Note 629 — THE THIRD VOYAGE NORTH-WARD TO THE KINGDOMES OF CATHAIA and China, in Anno 1596.

Daerome hebbe ic met Willem Barentsz. de hoogh-bootsman ende ander officie luyden met alle ander gasten—therefore I, with William Barentsz. (and), the chief-boatswain and other officers, with the rest of the crew. At first sight it might appear that William Barentsz. is described as “hoogh-bootsman”. This is evidently the idea of the translator, though he takes on himself to paraphrase the term by “our pilot”. But the statement on the 20th June (page 198), that the chief-boatswain came on board the boat in which William Barentsz. was, just before the latter’s death, clearly proves that two different persons are here intended: so that, in order to avoid ambiguity, a conjunction, or at least a comma, should be inserted between the two. From the list of the ship’s company given in page 193, it may be safely inferred that the “chief-boatswain”, or first mate, as we should now call him, was Pieter Pieterszoon Vos. It is he, most probably, who on the 28th August, 1596 (page 100) is called “the other pilot”. ↑