sot HISTOItY OF INDIA. [Pkjok [.
AD iMo. afterwards diffused over Europe. At the very time when the Dutch s<^cur(;d, the Portuguese were deprived of their independence, Philip II. of Spain having usur[)ed the crown of Portugal, and incorporated its dominioas with Ids own. Lisbon having, in consequence, fallen into the hands of their vindictive enemy, the Dutch were, in 1 oSi, completely excluded from it. The injury thus inflicted on their trade was at first severely felt, but the only effect was to in-syjire them with a determination not to rest till they had .succeeded in e.stablishing a direct com- munication with the East. The route by the Cape of Good Hope was now well known; and as all the Portugue.se po.ssessions had fallen under the power of their declared enemy, they covdd have no .scruple in attacking them. In the first instance, however, they imitated the example of the English, and endeavoured to discover an independent route by the north-east. William The first expedition, undertaken by a private company, with the sanction but
without any direct assistance from the States, consisted of four vessels, under the command of William Barentz. They sailed from the Texel on the 5th of June, 1594, and on approaching Nova Zembla separated, two of the vessels taking the old route toward Vaigatz Straits, while the other two, under the command of Barentz, adopted the bolder course of sailing northwards, with the view of Iceeping clear of the masses of ice which clustered round the island Barentz does not seem to have justified his high reputation as a seaman. By the 1st of August he had not advanced beyond the north extremity of Nova Zembla, in lat. 77°, and then, deterred by the violence of the wind and the large ma&ses of floating ice, prematurely determined to return. The other detachment was more persevering. After working their way through Vaigatz Straits, and suc- ceeding, with much difficulty, in sailing round some immense icebergs which had threatened to bar their future progress, the two vessels arrived at a blue open sea, and saw the coast trending rapidly southwards. It was only the Gulf of Obe ; but, led astray by Mercator's blunder, they believed that they had doiibled the north extremity of Asia, and consequently discovered the passage of which they were in search. It might have been expected, that instead of resting satis- fied with this, conviction they would have endeavoured to make assurance doubly .sure, and prevented the possibility of mistake by advancing some himdred leagues into the sea, which, if their opinion had been correct, would have carried them directly to Japan. Instead of this they immediately retraced their steps, and having again joined Barentz on the coast of Russian Lapland, arrived in the Texel on the 10th of September.
False hopes. The tidiugs which they brought diffused universal joy; and the States- general, no longer satisfied with giving a bare sanction, took the lead, in 1595, in fitting out a new expedition on a more extensive scale. It consisted of six vessels, intended not merely to explore, but to commence the traffic which, according to the general belief, was about to be permanently established, and pour the wealth of the East into the ports of Holland. Such being the expecta-
