navigation in southeast Asia and used his cartographic and drawing skills in order to copy and draw new maps, reproducing a considerable amount of nautical and mercantile information. Several of the nautical charts that he copied had been meticulously kept secret by the Portuguese for more than a century. Later, after returning to Enkhuizen, he collected accounts from other travellers, such as his friend Dirck Gerritsz "China", a fellow resident of Enkhuizen who earned his nickname from his travels in the Far East, and was the first Dutchman to travel to China and Japan in three voyages of the Nau do Trato as constable of artillery. Jan Huygen van Linschoten made note of the trading conditions among different countries, and the sea routes for travelling between them. This information later helped both the Dutch and the English to challenge the Portuguese monopoly on East Indian trade. The 1587 death of his sponsor, the Archbishop of Goa, while on a voyage to Lisbon to report to the King of Portugal, meant the end of van Linschoten's appointment. He set sail for Lisbon in January 1589, passing by the Portuguese supply depot at St. Helena Island in May 1589. The Azores During a stopover on Saint Helena he met Gerrit van Afhuijsen, an Antwerp resident who had been in Malacca. From him he gained a knowledge of the spice trade in that region. On the next stopover, the Azores, he stayed for two years due to shipwreck caused by the English, who besieged the island. He used the time to map the city of Angra on Terceira for the island's governor, Juan de Urbina. Van Linschoten only reached Lisbon in January 1592. He spent six months at Lisbon, then sailed to his homeland in July 1592 and settled in his home city of Enkhuizen. Barentsz First voyage In June 1594, van Linschoten sailed from Texel in the expedition headed by Dutch cartographer Willem Barentsz. The fleet of three ships was to enter the Kara Sea, with the hopes of finding the Northeast passage above Siberia. At Williams Island the crew encountered a polar bear for the first time. They managed to bring it on board, but the bear rampaged and was killed. Barentsz reached the west coast of Novaya Zemlya and followed it northward, before being forced to turn back in the face of large icebergs. Barentsz Second voyage The following year