HENRY HUDSON
"Listen! That is thunder, Uncle Sam. I'm afraid we are going to have a
storm. I wish I had covers to my ears so I couldn't hear that dreadful
rumbling."
"Nonsense, Lucy. There is no use in being afraid of anything. You
should have lived long ago among the Dutchmen in New York. They would
have told you it wasn't thunder, but was the sound made by Henry Hudson
and his men as they played ninepins with the dwarfs in the caves of the
Catskill mountains.
"But there! You don't know anything about Henry Hudson. Sit down, dear,
in that little chair close to me and turn your back to the window. Then
you will not see the lightning. I will tell you such a nice story you
will not listen to the thunder, either."
"I ought not to be afraid with you, Uncle Sam. I wish Joe were here,
though. He would like to hear the story."
"I will tell it to him some other time, Lucy. Or you may tell him
yourself. But here he comes now, just in time."
Uncle Sam leaned back in his armchair, pulled the beard on his chin,
and began the story of
HENRY HUDSON AND THE DUTCHMEN
It is nearly three hundred years since John Smith went to Jamestown.
He left a dear friend in England who was also a great sea captain. His
name was Henry Hudson.
At that time England was jealous of Spain because of her riches. The
Spaniards had found many gold and silver mines in America.
England was also jealous of Portugal, a small country joining Spain.
The Portuguese had found a way of reaching India by sailing southward
around Africa and then eastward. They brought home shiploads of gums,
spices, precious stones and rare woods. So the Englishmen thought:
"We must get rich, too. Why cannot we reach India by sailing to the
northeast or the northwest?"
They looked about for a brave and able captain who should find out if
this could be done. They chose Henry Hudson.
He sailed into the northern seas. He met with icebergs that made the
air very cold when they were still a long way off. He saw many whales.
Henry Hudson and his men killed some of the whales. They boiled the fat
and made many barrels of oil. This was the best oil known at that time
for burning in lamps. It was also useful in other ways.
The brave captain sailed far into the northern seas. It was now so cold
that great masses of ice almost stopped the ship.
"We must turn back," Henry Hudson said to his men. "It is of no use to
sail any farther northward in hopes of finding a passage to India."
When he got back to England, the people were pleased to learn about the
whales. They sent more ships to capture the great monsters and bring
home the oil.
Once more they sent Henry Hudson to look for a short way to India by a
northern passage.
Again he failed because of the ice in the waters, and again he came
home disappointed.
About this time the people of Holland heard of Henry Hudson and what he
was trying to do. People who live in that country are called Dutch or
Dutchmen. It was a rich country for so few people. They said:
"We had better send for this English captain. We will get him to sail
in our ships. We do not wish the Englishmen to find a shorter way to
India than we know now. If they do, they will become richer than we
are."
So they sent for Hudson. They offered him such good pay that he went to
Holland and made ready to take one of their ships into the north. As he
was about to sail he received a letter from his old friend John Smith.
The letter told him he should sail to the westward if he wished to find
the best way of reaching India. Just north of Virginia there was a
narrow strait. If a ship passed through that strait, it would enter the
ocean that washes the shores of India.
We all know now that Captain John Smith was wrong about this. But Henry
Hudson thought it must be true.
He turned his ship, the Half Moon, towards the west. He sailed in that
direction till he reached the shores of Newfoundland. Then he went
southward as far as Virginia, keeping near the coast. He now turned his
ship about and slowly sailed to the north. He entered many of the bays
and coves that reached into the land. He was always on the lookout for
the strait of which Smith had written.
At last he sailed into a fine harbor which no white men had ever seen
before. We call it to-day the harbor of New York and know it is one of
the best in the world.
Indians came down to the shore in crowds. They were curious to see the
strange-looking boat and the people with the white faces and hands. The
Red Men wore feather cloaks and necklaces of copper. They wished to make
friends with their visitors and offered them beans, oysters, and tobacco.
"What a beautiful country this is!" the white men thought.
There were sweet smells in the air and the open places along the shore
were covered with grass and flowers. The ship did not remain long in
the harbor. Hudson found he was at the mouth of a river. He thought:
"Who knows but that if I follow this river I may reach the Pacific
Ocean?"
So the ship sailed farther and farther up the river. It stopped at
several places where friendly Indians came out to meet the white men.
Hudson landed at one of these places and visited an Indian chief.
In the village he saw great piles of corn and beans. He noticed the
bark houses. The Red Men asked him to stay all night with them and
placed a mat on the ground for him to sit on. They brought him food in
a red wooden bowl.
They wished to show that they were truly his friends, so they took some
arrows and threw them into the fire. This told him more than the Indian
words he could not understand.
When he sailed again, Hudson noticed that the river was getting
narrower. At last it was so shallow that his ship could go no farther.
He sent some men in a small boat to see what they could find.
"This is no way to the Pacific," they said when they came back. "The
river comes to an end just beyond us."
The ship was turned about, and Hudson sailed down the river and out into
the harbor again. He gave his own name to the river he had discovered,
and it is still called the Hudson River. He never saw it again.
Now came the long voyage across the ocean. The Dutch people were sorry
that Hudson had not found what he was looking for. They were pleased,
however, to learn of the lovely country and the wild animals covered
with fur that were to be found in its forests.
"The Indians are pleasant and willing to be friends. They kill great
numbers of the wild animals with their bows and arrows and they tan the
skins." So the sailors said.
"Why not send some of our people to live on the shores of the Hudson
River?" thought the thrifty Dutch. "They can carry with them shiploads
of knives, axes, beads, and other things the Red Men like. They can
trade those things for the furs that bring high prices here in Europe."
This is how it happened that the Dutch people came to settle in America.
They brought chests full of linen, as well as the shining pewter
dishes they used in housekeeping. In fact, they packed in their ships
everything they needed to make themselves comfortable and happy.
When they built their houses in America they made them look as much
as possible like the homes they left behind them. They made their
fireplaces large enough to hold logs of great size. In the cold winter
evenings these logs crackled and burned brightly while the Dutchmen
with their wives and children sat before the fire and told stories.
Every house had a porch. As the sun set and the moon came out in the
summer time, the men sat in the porches telling stories and smoking
their pipes while their wives sat knitting beside them and the children
romped and played around the dooryards.
They still dressed in the fashions of their country. The men had hats
with broad brims and coats with wide skirts. The women wore so many
short skirts they looked like opened umbrellas.
These Dutch people were honest and they had kind hearts, so they got
along pretty well with their Indian neighbors. They hated idleness and
they were very neat.
All of them worked during the day, but when evening came it was a time
for rest and pleasure. Then were told the stories of the old days in
Holland, of fairies, and of the gnomes who lived underground digging
copper and gold.
[Illustration: THE DUTCH CHILDREN AT PLAY]
When the thunder rolled in the sky, they would nod to each other and
say: "It is only Henry Hudson and his men playing ninepins with the
dwarfs in the caves of the Catskill mountains."
You shall now hear how this queer fancy came into their heads.
After the brave captain had discovered the Hudson River and gone back
to Europe, he tried once more to find a short way to India. He thought
it best to cross the ocean again, but to sail farther north than he had
done on his first voyage to this country.
After he had reached the shores of America, he came into a large bay.
The land around him was bare and dreary. The ship was kept all winter
in this bay on account of the ice. The sailors suffered very much from
the bitter cold. Many of them became sick and died before the spring
opened and the ice broke up enough to let the ship move on.
By this time the food was almost gone. The day came when Hudson took
the last of the bread and divided it among his crew. He was so sad and
hopeless that tears filled his eyes.
The sailors blamed him for bringing them there and were very angry
with him. They thought, "We shall all lose our lives through him."
They were not even moved by his tears. When they had eaten the bread,
they seized him and put him and some sick sailors into a small boat.
Then they sent them adrift in the cold, dreary waters of the great bay.
They were never heard of again. This is all we know of the last days of
that very brave Englishman, Captain Henry Hudson.
As for the wicked sailors, some of them met with better fortune than
they deserved. Soon after they had treated their captain so badly,
birds came flying by. The men shot some of these and saved themselves
from starving. After that they had a fight with Indians on the shore
and several of the sailors were killed. The others managed to gather a
small supply of food with which they started for home.
Even then they suffered a great deal from hunger. They were so weak
they had to sit down to sail the vessel. All of them would have died if
they had not met another ship, which took them aboard and carried them
home.
Long before Uncle Sam had finished the story, the thunder-storm had
passed by.
"I hardly noticed it. I was thinking all the time about Henry Hudson,"
declared Lucy.
"I suppose Hudson never met his old friend John Smith after he got the
letter," said Uncle Sam, thoughtfully. Then he went on, "They were both
Englishmen, yet those who settled in Virginia with John Smith made a
very different home for themselves from those made by the Dutch who
followed Henry Hudson.
"The Dutch had their own ways; the English had theirs. The Dutch
planted gardens. They raised flocks of sheep, which furnished wool for
the women to card and spin. They gave beads and blankets of red wool to
their Indian neighbors. They took in return game and beautiful furs.
They sent the furs to Holland.
"They got up in the morning at sunrise, and went to bed at sunset. They
ate dinner at eleven o'clock in the morning, and tea parties were often
given at three in the afternoon.
"They had grand times at Christmas and New Year's, when feasts were
spread and everyone dressed in his best clothes.
"It was the Dutchmen who gave Santa Claus to American children. They
brought the dear old fellow from Holland along with their chests of
linen and pewter dishes."
"Hurrah for the Dutchmen! I say," exclaimed Joe. "Christmas wouldn't be
half the fun it is without Santa Claus. Do you know, Uncle Sam, last
year was the first time Lucy and I knew he was not a real man. Why, we
used to think he came down our chimney every Christmas Eve with his
pack of presents. We talked up the chimney to him when we went to bed
and told him what we wanted. I know now that you and father and mother
are the only Santa Claus."
"Now I think of it, the pictures of Santa Claus make him look like a
fat and jolly old Dutchman," said Lucy.
"After their people were well settled, the children of Virginia enjoyed
Christmas," Uncle Sam went on. "They lived on big plantations where
their fathers raised tobacco. The houses were large and pleasant.
Beautiful trees grew near and gave plenty of shade in the hot summer
time.
"At Christmas, wild turkeys were roasted in the big fireplaces. The
rooms were trimmed with holly and evergreens. There were dinner
parties, and dances that lasted all night. The ladies wore flowered
silk dresses with long trains. Their hair was powdered and 'done up'
on the head so it looked like a tower. The men wore knee-breeches and
shoes with bright buckles. Their coats were of silk or velvet and
trimmed with much gold and silver lace.
"The white people in Virginia did not work hard. They made their black
slaves care for the great fields of tobacco.
"'Where did the black men come from?' I see the question in Lucy's eyes."
Uncle Sam stopped for a moment to stroke his chin and slyly pull Joe's
hair, for the boy had turned his head to look at his sister.
"Ouch! That isn't fair, Uncle Sam," cried Joe. "I will try to forgive
you, though, if you don't do it again and go on with your story."
"The Dutch were the first ones to bring slaves to Virginia. They sailed
to Africa and caught the poor savages in their homes. Then they carried
them on board ship and afterwards sold them to the white planters in
America. That is one way the Dutch became rich.
"You may praise the Dutch for giving you Santa Claus, Joe. You may
blame them, however, for being the first to bring the dreadful curse
of slavery to this beautiful land."
Uncle Sam was getting excited.
"We may thank the Lord for sending us a good helper. It is because of
that helper that the people of America are now free."
The old man got up and made a deep bow before a picture hanging above
the organ.
"There is the face of one who loved his fellow men," he said, pointing
to the picture.
"When you children know a little more about your country, you shall
hear the story of Abraham Lincoln."