous land o f Jeffo near Japan.” Thefe inftruétions
were, in 1643, given to Martin Geritfes Vries, captain o f the
fhip Caftricum, “ who fet out to difcover the unknown Eaftern coaft
7 “ of