379 Want de coude leerde ons noch wel niet langhe uyt blyven, om dattet buyten niet snick heet was—for the cold itself was quite enough to teach us not to stay long out, inasmuch as out of doors it was not smoking hot. ↑
382 Oculus Tauri. The exact declination for this year of α Tauri or Aldeberan is + 15° 40′,2; so that the complement of the height of the Pole, after allowing 1′,7 for refraction, is 14° 12′,1, and the height of the Pole is 75° 47′,9. The mean of this observation, and that of γ Orionis, on December 14th, 1596 (page 131), is 75° 45′,5, which may be regarded as being a very close approximation to the true latitude of the expedition’s wintering-place. From the author’s statement, it appears that William Barentsz was of opinion that they were to the north of the 76th parallel, instead of to the south, as this corrected calculation makes their position to be. This only shows the importance of recording and publishing all observations in their original form, regardless of their apparent results, however anomalous. When a traveller’s observations are for years kept back, in order that they may be “revised”, the world may not uncharitably surmise that eventually they will not be presented to it in their integrity. ↑
383 Also dat dese metinghe vande voornoemde sterre ende eenighe andere sterren, soo mede de metinghe van de sonne, alle over een quamen dat wy—so that the measurement of the above-named star and of some other stars, as well as the measurement of the sun, all agreed (in showing) that we.…
It will be seen in the sequel that the observations of the sun agree rather in showing the contrary of what is above contended for. ↑
384 Liepen uyt ende schoten de cloot met de cloot van de vlayh-spil, die wy voor heen niet conden sien loopen—ran out and played at ball (lit. threw the ball) with the truck of the flag-staff, which before that time we had not been able to see run. ↑
389 Om ons leden wat te verstercken, met gaen, werpen ende loopen—to strengthen our limbs a little with walking, throwing (the ball), and running. ↑
390 Maer des nachts vroort wederom effen cout—but at night it froze again just as cold (as before). ↑
398 Dat de sonne aldaer ende op die hooghde openbaren souden—that the sun should appear there and in that latitude. ↑
401 This makes the date to have been the twenty-fifth of January. On the 24th, the sun was only in the fourth degree of Aquarius. And all the details furnished by the author concur in proving, that, in spite of his assertion of extreme precision as to the date, the conjunction of the moon and Jupiter,—and, inferentially, the first appearance of the sun also,—took place on the 25th of January, instead of the 24th, as stated.
On January 25th, at midday, when the sun’s longitude was 305° 25′,1, or 5° 25′,1 of Aquarius, its declination was—18° 57′,4: consequently, its centre was 4° 42′,4, and its upper edge 4° 26′,4, below the horizon. The mean refraction at the horizon cannot, however, be estimated at more than 34′9, or, with an assumed temperature of -8° Fahren., 39′,3; so that the extraordinary and anomalous refraction amounts to no less than 3° 49′. ↑
403 That is to say, till February 6th. But on that day, the sun’s declination being—15° 56′,4, it was 1° 41′ below the horizon in 75° 45′ N. lat., and therefore still invisible there. In lat. 76° it would have been as much as 1° 56′.
In 75° 45′ N. lat. the sun’s upper edge would have been properly first visible on February 9th, when the sun was in 10° 29′,2 of Aquarius, or longitude 319° 29′,2; its declination then being—15° 0′,5, with an assumed refraction of half a degree. ↑
406 Josephus Schala. The title of the work here referred to, as given in [146]De Lalande’s Bibliographie Astronomique, p. 120, is “Josephi Scala, Siculi, Ephemerides ex Tabulis Magini, ab anno 1589 ad annum 1600 continuatæ, una cum introductionibus Ephemeridum Josephi Moletii. Venetiis, 1589, 4to.” It is not in the library of the British Museum, nor in that of the Royal Astronomical Society. This is, however, of no moment; as Mr. Vogel, to whose kindness I am indebted for so much valuable assistance, has calculated the time of the conjunction at Venice, and makes it differ only 57 seconds from Scala’s computed time. ↑
407 In the astronomical reckoning of time, the date was certainly January 24th; but, then, “one in the night time” of that day—which would correctly be called January 24 days 13 hours—corresponds with 1 o’clock in the morning of January 25th, in the civil reckoning of time. ↑
408 January 23d 12h, mean time, Paris, corresponding with midnight between January 23rd and 24th in the civil reckoning of time,—which at Venice would be 20 minutes to 1 o’clock in the morning of January 24th,—the moon’s longitude was 19° 57′,3 and her latitude + 2° 0,7, while Jupiter’s longitude was 32° 12′,0 and his latitude—1° 4′,6; so that there was no conjunction on that day. On the other hand, January 24d 12h 59m 3s mean time, Venice, corresponding with 57 seconds to one o’clock in the morning of January 25th, the position of the two planets was as follows:—
| Moon. | Longitude | 32° 17′,3 | Latitude | + 2° 58′,3 |
| Jupiter. | Longitude,, | 32° 17′,3 | Latitude,, | — 1° 4′,3 |
that is to say, they were then in conjunction; their position in the heavens being near the star α Arietis. ↑
409 This can only be understood in a general sense, as meaning that it was somewhere about six o’clock in the morning. For at the time of the conjunction, the sun was more than 20° below the horizon; and as the dawn is not perceptible till the sun is about 18° from the horizon, they could not have possessed even this imperfect means of observing its general bearing, without the aid of the anomalous refraction. ↑
410 Want wy sagen gestadich op de vorrnoemde twee planeten dat se altemet malcanderen naerderden—for we looked constantly at the two planets aforesaid, (and saw) that, from time to time, they approached each other. This is very loosely expressed. The author meant to say that they looked from time to time, and saw the two planets constantly approach. ↑
411 The moon stood 3° 47′,7 above Jupiter. At the time of the conjunction, the declination of the latter planet was + 11° 17′,2; so that in 75° 45′ N. lat. it must have set 37° 20′ west of the northern meridian. And yet it was observed in 11° 15′ west, when in fact it was 2° 44′1, below the horizon! This is very remarkable. For, as is well known, the setting of even the brightest stars is not perceptible. They always vanish before they reach the horizon. The peculiar state of the atmosphere, which at noon of the same day had raised the sun’s disc nearly 4°, allowed a star to be observed which had set 1 hour and 48 minutes previously. ↑
412 The longitude of the conjunction was 32° 17′,3, or 2° 17′,3 of the sign of Taurus, with reference to the old division of the ecliptic; though, owing to the retrogression of the equinoctial points whereby Aries has taken the place of Taurus, the conjunction actually occurred in the former sign, as is stated in note 2 of the preceding page. ↑
413 Their clock having stopped, and a twelve-hours sand-glass being their only time-keeper, it would be too much to expect precision in their immediate determination of the time of observation. But, fortunately, by placing on record the moon’s azimuth at the time of the conjunction, they furnished the means of calculating the true time within very reasonable limits. The result shows that they were rather more than an hour slow, as it wanted 1 minute and 48 seconds of five o’clock. ↑
414 The moon’s bearing by compass being N. by E. (11° 15′ E.), and the variation of the compass 2 points (22° 30′) W., the moon’s azimuthal distance from the northern meridian was 11° 15′ W. From this datum Mr. Vogel has calculated the time of the observation, and makes it to be January 24d 16h 58m 12s mean time, or 4h 58m 12s after midnight on January 25th. The difference between this time and that of the conjunction at Venice (0h 59m 3s after midnight) is, of course, the [148]difference of longitude between the two places; it being 3h 59m 9s, or 59° 47′ E. And Venice being 12° 21′ 21″ E. from Greenwich, it results that “the house of safety”, at the north-eastern extremity of Novaya Zemlya, is in 72° 8′ long. E. of Greenwich, or 89° 48′ E. of Ferro; its latitude being 75° 45′ N.
As the moon’s bearing and the variation of the compass are both given only to the nearest point, there is a possibility of error to the extent of half a point, whereby the longitude might vary as much as 5°, or 20 minutes in time. But there is every reason for believing the variation, as stated, to be very nearly correct; or, if in error, it is in defect, which would have the effect of decreasing the eastern longitude. ↑
416 This is not correct. The moon passed the meridian at 5h 38m 54s after midnight, and the conjunction was observed 40m 42s before that planet came to the meridian. It was, therefore, only 4h 58m 12s A.M. of January 25th. ↑
420 The correct position of Venice is 30° 0′ 58″ E. of Ferro, or 12° 21′ 21″ E. of Greenwich, and 45° 25′ 49″ N. lat. It is curious that the latitude of so well-known a place should have been stated as much as 40′ in error. ↑
422 Cape Taimur being in about 100° E. long., and the Hollanders’ wintering quarters in 72° E. long., the difference of longitude is apparently less than 30 degrees. But this is of no importance, as their determination of the position of that cape was merely speculative, there being at that time no data whatever for fixing its correct position; nor is it indeed exactly known even at the present day. ↑
423 This is substantially correct. The exact measurement is 3·64 [14·66] miles. Under the 76th parallel of latitude a degree contains 13,859·414 toises (du Peru), and at the equator, 57,108·519 toises.—Encke, “Ueber die Dimensionen des Erdkörpers,” Berliner Jahrbuch für 1852, p. 369. ↑
427 De Strate Anian. The passage between the continents of Asia and America, now known as Behring’s Strait, was formerly so called. It was supposed to be in about 60° N. lat., and the northern coast of America was imagined to stretch from thence to Hudson’s Strait in a direction nearly east and west. Maldonado is said to have visited the Strait of Anian in 1588. A translation of the narrative of this pretended discovery is given in Barrow’s Chronological History, Appendix ii, p. 24 et seq. See also the Quarterly Review, vol. xvi, p. 144 et seq. ↑
428 Wat nu dan belanght dat men verstaen sal van tghene verhaelt is, dat wy de sonne … verloren—Now, as regards the understanding of what has been related as to our having lost the sun, etc. ↑
430 Dattet ons in den tijdt niet ghemisten heeft—that we were not mistaken with respect to the time. ↑
434 Daer nae deden wy een maniere van een lijck-predikinghe met lesen ende psalmen te singhen—after that, we made a sort of funeral discourse, read prayers and sang psalms. ↑
437 The refraction must have continued to be about as great as it was on January 25th. For, though in the interval the sun’s declination had increased 46′,6, yet they now saw it in its “full roundness”, which is equal to about 32′, and also “a little above the horizon”, for which the remaining 15′ can hardly be too large an allowance. ↑
440 Daer deur datter veel gebreck van den scheurbuijck ghecreghen hadden—whereby several had fallen sick of the scurvy.
The derivation of the term “scurvy”—schärbuk, Low German; scharbock, High German; skörbjugg, Swedish; scorbutus, modern Latin,—is variously attempted to be explained. See Adelung, Hochdeutsches Wörterbuch; Mason Good, Study of Medicine, vol. ii, p. 870; Lind, Treatise on the Scurvy, 3rd Edit., p. 283. The last-named writer says:—“Most authors have deduced the term from the Saxon word schorbok, a griping or tearing of the belly [properly scheuren, ‘to scour’, and bauch, ‘belly’]; which is by no means so usual a symptom of this disease; though, from a mistake in the etymology of the name, it has been accounted so by those authors.” It is in this sense that the expression has been understood by the English translator. ↑
442 Phillip has here inserted the word “not”, which is not in the original, and is besides inconsistent. ↑
450 Een copere duijt—a copper doit. This was formerly the smallest Dutch coin, of the value of about half a farthing. It no longer exists under the present decimal system. ↑
455 Vastelavont, properly Vastenavond; formerly called in this country also, Fastern’s or Fasten’s Even. The “Fastingham Tuiesday,” and “Fastyngonge Tuesday,” cited in Brand’s Observations on Popular Antiquities, vol. i, p. 58, from Langley’s Polidore Vergile, fol. 103, and Blomefield’s Norfolk, vol. ii, p. 111, respectively, seem to be merely corruptions of this expression. ↑