Henry Hudson was one of the best sea captains in all England. He loved
the ocean, and he did not know the word "fear."
[Illustration: Henry Hudson.]
In 1607 a company of London merchants sent him to look for a northwest
passage to China. These merchants knew that if such a passage could
be found, the journey to China would be much shorter than by the
overland route then used. It would take less time to sail around the
earth near the pole than to sail around the earth near the equator.
Besides, every one who had attempted to reach China by sailing west
had reached, instead, that long coast of the New World, through which
but one opening had ever been found. The route through this opening,
the Strait of Magellan, had been proved by its discoverer, Ferdinand
Magellan, to be too long for use in commerce, so traders were trying
hard to find a northwest passage.
Captain Hudson proceeded northwest from England, and tried to pass
between Greenland and Spitzbergen and sail across the north pole into
the Pacific. Failing in this attempt, he made a second voyage, during
which he tried to pass between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. This voyage
also was unsuccessful, and Hudson returned to England. He had found
no northwest passage, but he had sailed past mountains of snow and
ice and had been nearer the north pole than any man had ever been
before.
Captain Hudson was not discouraged by his two failures. He still
believed a northwest passage could be found; and when the Dutch people
asked him to make a voyage for them in search of a passage to the Pacific
Ocean, he was quite willing to accept the offer.
In 1609 Hudson sailed from Amsterdam in a small craft of eighty tons,
called the _Half Moon_. After sailing many days through fog and ice,
the sailors refused to go farther in that direction, and then Hudson
headed his ship across the Atlantic toward America. You may think it
strange that Hudson should change his plans so quickly, but he knew
what he was about. He had received a letter from his friend Captain
John Smith, who was then in Virginia, telling him that a northwest
passage was to be found along the coast of North America, north of
Chesapeake Bay. This letter Hudson had in mind when he started on his
voyage.
He reached Chesapeake Bay, but did not enter it, as the weather was
stormy. Instead, he proceeded up the coast, looking for an opening.
At length, in September, he entered a beautiful bay. Into this bay
a wide river flowed which Hudson thought might be a strait that would
lead into the Pacific Ocean. The water in this opening was salt, and
this strengthened Hudson in the belief that it was the strait for which
he had been searching so long. At the mouth of the river there was
a beautiful island, long and narrow, and wooded to the shore.
At first the island seemed deserted, but soon the sailors saw here
and there slender curling columns of smoke rising from among the trees.
This smoke showed them that the island was inhabited, and presently
an Indian appeared on the shore.
[Illustration: The Half Moon on the Hudson River.]
This Indian looked for a moment in astonishment at the ship, and then,
shouting the war whoop, bounded back into the forest. In a few minutes
he reappeared, bringing other Indians with him. All were amazed at
the sight of the strange ship, and they gazed in wonder and fear at
it and at the white-faced, bearded strangers. Little by little,
however, they lost their fear and talked with Captain Hudson. These
Indians told Hudson that the name of the beautiful island was Manhattan,
and that the stream led far, far to the north.
So Hudson entered the river and sailed slowly north, enjoying the
charming scenery, and stopping now and then to trade and to talk with
the Indians.
For twenty miles he sailed along a great wall of rock about five hundred
feet high, which we now know as the Palisades. This name was given
to the rocky wall because it looks like a palisade, or high fence of
stakes set close together and upright in the ground.
Soon after this the river became very winding, and high mountains arose
on all sides. The _Half Moon_ now entered the beautiful Highlands,
and her crew were the first white men to see this enchanting spot.
The vessel sailed on, and at length it came to the place where the
city of Hudson now stands. Here an Indian chief invited the captain
to go ashore. Hudson did so, and the Indians prepared a great feast
in his honor.
They gave him roast pigeons and a roast dog to eat. Hudson did not
like the dog meat very much, but the Indians insisted upon cooking
it for him.
[Illustration: Hudson Feasting with the Indians.]
The Indians wanted him to stay overnight with them, and one Indian
arose, and gathering together all the arrows, broke them and threw
them into the fire. By this act he meant to show Hudson that he and
his tribe would do him no harm.
Hudson felt that he had no time to lose, but must go on and find out
whether this wonderful body of water would lead him into the Pacific.
So he bade the Indians good-by and sailed away.
He went on up the river until the place was reached where Albany now
stands. Here the little _Half Moon_ was anchored. Indians came running
down to the shore in wonder at the sight of the strange vessel. They
brought with them strings of beaver skins, which they gave Hudson in
exchange for pieces of gold lace, glass beads, and other trinkets.
Hudson was quick to see the importance of this fur trade, and took
back with him many valuable furs. Here the stream had become narrow,
and was so shallow that the captain feared his vessel might run aground.
He knew at last that the water was a river and not a strait, and that
he was not likely to find here a passage to China. So Hudson, turning
back, started down the river.
On the way down, an Indian who was in a canoe stole something from
the ship. One of the crew saw the Indian commit the theft, and, picking
up a gun, shot and killed him. This made the other Indians very angry,
and Hudson had several fights with them.
Nevertheless the expedition reached the mouth of the river in safety,
and early in October Hudson returned to Amsterdam. He had not found
a northwest passage, but he had secured a large tract of country in
the New World for Holland.
He told the Dutch about the rich furs to be found there, and they
immediately began to build trading posts where the cities of New York
and Albany now stand.
The next year Hudson made another voyage in search of a passage to
Asia. This time he sailed far north into Hudson Bay. Here his crew
mutinied and refused to obey him. They seized him and put him, together
with his son, into an open boat, and set them adrift in the icy water.
As Hudson was never heard of again, it is supposed that he perished
in the waters of the great bay which he discovered, and which still
bears his name.