HENRY HUDSON
When James the First was King of England, and four years after the
death of the great Queen Elizabeth, there existed an English and
Russian trading company of wealthy merchants which was known as the
Muscovy Company--an association of great influence that desired to
extend its commerce to far-off China, whose wealth in those days was
considered to be fabulous. All the maritime nations of Europe desired
to gain the China trade and to bring to their own ports the rich silks
and spices of the Orient. All of them were seeking for some quick and
easy route for sailing vessels from Europe to China, and fortunate
indeed would be that nation whose sailors first discovered such a
passage! Therefore, in the year 1607, the Muscovy Company tried to find
some sea captain who would undertake a voyage of discovery to find a
quicker way to the Far East than around the Cape of Good Hope in
southern Africa.
Now at that very time there chanced to be living a mariner named Henry
Hudson, who commanded a small coasting vessel which was anchored near
the mouth of the River Thames. He heard of the offer made by the
Muscovy Company and offered his services. And partly because the
merchants believed him to be a capable seaman and partly because no
other sailor volunteered for this dangerous mission, Henry Hudson was
given command of the little ship called the _Hopewell_, and with a
small crew set out to find the way to China by the northeast, hoping to
skirt the northern shore of Russia and then sail south into Oriental
seas along the Asiatic coast.
Nobody knows to-day who Hudson was or what his life had been up to the
time when he entered the service of the Muscovy Company. Over three
hundred years ago he suddenly appeared as a brave and capable sailor
and explorer, only to disappear in the great bay in northern Canada
that now bears his name, when he was deserted and left to certain death
by a mutinous and cowardly crew. We do not know what he looked like,
for no portrait of him has been preserved; we do not know who were the
members of his family, for no records of them have been kept. All we
know is that this master mariner sailed farther north than any sailor
of his day--farther north, indeed, than any sailor who succeeded him
for nearly three hundred years--and what is still more important, that
he explored the great river now called the Hudson, on whose shore
stands one of the mightiest cities of the world.
The _Hopewell_ was a little ship, about the size of the smallest
fishing vessels of to-day; and had been used many years before by
another great explorer and a friend of Sir Francis Drake's named Martin
Frobisher. That Hudson was able in this tiny craft to penetrate farther
into the arctic wilderness than the great square-rigged ships and the
strongly built steamers of the nineteenth century, is almost beyond
belief. But the fact that he did so is not to be doubted, and the
results of his voyages into those icy and deserted seas bore almost as
great fruit as though he had discovered the passage to China that he
hoped for.
First Hudson sailed north and then east, to the coast of what is now
called Spitzbergen, after which he sailed along the shore of Greenland
to the north. He tried to round the northern end of Greenland, but the
great ice floes blocked his progress. Everywhere were icebergs and
cliffs of solid ice, grinding against each other with a wicked roar on
the great seas, and always was there fog born of the ice, or heavy
gales that tossed the little _Hopewell_ like a feather. After trying
for many days to sail where no ship has ever sailed, Hudson finally
gave up the attempt, and, bitterly disappointed, turned his prow toward
England, where he reported to the Muscovy Company that great numbers of
whales sported in the icy waters near Spitzbergen--a report that
afterward resulted in the great whale fisheries of that locality and
untold wealth for the ships and companies that pursued them. But Hudson
had done more than he realized. Not only had he reached a latitude of
eighty-one degrees, fifty minutes, north, but he brought back important
information that there was no hope of reaching Asia in the direction he
had followed.
The merchants of the Muscovy Company were disappointed, but they still
believed that the passage to China could be found, and in 1608 Hudson
set sail again, determined this time to find the great waterway that
would make his name and fortune. But again he was doomed to failure and
returned with even less to show than on the previous voyage. He did,
however, bring back a curious tale that added to the superstitious sea
lore of those times, for two of his sailors one morning when looking
over the side of the vessel beheld what they declared was a
mermaid--with a white skin and a tail like a mackerel, long, black
hair, and a back and breast like a woman's. For a long time, these
mendacious mariners insisted, the mermaid (who is believed to have been
a seal) swam beside the vessel looking earnestly into their eyes, but
at last a sea overturned her and she dove deep and disappeared from
view.
When Hudson returned again with nothing to show for his bravery and
daring, the Muscovy Company was not willing to fit him out for a third
voyage. The fame of his exploits, however, had traveled throughout
Europe, and he was summoned to Holland by a group of wealthy merchants
who asked him to try once more in any direction he saw fit, and in the
interests of the Dutch East India Company.
This time Hudson was to succeed, although in a way that he little
dreamed of--and certainly a way that was far removed from the discovery
of a sea route to China. In a little vessel called the _Half Moon_, and
with a crew of about a score of Englishmen and Hollanders, he set sail
on April 5, 1609, with high hopes that at last he would find the
passage he had so long and patiently sought for.
At first it looked as though he was doomed once more to failure. After
cruising for a month he found himself in the icy reaches of Barents
Sea, and then the _Half Moon_ was caught in the ice and only saved from
being crushed to splinters by a favorable breeze that sprang up just as
the jaws of the ice floes were closing on the little vessel. So far
Hudson had accomplished nothing, and his crew was dissatisfied and
rebellious. They were unwilling to continue the voyage in the north and
desired a quick return to Holland. But Hudson knew that if he put back
with another failure to his credit, his reputation would be lost
forever and he would never get another opportunity to engage in
exploration; so, to pacify the crew, and at the same time to accomplish
something that might meet with favor in the eyes of his patrons, he
suggested that they sail for North America and try to discover the
passage through a waterway that lay to the north of the British
possessions in Virginia.
When the _Half Moon_ was being buffeted by a gale off the coast of
Newfoundland the foremast was carried away, and Hudson sailed southwest
along the coast of Nova Scotia, anchoring at last in what is now known
as the mouth of the Kennebec River in Maine.
Here his men landed and sought a mast for the ship in the virgin forest
that ran down to the edge of the salt water. Here too they met their
first Indians, and treated them with suspicion and distrust. Hudson
himself met the natives kindly and always established good relations
with them, but his ignorant crew, particularly his mate, whose name was
Juet, believed that the natives were only waiting to do them some
violence and treachery, and with this in mind the sailors drove the
Indians into the forest and plundered their wigwams, taking whatever
was valuable back to the _Half Moon_. Hudson could do little or nothing
to prevent them, for at this time the ill feeling of his men had grown
to such an extent that he was only nominally in command and had little
or no control over his lawless followers.
With a new mast in place the _Half Moon_ set sail from the Penobscot
and bore away to the south, passing Cape Cod which had been discovered
a short time before by Bartholomew Gosnold, and continuing on a
southern course until it reached a point beyond Chesapeake Bay. Then
Hudson turned his prow north once more and entered the bay itself,
thinking that it might possibly be the entrance to the passage that he
sought; but finding it too shallow for convenient navigation he turned
north again and sailed up the Jersey coast, coming at last to the mouth
of a great harbor, which he thought, for a brief time only, might be on
the way to China and the east.
He found himself, however, in one of the most wonderful waterways of
the entire world. There were many tribes of Indians around the shores
and these paddled out in their canoes with offerings of wampum and
green tobacco in return for which they received bits of glass and iron
hoes and hatchets. They were filled with amazement at the appearance
and clothes of the white men and it was only after overcoming great
fear that they dared to approach the _Half Moon_ at all.
But the suspicion and doubt of Hudson's crew, particularly of the surly
Juet, again made itself manifest, and after many of the party had
landed some outrage must have been committed, for the Indians made an
attack on the _Half Moon_ with bows and arrows, killing one of the
crew. The sailors built a barricade above the bulwarks to protect the
men from further encounters, and Hudson proceeded up the harbor. He
landed at the lower point of Manhattan Island and made a ceremonial
visit to the Indians, who were doubtless of a different tribe from
those that attacked him, for in that day there were many nations in the
vicinity of Manhattan, some fierce and warlike and others peace-loving
and friendly.
After exchanging gifts with the Indians and plying them with drink
whose unaccustomed sensations filled them with fear, amazement and joy,
Hudson continued his voyage up the noble river, anchoring at frequent
intervals. More trouble soon occurred between his crew and the savages,
for Juet the mate shot and killed an Indian who was attempting to steal
some trifle from the cabin of the _Half Moon_. There followed a fight
in which no less than twelve Indians were killed by Hudson's men; the
redskins were getting their first taste of white man's rule, and coming
with gifts they were met with gunfire. What was more natural than for
one of the ignorant savages to steal some of the amazing trifles that
were displayed in the _Half Moon's_ cabin? Death was certainly an
unjust penalty.
Up the river for one hundred and fifty miles Hudson steered his course,
trading with the natives as soon as he was removed from the scenes of
the recent outrage. His writings show no surprise or delight at the
wonderful scenery and the virgin forests and the giant river that he
beheld, but is a record of soundings with an occasional remark that the
trees would make good timbers for vessels and casks. Rich furs, green
tobacco and long strings of gay and polished shells called wampum were
gladly exchanged by the Indians for bits of colored glass, beads,
hatchets and knives, commencing a trade that was later extensively
carried on in the north by the Hudson Bay Trading Company, and at the
mouth of the river by the Dutch settlers.
At last the water became too shoal for further exploration and Hudson
returned downstream. It was time to conclude his voyage and he
consulted his men. They were greatly averse to returning to Holland,
fearing without doubt that he would report their open mutiny and
rebellious conduct as soon as they arrived. Hudson feared for his life,
and indeed his fears were well founded; but with considerable
astuteness he proposed that they return not to Holland but Ireland--a
suggestion that was eagerly hailed by the crew. They set sail from
Manhattan in October, and on November 7 arrived at Dartmouth, England,
where Hudson had taken his vessel either through accident or design.
He sent word of his arrival to the Dutch East India Company and
received an order to proceed to Holland without delay--but when he was
about to set sail the English forbade him to do so and he was ordered
henceforth to serve his own country and not to give help to a foreign
power.
Already, though he had little idea of it, he had accomplished more than
enough to rank him as the foremost explorer of his time, and his name
was assured of immortality. He had opened up to the advances of the
Dutch settlers a country enormously rich in natural resources and laid
the primary foundation of perhaps the world's most wonderful city. He
had established a "farthest north" that has only been equaled by modern
explorers, and his voyages near Spitzbergen had resulted in profitable
fisheries.
But Hudson was not yet satisfied, and indeed his recent voyage had
impelled the English to equip him again for further explorations. They
gave him a little vessel of some fifty-five tons named the _Discovery_
and a mixed crew of Englishmen and Dutchmen, with whom he put forth
once more in 1610 to see if an opening into southern seas could be
found by means of the waterways discovered by the explorer, Davis.
Among these sailors, to Hudson's cost, was his former surly mate, Juet,
and a young ne'er-do-well named Henry Greene, who had been cast off by
his family for his evil ways and his dissolute living. Hudson had
befriended this young man and had offered him a refuge in his own
house--and now, to keep him out of mischief, took him along as a member
of his crew. With the explorer also was a boy, John Hudson, who was
undoubtedly his son and who had served under him as cabin boy on
previous voyages.
That Hudson, for all his great qualities, was not a leader of men like
the American Paul Jones, who could make convicts and prisoners of war
serve him in battle against his enemies; and that he had always
controlled his crew with a loose hand seems amply borne out by the
events that took place on this voyage, which was destined to prove his
last. Almost before he had quitted the river Thames he commenced to
have trouble with his crew, sending one unruly member ashore before he
was out of sight of land.
He turned his prow toward Iceland where he caught a great many fish and
wild fowl and where he and his followers saw Mount Hecla, the volcano,
pouring flame upon the snows. He then set sail for Greenland, rounded
Cape Desolation and after a long and wearisome voyage found himself at
last in the great body of water in northern Canada that is now called
Hudson Bay. This he thought might be at last the long sought passage,
for the great waterway ran toward the south. And Hudson, sailing
onward, found himself at last in its southernmost part--a pocket now
called James Bay. Storms were frequent and heavy fogs rolled upon him
incessantly. On one occasion he anchored in a gale and lay buffeting
enormous seas for eight long days. When he tried to hoist anchor
against the wishes of the crew a great wave broke directly over the
bow, breaking upon the deck with such force that all the men were swept
from their feet and several were injured. The anchor was lost and only
the quickness of the carpenter saved the cable, which he cut with an ax
as it was running over the side. Staggering in the heavy sea the
_Discovery_ sailed northward, for Hudson had at last become convinced
that no passage led to the orient through Hudson Bay.
Ice retarded them and they were compelled to seek winter quarters.
Their provisions were nearly gone and all that saved their lives was
skill in hunting whereby they secured several hundred white partridges,
or ptarmigan. Discontent and mutiny were breaking out among the members
of the crew, and the ringleader against Hudson was young Henry Greene
whom he had befriended and fed at his own table. A house was built for
winter quarters, but it was badly constructed and the biting Arctic
blast swept through it, chilling to the bone the bodies that were
weakened with hunger. In the spring, when the mariners were able once
again to resume the voyage, they were at death's door from starvation.
What little food was left was distributed by Hudson, and, we are told,
he wept as he doled it out. Disappointed in his hopes of a successful
voyage, weakened with hunger and with a crew in almost open mutiny, it
is not to be wondered at if he spoke harshly at times to his men and
added to the grudge they harbored against him. The most assiduous of
all in their efforts to do him injury was Henry Greene, his former
beneficiary.
A plot was conceived to put Hudson and all the sick members of the crew
in the shallop or small boat that the _Discoverer_ carried and turn
them adrift, and all the details of this were worked out by Greene and
some other leading spirits among the mutineers. Hudson was seized and
bound; the sick were told to get up from their bunks and take their
places in the shallop. Even the boy, John Hudson, was placed there
also,--and the carpenter, who preferred to face death with his master
rather than remain with the mutineers, was put aboard as well. Then the
painter was cut, and without food, clothing or provisions, Hudson and
his companions floated away amid the ice fields. They were never seen
again.
The mutineers sailed homeward and secured some provisions at islands on
the way where they found fish and wild fowl. It is a satisfaction to
know that they were attacked by the natives and that Greene and several
others were killed. The survivors, after a terrible voyage, reached
Ireland and then made their way to England. Although they were
questioned closely regarding Hudson's fate, little or no punishment was
visited on them and some of them even took part in later expeditions.
And so perished by base treachery one of the bravest and most brilliant
sailors that the world has ever seen, for Hudson died either in the
melancholy reaches of Hudson Bay or on some bleak shore where he was
cast away. But though he died miserably he still lives, for his
achievements are immortal.