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106 THIRD VOYAGE OF THE DUTCH
becaufe the cafks were not exaétly of the proper weight. Again, the capture of
foxes was not fo abundant as formerly; and this retreat of the fox was fiill more
grievous, as it was an indication of the fpeedy return of the bears, who in fact appeared
very foon after.
The twenty-fourth of January was a clear and fine day. James Heemfkerk, Gerard
de Veer, and another, took the opportunity of walking towards the fouthern fhore of
Novaya Zemlia. De Veer, when they leaft thought of it, perceived a fide of the fun’s
difk : full of joy they all three returned quickly to carry this agreeable news to Barent{z
and the others. Barentfz, an experienced mariner, would not believe it, becaufe, ac-
cording to all the computations, it would be fifteen days before the fun could be feen in
that altitude. The others maintained that they had feen it; and this difpute gave rife
to wagers.
The twenty- -fifth and twenty-fixth were fo very mifty that they could not fee one
another, fo that thofe who had wagered that the fun had not yet appeared imagined they
had alre sady won: but the weather clearing up on the twenty-feventh, all the company
together beheld the full difik of the ftar of day above the horizon ; whence it was ealy
to conclude that a part had been feen on the twenty-fourth.
‘Neverthelefs as this difcovery is contrary to the opinions of all writers both ancient
and modern, and that fome may pretend that it is again{t the courfe of nature, and that
it deftroys the rotundity afcribed to the heavens and earth, they conceived there would
be perfons inclined to believe they were miftaken; that they would fay it was fo long
fince they had beheld the day, that it was impoflible to keep an exact account of the
number of the days; that probably they had paffed fome days in bed and fleep without
being confcious of it; and that in fine, from whatever accident it might arife, they muft
neceflarily have made fome error in their calculation.
But as for them who did not doubt of what they had feen, and who were unwilling
to give occafion to think that they might have fome doubts, as they might have done if
they had fpoken lefs pofitively, and had not related the circumftances and the reafons,
they have minutely written all thefe things, in order to fhew that their computation was
exact: they then faw, for the firft time, the fun in the fign of Aquarius, in 5° 25/ ;
and according to their former calculation, he fhould have been in 16° 27” before he
could appear in the latitude of 76°, where they found themfelves to be.
‘Thele circumftances, fo contrary to one another, occafioned much aftonifhment, the
more as they did not think it poflible to be miftaken in their computation of the time +
they had marked day by day, without omitting any one, whatever happened: they had
continually paid attention to their watches, and when they were frozen, they had recourfe
to the twelve-hour-glafs.
‘Their occupation at that time was to make different refleCtions, in order to conciliate
what appeared fo oppofite, and to difcover the truth with refpect to the time. They
confulted the Ephemerides of Jofeph Scala, printed at Venice, which reached from 1589
to 1600; and they thereby found that on the twenty-fourth of January, which was the
fame day the fun had appeared to them, the moon and Jupiter were in conjunétion at
one hour after midnight with refpect to Venice.
On this remark they were attentive to obferve that fame night at what hour thofe:
two planets fhould be in conjunétion, with regard to the place they were in, and they
were five hours later than at Venice, that is to fay, about fix in the morning. During
this obfervation they faw that they approached each other at times till fix. in the morn-
ing, when they were exactly the one above the other, both in the fign of Taurus. Their
conjunction took place by the compafs exactly at N. and by E., and the fouth of the
compat{s,
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