This is a small snake-weed and is found very rarely in Spitzbergen; the undermost leaves of this plant are the biggest, but they are not above the breadth of ones nail; they grow singly on the stalk, yet not above three of them, except the lowermost: the nearer the flower, the smaller they are; they have within, not far from the edge, many small knobs or spots, answering to the points of the leaves, wherein the veins or nerves are terminated; besides the leaves are not quite plain, but somewhat rumpled at the brims. Out of the root sprouts forth, sometimes single and sometimes double stalks, as you may see in the cut, and this by-stalk is always somewhat lower than the chief stalk.

The flower grows in a close spike, with many small flesh-coloured flowers, it was so small that I forgot to tell the leaves thereof; the seeds were not then come to maturity. The root sheweth of what kind the plant is, and wherefore it may be called bistorta or snake-weed, for it lieth twisted in the ground; it is about the thickness of your little finger where thickest, hath small fibers, is brown without and flesh-coloured within, and of an astringent taste.

I found this herb in the Danish Harbour, on the 18th of July. My figure agrees most with that which Camerarius hath given in the fourth book and third chapter of Matthiolus.

This plant runneth upon the ground, and bringeth forth roundish leaves by pairs on creeping stalks.

The leaves as I think are like those of periwinkle, but they are somewhat rounder, and the largest of them are bent in before. The stalk is somewhat knotty and woody.

The flower appeareth at first wrapt up like a leaf, but after it is grown out a little more, one may see it to be a flower; it grows out between the leaves on the same stalk.

The colour and shape of these flowers I could not at that time observe, because they were not yet blown, much less could I gather the seed.

The root is long, slender, round, woody, and knotty, it hath small branched fibers at the bottom: I found it in the South Bay, behind the cookery of Harlem, on the 19th of June and the 17th of July. Since I saw neither the flower nor seeds, and in probability it would have put forth more leaves, I cannot determine whether it be the pyrola minima, whereof Clusius giveth us a cutt and description in the fifth book of his rare plants, in the twentieth chapter; or whether it may be the Pseudochamœ Buxus ofthe Hortus Echstetensis, which is given by Clusius, in the 72nd chapter of the before-mentioned book, by the name of Anonymos Coluteœ flore, and accurately described; and Camererarius, in his Hortus, giveth it us under the name of Anonymos Pervinczœ folio.

After the whale is killed they cut off his tail; some keep the tail and finns, and hang them up at the outside of their ship, for that defends them from the ice when it presseth upon the ship ; the tail hinders the boat and its course, because it doth lye across, and that is the reason why they cut it off. Before the tail they fasten a piece of a rope, and the other end at the stern of the last sloop. There is in all four or five sloops fastened to one another behind, and so they row one behind the other to the great ship. “When they have brought the whale to the ship, they tye it with ropes fast to the ship; that part where the tail is cut off they fasten to the forepart of the ship, and the head towards the stern, about the middle, near the great shrouds of the mainmast on the larboard side of the ship. It is seldom that a whale doth reach farther than from the poop to the middle of the ship, except the vessels are very small.

By the larboard is to be understood that side of the ship that is at your right hand as you go from before towards the stern; but that side of the ship that is on your right hand as you go from the stern towards the forepart is called the starboard, because you go from the steer forward.

The first work, in the following volume of Arctic Miscellanies, is that of Frederick Martens, of Hamburg, describing a voyage which he made to Spitzbergen in 1671, with a description of that great Arctic island, or rather archipelago, and the productions he observed on its shores or in the seas around. The book of Martens was translated from the German into English, and published in 1694 in a collection of voyages, entitled, “An account of several late Voyages and Discoveries to the South and North, towards the Streights of Magellan, the South Seas, the vast tracts of land beyond Hollandia Nova, etc., also towards Nova Zembla, Greenland or Spitzberg, Groynland or Engrondland, etc., by Sir John Narborough” and others. This translation and the other narratives were dedicated by the publishers (who were “Printers to the Royal Society”) to the celebrated “Samuel Pepys, Esq., Secretary of the Admiralty of England.” It seems, on the whole, to be a very exact translation of Martens’ book. The plates, which in most cases are very rude, it has not been considered advisable to reproduce, although some of them are graphic and intelligible enough. And here it may not be unacceptable to quote what the author himself says respecting his production, in his address to the reader in the original German edition,—which address was left untranslated in the English version of the work now reprinted.

The waves begin to raise themselves at first from a small breeze of wind, and by the increase and continuance of the breeze they grow longer, higher, and bigger.

The sea is not immediately made rough in the beginning of high winds, but the waves swell by degrees and slowly, until they come to be as bigg as mountains; then they expand and break themselves, and fall over with dashing.

Then the following wave from behind raiseth it again with much curled and foaming scum, neatly spotted with the white foam, looking like marble. This breaking and foaming of the waves is successively repeated.

So the swelling waves continually follow one another, moving before the wind with a quick motion; but when these waves are short, they dash over the ship and break much, so that the ship is hardly able to live.

In stormy weather little waves curl upon the top of the great ones, and lesser again upon them.

The ships do not feel these smaller waves, but only the great ones, that are called sea-mountains, which heave and mount the ship with them, but nevertheless she always keeps her straight way through these unpathed waves, which is wonderful to behold.

Some of these plants are figured in the plates, see Nos. 7, 8, 9, and 10.

These four following plants are all crows-feet, only distinguished by their leaves. The first and fourth are very like one another as to their leaves, whereof they have both two sorts, the undermost broader and not so much cut, and the uppermost smaller and deeper divided; yet they differ in this, that the first does not grow so high, and puts out many leaves out of one and the same root; but the fourth hath but one long stalk, whereon sprouted out one single leaf at a place. The fourth hath yellow flowers, but whether the first hath yellow ones (which I suppose) I cannot well remember. The flowers of the fourth hath five leaves, broader at the ends and smaller at the bottom; they grow out of a rough, perianthium or cup that is split into five also. The flowers of the first have six leaves, they are small, and the seed-vessels are like one another.

The roots are differing, that of the first hath many small fibers, and the fourth hath a thicker and longer, with tender and small fibers. The first burns the tongue like persicaria or flea-bean, but somewhat less than in our countries: the leaves of the fourth do not burn so.

I found them both in the Danish haven, the first in great quantities; they flower in July.

Formerly the Dutch did try out their train-oyl in Spitzbergen at Smerenberg, and about the Cookery of Harlingen, where still, for a remembrance, all sorts of tools belonging thereto are to be seen, whereof I have made mention before. The French-men try up their train-oyl in their ships, and by that means many ships are burnt at Spitzbergen: and this was the occasion of the burning of two ships in my time.

They try out their train-oyl at Spiizbergen that they may load the more fat in their ships; and they believe it to be very profitable, for they go their voyage upon part, that is to say, they receive more or less according to what they catch; but I do not account it wisdom to fill up the room of the ship with wood where they might stow vessels. But our countrymen, as I told you before, put the fat into the vessels, wherein it doth ferment just like beer; and I know no instance that ever any vessel did fly in pieces, although they are stop't up very close, and so it becometh for the greatest part train-oyl in them. Of the fresh fat of whales, when it is burnt out, you lose twenty in the hundred, more or less according as it is in goodness.

Rotz-fish (or slime-fishes) I call these, that in themselves are nothing else but slime, and they are transparent. I have observed several kinds of these, some whereof have parts like finns, as that same which I call the sea May-flie. Others are like unto the flat snails, only instead of finns they have stalks like unto feathers. Besides these, I have seen four other sorts that are quite differing in shape from the others, and are called sea-qualms by the seamen, as if they were a thick scum of the sea coagulated together. They are also called after the Latin name sea nettles, because they cause a burning pain like unto nettles. I have formerly had some thoughts that the rotz or slime-fishes might be a seed flung out and so putrefied, and that they did cause this burning pain by reason of their putrefaction; and so I did think they received their shape or form according to the several kind of fishes from whence they came, and that some did take after thornbacks, others after whales, and the like; but this doth not seem to be agreeable to reason, for I have considered it better since, and find life to be a far more noble thing than that it should proceed from putrefied seed cast away.

They cleanse the sea mightily, for all the filth and uncleanness sticks to them just as a burr doth unto cloth.

There are several sorts of these about Spiizbergen. Some of them have thin pointed bills, others have thick and broad ones. Some of these thick-billed ones have them divided or parted, as the mallemucken (mad gnats in English); others have undivided one, as the parret so called.

There is also considerable difference in the heels of these birds, for some of them have heels, as the mountain-duck, kirmew, and mallemucks; others have them not at all, as the burgermeister, rathsher, strundjager, kutyegehf, parret, lumb, pigeon, and the red-goose; no water sticks to their feathers, no more than on the swans and other water-fowl, for it runs off from them as if they were oiled all over. Some are birds of prey, others not. There is also a difference in their flying. Some flie like unto a partridge, as that called the pigeon; others, like swallows, as the lumbs and red-geese; others, like the mews, as the mallemucke, rathsher, and strundjager; others, like the stork, as the burgermeister.

The birds of prey are, the burgermeister, rathsher, strundjager, kutyegehf, and mallemucke. There is also a great difference in their flesh; the birds of prey are not so good to eat as the others, except you hang them up by the legs for some days, that the train-oil may run out of them, and the air blow through them; and then you do not taste the train-oil so strong, for else it would make you vomit.

Amongst these are the red gees, which were shewn unto me as they were flying. They are geese with long legs, that fly in flocks; there is many of them in Russia, Norway, and Jutland.

Then I saw another bird flying singly with broad feet, a very handsom bird, called John of Ghent; it is as big as a stork and of the same shape, with white and black feathers; he hovers in the air, and moveth his wings but very little; when he cometh to the ice he turns back again. It is a kind of a hawk, and I have reason to believe that he hath a very sharp sight, for he shoots down from a great height into the water. They say that the brains of this bird are in great esteem, but for what I could never learn.

He is also seen in the Spanish Sea, and every where in the North Sea, but most commonly he is seen where they catch herrings.

I was also informed that a black crow was seen in Spitzbergen; other birds are not seen there, except it may be now and then a single one that strays and so cometh thither, as the crow did. All these birds come at certain times, and abide at this place as long as the sun shines; afterwards, when the cold begins to encrease, and the nights lengthen, every one of them returns to its own place again.

Thisscurvy-grass sends forth a great many leaves from one root, that spread themselves round about upon the ground. The stalk grows out of the middle of these leaves, which is a great deal lower than in our country, with a few leaves underneath the sprouts. The flowers are of four white leaves, they grow many on the same stalk one above the other; when one flower fades, another cometh in its room when the flower is past; the seed appears in a longish box, as you may see in the figure; when, on the contrary, in ours the seed is found in a round one. The root is white, somewhat thick and streight, with some small fibers below.

A great quantity of this plant is found on the rocks, where they are not much exposed to the east and north winds; I found it most in the South, English, and Danish havens, the earth was quite covered with it in the Danish.

It was the first herb I found in Spitzbergen, when we landed the first time; it was so small I could hardly discern it to be scurvy-grass, but afterwards we found it in its full perfection, and it seeded in the month of July. It is observable, that the leaves of this herb have but little sharpness at Spitzbergen, and therefore is much weaker than the scurvy-grass of our countries, so that we eat it instead of salad at Spitzbergen, which we could not do our scurvy-grass. My figure is like that cut given in the 3rd book, 35th chap., of the German Herbal of Matthiolus.

The lowermost parts of these countries, that are called Spitzbergen, from the sharp or pointed hills or mountains (for Spitz is pointed), are situated under seventy-six degrees and thirty minutes. We sailed to the eighty-first degree, and no ship ventured farther that year; but how far this country is extended to the north, is still unknown.

It seemeth, because the ice stands firm and floats not, as that in the sea doth, that there should be land not far behind it. As the highest countries are surrounded by mountains, as a fortification is with walls and works, so are these countries naturally surrounded with high hills.

The inward condition of this country we do not know, but it seemeth, since we see one hill behind another, that it is so throughout, the whole country. At the Muscle-haven or Muscle-Bay, we find plainer or leveller ground; and the farther we sail toward the east, the ground groweth the lower, yet it is all stony, and with prospects of smaller hills; it doth not look at all as if it could be inhabited by men.

I believe also the land there must of necessity be lower and lower, for else we should see it higher above the other, as we do the other mountains.

Concerning the beasts that live on this land, I believe they come over the ice in the spring, when the ice stands firm, into these countries, and that the same way they go away from thence again, when the long nights begin.

The fish properly called the whale, for whose sake our ships chiefly undertake the voyage to Spitzbergen, is differing from other whales in his finns and mouth, which is without teeth, but instead thereof long, black, somewhat broad and horny flakes, all jagged like hairs: he differs from the finn-fish in his finns, for the finn-fish hath a great finn on his back, but the whale, properly so called, hath none on his back: and there is two finns behind his eyes of a bigness proportionable to the whale, covered with a thick black skin, delicately marbled with white strokes; or as you see in marble, trees, houses or the like things represented. In the tail of one the fishes was marbled very delicately this number, 1222, very even and exact, as if they had been painted on it on purpose. This marbling on the whale is like veins in a piece of wood, that run streight through, or else round about the center or pith of a tree, and so go both white and yellow strokes, through the thick and the thin strokes, that is like parchment or vellam, and give to the whale an incomparable beauty and ornament. When these finns are cut up, you find underneath the thick skin bones that look like unto a man's hand, when it is opened and the fingers are expanded or spread; between these joynts there are stiff sinews, which flye up and rebound again if you fling them hard against the ground, as the sinews of great fish, as of a sturgeon, or of some four footed beasts generally do.

The frost is unconstant in our country, but it is not so in Spitzbergen. In the month of April at seventy-one degrees, it was so cold that we could hardly keep warmth within us. They say that in this month as also in May, the hardest frosts happen every year.

All the rigging, by reason of its being wet, is covered over with ice, and stiff.

They do not send their ships so soon as they did a few years ago, and yet they come time enough there, for if they arrive too early, there is nothing for them to do, because the ice is not yet dissipated, and therefore but few ivhales to be seen.

In the two first summer months of Spitzbergen, their teeth chatter in their heads commonly, and the appetite is greater than in any other countreys.

The sun sets no more after the third day of May, and we were about seventy-one degrees, when we could see as well by night as by day. I cannot say much of constancy of the weather in these two first months, for it changed daily; they say also, if the moon appears cloudy and misty, with a streaky sky, that then there commonly follows a storm. Whether the moon doth prognosticate such storms, I cannot tell, because we have observed, that after we have seen the moon, in a clear sky, the air has grown foggy, which happeneth often, chiefly if the wind changes.

Generally the figures of the plants I here present you with were all drawn by the life, upon the place, when they were fresh and of their natural size, except the rock-plant with but one leaf, and the plant like horse-tail, that stands by it, which, because of their largeness, could not be well drawn so big as the life. All the herbs and mosses grow upon the grit and sand of the stones, where the water falleth down, and on that side of the hill which the east and north winds cannot easily come at. The plants owe much of their growth to the dung of the birds.

There were a great many small herbs, which for want of time I could not delineate, but I propose to do it hereafter, if God blesseth me with life and health when I make my second voyage thither.

I omitted the white poppy, whereof we stuck the flowers in our hats; the whole plant was about a span long.

Besides I have not mentioned the red sorrel, I mean that which was shewed to me at Bremen by the Dutch gardener, which was of the same size, but the leaves of that of Spitzbergen are red.

I desire the courteous reader to accept at present of these for a sample, to show him that on these rough, barren, and cold mountains, there yet grow some plants for the nourishment both of man and beast.

This plant is doubtless a kind of stone-crap, but the leaves are rough or hairy, not so thick nor so juicy as ours are, neither doth it burn or bite like unto ours.

Before the flower fully appears, it looks like unto that of esula; but when it is quite blown and opened, it is of a purple colour, and hath sometimes five, sometimes six, and sometimes I have seen nine leaves; the stamina of the flower I did not tell, neither did I ever see the seeds thereof. The root thereof is very small, and one plant grows close to the other. We found this herb on the low lands of the English Haven, afterwards we found abundance of it amongst the mosses on the 26th of June.

This agreeth in its leaves with the strawberry, for it hath three cut leaves on the end of the stalks, and its flower hath commonly five leaves (seldom but four) and is like a strawberry flower; the stalks are round and rough, and so are the leaves.

On the stalk you see two leaves one against the other, of a differing figure and bigness, for one looketh like a hand and the other like a finger; the size also is different, for some have but three fingers, and others have more.

The flower is yellow, the leaves of the flower are roundish, how many I observed not: the root is woody, somewhat thick, with small fibers, a little scaly at the top; it tastes dry and astringent like tormentil.

In the herbals I could find none liker it than that which Lobelius calleth Fragaria Sylvestris minime Vesca sive sterilis, and in the universal Iferdumish Herbal, in the 70th chapter of the 17th book, by the name of Fragaria non fragisera vel non Vesca; yet it differs in the flower and leaf, for the leaf in my flowers is cut deeper, and the flower of his is white.