ABSTRACT
Sir Hugh Willoughby merely intended to await a change of wind in the bay in which he had anchored; but he was doomed to disappointment, for shortly afterwards a severe winter set in, with frost and snow. The moon since the night of the 21st to the 22nd of September had been on the wane, and at the end of a week Sir Hugh doubted the possibility of proceeding further, and resolved to winter there. Three parties, which were sent three and four days’ journey, in different directions, to search for inhabitants, returned unsuccessful, for all the fishermen had already departed far into the interior for the winter: the days became shorter and shorter, and after the 25th of November our voyagers saw no more of the sun even at mid-day. No one was aware of any means of guarding against the cold, and, indeed, nothing had been brought for the purpose; for at that time they had no idea in England what a winter in Russia, or in the northern regions in general, was; moreover, the country surrounding Nokujeff Bay was quite bare of wood, so that at that spot were frozen to death, with Sir Hugh Willoughby, the strong crews of both vessels, consisting of sixty-five men. Most of them may have commenced their eternal sleep during the night of more than a month’s duration, from the 25th of November to the 29th of December; but from a signature of Willoughby, it is ascertained that he was still alive at the end of January, 1554. Probably before his decease he was even several times rejoiced by a sight of the sun at midday; but what a scene of horror it shone upon! Two frozen-up vessels full of stiffened corpses, and only partly discernible through the snow which had drifted over them, towards which the looks of the remaining unhappy voyagers, now but half alive, were involuntarily turned, as, hopeless, and deprived even of the comforts of religion, they were despairingly awaiting the same fate. The chaplain was with Chancellor. Willoughby’s vessel had two surgeons on board, Alexander Gardiner and Richard Molten, who first embarked at Harwich. In the Esperanza there were three, not, as Hakluyt writes, six, and on board the Confidentia the same number of merchants.
