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Authors: Giles Milton
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Richard Hakluyt was asked to prepare a detailed list of the supplies and cargo that the men would need, while Dr. John Dee, the acknowledged expert on mathematics and astrology, proffered advice on navigation and topography. He urged the men not to drop anchor when they reached Hangchow in China, but to “saile over to Japon Island, where you shall finde Christian men, Jesuits of many countreys … at whose handes you may have great instruction and advise.” The maritime expert William Borough was also consulted. He had mapped at least part of the shoreline of the White Sea and begged Pet and Jackman to continue his work, telling them to make charts of “where the high cliffs are, and where lowe land is, whether sande, hils or woods.” In return for their labors, they were allowed to give names to every bay and headland “at your pleasure.”
Sir Richard and Sir George had put much thought into the sort of cargo that the vessels should carry to the Far East and agreed with Hakluyt’s view that this expedition was much more than a mere trading mission. It was a floating exhibition of wares and products that would reveal the advanced and civilized state of Elizabethan England.
Hakluyt’s notes reveal his sense of disquiet at the prospect of making contact with a heathen land that was also believed to be as civilized and sophisticated as Europe. Previous voyages had been to “rude” and “barbarous” lands, where adventurers found themselves confronting primitive “savages” dressed in stinking skins and carrying spears. William Hawkins’s voyages to South America had brought Englishmen face to face with Indians whose pierced cheeks were studded with bone. William Towerson’s expeditions to Guinea had discovered “wilde negroes” who chomped on raw flesh and lived in shacks made of mud. The more Englishmen saw of the world, the more they convinced themselves that faraway regions
were inhabited by primitive tribes who pranced around stark naked and showed off their “privy partes.” Much of this was wishful thinking or blind prejudice. The inhabitants of the extreme north of America had shown themselves to be effective hunter-gatherers who most certainly did not eat one another, yet the accounts describe them as “ravenous, bloudye and man-eating” and mock them for showing an appreciation for simple objects like “belles, looking glasses and other toys.” Even those living on the fringes of the British Isles were deemed primitive by the sophisticates of Elizabethan London. One group was held to be particularly backward—idolatrous, superstitious, and living in “barbarous ignorance.” They were the Welsh.
were inhabited by primitive tribes who pranced around stark naked and showed off their “privy partes.” Much of this was wishful thinking or blind prejudice. The inhabitants of the extreme north of America had shown themselves to be effective hunter-gatherers who most certainly did not eat one another, yet the accounts describe them as “ravenous, bloudye and man-eating” and mock them for showing an appreciation for simple objects like “belles, looking glasses and other toys.” Even those living on the fringes of the British Isles were deemed primitive by the sophisticates of Elizabethan London. One group was held to be particularly backward—idolatrous, superstitious, and living in “barbarous ignorance.” They were the Welsh.
from Arnoldus Montanus’s Atlas Japannensis, 1670
.
.
Richard Hakluyt had heard rumors of the sophistication of the Japanese, especially noblemen (above). When Captains Pet and Jackman set sail, they took only the finest-quality goods.
Hakluyt knew that Pet and Jackman’s voyage to the Far East would bring Englishmen into contact with altogether more cultured people, and he urged that only the finest-quality goods be taken on board. He insisted that the two captains take accurate scales and weights, which, he said, were used only by societies with “a certaine shew of wisdom.” He suggested that they take a little collection of silver coins bearing the noble head of Queen Elizabeth I, “to be showed to the governours … which is a thing that shall in silence speake to wise men more than you imagine.” He instructed them to take a map of England, but warned that it
should not be
any
map. It must be one that was “set out in faire colours … [and] of the biggest sort.” The men were also to take the finest examples of the work of England’s blacksmiths: “locks and keyes, hinges, bolts, haspes &c., great and small, of excellent workmanship.” They were to take spectacles (or “glazen eyes”) and fine glassware; hourglasses and “combes of ivorie”; looking glasses from Venice; knitted gloves, pewter bottles, and leather buttons. Wool, England’s chief export, was well represented: there were hand-knitted socks and gloves, as well as nightcaps and blankets. Other items stowed in the holds included seeds of sweet-smelling flowers, tinderboxes, bellows, and printed books. Every item was carefully selected to show that England was a rich, sophisticated, and highly cultured realm.
should not be
any
map. It must be one that was “set out in faire colours … [and] of the biggest sort.” The men were also to take the finest examples of the work of England’s blacksmiths: “locks and keyes, hinges, bolts, haspes &c., great and small, of excellent workmanship.” They were to take spectacles (or “glazen eyes”) and fine glassware; hourglasses and “combes of ivorie”; looking glasses from Venice; knitted gloves, pewter bottles, and leather buttons. Wool, England’s chief export, was well represented: there were hand-knitted socks and gloves, as well as nightcaps and blankets. Other items stowed in the holds included seeds of sweet-smelling flowers, tinderboxes, bellows, and printed books. Every item was carefully selected to show that England was a rich, sophisticated, and highly cultured realm.
The
George
and the
William
slipped away from Limehouse in the spring of 1580. After a brief pause at Harwich to take on extra food supplies, the ships pushed on into the North Sea. Shortly after their departure, Richard Hakluyt received a reply to a letter that he had written to the esteemed Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator. It offered important advice to Pet and Jackman, and it was most unfortunate that it arrived several weeks too late. Mercator warned that one of the chief hazards of sailing to the north was the wild inaccuracy of the compass in such regions. “The neerer you come unto it [the North Pole],” he wrote, “the more the needle of the compasse does vary from the north, sometimes to the west and sometimes to the east.” He said that compass variation was a cause of frequent disaster for Arctic explorers and informed Hakluyt that “if Master Arthur [Pet] be not well provided … or of such dexteritie that, perceiving the errour, he be not able to correct the same, I feare [that] he be overtaken with the ice.”
George
and the
William
slipped away from Limehouse in the spring of 1580. After a brief pause at Harwich to take on extra food supplies, the ships pushed on into the North Sea. Shortly after their departure, Richard Hakluyt received a reply to a letter that he had written to the esteemed Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator. It offered important advice to Pet and Jackman, and it was most unfortunate that it arrived several weeks too late. Mercator warned that one of the chief hazards of sailing to the north was the wild inaccuracy of the compass in such regions. “The neerer you come unto it [the North Pole],” he wrote, “the more the needle of the compasse does vary from the north, sometimes to the west and sometimes to the east.” He said that compass variation was a cause of frequent disaster for Arctic explorers and informed Hakluyt that “if Master Arthur [Pet] be not well provided … or of such dexteritie that, perceiving the errour, he be not able to correct the same, I feare [that] he be overtaken with the ice.”
Compass variation was not the only peril faced by Pet and Jackman. There was also the danger of icebergs whose underwater buttresses could easily puncture a hole in the fragile oak timbers of Elizabethan vessels. When Martin Frobisher had gone in search of
the Northwest Passage just a few years earlier, his men had been forced to keep a sharp eye on the icebergs and “were brought many times to the extreamest pointe of perill.” They had watched in horror as “planckes of timber, more than three inches thicke … were severed and cutte in sunder.” Even in midsummer, when the Arctic was at its most clement, a strong northerly wind could send a flurry of icebergs into previously open waters.
the Northwest Passage just a few years earlier, his men had been forced to keep a sharp eye on the icebergs and “were brought many times to the extreamest pointe of perill.” They had watched in horror as “planckes of timber, more than three inches thicke … were severed and cutte in sunder.” Even in midsummer, when the Arctic was at its most clement, a strong northerly wind could send a flurry of icebergs into previously open waters.
The lack of clear skies was an additional hindrance to pilots whose equipment was dependent upon being able to take an accurate reading of the sun. “The sunne draweth near to the horizon in the north parts,” explained one, “[and] it is there commonly shadowed with vapours and thicke fogges.” In winter, the situation would become critical, for the land would be “deformed with horrible darkenesse and continuall nighte.”
Despite the doom and gloom in London, Captains Pet and Jackman made rapid progress to the bustling port of Wardhouse, on today’s border between Russia and Finland, where they picked up fresh supplies. The
William
also underwent urgent repairs, for her rudder was damaged and she was found to be “somewhat leake.” It took a whole day to repair her hull.
William
also underwent urgent repairs, for her rudder was damaged and she was found to be “somewhat leake.” It took a whole day to repair her hull.
Shortly after leaving Wardhouse, Captains Pet and Jackman had their first disagreement. For reasons that remain obscure, Jackman wished to put into the next port. Pet taunted him for cowardice and sneeringly informed his erstwhile friend “that if he thought himselfe not able to keepe the sea, he should doe as he thought best.” He added that the crew of the
George
intended to press on alone. It was a remarkably foolish decision and one that explicitly broke the terms of their commission, which said, “You should never lose sight the one of the other.”
George
intended to press on alone. It was a remarkably foolish decision and one that explicitly broke the terms of their commission, which said, “You should never lose sight the one of the other.”
Just four days later, Captain Pet recorded a brief but ominous entry in his diary: “This day we met with ice.” It was midsummer, and they were far to the south of the route that they would soon have to take, yet already there was ice in the sea. Pet ordered all the sails to be set, and they soon broke free of it. He concluded
that these icebergs were freak leftovers from winter, having lingered in some shady spot in the White Sea.
that these icebergs were freak leftovers from winter, having lingered in some shady spot in the White Sea.
After a further week’s sailing, through thick fog, showers, and thundery squalls, the crew gave a little cheer as they sighted the shores of Vaygach Island to the south of Novaya Zemlya. This speck of land marked the boundary between the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea—a milestone in their voyage to the Far East. As they pushed their vessels into the Kara Sea, they would be leaving Europe behind. These ice-littered waters pounded the shores of Asia.
This made Vaygach Island a place of some strategic significance, and Hakluyt believed that it had been overlooked for too long. He had suggested to Pet and Jackman that they make their base there, or on one of the nearby islands, “from whence … we might feed those heathen nations with our commodities … without venturing our whole masse in the bowels of their countrey.” He suggested that they build a fort and a small warehouse, and encourage the merchants of Peking to make regular visits there. Using them as middlemen, the English could establish a trade network that spread its tentacles right across the Far East.
Hakluyt’s plan was flawless, except in one important respect. Vaygach Island was not quite as close to Peking as he imagined; indeed, it lay approximately 2,500 miles from China’s imperial city, across a bleak Siberian wilderness of birch forest, tundra, and permafrost. There was also the Gobi Desert to be negotiated, as well as the great mountain ranges of northern Mongolia. It was most unlikely that China’s merchants would be willing to make such a voyage in order to acquire English socks and gloves.
Nor, as the men discovered, was it an ideal place for a base. Vaygach was a desolate spot. There were no signs of any settlements or food supplies, and the blasts of chill wind caused the men to shiver in their jerkins. A band of them struggled ashore through a “great fogge” and promptly stumbled upon a large stone cross “and a man buried at the foote of it.” The sight of this had a peculiar effect on the no-nonsense Captain Pet. He suddenly
felt profoundly guilty at having sailed on without the
William
and carved his name onto the cross “to the end that if the
William
did chaunce to come thither, they might have knowledge that we had beene there.”
felt profoundly guilty at having sailed on without the
William
and carved his name onto the cross “to the end that if the
William
did chaunce to come thither, they might have knowledge that we had beene there.”
Captain Pet seems to have realized that he was still far from China, for he ordered his men back on board so that they could continue with their onward voyage. It soon became apparent that the Kara Sea presented a formidable challenge, even to a skillful pilot like Pet. There were numerous rocky islets, powerful rip currents, and—more alarmingly—“a very great store of ice a-seaborde.” The weather, too, had taken a turn for the worse. “Very much wind, raine and fogge,” recorded Pet, who noted that the winds either battered their vessel relentlessly or left them becalmed. But there was good news on the horizon. On August 23, at “nine in the afternoone, we had sight of the
William
.” To the weary and depressed crews of both ships, this meeting was a cause for celebration. Pet and Jackman were jubilant and any bad feelings were quickly forgotten. The men on the
George
polished up their brass instruments and proceeded to give their sister ship a lively welcome: “We sounded our trumpet, and shot off two muskets.” Pet preferred to express his gratitude in prayer: “We acknowledge this our meeting to be a great benefit of God for our mutuall comfort, and so gave His Majestie thanks for it.”
William
.” To the weary and depressed crews of both ships, this meeting was a cause for celebration. Pet and Jackman were jubilant and any bad feelings were quickly forgotten. The men on the
George
polished up their brass instruments and proceeded to give their sister ship a lively welcome: “We sounded our trumpet, and shot off two muskets.” Pet preferred to express his gratitude in prayer: “We acknowledge this our meeting to be a great benefit of God for our mutuall comfort, and so gave His Majestie thanks for it.”
He quickly discovered that the
William
had made slow progress to the Kara Sea. Her sternpost had broken, her rudder was smashed, and she was having great difficulty in making headway. Mending the damaged rudder proved difficult, for the water was far too cold for the men to carry out repairs at sea. Instead, they were forced to shift all the cannon and cargo to the helm so that the stern was lifted, seesaw fashion, out of the water. The carpenters then set to work and, after a few anxious hours, completed the repairs. The
William
was at last able to steer again.
William
had made slow progress to the Kara Sea. Her sternpost had broken, her rudder was smashed, and she was having great difficulty in making headway. Mending the damaged rudder proved difficult, for the water was far too cold for the men to carry out repairs at sea. Instead, they were forced to shift all the cannon and cargo to the helm so that the stern was lifted, seesaw fashion, out of the water. The carpenters then set to work and, after a few anxious hours, completed the repairs. The
William
was at last able to steer again.
It was during the days that followed their unexpected meeting
that Captains Pet and Jackman were able to consider more fully their next course of action. They had serious concerns about continuing with their voyage. The wind was blowing an icy gust from the north, and the quantity of ice in the water was increasing at an alarming rate. “Windes we have had at will,” wrote Pet, “but ice and fogge too much against our willes.” Another problem was caused by their lack of information. William Borough had been able to give them sailing directions as far as Vaygach, but henceforth his advice was of limited use. “It is probable you shall finde the land on your right hand,” he had informed them, suggesting that Peking was about 400 miles away. But he admitted that he was not entirely sure.
that Captains Pet and Jackman were able to consider more fully their next course of action. They had serious concerns about continuing with their voyage. The wind was blowing an icy gust from the north, and the quantity of ice in the water was increasing at an alarming rate. “Windes we have had at will,” wrote Pet, “but ice and fogge too much against our willes.” Another problem was caused by their lack of information. William Borough had been able to give them sailing directions as far as Vaygach, but henceforth his advice was of limited use. “It is probable you shall finde the land on your right hand,” he had informed them, suggesting that Peking was about 400 miles away. But he admitted that he was not entirely sure.
There was very good reason to turn back, and yet the sheer excitement of sailing toward unknown lands drove these intrepid men forward. So much planning and hard work had been invested in their great enterprise that it seemed churlish not to make the attempt. Besides, they were looking forward to meeting the civilized folk of the East. Richard Hakluyt had handed them detailed instructions on how they were to conduct themselves, informing them that the Chinese and Japanese were not savages and could not be treated in the same brusque manner as was customary with African tribesmen or the barbarous “brutes” of South America. They were to be treated with deference and civility, and invited on board ship for a gracious welcome. “First,” he advised, “the sweetest perfumes [are to be] set under the hatches, to make ye place sweet.” Then, once the Japanese had been shown all due courtesy, they were to be offered the choicest dainties on board: “marmelade … prunes … almonds … dried peares.” They were to be given sugar, oil from Zánte, cinnamon water, and biscuits in vinegar—a delicacy in Elizabethan England, which, with “a little sugar cast in it cooleth and comforteth and refresheth the spirits of man.” Hakluyt also suggested that they open their phials “of good sweet waters … to besprinkle the guests withall, after their coming
aboard.” When those same guests left, they were to be given presents of jams and conserves. “With the gift of these marmelades,” he wrote, “ … you may gratifie [them].”
aboard.” When those same guests left, they were to be given presents of jams and conserves. “With the gift of these marmelades,” he wrote, “ … you may gratifie [them].”
BOOK: Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan
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