LINSCHOTEN, JAN HUYGHEN VAN

born 1563, Haarlem, Holland [now in The Netherlands] died Feb. 8, 1611, Enkhuizen, Neth. Dutch traveler and explorer who sailed via the Cape of Good Hope to Portuguese Goa (in India) in 1583 and later explored the Arctic Ocean. As bookkeeper to the archbishop of Goa, Linschoten spent six years (158389) in India. After his return to the Netherlands, he wrote two books containing valuable information about the peoples and customs of the country; these books were influential in stimulating early Dutch and English trade expeditions to India and the East Indies. Linschoten was interested in finding a shorter route to India, and in 1594 he sailed with the Dutch navigator Willem Barents in search of a northeast passage to the Orient via the Arctic. After reaching Novaya Zemlya, Barents returned to the Netherlands, while Linschoten sailed into the Kara Sea before being forced back by bad weather. In 1595 he and Barents took seven ships into the Kara Sea but were again compelled to turn back because the sea had already frozen over. In 1601 Linschoten published his journal of these explorations, which inspired interest among the Dutch and the English in the search for a northern route to India.