?Umo. 75 cts. AMERICAN Historical Tales. 16mo. 75 cents. BOYS' MANUAL. Containing the Principle of Conduct, Ac. 18nio. 50 cts. STORYBOOK 16mo. T5 c. CARAVAN (The). A collection of Popular Eastern Tales. 16mo. Illustrated. 62 cents. FIRESIDE FAIRIES; or, Even- ings at Aunt Elsie's. Beautifully Illus- trated. 16mo. 75 cts. FRIDAY CHRISTIAN; or, The First-Bom on Pitcaim's Island. 16ino. 50 cents. GIRLS' MANUAL. Containing the Principle of Conduct. 50 cents. STORY BOOK. 16mo. 75 c GUIZOT'S Young Student 3 vols. in 1. 75 cents. HOWITT, MARY. Picture and Verse Book. Commonly called Otto Spec- ter's Fable Book. Illustrated with 100 Plates. Cheap Edition, 50 cents; cloth, 63 cents; pilt leaves, 75 cents. HOME RECREATIONS. Edited by Grandfather Merryman. Colored IMates. 16nio. 75 cents. INNOCENCE OF CHILDHOOD. By iSlrs. Colnijui. l(^mo. Ilhis. 50 els. JOAN OF ARC, Story ot By R. M. Ev.^R. With '2:i ll!u8. ir.nio. 75 cts. LOUIS' SCHOOL DAYS. By E. J. May. Illustrated. IRnio. 75 cts. LEGENDS OF THE FLOWERS. By Busan Pindar. IIlus. 16mo. 75 eta. LIVES AND ANECDOTES OP ILLUSTRIOUS IMEN. 16mo. 75 cts. LOUISE; or. The Beauty of Integ- rity ; and other Tales. 16mo. Boards, 31 cents; cloth, 38 cents. MARRYATT'S Settlers in Canada, 2 vols, in 1. 62 cts. Scenes in Africa. S vols, in 1. 62 cents. Masterman Ready. 8 vols, in 1. 62 cents. MIDSUMMER FAYS; or. The Ho- lidays at Woodleigh. By Susaii Pindar. 1 vol.. 16mo. Cloth, 75 cents; cbth, gilt, $1. NO SUCH WORD AS FAIL. By Cousin Alice. 16mo. lUus, 62 cents. HANNAH MORE'S Village Tales. ISmo. 75 cents. WILLIAM TELL, the Patriot of Switzerland. To which is added, Andrea* Hofer, the "Tell" of the Tyrol. Cloth, 50 cents ; half cloth, 38 cents. YOUTH'S CORONAIi. By H. P. Gould. 16mo. 63 cents. PICTURE STORY BOOKS. By Great Authors and Great Painters. Four parts in 1 vol. Ch)th, 75 cts. ; eilt edcr., $1. PUSS IN BOOTS. Finely Illus- trated by Otto Specter. Square 18mo. Bds., 25 cts. ; cloth, 38 els. ; extra gilt, 63 eta. ROBINSON CRUSOE. Pictoria. Edition. 30(1 Plat. s. 8vo. $150. STORY OF LITTLE JOHN. Illu». trated. Itinio. 63 cmts. OF A GENIUS. 88 cts. YOUTH'S BOOK OF NATURE. lUvJBtrated. IBino. 75 cts. STORY BOOK. 16ma Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/adventuresofhenrOOIill THE ADVENTURES HENRY HUDSON. THE AUTHOR OF "UNCLE PHILIP's CONVERSATIONa " NEW-YOPwK: D. APPLETOX & COMPANY, 2 00 BROAinVxVY. M.DCCC.Ul. t EhterSD, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1842, By D. AFPLETON & COMPANY, ia the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, (iat the Southern District of New York. PREFACE TO PARENTS In presenting to his young Countrymen, the first of a series of books with the foregoing title, the Editor begs leave to state, briefly and sim- ply, the plan of the series, and the reason which has prompted him to the undertaking. Indeed, he can hardly expect the patronage and support of those who sustain the interesting and respon- sible relationship of parents, without such a statement. The design is to present to his young fellow- citizens books of a higher value than those usu- ally aflforded them. Instead of tales and stories, written for the young, the series will embrace volumes of Biography, History, Travels, &c. As it is designed especially for American youth, the subjects will not unfrequently be American. The intelligent man or child, however, will be glad to gather profitable and interesting lessons 6 PREFACE TO PARENTS. wherever he may find them, and subjects afford- ing such lessons, will not be excluded from the series, from whatever quarter they may be de- rived. It has grown into the familiarity of an adage, that " early impressions are the strongest," and this is the principal reason which has prompted the enterprise. It is known to parents, and per- haps to children themselves, that the young in this day enjoy peculiar advantages. The time was, when books written for children, were far beyond the comprehension of a child ; now they are writ- ten plainly and simply, so that an intelligent boy or girl may readily appreciate and understand them. This alone has begotten, perhaps, m chil- dren of the present day, a greater fondness for read- ing. Of the style of these books the Editor does not complain, but he thinks that the subjects are not unfrequently bad. Tales and romances are written for the young, giving them frequently dis- torted pictures of human life, and calling forth in them an early taste for trifling and unprofit- able reading. He would not here be undei^ stood as finding fault with those beautiful stories, sometimes inculcating the most beautiful lessons of morality and religion ; but, on the contrary, would express his thanks to the men of genius PREFACE TO PARENTS. 7 who have prepared them. Books of such value, however, in this class are exceedingly rare. In presenting to the young volumes of Biogra- phy, upon well-selected subjects, he hopes he is giving to his young Countrymen, the best practical examples for calling them up to a lofty energy. History is itself " stranger than fiction," and opens a wide and unlimited field of ever vary- ing incident ; and through books of Travels they learn to sit at home like the sweet poet Cowper, (as most of them, perhaps, will be forced to do,) and see various pictures of the world. The men, manners, and things of real hfe thus be- come familiar to them. It is to be hoped, and humbly expected, that a taste for such read- ing, early acquired, will serve to make them, in after life, more profitable and interesting mem- bers of society. His young Countrymen having been pleased to receive his former trifles, written for their benefit, with approbation and kindness, he feels that he can make them no more grateful return than by an honest endeavor to do them a higher service. He will have his reward, if they are pleased and instructed. In conclusion, the Editor feels that he will have failed in the statement most essential for 8 PREFACE TO PARENTS. securing confidence in a teacher for the young, if he did not declare himself to be an humble member of the Church Militant, living upon the hope of being one day a member of the Church Triumphant. He considers that all education, to be good, must be based upon Christian prin- ciple: the heart must be cultivated as well as the understanding; and whatever is placed in this series, will be found to be on the side of Christianity CONTENTS. CHAPTER I, The Pleasure and Profit of reading Biography — The Birth- place of Henry Hudson — Circumstances which brought him forward — His preparation for embarking to find a Passage to the East Indies by the North Pole, in 1607 — Sails on the voyage, and after many trials, returns at the end of four months and a half, having been farther North than any other navigator, and having opened the Whale Fishery to his countrymen. . • . Page 13 CHAPTER H. Henry Hudson makes his second voyage, in search of a North-eastern passage to India — Reaches the north side of Nova Zembla, and is stopped by the ice — Hopes to make his Passage on the south side by the Vaygatz Straits^ — Finding a large River or Sound in Nova Zembla, is induced to try that for his passage — Sails up this — Resolves to return — Searches for Willoughby's Land — Arrives in England after an absence of four months and four days 35 10 CONTENTS. CHAPTER in. Henry Hudson's employers disappointed — He now passe* over to Holland, and seeks emplojinent from the Dutch East India Company — Leaves Amsterdam on his third, voyage, in the ship Half Moon, in the spring of 1609 — Fails in making his passage through the Vaygatz — Sails westward, reaches the coast of America — Enters Penob- scot Bay — His intercourse with the Indians — Passes Cape Cod, and sails south beyond Chesapeake Bay — Turns north again — Discovers Delaware Bay; and passing on, drops anchor within Sandy Hook — After a week spent in exploring below, passes the Narrows and anchors in New York Bay. . . . Page 45 CHAPTER IV. The Indian tradition of the first landing of white men in the State of New York, as given by the Indians them- selves, to the Rev. Mr. Hecke welder, a Moravian Mis- sionary among the Indians of Pennsylvania. . 61 CHAPTER V. Hudson explores the river since called by his name — ^Es- cape of the two Indians — Strange experiment of Hudson to learn the treachery of the natives — The Half Moon reaches as far as the present site of Albany — The boat ascends to Waterford — Hudson returns down the river — Battle with the natives at the head of Manhattan Isl- and — Sails from the bay, and reaches England, after an •bsence of seven months from Europe. . • 71 CONTENTS. 11 CHAPTER VI. Hudson starts on his fourth voyage, having command of the ship Discovery, in the service once more of the Lon- don Company — His aim is to find a North-West Passage to India — Reaches Iceland, and witnesses an eruption of Mount Hecla — Disturbance among his crew—Steers westward, encountering great quantities of ice — Discov- ers and explores Hudson's Bay, and resolves to winter there ^ . Page 90 CHAPTER VII. The dreary prospect of the winter — Disturbances among the crew — Unexpected supply of wild fowl and fish — Distress from hunger — Hudson sails from his winter quarters — Green, Juet, and Wilson stir the crew up to mutiny — Hudson is seized, bound, and thrown into the shallop, with others — the shallop set adrift — Fate of the mutineers — The ship arrives in England. . 105 CHAPTER VIII. Claim of John and Sebastian Cabot, as having seen what is now New York in 149^/ ; together with the claim of John de Verrazzano, to having entered New York Har- bor in 1524 129 APPENDIX. To the most Christian King of France, Francis the First — The Relation of John de Verrazzano, a Florentine, of the land by him discouered in the name of his Maies tie. Written in Diepe, the eight of July, 1524. 137 ADVENTURES OF HENRY HUDSON. CHAPTER I. The Pleasure and Profit of reading Biograpny^- The Birth-place of Henry Hudson — Circuni'' stances which brought him forward — His Pre" paration for embarking to find a Passage to the East Indies by the Jforth Pole^ in 1607 — Sails on the voyage^ and after many trials^ returns at the end of four months and a half having been farther Korththan any other navi- gator^ and having opened the Whale Fishery to his Countrymen. It has been my lot to spend some years of my life in the large and flourishing city of New York I have walked its crowded streets, looked upon its beautiful churches, (these are the first build- ings that I notice in every city,) its fine public buildings, and its elegant private residences. I have in my possession an old picture shewing the appearance of Manhattan Island, upon which 2 14 HENRY HUDSON. the city stands, in the year 1635 — twenty-six years after its discovery by Henry Hudson. It is not a great while since, that I was showing this picture to one of my httle friends, and call- ing his attention to the wonderful change that had passed over the island since the day when Henry Hudson first rested his eyes upon it. It was then a poor island, inhabited by savages, if inhabited at all, with Indian canoes floating in the waters around it. Now it is the largest city in our land, and ships from all quarters of the world rest upon its waters, almost encircling it with a forest of masts. I shall never forget the look of surprise and honest inquiry, in the simple- hearted little boy, as he turned to me with the question, " And who, sir, was Henry Hudson ?" He was young, and his ignorance was pardona- ble ; the more so because he confessed it, and at once asked for information. I have thought that many older than himself were perhaps, as ignorant as he was, and therefore have prepared for my young countrymen the story of the hfe and adventures of Henry Hudson. Before I begin I must make two remarks to my young friends. First, I know few things more profitable than the study of the lives of our fellow-men. If they were men eminent for good HENRY HUDSON. 15 qualities, and men devoting themselves to the improvement of mankind, we feel an ambition kindled in our own bosoms to imitate such men — «^ to go and do likewise'^ — they are glorious examples for us to follow. If, on the contrary, they have been remarkably bad men, by marking their folhes and their sins, we may perhaps, learn to despise their wickedness and shun their ex- amples. And if the individuals have been men who have lived among ourselves, or trod the same ground upon which we ourselves are walk- ing, the example becomes tenfold more forcible. Then, too, I know few things more pleasant. Some readers, in their desire for pleasure, are eager to seize each new novel or tale of fiction as it falls from the press — while the stories of real life are crowded with scenes of the wildest romance and most daring adventure. So beau- tiful indeed are these stories, that many writers of fiction seize upon them, and make them the basis of their own tales of romance. They are like painters who are not original in their pic- tures : they are only coloring up and varnishing old pictures, and not unfrequently they spoil the paintings, leaving them only miserable daubs for the people to look at. For my own part, I like the stories of real life in themselves, without any 16 HENRY HUDSON. of their aid. They are in themselves full of ad- venture ; they are certainly more natural ^ and above all, they are true. I hope, therefore, that we shall find the study of biography both profita- ble and pleasant, and most of all perhaps, the study of American Biography. It is said that in old times many cities had a contest, each claiming to be the birth-place of the great poet Homer. Some ignorant persons have supposed, that there was a dispute between two nations, as to the birth-place of Henry Hud- son. The Dutch speak of him and write of him as Hendrick Hutson, and this, I suppose, is the foundation of their mistake. The truth is, that all Dutch historians whose opinions are valuable, and who speak of him at any time, know that he was no countryman of theirs, and call him Hendrick Hutson, the bold English navigator. It would be pleasant to know something of Henry Hudson when he was a boy, that we might trace his career, step by step, till we find him standing a great man before us. It is said that, « The Child is father of the Man," and if so, we might hope to find him in his school-boy days, a bold and fearless little fellow: HENRY HUDSON. 17 but of his parentagCj connexions, or educatioix I am sorry to say, very little is known. He was born in England, and had his home in the city of London. His most cherished and intimate companion was Captain John Smith, the founder of the colony of Virginia. They were much alike in temper and disposition, and it is not wonderful that there was a strong friendship be- tween them. Henry Hudson was also a married man, but we do not know who the woman was who shared his joys and his sorrows. He had one son, for the boy was with his father in all his voyages, of which we know anything, and they at last perished together. The fact that so little is known of the early days of Hudson, has always induced me to sup- pose that he was what the world calls a self- made man. The times in which he lived were filled with the daring adventures of hardy navi- gators, the ocean was the pathway to distinc- tion, and his young heart was probably fired with these stories, and his genius possibly, thus thrown in that direction. I have fancied him born to poverty — an obscure and humble boy, struggling against a hard fortune, battling diffi- culty after difficulty with undying perseverance, until at last he forces his way before the world, 2^ 18 HENRY HUDSON. the makei of his own fortunes. I love these self-elevated men. It seems as though they were nature's noblemen : the men whom God design- ed should be great and useful to their species, in spite of all the difficulties, which the world pre- sented before them. And I never think of one of them without remembering the multitudes of my young countrymen who are humbly born, and lowly bred. Such men are glorious exam- ples for them, telling them not to be frightened by difficulties, or turned aside by disappointments, but to press right onw^ard in the way of useful- ness, and honorable fame. Before Hudson comes fully before us, it is w^ell that you should understand the peculiar circum- stances which brought him forward. After the nations of Europe discovered that there were rich treasures in that region of country, now known as the East Indies, the commerce of that region was brought to them partly over land, and then floated through the Mediterranean Sea. This was a slow and laborious route for trade ; and in a little time, those nations farthest remov- ed from the advantages of that trade, (such as Spain, Portugal, and England,) became restless, and desirous of finding a new and shorter pas- sage to the East Indies. After many hard and HENRY HUDSON. 19 unsuccessful efforts, at length, in 1499, Vasco de Gama, a celebrated Portuguese navigator, doub- led the Cape of Good Hope, and passing on, ap- peared upon the coast of Hindostan. Thus a new track was found, but still it was looked upon as belonging particularly to the Portu- guese, and moreover, it was still a long and dangerous passage. The nations of Europe were not yet satisfied. Still thirsting for a shorter highway to the wealth of the East, they began to think that they might find it by sailing through the Arctic Ocean, and passing north-westwardly arounr^ .he coasts of North America, or north- eastwardly around the shores of Asia, or possibly by moving in a course directly north. You would be wearied, if I should tell you of the many long and perilous voyages undertaken, to find this northern passage. Time and time again, voyager after voyager departed, and all returned unsuccessful. The best of all books tells us that " the love of money is the root of all evil." And yet this very desire after the riches of the East, was over- ruled by a wise Providence for good purposes. No northern passage was found, and yet these northern voyages have aided the cause of sci- ence, have discovered new fields of commerce to 20 HENRY HUDSON. Arctic fishermen, opened to the adventurous na- tions of the old world new and fertile regions, and trained up for them, a noble, bold, and har- dy race of men. I say a hardy race of men : for nowhere is there a more fearful meeting with the elements of heaven (those elements which man can never control) than in the Arctic Seas. Wind and storm, and famine and disease, are for ever around the voyager, and to this day there is no harder undertaking than the voyag- ing and wintering among the icebergs of the Polar Seas. He who undertakes it even now must have courage, patience, and fortitude under all manner of sufferings. Henry Hudson was a voyager amid these fearful things. Notwithstanding all these failures about a northern passage, a number of rich men, living in the city of London, still hoped that the pas- sage might be found : and in the year 1607, joined themselves together as a London Compa- ny, and furnished the funds necessary for making three voyages. They were determined once more to search for the passage by the three old routes, north, north-east, and north-west. Know- ing that everything depended upon the skill of their commander, they chose for their man Hen- ry Hudson HENRY HUDSON. 21 Hudson readily accepted the command, and *:,n the 19th of April, he, with his crew, consist- *ng of eleven besides himself,* among whom was his son John Hudson, went to the church of Saint Ethelburge in Bishopsgate-street, and there received the sacrament of the Lord's supper. This was one part of their preparation for going to sea. It was the pious and beautiful custom of those days, for sailors to do this. I am sorry that it has grown out of fashion : it was but say- ing to the whole congregation, that they were about embarking upon the sea to meet unknow^n perils, and that their trust was in God, " who alone spreadeth out the heavens and ruleth the raging of the sea." The object of this voyage was to find a pas- sage directly across the Pole, or, as Hudson himself says in his journal, it was ^' for to dis- cover a passage by the North Pole to Japan and China," — and you will bear in mind, that this was the first effort ever made, to seek a passage directly across the Pole. On the 1st day of May, 1607, they weighed • The names of the crew, as given in the Journal of this voy- age of 1607, were as follows: "Henry Hudson, master — Wil- liam Colines, mate — James Young, John Colman, John Cooke, James Beubery, James Skrutton, John Pleyce, Thomas Bax- ter, Richard Day, James Knight, and John Hudson." 22 HENRY HUDSON anchor at Gravesend, and taking a northerly course, in twenty-six days reached the Shetland Isles. Here Hudson found that the needle had no variation: but on the 30th of May, (four days after,) he "found the needle to incline seventy-nine degrees under the horizon." On the 4th of June he found a " variation of five degrees westerly." From the Shetland Isles, Hudson stood northwest, his object being, as it would seem, to strike the coast of Greenland. Indeed, he supposed Greenland to be an island, and thought that by keeping a northeast course, he might possibly pass around it. In a week's time, though he had not found land, he made a profitable discovery, for he tells us that on the 1 1th of June, he saw six or seven whales near his ship. Thus you will mark one benefit of this voyage at once ; for afterward, the whale fishery in these Northern seas became a business of immense profit, to his countrymen. Two days after this, at 2 o'clock in the morning, land was seen ahead, and some ice ; there being a thick fog at the time, he steered away northerly, and the wind coming on to blow hard, he stood away south and by east six or eight leagues. The weather was now so cold, that the sails and shrouds of his ship were covered with ice. In a HENRY HUDSON. 23 attle time it cleared up, and Hudson ^;vas able to take a fair view of the land. He could now see it stretching in a northeasterly direction nine leagues before him. " The land/' he says, " was v^ry high, mostly covered with snow. At the top it looked reddish, and underneath a blackish clay, with much ice lying about it." I suppose this reddish appearance was what is sometimes called red snow. In those countries where the snow^ is almost perpetual, there is a small plant of a reddish hue w^hich grows upon the snow, and rapidly spreads itself all over it.^ In those northern regions,the snow-capped hills often have this covering of red, and it is said, it is sometimes seen even upon the Alps and the Appenines. He noticed too, great quantities of fowl upon the coast, and was near enough to see a whale close by the shore. There was a man of the crew named James Young, and I presume he must have been the first to have observed the land, as Hudson called the head-land before them " Young^s Cape,^^ Near this cape he saw " a high mountain like a round castle,'' and to this he gave the name of the ^^ Mount of God'' s mev" cyP These were on the coast of Greenland. ♦This plant is known as the Protococcus Nivalis, 24 HENKY HUDSON. Harassed by thick fogs, storms of rain and snow, driven sometimes before a gale of wind, and at other times becalmed, Hudson still held on in a northeasterly course. He was unwilling to be driven from it, being anxious to know whether the land that he had seen was an island or a part of Greenland : and hoping, above all other things, that he might find Greenland to be an island, and pass easily around it. The fog, however, continued so thick and heavy, day after day, that he could not see the land, until at last, discouraged in this direction, he resolved to steer more easterly, hoping to fall in with an island which he calls New^land, the same island that is marked upon our maps and charts as Spitzber- gen. Having sailed some sixteen leagues on this new course, land was again seen on the left hand, (or larboard side of the ship, as sailors say,) stretch- ing southwest and northeast. Hudson thought that he was within four leagues of the land. He observed birds flying over it, but different from those he had seen before. These had *' black backs and white bellies, in form much like a duck." Many floating pieces of ice, too, were in the neighborhood of his ship : so that he had to move carefully. To increase his anxietj^, HENRY HUDSON. 25 the fog again came on, and he began to fear that his ship would be fastened amid these blocks of ice. Still keeping a lookout as well as he could through the darkness, for the point where the land ended eastwardly, he steered northeast five or six leagues, and then turned to the 30uth. Again he was unwilling to turn aside from his purpose. As soon therefore, as the weather cleared up, he stood again northeast, and in a little time land was again seen, as he supposed, twelve leagues distant from him. He then took an observation, and found this land to be in 72 degrees 38 minutes north latitude. This land, too, was very different from that which he had seen at Young's Cape : it was a high land, not at all covered with snow, and the southern part rolled away into very high mountains, but no snow rested upon these. To his surprise, he found the weather here not so severe, but on the contrary, temperate and pleasant. He did not, however, explore this land farther. ^' The many fogs and calms, with contrary winds, and much ice near the shore, held us," (as he says,) " from farther discovery of it." As he knew no name, however, as yet given to the land, (for his charts did not point it out,) he called it the land of Hold with Hope. 26 HENRY HUDSON. Hudson's employers had desired him to find the passage directly across the Pole, and he seems to have feared that his time might be thought wasted, in some degree, upon the coast of Greenland. In his journal, therefore, he gives the reason for this delay. "The chief cause" (says he) " that moved us thereunto, was our de- sire to see that part of Greenland which (for aught that we knew) was to any Christian unknown : and we thought it might as well have been open sea as land, and by that means our passage should have been the larger to the Pole : and the hope of having a westerly wind, which would be to us a landerly wind if we found land. And, considering we found land contrary to that which our cards make mention of, we accounted our la- bor so much the more worth. And for aught that we could see, it is like to be a good land, and worth the seeing." He now held his course northeastward toward Newland or Spitzbergen. In two or three days, one of the crew again saw high land to the lar- board, which fell away to the west the farther they moved north. This was the last view they had of Greenland. Still pressing on, Hudson had continued strug- gles against hard winds and heavy fogs, until at I HENRY HUDSON. 27 last he reached a latitude so high, that the sun was above the horizon the whole twenty- foui hours. Here, then, the fogs could not annoy him so much. On the night of the 25th, he again saw birds like those he had seen upon the coast of Greenland, and supposed that land must be near, but it was too dark for him to discover it. On the morning of the 26th, he again saw birds of many kinds flying about his ship, and strained his eyes to catch a glimpse of land, but the heavy fog prevented. The next morning the fog rolled away from the sea, and he saw before him the coast of Spitzbergen. He could not see it very plainly, however, or approach it very closely, for " the land was covered with fog : the ice lying very thick all along the shore for fifteen or sixteen leagues." He coasted along the shore through the day, catching occasional glimpses of the land, and was able to make an observation, by which he found himself to be in the 78th degree of latitude. He was not certain, but supposed that he was now near a point on the western coast of Spitzbergen known by the name of Vogel Hooke or Vogelhoek. He was again surprised to find this region mild and temperate compared with that about Young's Cape. 28 HENRY HUDSON. His effort was now to make his passage by the north side of the island, and he kept his course, as well as he could, almost due north. I say as well as he could, for he met here, perhaps, great- er difficulties than in any former part of the voy- age. He was surrounded by ice, fearing alrr.ost every moment that his ship would be dashed to pieces against the floating masses — head winds prevailed against him, forcing him almost daily to change his course, and storms were his con- stant companions for more than a fortnight. Still, in spite of all these trials, he worked his course northward, noticing, in his way, large num- bers of morses, seals, and sometimes bears, until he began to fear that the ice would not allow him to make the passage on this side of the isl- and. It would seem that some of his men foimd time to attack the bears, for several of them, he tells us, were made sick by eating bears' flesh. During this fortnight, he observed one thing which was curious : the sea was at times blue, green, and black, and the green sea he found to be freest from ice, while the blue sea was almost always crowded with it. On the morning of the 14th, it was calm with fog. Yet they were able to see a bay open toward the west, enclosed by high and ragged HENRY HUDSON. 25 land. Tlie northerly point of this land, which was very high and bleak, was first seen by Wil- liam Collins, the boatswain, and they instantly gave it the name of Collins Cape. On the south side of the bay, they discovered three or four small islands or rocks. Great numbers of whales were sporting in the bay, and while one of the men w^as amusing himself with a hook and hne overboard to try for fish, one of these whales passed under the keel of the ship, and " made her held." They were greatly alarmed, and very grateful when the danger was over. " By God's mercy,'' (says Hudson,) " we had no harm but the loss of the hook and three parts of the line." They found the weather hot, though the swamps and valleys near the shore were filled with snow. John Colman, the mate, and Collins, the boat- swain, went ashore here wdth two others, and found a pair of morse's teeth in the jaw, quanti- ties of whale's bones, and some dozen or more deer's horns. They saw too, the tracks of ani- mals on the shore. The weather was so hot that they were glad to find two or three streams of fresh water rolling into the bay, where they quenched their thirst. The men returned, and the wind being in their favor, they again steered north-east. 3* 30 HENRY HUDSON. On the 16th the weather was clear, the wind north; and Hudson found himself surrounded by ice in every direction. He could see the land and ice extending north-east far into the 82d degree of latitude, and seemingly much farther, and he was now convinced that he could not make his way through the ice on the north side of the island. The wind, too, was fair just at the moment, and he determined now to sail round the southern point of the island, and press his course north-east, hoping to make the passage on that side. He continued his course south for more than a w^eek, coasting along the shores of Spitzbergen, when, on the 25th, he saw the land bearing north. But then he was discouraged from turning the point, and moving toward the north-east — for by this time he had observed the general prevalence of the winds on the coast, and found that it would be impossible. This plan, therefore, he was forced to abandon, and now he resolved once more " to prove his for- tunes" by the west. His aim was nothing less than to pass round the north of Greenland, (sup- posing it to be an island,) and return by Davis' Straits to England. With a heart full of hope, he now shaped his course westward. Two days after this, while nearly becalmed, HENRY HUDSON. 31 they were suddenly startled by a tremendous noise, made by the ice and the sea. Immense mountains of floating ice surrounded them, and the waves, rolling high, were heaving the ship continually westward toward them. In their fright, they lowered their boat, in the hope of turning the ship away from the ice ; but in this they failed, the waves rolling so high that the boat, more than once, came near being swamped. "In this extremity," (says Hudson,) "it pleased God to give us a small gale, at north-w^est and by west. We steered away south-east four leagues, till noon. Here we had finished oui discovery, if the wind had continued that brought us hither, or if it had continued calm ; but it pleased God to make this north-west and by west wind the means of our deliverance ; which wind, we had not found common in this voyage. God give us thankful hearts for so great deliver- ance." The weather cleared up at noon, and they saw the ice reflected by the sky, bearing from south-west to north-east. As they approached still nearer to Greenland, the sky reflected the ice still farther and farther, until Hudson was satisfied that he could find no passage around the north of Greenland. A westerly wind spring- 32 HENRY HUDSON. ing up, therefore, he altered his course, and steered south-east. He now began to think of making his way back to England. The thick fogs still annoyed him ; his ship stores were be- ginning to fail ; the season, too, was far advanc- ed, and it was well-nigh certain that he could not make the passage this year. Keeping a southerly course, he again passed the southern coast of Spitzbergen — the land being, as he says, " not ragged, as all the rest we had seen this voyage" — came in sight of Cheries Island, for which he was keeping a lookout, and saw the land covered with cragged rocks, " like hay- cocks." Still pressing south, on the 15th of August, he put into what he calls " the Isles of Farre," (meaning, I suppose, the Faroe Islands,) and on the 15th of September, he arrived at Tilbury Hope on the Thames.* Thus you will perceive, that after a hard voy- age of four months and a half, Hudson returned without success. Yet his employers were suffi- ciently pleased, as we shall soon see, to trust him with their second adventure. And though he failed in the main enterprise, his voyage was far from being useless. ♦ The journal of this voyage, made in 1607, will be found in ** Purchas his PilgrimSj'^ written partly by Henry Hudson, and partly by John Pleyce, one of his men. HENRY HUDSON. 33 He advanced farther north than any naviga- tor had been known to proceed before : his voy- age opened the commerce of the whale fishery to his countrymen ; and some have said that he was the discoverer of Spitzbergen.* This last supposition, however, is a mistake. While we are anxious to give full credit to Hudson for whatever he may have done, we should be un- willing to detract from the fair fame of another man. That island was first discovered in the year 1596, by William Barentz, a Dutch navi- gator. It received from him the name of Spitz- bergen, trom its mountainous appearance, and the quantities of ice and snow that lay around it. The remarkable headland which had been seen by Hudson, Barentz had called Vogelhoeky from the number of birds that he saw there. After this, the island was sometimes, by the Hollanders, called Newland. It is strange that any one should have thought Hudson the discoverer of Spitzbergen, since he himself, in his journal, speaks of the island as Newland, evidently know- mg where it was, and also of the promontory Vogelhoek, which I presume was laid down in his charts. * Forster's Voyages ; Yates and Moulton's History of New York ; Belknap's American Biography -, Rev. Dr. Miller, in a discourse before the New York Historical Society in 1809. 34 HENRY HUDSON. The most that can be said is, that Hudson rediscovered Spitzbergen, and this has been said ;* but it is scarcely true. Hudson's speak- ing so plainly of the island, contradicts this state- ment also. All that we claim for him, therefore, in this voyage is, that with unwavering fortitude, amid constant trials, he pressed his way farther ncrth than any other navigator had been before, and opened a new and extensive field of commerce to the English people. • Scoresby, in his account of the Arctic Regiont CHAPTER n. Henry Hudson makes his second voyage^ in search of a Korth- eastern Passage to India — - Reaches the north side of JSTova Zembla, and is stopped by the Ice — Hopes to make his passage on the south side by the Vaygatz Straits — Find- ing a large River or Sound in Kova Zembla^ is induced to try that for his passage — Sails up this — Resolves to return — Searches for Wil- loughby^s Land — Arrives in England after an absence of four months and four days* As soon as the spring was fairly opened the next year, Hudson commenced making his pre- parations for a second voyage. This time he was to seek his passage for the East Indies in the north-east, by passing between Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. With a crew consisting, in all, of fifteen per 36 HENRY HUDSON. sons,* (among whom again was his son John Hudson,) he set sail from London on the 22d of April. The wind was fair, and so continued day after day ; but as he sailed north, heavy fogs again met him, so that it was the 24th of May before he found himself off the coast of Norway The weather now cleared up, and the cold, which had been increasing for some days, became so severe that several of the men were taken sick. Philip Stacie, the carpenter, seems to have suf- fered most. Improving this clear weather, he pressed north-east as rapidly as he could. On the 29th he had reached a latitude so high that " the sun was on the meridian above the horizon five degrees," and he was able to take an obser- vation at midnight. In two days more his fine weather passed away; for, on the 1st of June, he had a hard north-easterly gale with snow. For two days he struggled against the storm, and on the morning of the 3d he saw the JYorth Cape^ about eight leagues distant, as he suppos- *The names of these persons, as given in the Journal of this voyage of 1608, were as follows: ** Henry Hudson, master and pilot ; Robert Juet, mate ; Ludlow Arnall, John Cooke, boatswain; P*'']ip Stacie, carpenter; John Hams, John Braunch, c John Adrey, James Siruuon, Michael Feirce, T^ MUes, Richard Tomson, Robert Raynor Humfrey ( , and John Hudson," HENRY HUDSON. W ed, and discovered several Norway fishermen in sight. Keeping his course north-east, on the 9th of June, in the latitude of 75 degrees, he fell in with ice, the first he had seen on the voyage* Hoping to pass through, he stood into it, loos- ening some of it, and bearing away from the larger masses until he had passed into it four or five leagues. Here he found the ice so Aick and firm ahead, that he began to fear he had pro- ceeded too far, and might be fastened. This forced him to return by the same way he went in, fortunately suffering no damage (as he says) except " a few rubs of the ship against the ice." For more than a fortnight he still pressed east- ward, strugghng with the ice, but failed to reach a higher latitude. At one time he would meet large quantities of drift-wood driving by the ship^ then he would see large numbers of whales and porpoises, and the sea seemed almost cover- ed with birds floating over it. Then again he would see numbers of seals lying upon the ice, and hear the bears roaring. It was during this fortnight, that two of his men declared they saw something stranger than all this. Thomas Hilles and Robert Raynor positively asserted, that on the morning of the 15th they saw a mermaid close by the ship's side, looking earnestly at 4 38 HENRY HUDSON. them A sea soon came and overturned her ; but they saw her distinctly. Her body was as large as a man's, her back and breast were like a woman's, her skin very white, and she had long black hair hanging down behind. As she w^ent down they saw her tail, which w^as like the tail of a porpoise, and speckled like a mackerel. On the 25th, being still hemmed in with ice, while head winds w^ere still prevailing, he found that, in spite of every effort, he was drifting to- ward the south. He was now convinced that he could not proceed farther on the north side of Nova Zembla, and resolved to seek his passage on the south side of the island, by the straits known as " the Vaygatz; to pass by the mouth of the River 06, and to double that way the North Cape of Tartaria." These straits are be- tween the southernmost parts of Nova Zembla, and the northern coast of Russia. He now shaped his course south, and the next day, at the dis- tance of four or five leagues, saw that part of Nova Zembla, known by the Hollanders as Swart Cliffe, Being only two miles from the land, he sent six of his men ashore to take a survey of the country, and fill the casks with water. They found the shore covered with grass ; the land was marshy, and several streams, HENRY HUDSON. 39 made by the melting snow, were rolling through it. In looking around, they saw the tracks of bears, deers, and foxes ; and after picking up some whales' fins and deer's horns, they returned to the ship. The sea was calm as they came back, and they saw two or three herds of morses swimming near the ship. Hudson now sent seven other men ashore to the place where he thought the morses might come in; but they failed in taking one of them. These men found a cross standing on the shore, quantities of drift- wood, and signs of fires that had been recently kindled there. Gathering some moss, and such flowers as grew in that cold latitude, and taking two pieces of the cross, they also returned to the ship. On the 29th, they again saw large numbers *of morses in the water ; and in the hope of fol- lowing them, and finding where they would land, they hoisted sail, and got out the boat to tow the ship along. The chase proved fruitless : but it brought them to the mouth of a broad river or sound, where they anchored near a small island. The ice was running rapidly down the stream, and they were forced to weigh an^.hor twice in the night, and stand out to free themselves from danger. In the morning he again came to his 40 HENRY HUDSON. old anchorage near the island. On a small rock near by, he saw forty or fifty morses lying asleep. He sent all his crew after them, except his son John ; but they succeeded in killing only one of them, the rest plunging rapidly in the water. Before they came aboard, however, they landed on the island, where they killed some fowls and found some eggs. The thought now struck Hudson, that instead of trying his passage by the Vaygatz Straits^ he would attempt to make his way through this broad stream before him. He hoped that in this way he might reach the east side of Nova Zembla. Then, too, the morses invited him, for he hoped by taking them to pay the expenses of the voyage. " Being here," (he says,) " and hoping, by the plenty of morses we saw here, to defray the charge of our voyage ; and also that this sound might, for some reasons, be a better passage to the east of Nova Zembla than the Vaygatz^ if it held, according to my hope, con- ceived by the likeness it gave : for whereas we had a flood come from the northward, yet this sound or river did run so strong, that ice with the stream of this river was carried away, or any- thing else against the flood : so that both in flood and ebb, the stream doth hold a strong course : HENRY HUDSON. 4fl and it floweth from the north three hours and ebbeth nine." He now sent the mate, with several of the men, to explore the mouth of this river. The next day they came back, having their boat laden with drift-wood, and bringing with them a large deer's horn, a lock of white hair, and great quantities of fowl. They had a very good story to tell. They had seen a herd of ten white deer^ much drift-wood lying on the shore, many good bays, and one fine river on the north shore, which looked like a good place for morses — though Ihey saw none there. They saw signs that the morses had been in the bay. As for the particu- lar river which they were to explore, they had found it two or three leagues broad, and no ground at twenty fathoms — the water was of the color of the sea, very salt, and the stream set strongly out of it. This report was so encouraging that Hudson soon hoisted sail, and steered up the river. In a little time he passed a reef, where he found only five or six fathoms' depth, and was then in thirty- four fathoms water. He continued his course for nine leagues, still finding the water deep, imtil the wind coming out ahead, and the stream run- ning too strongly against him, he was forced to 4* 42 HENRY HUDSON. cast anchor. He now rigged up the boat with a sail, and furnishing Juet the mate, and five of the crew, w^ith provisions and weapons, sent them up the river to take soundings. They were to continue their course, provided the water con- * tinned deep, until they found the stream bending to the east or southward. The ship was to fol- low them as soon as a favorable wind offered. About the middle of the next day the men re- turned very tired, bringing a very unfavorable report. They had been up the river six or seven leagues, sounding it all the way, until at last they found only four feet of water. They knew that the ship could not pass this point : so they did not explore farther, but after landing, gather- ing some flowers, and seeing great numbers of deer, they returned to the ship. All that remained for him now was to return. Setting sail, therefore, he passed down the river much disappointed, or, as he himself says in the Journal, " with sorrow that our labor was in vain ; for, had this sound held as it did make show of, for breadth, depth, safeness of harbor, and good anchor-ground, it might have yielded an excellent passage to a more easterly sea." It was here, too, that he seems to have been par- ticularly pleased with the appearance of Nova HENRY HUDSON. 43 Zembla, under its arctic midsummer ; for he says, ^^it was to a man's eye a pleasant land ; much main high land, with no snow on it, looking in some places green, and deer feeding thereon." In the evening he sent five of his men ashore, hoping again that they might find morses ; but they found none, though they saw many good land- ing places for them. They discovered signs of a fire that had been made on shore, and returned, bringing with them a hundred fowls, called " Wellocks." It was now the 6th of July, and Hudson knew it was too late to attempt his passage by the Vaygatz. He therefore shaped his course west- ward, hoping to visit by the way Willoughby^s Land* that he might see if it was correctly laid down in his chart. Still intent upon defraying, if possible, the expenses of his voyage, he thought if he should find this land he would discover there abundance of morses, driven down by the ice from Nova Zembla. But, unfortunately, he did not come in sight of that land. He was yet in the region of the ice, and discovered, as in the last voyage, that in the green sea he was most free from it, while in the blue sea he was almost • Some have supposed that Willoughby^s Land is the same as Spitzbergen, but this is a mistake. 44 HENRY HUDSON. sure to be troubled with it. Keeping his west- erly course, in ten days he saw the promontory of Wardhuys off the coast of Lapland, and in a little time passed the JYorth Cape. Being now oflf the coast of Nof way, the nights had again become so dark that he was forced to use a can- dle in the binacle, which thing he had not before found necessary since the 19th of May. Hudson's heart still leaned toward the experi- ment of sailing north of Greenland, and he would willingly have moved in that direction, but the season was now too far advanced ; and he thought it his duty " to save victuall, wages, and tackle, and not by foolish rashness, the time being wast- ed, to lay more charge upon the action than necessity should compel." He kept his course, therefore, for England, and arrived at Gravesend on the 26th of August, having been absent, this time, four months and four days.* * The Journal of this voyage, made in 1608, written by Hen- ry Hudson himself wiU also be found in ^^ Pur chat his PiU grifM?"' CHAPTER m. Henry Hudson's employers disappointed — He now passes over to Holland^ and seeks employ^ ment from the Dutch East India Company — Leaves Amsterdam on his third voyage^ in the ship Half Moon, in the spring of 1609 — Fails in making his passage through the Vaygatz — Sails westward, reaches the coast of America — Enters Penobscot Bay — His intercourse with the Indians — Passes Cape Cod, and sails south beyond Chesapeake Bay — Turns north again — Discovers Delaware Bay ; and, passing on, drops anchor within Sandy Hook — After a week spent in exploring below, passes the J^ar- rows and anchors in J^ew York Bay. Upon Hudson's return, the company that had employed him were greatly disappointed, and unwilhng at present to make any farther effort But Hudson's heart was still bent upon the great purpose for which he had been laboring. Un- willing therefore to wait, he passed over to Hol- land to offer his services to the Dutch East India 46 HENRY HUDSON. Company. His fame had gone there before him , they all knew him as " the bold Englishman, the expert pilot, and the famous navigator.'^ There was one man of this company, Balthazor Moucheron, who had made large and unsuccess- ful adventures in Arctic voyages, and was there- fore opposed to another effort, even under Henry Hudson. But the company, without overcoming his objections, still met the views of Hudson; accordingly the small ship (or as some say the yacht) Half Moon was soon equipped, and the command intrusted to him. With a crew con- sisting of twenty Englishmen and Dutchmen, or, as some say, only sixteen,* among whom was Robert Juet, w^ho had served as mate in his last voyage, he was now ready to brave again the ice and storms of the Arctic seas. His object was now to try his passage once more by the north side of Nova Zembla, or on the south through the Vaygatz Straits. He de- parted from Amsterdam on the 25th of March, and on the 27th, left the Texel. In little more than a month he doubled the North Cape, arid pressing on, was ere long upon the coast of No- va Zembla. Head winds, ice, and fog here met him again, and after more than a fortnight's * Lambrechtsea says, 16 men, Englishmen and Hollanders. HENRY HUDSON. 47 struggle against them, he gave up the hope of reaching India by the Vaygatz, or indeed by any north-eastern route. In this time of disap- pointment, he was not discouraged, but seems to have had many plans. He had heard of America and the vast discoveries made there ; and he thought, by sailing westerly, that he ioo might make some discovery which w^ould repay his employers for his failure. Moreover, he had with him some maps which had been given to him by his old friend. Captain John Smith, on which a strait was marked south of Virginia, offering a passage to the Pacific Ocean or great South Sea, as it was then called — and by this passage he might hope to reach the East Indies. Then too, he thought of his former plan ; a passage by the north-west, through Davis's Straits. He now proposed to his crew, either to seek a passage south through the strait laid down by Smith, or to sail for the north-west. Many of his men had been trained in the East India ser- vice, were accustomed to saihng in warm tropical climates, and chose therefore, to sail south rather than meet the severities of the northern seas. Now then, he steered his course westerly, soon doubled the North Cape again, and by the last of May, reached one of the Faroe Islands 48 HENRY HUDSON. He remained here twenty-four hours, and had his casks filled with fresh water. They then hoisted sail and steered south-west, hoping to reach Buss J^/and, which had been discovered in 1578, by Martin Frolisher. The island was in- correctly laid down in his chart, and he did not find it. He next shaped his course for JVew?- foundland. For more than three weeks he now encountered storms and constant gales of wind, until at last his foremast was carried away. He rigged up what sailors call a jury- mast, but the gales continuing, his foresail was split. Notwithstanding the tempests, he man- aged to run down as far as the forty-fifth degree of latitude. Here he met a heavy gale from the south-east, but still kept on his course. Three days after this he saw a sail standing to the east, and hoping " to speak her," he turned from his course and gave chase ; but finding, as night came on, that he could not overtake her, he again turned westerly. Early in July, he found him- self oflf the coast of JYewfoundland, and saw a great fleet of Frenchmen fishing on the banks. Finding himself here becalmed several days, he sent his crew to the banks to try their luck at fishing. In this they proved very successful — taking in one day one hundred and thirty cod- HENRY HUDSON. 49 fish. The wind again springing up, they sailed westerly. On the Oth, they spoke a Frenchman who lay fishing at Sable Island bank. They soon cleared the banks, passed the shore of Nova Scotia, and on the morning of the 12th, saw the coast of North America before them. The fog was now so thick that for several days they were afraid to approach the land ; but on the morn- ing of the 18th, the weather cleared up, and they ran into a " good harbor" at the mouth of a large river, in the latitude of forty-four degrees. This was Penobscot Bay, on the coast of Maine.* Hudson had already seen some of the inhabi- tants of this new country ; for on the morning of the 19th, while they were standing off, unable to enter the harbor, two boats came off to him, with six of the natives of the country, who " seemed very glad at his coming." He gave them some trifling presents, and they ate and drank with him. They told him that there were gold, silver, and copper mines near by, and that the French people were in the habit of trading with them. One of them he found could speak a little French. *Rev.Dr. MilleFj in his lecture delivered before the New York Historical Society, in 1809, thinks the place of their wr- rival was at or near Portland, in the State of Maine. 50 HENRY HUDSON. He now made his observation of the harbor. He describes it as lying north and south a mile; he could see the river a great way up, and found that he was in four fathoms of water. The first thing to be done, was to rig up a new foremast, and mend the sails. Some went to work at the sails, and others went ashore to cut the mast. They needed a fresh supply of water also, and some went in search of that, while others amused themselves in catching lobsters. In the mean time, the people of the country came aboard in great numbers. They were very friendly, and seem not to have been at all afraid of Hudson's men, while the men were afraid of them, all the time saying " they could not be trusted." Two French shallops came to the ship, filled with Indians bringing beaver-skins and fine furs, which they wished, like Indians, to trade for articles of dress, knives, hatchets, kettles, trinkets, beads, and other trifles. Hudson's men could not overcome their fool- ish distrust of these Indians. They were so very suspicious, that every night they kept a strict watch from the ship, to see where their shallops were laid. At last, their mast being ready and their sails mended, the day before they started, they manned " the scute" with six men and four HENRY HUDSON. 51 muskets, took one of the shallops, and brought it on board. This was base enough ; but they now proceeded to a more disgraceful action. They " manned their boat and ^scute' with twelve men and muskets, and two stone pieces or mur- derers, and drove the savages from their houses, and took the spoil of them." It seems that the poor natives had never done them the least hc-rm; their only excuse for this cowardly meanness, being that they supposed they wished to do them harm — a supposition without any founda- tion, proceeding only from their own idle fears It is to the disgrace of Hudson, that this thing was permitted ; and the only excuse that can be offered for him is, that he probably had undei his command a wild and ungovernable set of men. It is said that they had many quarrels with the natives, and perhaps, in the exaspera- tion of their feelings, Hudson found it impossible to control them. Even this, however, is a poor excuse for him; for he was a man in the habit of ruling his men rather than being ruled by them. It is to be hoped that he did not willingly allow this cruelty to proceed. On the next morning (July 26) he set sail, steering southward along the coast of America. In a little time he came within sight of Cape 52 HENRY HUDSON Cod. Anxious to double this headland, and afraid to approach a coast of which he was ig- norant, he sent five men in the boat to sound along shore. They found the w^ater '' five fathoms deep within bow-shot of the shore ;" went on the land and discovered " goodly grapes and rose- trees," which they brought on board the ship. He now moved toward the shore, and anchored near the north end of the headland. Here he heard the voices of men calling to him from the shore ; and, thinking they might be the cries of some poor sailors who had been left there, he immediate- ly sent a part of the crew in the boat to the land. Upon landing, they found that the voices were those of the Indians, who were greatly rejoiced to see them. They returned, bringing one of these Indians aboard with them. After giving him some- thing to eat, and making him a present of a few glass buttons, Hudson sent him ashore again in the boat. When he reached the land, he gave every sign of joy, dancing, and leaping, and throwing up his hands. These Indians were great smokers : they had abundance of green tobacco and pipes, " the bowls of which were made of earth, and the stems of red copper." After striving to pass west of this headland, and move into the bay, which the wind prevent- HENRY HUDSON. 53 ed — he steered south-east, and the next day feL in with the southern point of Cape Cod. He knew this to be the headland which Bartholomew Gosnold had discovered in the year 1602, seven years before. He passed Nantucket and Mar- tha's Vineyard, and kept his course still south, until the 18th of August, when he found himself at the entrance of Chesapeake Bay. Here he was near the mouth of " the King's River* in Vir- ginia," upon which many of his countrymen were settled ; and among these countrymen was his early friend Captain John Smith. Two years before this, the first English settle- ment had been made in America. In the year 1607, two ships and a bark under the command of Christopher Newport, bringing one hundred and five persons, had passed up the James River. Among these men were John Smith, Gosnold, Wingfield, and Ratcliife, the leaders of the new enterprise; and after hard sufferings and some hair-breadth escapes, they had succeeded in set- tling a colony at Jamestown. It would have been delightful to Hudson to have passed up that river, and seen his countrymen, and particu- larly an old friend in the wild forests of America. • The James River, named in honor of King James, is here alluded to. 5* (A HENRY HUDSON. He would have heard from that friend many a story of matchless adventure, how he had lived through the treachery of the Indian King Powha^ tarty and been saved by the noble friendship of the Princess Pocahontas, But the wind was blowing a gale ; and besides this, he felt himself bound to serve the main purpose of his employ- ers, and consequently passed on. He proceeded south still, until he reached the thirty-fifth degree of latitude, and then changed his course to the north. We are not told in the Journal of this voyage, what induced Hudson to change his course, but we can readily understand the cause. He had gone far enough south to learn that his friend Smith was mistaken about his passage into the South Pacific Ocean ; and his desire was now to waste no more time in this fruitless search, but to make some discovery which might prove profitable to his employers. Retracing his course, he found himself occa- sionally in shallow water as he passed the shores of Maryland, and on the 28th, discovered the great bay, since known as Delaware Bay, He examined here the soundings, currents, and the appearance of the land, but did not go ashore. For nearly a week he now coasted northward, ^ passing along a low marshy coast, skirted with HENRY HUDSON. 55 broken islands," when on the 2d of September, he spied the highlands of Neversink. The sight pleased him greatly, for he says, " it is a very good land to fall in with, and a pleasant land to see." On the morning of the 3d, the weather proved dark and misty, but Hudson, having pas- sed Long Branch, sent his boat up to sound. The men returning with a favorable report, in the afternoon he brought the Half Moon within Sandy Hook^ and cast anchor in five fathoms of water. The next morning, seeing that there was ^' good anchorage and a safe harbor," he passed farther up and anchored within Sandy Hook Bay, at the distance of two cable lengths from the shore. Having marked great quantities of fish (" sal- mon, mullet, and rays") in the water, he now sent his men ashore with a net. It is said that they first landed on Coney Island, (now a part of Kings County in this State.) They found the soil to be mostly white sand, and on the island were plum-trees loaded with fruit, and embower- ed with grape-vines; while snipes and other birds were floating over the shore. The fishing too, proved good, for they took " ten mullets a foot and a half long apiece, and a ray as great as four men could haul into the ship " 1^ HENRY HUDSON. While the ship lay at anchor, Indians from the Jersey shore came on board, and seemed greatly delighted to see their new visiters. They were dressed in deer-skins, well cured, which hung loosely over their shoulders, and had copper ornaments and pipes. They seemed to have an abundance of food, for their land yield- ed a fine harvest of maize, or Indian corn, from which they made good bread ; but they had come, bringing green tobacco, which they wished to exchange for beads, knives, and other trinkets. In the course of the night a gale sprang up, and the ship was driven ashore. Fortunately, she was not injured, " the bottom being soft sand and oozy," and when the flood tide returned in the morning, she was easily got off. The boat was now lowered, and the men were sent to sound the bay. The shores were lined w^ith men, wo- men, and children, attracted by curiosity, and the boat's men immediately went to the land, where they were treated with great kindness. It was the Jersey shore which they now reached, and the kindness of the natives was such, that they went unmolested far back into the woods of what is now known as Monmouth County. In this ram- ble, they weie particularly pleased with thr Deautiful oaks of the country. The natives fol HENEY HUDSON. 57 lowed them with their kindness, giving them pre- sents of green tobacco and dried currants. They observed that some of these natives were dressed more richly than those seen before. These had ornaments of copper around the neck, and wore mantles made of fine furs or feathers. Notwith- standing all the kindness of these Indians, like the poor natives at Penobscot, they were still " suspected, though friendly." Hudson, in making his observations, had dis- covered, as he thought, that the bay in which he lay, seemed to be the entrance to a large river, four leagues distant ; and the boat having re- turned, he now sent five men in her to make soundings in that direction. What he saw was probably the strait between Long and Staten Islands, now known as the Narrows. They pas- sed through the Narrows, sounding as they went, and discovered the hills between Staten Island and Bergen Neck. They found the land as they passed, covered with trees, grass, and flowers, the fragrance of which was dehghtful; and after going six miles into the bay of New York, turn- ed back. On their return to the ship, when it was nearly dark, they were attacked by two canoes, containing twenty-six Indians. It was raining hard, and their match was extinguished, 58 HENRY HUDSON. SO that they could only trust to their oars to make their escape. Unfortunately, one of the men (John Colman, who had been with Hudson in his first hard voyage) was killed by an arrow that struck him in the neck, and two others were slightly wounded. It w^as now very dark, and they lost their way, wandering to and fro all night, unable to find the ship. It is said that but for the darkness, they w^ould all have been mur- dered, but this I can hardly believe. Notwith- standing this attack, I do not think the Indians had any wicked intentions toward these men ; for it is strange, if they had, that they did not pursue them, and at least take the wounded men in the boat. It is probable, that in the darkness, the Indians were themselves surprised and fright- ened at meeting the boat ; shot at her, and moved away as fast as possible. The next day the boat returned, bri'nging the dead body of Col- man. Hudson ordered it to be taken ashore and buried at Sandy Hook, and in memory of the poor fellow who had met so sad a fate, called the place Colman^s Point. When the men returned from this sad duty, the boat was hoisted in, and they immediately commenced erecting bulwarks on the sides of the ship ; and when night came on, they kept a HENRY HUDSON. 59 strict lookout, expecting an attack from the na- tives. But their preparations were idle. The natives seem not even to have thought of attack- ing them ; for the next day, some of them again came on board in the most friendly manner, bringing Indian corn and tobacco, to trade with the sailors. They did not even seem to know that any thing had happened. The next day after, however, matters did look little serious, when two large canoes came off to the ship, the one filled w^ith men armed with bows and arrows, the other under the pretence of trading with them. Hudson now would only allow two of them to come on board ; these he kept, and dressed them up in red coats. All the rest returned to the shore, when presently an- other canoe approached, bringing only two men. He thought now it was best to take every pre- caution ; so he took one of these men, intending, probably, to keep him with the others as hostages for the good behavior of their countrymen. He had scarcely taken this last one, however, when he jumped up, leaped overboard, and swam to the shore. Hudson now weighed anchor, and moved off into the channel of the Narrows for the night. In the morning, he went over " to- wards the east sand-bank, found it shallow, and 60 HENRY HUDSON. again anchored." The day after, (it being the 11th of September,) having spent a week in exploring south of the Narrows, he passed through them into the Bay of New York, and finding it " an excellent harbor for all winds," once more cast anchor. Here he remained mitil the next day: the people of the country (as he says) again coming to see him, " making great show of love, giving tobacco and Indian wheat, but we could not trust them." J CHAPTER IV. The Indian tradition of the first landing of white men in the State of J^ew York^ as given by the Indians themselves^ to the Rev, Mr. HeckeweU der^a Moravian Missionary among the Indiana of P ennsylvania. It was the 12th of September, and Hudson was ready to move up the great river which opened before him. Before we follow him in his course, ho^vever, there is an Indian tradition as regards " his jfirst landing," which I wish to lay before you Some say his first landing was upon Coney Island, others at Sandy Hook, others on the Jersey shore, while some declare it was on Manhattan Island, and others again say at Alba- ny. It is impossible perhaps, to say where it was, and as far as the story is concerned it mat- ters but little, for the tradition is the same, let the landing have been where it may. This tradition is well authenticated, having 6 62 HENRY HUDSON. been originally given by the Indians themselves to tne Rev. John Heckewelder, for many years a Moravian missionary to the Indians in Pennsyl- vania. It runs as follows : — " A long time ago, when there was no such thing known to the Indians as people with a white skin, some Indians who had been out a fishing, and where the sea widens, espied at a great distance, something remarkably large, swim- ming or floating on the water, and such as they had never seen before. They immediately re- turning to the shore, told their countrymen of what they had seen, and pressed them to go out with them, and discern w^hat it might be. These together hurried out, and saw to their great sur- prise the phenomenon, but could not agree what it might be, some concluding it to be an uncom- monly large fish or other animal, while others were of opinion it must be some very large house. It was at length agreed among them, that as this phenomenon moved toward the land, whether it was an animal or not, it would be well to inform all the Indians of what they had seen, and put them on their guard. Accordingly they sent runners to carry the news to their scat- tered chiefs, that they might send off in every direction for the warriors to come in. These HENRY HUDSON. 63 now came in numbers, and seeing the strange appearance, and that it was actually moving forward, concluded that it was a large canoe or house, in which the Great Manitto* himself was, and that he probably was coming to visit them. By this time the chiefs of the different tribes were assembled on York Island, and were counselling as to the manner in which they should receive the Manitto on his arrival. They now provided plenty of meat for a sacrifice ; the women were required to prepare the best of victuals ; their idols or images were examined and put in order ; and a grand dance was sup- posed not only to be an agreeable entertainment for the Manitto^hwi might, with the addition of a sacrifice, contribute toward appeasing him in case he was angry. The conjurers were also set to work to determine what the meaning of this phenomenon was, and what the result would be. To these, and to the chiefs and wise men of the nation, men, women, and children were look- ing up for advice and protection. Being at a loss what to do, between hope and fear, and in confusion, a dance commenced. In the mean time, fresh runners arrived, declaring it to be a • Their name for the Supreme Being. 64 HENRY HUDSON great house of various colors that was coining, and filled with living creatures. It now appeared certain that it was their Manitto coming, bringing probably some new kind of game. But other runners now came in, declaring that it was a house of various colors and filled w^ith people, but that the people were of a different color from themselves ; that they were also dressed in a dif- ferent manner from them, and that one in partic- ular appeared altogether red. This they thought must be the Manitto himself. They were now lost in admiration. Presently they were hailed from the vessel, but in a language they could not understand, and were able to answer only by a yell. Many were now for running into the woods, while others pressed them to stay, in or- der not to offend their visiters, who could find them out and might easily destroy them. The house (or large canoe) stopped, and a smaller ca- noe now came ashore, bringing the red man and some others in it. Some stayed by this canoe to guard it. The chiefs and wise men formed a circle, into which the red clothed man and two others approached. He saluted them with a friendly countenance, and they returned the sa- lute after their manner. They were amazed at the color of their skin and their dress, particu- HENRY HUDSON. 65 larly at the red man, whose clothes glittered* with something they could not account for. He must be the great Manitto, they thought, but then why should he have a white skin ? A large elegant Hockhackf was brought forward by one of the Manitto^s servants, and something poured from it into a small cup or glass, and handed to the Manitto. He drank it, had the cup refilled, and had it handed to the chief next to him for him to drink. The chief took it, smelt it, and passed it to the next, who did the same. The cup passed in this way round the circle, untasted, and was about to be returned to the red clothed man, when one of their number, a spirited man and a great warrior, jumped up, and harangued the multitude on the impropriety of returning the cup unemptied. ' It was handed to them,' he said, ' by the Manitto to drink out of as he had done ; that to follow his example would please him, but to return what he had given them might provoke him and cause him to destroy them. And that since he believed it to be for the good of the nation that the contents offered them should be drunk, if no one else was willing to drink, he would tiy it, let the conse- * This was probably the lace and buttons, -f Meaning gourd, or bottle. 6* 66 HENRY HUDSON. quence be what it would, for it was better fox one man to die, than that a whole nation should be destroyed. He then took the glass, smelt it, addressed them again, and bidding them all fare- well, drank it. All eyes were now fixed upon him, to see what effect this would have upon him He soon began to stagger, and the women cried, supposing that he had fits. Presently he rolled on the ground, and they all began to bemoan him, supposing him to be dying. Then he fell asleep, and they thought now that he was dead, but presently they saw that he was still breath- ing. In a little time he awoke, jumped up, and declared that he never felt himself before so hap- py, as after he had drunk the cup. He asked for more, which was given to him, and the whole assembly soon joined him, and all became intox- icated.' " While the intoxication lasted, the white men kept themselves in their vessel, and when it was over, the man with the red clothes again return- ed to them, bringing them presents of beads, axes, hoes, and stockings. They soon now be- came famihar, and talked by making signs. The whites made them understand that they should now return home, but the next year they should visit them again with presents, and stay with HENRY HUDSON. 67 them a while. But as they could not live with- out eating, they should then want a little land to sow seeds, in order to raise herbs to put into their broth. Accordingly a vessel arrived the next season,* when they were much rejoiced to see each other — but the white men laughed at them when they saw the axes and hoes hang- ing to their breasts as ornaments, and the stock- ings used for tobacco pouches. The whites now put handles or helves in the former, and cut down trees and dug the ground before their eyes, and showed them the use of the stockings. Then all the Indians laughed, to think that they had been ignorant of the use of these things so long, and had carried these heavy articles hung around their necks. They took every white man they saw for a Manitto, yet inferior to the Supreme Manitto ; to wit, to the one who wore the shin- ing red clothes. They now became more famil- iar, and the whites now reminded them that they wanted some land ; and asked if they might have as much land as the hide of a bullock spread before them would cover (or encompass.) Their request was readily granted. The white men ♦ It will be remembered that another ship was sent out by the Dutch the next year, after the discovery of Henry Hudson. 68 HENRY HUDSON. then took a knife, and beginning at one place on the hide, cut it up into a rope not thicker than the finger of a little child, so that by the time this hide was cut up, there was a great heap. They then took the rope and drew i't gently along (to keep it from breaking) in a circular form, and took in a large piece of ground. The In- dians were surprised at the superior wit of the w^hites, but did not wish to contend with them about a little land, as they had enough. They hved contentedly together for a long time : the whites from time to time asking for more land, which was readily granted to them. And thus they gradually went higher and higher up the Mahicannituck River* until they began to be- heve they would soon want all their country, which proved at last to be the case."f This tradition is remarkably confirmed by a Dutch historian,J who WTote his history only forty-three years after the discovery of Henry Hudson. He says, " that the Indians or natives • One of the Indian names for the Hudson. t This tradition will be found in Yates and Moulton^s His- tory of New York— in the first volume of Hist, and Lit. Trans^ actions of the American Philosophical Society— and again in the New York Historical Collection, vol. i., New Series. t Adrian Van der Donck, in his description of the New Netherlands. HENRY HUDSON. 69 of the land, many of whom are still living, and with whom I have conversed, declare freely that before the arrival of the Lowland ship, the Half Moon, in the year 1609, they, the natives, did not know that there were any other people in the world, than those who were like themselves, much less, any people who differed so much in appearance from them as we did. When some of them first saw our ship approaching at a dis- tance, they did not know what to think about her, but stood in deep and solemn amazement, wondering whether it were a ghost or apparition, coming down from heaven, or from hell. Others of them supposed her to be a strange fish or sea monster. When they discovered men on board, they supposed them to be more like devils than human beings. Thus they differed about the ship and men. A strange report was spread about the country concerning the ship and visit, which created great astonishment and surprise among the Indians.'' There is another story told to the same pur- pose in a history of these times written only forty-one years after Hudson's discovery. " In 1609, (as the story reads,) the privileged East India Company, by the ship the Half Moon, the Captain whereof wasHenrick Hutson, discover- 70 HENRY HUDSON. ed first the country which our people call New Netherlands: insomuch that even now inhabi- tants of the country remember it, and witness, that when the Dutch ships came hither first and were seen by them, they did not know whether they came from heaven or were devils. Others thought them to be sea monsters or fishes.* They knew before nothing of other sort of men : a strange tale thereof run through their country now.'^t It is said that the tribe of Delaware Indians, even to this day, call New York Mannahatta'' ninky meaning thereby, the Island or place of general intoxication, % * It is remarked by Yates and Moulton in their history, that the same fright seized the minds of the Indians bordering on Detroit river, at the time the Lake Erie steamboat '' Walk-in the- Water" made her first appearance in that river, advancing against wind and tide, and sending forth volumes of flame and smoke. t MS. in the New York Historical Society, cited in Yates and Moulton^s History of New York, Part I. page 257. J '' The Mahicanni or Mohicans call it by the same name as the Delawares, but think the name was given in consequence of a kind of wood which grew there, of which the Indians used to make their bows and arrows. " The name the Monseys have for New York is Laapha^ wachkingy meaning the place of stringing wampum beads* They say this name was given in consequence of the distribu^ tion of beads among them by Europeans, and that after tie European vessel returned, wherever one looked, the Indians were seen stringing the beads and wampum that the whites gave them." — Yates and Moulton, CHAPTER V. Hudson explores the river since called by his name — Escape of the two Indianft — Strange experiment of Hudson to learn the treachery of the natives — The Half Moon reaches as far as the present site of Albany — The boat ascends to Waterford — Hudson returns down the river — Battle with the natives at the head of Man- hattan Island — Sails from the bay^ and reaches England^ after an absence of seven months from Europe. We left Hudson in his little ship the Half Moon, resting quietly upon the waters of New York Bay, and we will now trace him in his course up the beautiful stream which since bears his name. What must have been the feelings of the great navigator as he looked upon the waters of that stream as they came rolling to the sea ! It was certain that he had discovered a new and 72 HENKY HUDSON. unknown region which might in some degree repay his employers ; and then, who could tell but that the river before him, coming far from the north, might prove the long desired passage to the gems and spices of the East Indies. On the morning of the 12th, while he was still at his anchorage, twenty-eight canoes, filled with men, women, and children, came off to see him, bringing oysters and clams to trade for tri- fles. These Indians had " great tobacco pipes of yellow copper, and pots of earth to dress their meat in." Hudson's men seem, as usual, to have been suspicious of them, and though they traded with them, none of them were allowed to come on board. About noon, with a heart full of hope, he weighed anchor, and moved into the river. The wind was not fair ; so that he made only two leagues, and again anchored for the night. The place off which he lay is supposed to have been what is now Manhattanville. The next day, the w^nd being ahead, he managed, by the help of the flood tide, to pass up only eleven miles high- er. This brought him to what is now known as Yonkers, and again he cast anchor. In the course of this day, he was again visited by Indians, HENRY HUDSON. 73 bringing provisions, and they seemed very friend- ly ; but: his crew suspected these also, and none of them came on board the ship. The day following the weather was fair, and a fine breeze springing up from the south-east, he passed up through Tappan and Haverstraw bays, " the river'' (as the journal says) " being a mile wide, and anchored at night about thir- ty-six miles higher, in a region where the land was very high and mountainous." He w^as now evidently in the neighborhood of " the High- lands," and his anchorage was probably near West Point. Hudson and his men seem to have been struck with the wild and beautiful appearance of the country : and strange must have been his feel- ings, when in his little " yacht," moored beneath the Highlands, the shadows of night fell over him. He had braved the tempests of the north, and seen the monsters of the ocean, but all now was a new world around him. A wild and beau- tiful wilderness hung over him. Perhaps in the distance he might see the camp fires of straggling Indians : then he might hear the screechings of the owls, and the scream of pan- thers in the wilderness above him, or perhaps 7 74 HENrV HUDSON be startled by the strange and tremendous roar of the " Naked Bear" of the Indians,* » '^ Yageshoy or Naked BearV — In a note to Y ates and Moul- ton's History of New York, there is a singular Indian tradition of a remarkable animal that lived in the northern parts of New York about two centuries ago. The note cites the man- uscript of Mr. Heckewelder for the truth of it. The story, as given in the note, is the following: — *' The Yagesho was an animal much superior to the largest bear, remarkably long bodied, broad down by its shoulders, but thin or narrow just at its hind legs, (or where the body ter- minated.) It had a large head and fearful look. Its legs were short and thick. Its paws (to the toes of which were nails or claws, nearly as long as an Indian's finger) spread very wide. It was almost bare of hair, except the head and on the hinder parts of its legs, in which places the hair was v^ery long. For this reason the Indians gave it the name of * Naked Bear.^ ** Several of these animals had been destroyed by the In* dians, but the one of which the following account is given had escaped them, and for years had from time to lime destroyed many Indians, particularly women and children, when they were out in the woods gathering nuts, digging roots, or at work in the field. Hunters, when overtaken by this animal, had no way of escaping, except when a river or lake was at hand, by plunging into the stream and swimming out or down the stream to a great distance. When this was the case, and the beast was not able to pursue farther, then he would set up such a roaring noise, that every Indian hearing it would trem- ble. The animal preyed on every beast it could lay hold of. It \\'X)uld catch and kill the largest bears and devour them. While bears were plenty, the Indians had not so much to dread from him, but when this was not the case, it would run abo'Jt the woods, searching for the track or scent of hunters, ind foUow them u^i. The women were so afraid of going out HENRY HUDSON. 75 The next morning a mist hung over the riv- er and mountains until sunrise, vi^hen it cleared up with a fair wind. Just as he was weighing anchor, a circumstance happened, which after- ward gave him trouble. The two Indians whom hi- held as hostages made their escape through to work, that the men assembled to consider on some plan for killing him. At or near a lake where the water flowed two ways, or has two different outlets, one on the northerly and the other on the southerly end, this beast had his residence, of which the Indians were well informed. A resolute party, well provided with bows, arrows, and spears, made toward the lake. On a high perpendicular rock they stationed themselves, climbing up this rock by means of Indian ladders, and then drawing these after them. After being well fixed, and having taken up a number of stones, they began to imitate the voices and cries of the various beasts of the wood, and even that of children, in order to decoy him thither. Having spent some days without success, a party took a stroll to some distance from the rock. Before they had reached the rock again, this beast had got the scent of them, and was in full pursuit of them, yet they reached the rock before he arrived. When he came to the rock he was in great anger, sprang against it with his mouth wide open, grinning and seizing the rock as if he would tear it to pieces. He had several times sprung nearly up, During all this time, numbers of arrows and stones were discharged at him, and at last he dropped down and expired. His head being cut off, it was carried in triumph to their vil- lage or settlement on the North River, and there set up on a pole for view: and the report spreading among the neighbor- ing tribes, numbers came to view the same, and to exalt the Fict9/i!<:s for this warlike deed. The Mahicanni c\^m iho hoaor of this act.'* 76 HENRY HUDSON. the port-holes of the ship and swam to the shore, and as soon as the ship was under w^ay, they were seen standing on the shore making loud and angry cries, and looking at them " with scornful looks." They now moved up the river, " passing by the high mountains," until, having sailed fifty miles, they came at night in sight of '' other mountains which lie from the river side." Here they found (as the journal says) " very loving people and very old men," who treated them very kindly. Having cast anchor here, (which was probably near what is now Catskill Landing,) Hudson sent the boat off, and the men caught large quantities of fine fish. It was here, perhaps, that the pleasant inter- view happened (of which we read in an old his- tory of the times*) between Hudson and an old chief of the Indians. The story is, that he went on shore in one of their canoes with an old man, who was the chief of forty men and seventeen women. These he saw in a large circular house made of oak bark. In the house, he discovered a large quantity of maize or Indian corn, and beans of the last year's growth, and near the house, for the purpose of drying, there lay enough to load their ship, besides what was growing • De Laet's New World. HENRY HUDSON, 77 in the fields. Upon his entering the house, two mats were immediately spread out to sit upon, and food was brought forward in large red bowls made of wood. In the mean time, two men were despatched with bows and arrows in search of game. Soon after, they returned with a pair of pigeons; then they killed a fat dog, and skinned it in great haste for their guest, with shells which they had got out of the water. After the feast, they supposed that Hudson would remain all night with them. But upon his shew- ing signs of departure, the hospitable old man became very uneasy — and his people, supposing that the guest might be leaving because he was afraid of them, took all their arrows, and break- ing them in pieces, cast them into the fire. The quantities of fish taken the evening before, now induced Hudson (the next morning being warm and fair) to send some of the men out upon another fishing party. This time, however, they were not so successful ; for the natives had been there all night in their canoes. In the mean time, the Indians flocked on board the ship, bringing Indian corn, pumpkins, and tobacco. The whole day was consumed in trading with these friendly people, and filling the water casks with fresh water. Towards night, he again set 7* ^ HENRY HUDSON. sail, and passing some six miles higher up, found the water shoal and cast anchor. He was now probably near the spot where the city bearing his name has since grown up. The weather was warm, and Hudson determined to take advantage ' of the cool hours of the morning. At dawn, therefore, the next day he weighed anchor, and ran up the river " six leagues higher" — but find- ing shoals and small islands in the middle of the river, he once more stopped. As night came on, the vessel drifted near the shore and grounded ; but they " layed out there small anchor and heaved her off again." In a little time, she was aground again in the channel ; but when the flood-tide rose she floated off*, and then they an- chored for the night. This anchorage, it is thought, was somewhere near Castleton. The next day w^as fair, and he " rode still" all day. In the afternoon, he went ashore with " an old savage, a governor of the country, who carried him to his house, and made him good cheer."* With the flood tide, about noon on the following day, he ran up " two leagues above the shoals," and cast anchor again in eight fathoms of water. The natives now came on ♦ Possibly it was here that the scene described by De Laet occurred. HEINHY HUDSON. 79 board in crowds, bringing grapes, pumpkins, beaver and other skins, for which the sailors readily gave them beads, knives, and hatchets. Here Hudson seems to have had some misgiv- ings as to the depth of the river above him. He had now been seven or eight days in reaching this point, and his ship had been aground, and his soundings shallow, more than once in the last three days. The next day, therefore, (the morning of the 20th,) he sent the mate with four men in the boat to explore the river and take soundings. They were gone nearly the whole day, and returned with the report that "the channel was very narrow 3" that two leagues above, they found only two fathoms' water, though in some places there was a better depth. The next morning they were about starting again, to explore the depth and breadth of the stream, (for the wind was fair, and Hudson was anxious to move up with the ship,) but were prevented by the great crowds of Indians that came flocking on board. They seem again to have been afraid of these men, and unwilling to leave the ship while they were there. Finding that he was not likely to make any progress on that day, Hudson sent the carpenter ashore to make a new foreyard for the ship, and determine 80 HENRY HUDSON. ed with his men, in the mean time, to make ah experiment with some of these Indians, that he might learn if they were treacherous. This experiment was a strange one ; it \va<5 neither more nor less than intoxicating some of the Indian chiefs, and thereby throwing them " off their guard." He therefore took several of them down into the cabin, and gave them plenty of wine and brandy, until they were all merry. The poor women looked innocently on, for we are told particularly of the wife of one of these merry chiefs, who " sate in the cabin as modest- ly as any of our countrywomen would do in a strange place." The men drank plentifully, and presently one of them became so drunk that he fell asleep. The rest were now frightened, sup- posing him to be poisoned, and immediately took to their canoes and pushed for tne shore. They did not, however, forget the poor man on board ; for some of them soon returned, bringing long strings of beads, which they hoped the whites would accept, and release their poor country- man. The poor Indian slept soundly all night, and the next day, when his countrymen came to see him, they were rejoiced to find him well. They returned to the shore, and about three o'clock HENRY HUDSON. 81 came again, bringing beads and tobacco, which they gave to Hudson. One of them made a long oration, and shewed him all the country round about. Anxious still farther to shew him their gratitude, they now sent one of their number ashore, who presenly returned with a large plat- ter of venison, dressed in their own style, and placed it before Hudson, that he might eat with them. After this, they all " made him reverence" and departed. In the morning before all this scene took place, Hudson had again started the mate with the four men to sound the river. At ten o'clock at night he came back in a hard shower of rain, bringing a bad report once more. He had ascended the river eight or nine leagues, and found only seven feet water and very irregular soundings. Disappointed in not finding this the passage to the East, Hudson was cheered by the reflection that he had passed up this noble stream nearly one hundred and fifty miles, and discovered a beautiful and fertile region, for the future enter- prise of his employers. He now prepared for his return.* * How far did Hudson ascend the river ? The Rev. Dr. Mil «r (in his lecture before the New York Historical Society in '809) thinks that the ship Half Moon reached a little above *^here the city of Hudson now stands, while the boat which 82 HENRY HUDSON. About mid-day on the 23d, he commenced re- tracing his way, and went down the river only six miles, the wind being ahead. On the 24th, he ran down twenty-four miles farther and anchored, (it is supposed between Athens and Hudson.) Here he was detained four days by head winds, but the time was spent pleasantly and profitably in surveying the country Some of the men went on shore gathering chestnuts, and others strolled along the bank making their observations. They found " good ground for corn and other garden herbs, with good store of goodly oaks and walnut-trees and chestnut-trees, yew-trees and trees of sweet wood, in great abun- dance, and great store of slate for houses and other good stones." While they lay at this an- chorage, they had a visit from one who consid- ered himself at least an old friend. On the morning of the 26th, two canoes came up from the place where they met " the loving people," was sent to explore and take soundings, went as far as the site of the city of Albany. Other writers, liowever, disagree with him. After examining carefully the journal of this voy- age, calculating the distances run, with other circumstances, and especially bearing in mind that the small yacht, the Half Moon, was probably not so large as many of the sloops aow sailing on the North River, they seem fairly to conclude that the Half Moon went nearly as high as the spot where Albany now stands, while the boat passed up as far as Waterford. HENRY HUDSON. 83 (Catskill Landing,) and in one of them was the old chief who had been made drunk above, and given so much alarm to his countrymen. The friendship of this old man must have been strong, for he seems to have followed them even to the Catskill mountains. He brought now anoth- er old chief with him, who presented strings of beads to Hudson, and " showed him all the country thereabout, as though it were at his command." The old man's wife was along, with three other Indian women. Hudson was very kind to them, invited them all to dine with him, after dinner gave them presents, and they de- parted begging that he would visit them as he passed by, for the place where they lived was only two leagues off. The wind being north on the morning of the 27th, they set sail and moved onward. As they passed the old man's home, (Catskill Landing,) he came off again, hoping they would cast anchor, and go ashore and eat with him. The wind was too fair and inviting for them to listen tc his in- vitation, and he left them, " being very sorrowful for their departure." Toward night they reach- ed the neighborhood of what is known as Red Hook Landing, and there had fine fishing. For the two next days his progress was very slow, 84 HENRY HUDSON. for on the morning of the 30th, we are told, hia ship was anchored off " the northernmost of the mountains," meaning, I suppose, the head of the highlands. Here again, the natives came on board in a friendly manner. Detained for a day by head winds, he observed the country closely. The description of the land near them is very minute, and the town of Newburgh has arisen, f^rhaps, upon the very spot of which the journal speaks. '^ This" (says the journal) " is a very pleasant place to build a town on. The road is very near, and very good for all winds, save an east-north- east wind." Here, too, they were struck with the strange appearance of some of the mountains. " The mountains look as if some metal or min- eral were in them. For the trees that grow on them were all blasted, and some of them barren, vrith few or no trees on them. The people brought a stone aboard like to emery, (a stone used by glaziers to cut glass ;) it would cut iron or Steele, yet being bruised small and water put to it, it made a color like black lead, glistering. It is also good for painters' colors." On the 1st of October, with a fair wind he sailed through the highlands, and reached as far as the neighbor- hood of Stony Point, when being becalmed he cast anchor. HENRY HUDSON. 85 No sooner had they anchored, than the natives were crowding aboard, astonished at, and ad- miring everything they saw. They came trading with skins, but these could not procure all that they desired. One poor fellow, therefore, was prompted to steal. He swept his canoe lightly under the stern, crawled up the rudder into the cabin window, and stole a pillow with some articles of clothing. The mate saw him as he moved off with his canoe, shot at him and killed him. The rest now fled in terror, some taking to their canoes, and some plunging into the stream. The ship's boat was manned at once, and sent to secure the stolen articles. These were easily obtained ; but as the boat came back, one of the Indians who was swimming in the water took hold of her, endeavoring to overturn her. The cook now drew a sword, and with one blow cut off his hand. The poor creature sank to the bottom — never to rise again. They now returned to the ship, got under way immediate- ly, and passing down six miles farther, anchored, near dark, off the mouth of Croton river, near the entrance into Tappan Sea. The next day, with a fair wind, they sailed twenty-one miles, which must have brought them somewhere near the head of Manhattan /8B HENRY HUDSON. Island. Here they soon found themselves in trouble. The two Indians who had escaped from the ship on their way up, angry and indignant at their captivity, had roused a number of their countrymen along the shores of the river, and they were now assembled near this point to attack Hudson on his return. A canoe ap- peared, in which was one of those who had escaped, and many others armed with bows and arrow^s. Hudson suspected something from their appearance, and none of them were allowed to come on board. Presently, tw^o canoes filled with armed men dropped under the stern, and the attack was commenced with their bows and arrows — six muskets were fired from the ship, and three Indians fell dead. The Indians on the land, marking what was done, were now exas- perated the more : they moved down to the shore in a solid body, (" about one hundred of them,") and made ready with their bows as the ship passed slow^ly on. A cannon was now fired from the ship upon them, and two more Indians fell. The rest fled for the woods, with the excep- tion of nine or ten desperate men, w^ho were resolved upon revenge. These jumped into a canoe, and advanced to meet the ship. The cannon was again discharged, the canoe " shot I HENRY HUDSON. 87 through," and another man killed — at the same time the men fired again with their muskets and killed three or four men. Thus the fight ended with the loss of nine Indians. The ship now moved on her way, and at the distance of " two leagues" dropped anchor under the shores of what is now known as Hoboken. The next day was stormy ; but the morning of the 4th dawned upon them with a fair wind. Hudson again weighed an- chor, passed through the bay, and with all sails set, put out to sea once more."^ It is said, that Hudson's crew had more than once been dissatisfied at the length of this voy- age, and at one time even threatened an open mutiny. He thought it best, therefore, to learn of them now what they desired to do ; whether to return to Holland, or steer north again. One man (the mate) was in favor of wintering in Newfoundland, and seeking a passage to the East by Davis' Straits. But Hudson, perceiving the mutinous spirit of the men, opposed this, giv- ing as his reason, the privations and sorrows of a northern winter in a strange land. He kept his course, therefore, homeward, and on the 7th ♦ The author has followed Hudson very minutely in his voyage on the River, because he supposed this part of his career had more than an ordinary interest for his young coua trymen and especially those of the State of New York. 88 HENRY HUDSON of November, after an absence of little more than seven months from Amsterdam, he arrived safely at Dartmouth in England. The crew, you will remember, was composed pai'tly of English, partly of Dutch sailors; and when oiF the coast of England, the English (it is said) mutinied, and forced him to put into an English harbor.* The Dutch historians declare that Hudsot was not allowed to go over to Holland, the English king being jealous of their bold mari- time enterprises. Be this as it may, certain it is, that he remembered his duty to his employers. He sent them at once the journal and chart of his discoveries, pointing them with pride to what he called '^ the Great River of the Mountains y^\ and the next year the Dutch were reaping the fruits of his arduous enterprise. The journal of this voyage J would seem to cast two stains upon the fair character of Henry Hudson : first, that of cruelty toward the Indians, * Lambrechtsen. t The Indian names for the river were Cahohatatea. Mahackaneghtue, and sometimes Shatemuck. It was early called by the Dutch the North River, to distinguish it from the Delaware or South River. X The journal of this voyage in 1609, written by Robert Juet, will be found in Purchas his Pilgrims, HENRY HUDSON. 89 and secondly, that of want of principle in caus- ing the general intoxication on the river. As regards the first, it should be borne in mind that Hudson had under his command a mutinous body of men, and he may have found it impossi- ble to control their refractory and ungovernable tempers. He seems not even to have thought of revenging the death of poor Colman, at Sandy Hook : the mate was the man who shot the poor Indian for the comparatively small crime of stealing the pillow and clothing, and the death of the nine Indians killed at the head of Man- hattan Island, may be said to have been caused in a war of self-defence. In reference to the second, it can only be ac- counted for, by supposing that Hudson was, like his men, suspicious and alarmed, and therefore determined to learn the honesty or treachery ef the Indians by any means whatsoever. 8* CHAPTER VI. Hudson starts on his fourth voyage^ having command of the ship Discovery, in the service once more of the London Company — His aim is to find a J^orth-West Passage to India — Reaches Iceland^ and witnesses an eruption of Mount Hecla — Disturbance among his crew — Steers westward^ encountering great quantities of ice — Discovers and explores Hudson^s Bay^ and resolves to winter there. It is said that Hudson made new proposals for a farther voyage to the Dutch East India Com- pany, and that these proposals were declined.* His plan was to set sail (with a crew of twenty men) from Dartmouth, on the first of March, " spend the month of April and half of May in killing whales and other creatures near the Isl- and of Panar : after that, sail to the north-west and stay there till the middle of September, and at last return to Holland by the north-east- of Scotland." • Forster's Northern Voyages, HENRY HCDSON. 91 Whether this story be true or false, certain it IS that he was not long seeking employment. Another voyage had given him a greater name, and the story of his discoveries roused once more the spirit of the London Company. His old employers (who had sent him out in 1607 and '8) now called him again into their own service. They determined to make an effort for a north- west passage by examining the inlets of the American continent — and more especially Davis' Straits, through which it was supposed a channel might be found into the " Great South Sea.'' Early in the spring of 1610, therefore, the ship Discovery, of fifty-five tons, was equipped, manned with twenty-three men, and the command given to Henry Hudson. One of these twenty-three was Robert Juet, who had sailed with Hudson before, another, his son John Hudson, and another, Henry Green^ whose history I will briefly relate to you, as he is to act a conspicuous part in this voyage. Henry Green was a young Englishman, born of respectable parents, and had respectable con- nexions — ^but by his extravagant and wicked habits he had forced them to cast him off, and was now almost a beggar. In this condition, Hudson fell in with him ; and having pity for his 92 HENRY HUDSON. youth, and a desire to reclaim him from his worth- less ways, he clothed and fed him, hoping to gain the yomig man's love and gratitude. The thought now struck him that he would take Green out on this voyage. His name was not entered as one of the crew : he was only the companion of the master. Yet to rouse his ambition and prompt him to that which was good, Hudson promised him wages : and to awaken his pride the more, encouraged him to hope that he should be made upon his return one of the " Prince's Guards." Through Hudson's persuasion, a friend went to the mother of Green, and asked for enough money to purchase some clothes for the voyage. Yet she knew the madness and profligacy of her son so well, that she hesitated long before she would advance even five pounds, and then it was bestow- ed on the express condition that it should not be given to the young man, but expended for him. On the 17th of April, 1610, the Discovery dropped down the Thames. It seems that the London Company had insisted upon placing aboard an experienced seaman by the name of Coleburne to make this voyage with Hudson. Whether he supposed that this cast a reflection upon his own skill, or from some other cause, Hudson was displeased with it ; and ere the ship HENRY HUDSON. 93 left the river, he put this man aboard another vessel bound up to London and sent him back. It is strange that we do not know his motives for this, since he sent by the man a letter to his em- ployers containing the reasons for his conduct He now kept on his voyage. On the 6th of May, he passed the north of Scotland and the Orkneys, which he says he found to be " not sc northerly as is commonly set down." On the 8th, he saw the Faroe Islands, and on the 11th was upon the eastern shores of Iceland. Coast- ing along its southern shore, he beheld in the dis- tance Mount Hecla casting forth its flames of fire : and after struggling for more than a fortnight against head winds and icebergs, at length, on the 30th, made a harbor in the western part of the island. The natives of this island were poor and miserable, but they treated him very kindly. He found upon going ashore a hot spring, (Iceland abounds in these springs,) so hot that " it would scald a fowl" — yet we are told the men bathed in the water freely. Here Hudson began to discov- er that he unfortunately had about him some dis- satisfied men. It was rumored that Juet the mate had been speaking Hghtly of the enterprise, dis- couraging the men, and trying to destroy their confidence in Hudson, calling up their fears by 94 HENRY HUDSON. telling them of the hazards of the voyage : that he had even urged two of the men " to keep their muskets charged and swords ready in their cabins, for there would be blood shed before the voyage ended," and had talked boldly about turning the head of the ship homeward. While the ship lay here at anchor, a circumstance occurred, which gave Juet the chance of making new mischief. The surgeon and Henry Green got into a quarrel, and Juet took part in it. The whole story is told by Habakkuk Pricket, one of the sailors and an eye-witness, in the following words : " At Ice- land, the surgeon and he (Henry Green) fell out m Dutch, and he beat him ashore in English, which set all the company in a rage, so that w^e had much ado to get the surgeon aboard. I told the master of it, but he bade me let it alone : for, said he, the surgeon had a tongue that would wrong the best friend he had. But Robert Juet, the master's mate, would needs burn his finger in the embers, and told the carpenter a long tale when he was drunk, that our master had brought m Green to crack his credit that should displease him : which word was carried to the master's ears, who when he understood it, would have gone back to Iceland, when he was forty leagues from thence, to have sent home his mate Robert Juet HENRY HUDSON. 95 m a fisherman. But being otherwise persuaded, all was well. So Henry Green stood upright and very inward with the master^ and was a ser- viceable man every way for manhood : but for religion he would say, he was clean paper where- on he might write what he would."* On the 1st of June, Hudson sailed from Ice- land. Deceived by a fog-bank, he fancied that he saw land in the west, but it was not till the 4th, that he beheld the coast of Greenland " rising very mountainous, and full of round hills like to sugar loaves covered with snow." The ice lay so thick along the shore, that Hudson did not attempt to make a landing, but stood imme- diately for the south of Greenland. In his voy- age now^ he met great numbers of whales. Some came close alongside, and one passed directly under the ship, but fortunately no harm was done, for which they were very thankful. Doub- ling the southern point of Greenland, he passed in sight of Desolation Island, near which he saw a " great island or mountain of ice," and kept his course north-west, for the American conti- nent. As he passed on, across Davis' Straits, he continually met these floating ice mountain^, al- 1 * It seems from this, that when Hudson left Iceland he was i ignorant of the extent of Juet^s insolence. 96 HENRY HUDSON. ways endangering and sometimes obstructmg his progress. One of these overturned once near the ship, and taught him to keep farther from them : but while strugghng to avoid one, he would meet another, and the farther he went they seemed to him to grow more'' numerous and ter- | rifying." Still, by perseverance and skill, he managed to reach a bay, (supposed to be near the great strait which now bears his name,) when a storm overtook him. The ice was now driving so rapidly against the ship, that Hudson was forced as his only chance for escape, to run her into the thickest of it, and there leave her. Some of the men were now dismayed and sick, or, as the journal says, " some of our men fell sick : I will not say it was of fear, although I saw small sign of other grief When the storm ceased they went to work to extricate themselves. It was a sad prospect, for as far as the eye could see, the waters were covered with the huge masses of floating ice. They stood now for one clear sea, and then for another, but were .still hemmed in by the ice in every direction. After trying to make their way through north, north-west, west, and south-west, they at last laid the ship's course to the south. Yet the more they labored, the worse their situation became, until at last they HENRY HUDSON. 97 could proceed no farther. Hudson's heart now sickened;, for as he cast his eyes again and again upon the desolate scene, there seemed no possi- bility of escape. Yet his courage failed not, al- though he afterwards confessed to one of the men that he feared he should never escape, but was doomed to perish there in the ice. His crew, however, saw no sign of fear in him, for he carried a cheerful countenance, while they were dismayed and broken spirited. He now brought out his chart, and calling all the men around him, shewed them that they had passed three hundred miles farther than any Englishman had been before, and gave them their choice, whether they would proceed or turn back. The men could come to no decision: some were for proceeding, some for returning. One man said that "if he had one hundred pounds, he w^ould give four score and ten to be at home 5" — ^while the carpenter, who had some courage, said "that if he had a hundred he would not give ten upon any such condition : but would think it to be as good money as any he ever had, and to bring it as well home by the leave of God." The great majority of them did not care where they went, provided they were only clear of the ice, and some spoke angry 98 HENRY HUDSON. words against the master. This was precisely what Hudson expected. He knew that he had a mutinous set of men, and that they themselves scarcely knew what they desired. Yet this wa? no time to resent their words and punish them His object was to pacify them. He therefore reasoned with them, trying to allay their fears, rouse their hopes, and inspire them with courage, until at length, they all again set resolutely at work to bring the ship from the ice, and save them- selves. After much labor they succeeded in turning her round. They now worked their way by Uttle and httle, until at length they found themselves in a clear sea, and kept on their course north-west. There is no scene in the life of Hudson shew- ing greater firmness and presence of mind than this. With his little ship hemmed in by moun- tains of ice, and a murmuring and desperate crew on board, he might naturally have exhibit- ed some symptoms of fear, both as to the dan- gers without, and the danger within the ship. There can be few situations more perilous, yet he is calm. His mind rises with the occasion . he brings around him these desperate sailors, calms their fears, and inspires thetn with new courage. Overcoming these, he now overcomes the storm without, and presses on his voyage. HENRY HUDSON. 99 On the 8th of July, he again saw the land bearing south-west, but it was all covered with snow, and he gave it the name of Desire Pro^ voked. Having now entered the straits which bear his name, he kept his course west, and jpent nearly the whole month of July in passing Ihrough them. This was a new world around hem, and as he passed on, he gave names to the .>ew bays, capes, and islands, which fell under ms observation. The main land he called •' Magna Britannia." To some rocky islands bear which he anchored as a shelter from a 5torm, he gave the name of the " Isles of God^s Mercies," and to a high point of land which he passed, the name of " Hold with Hope" To other places he gave the names of Prince Hen- ry^s Cape, King Jameses Cape, and Queen Ann's Cape. They were still occasionally in the neigh • borhood of ice, but the men seem now to have become familiar with this sort of danger, and even from time to time to have amused them- selves by chasing bears that were seen upon the floating pieces. The last point of land which he seems to have marked apon this course, was a bold headland upon the northern shore, to which he gave the name of Salisbury's Fore- land, From this point, he stood south-west, and 100 HENRY HUDSON. running about fourteen leagues, entered a strait about two leagues broad. In honor of two of the company that had employed him, he named the cape on the south side of the strait, Cape Worsenholme, and that on the north, Cape Digges, This strait, you will find, w^as but the passage way to the great bay, which now bears his name. Full of hope, now that the long-sought pas- sage to the East was clear before him, he sent a number of the men on shore at Cape Digges, that they might climb the hills, and see the great ocean beyond the straits. As the men wander- ed on the land, which was covered with grass, (among which was much sorrel and scurvy grass,) they saw herds of deer : at one time as many as sixteen in a herd, and abundance of fowls flying over their heads. Still pressing to- ward the hills, which seemed to grow farther as they advanced, they met with strange piles of stones. These they thought must be the work of some civilized people, but on coming near and lifting up one of the stones, they found the piles were hollow, and filled inside w^ith fowls hung by the neck. A thunder storm now came on, and prevented their exploring farther. With some difficulty they reached the ship, for a fog HENRY HUDSON. 101 nad risen upon the water, and Hudson found it necessary to fire two guns, that they might know where he was. They told of what sup- pUes they had found, and when the storm was over, tried to persuade the master to remain here a day or two, while they went ashore again, and provisioned the ship. But Hudson would listen to no such request. He could suffer no delay, for he felt almost certain that his way was clear before him, and he burned to press onward. He weighed anchor immediately, and keeping the main land on the left, touched the rocks among the SleeperSy encountered a storm, and passing south-east, soon discovered two points of land before him. He now sent some of the men ashore again, to notice if they could see the ocean beyond They returned, reporting that the sea was open to the south. Pressing immediately between these points he entered the sea, and continuing his course south, (stopping only once to take in ballast and water,) was ere long at the southern extremity of it. - It proved to be only a part of the great inland sea (Hudson's Bay) upon which he was voyaging ; and disappointed that he could proceed no farther in this direction, with a sad heart he prepared to retrace his course northward. Here he began to hear once 9* 102 HENRY HUDSON. more, the murmurings of his mutinous crew. He had borne with their complaints patiently be- fore, but now he would endure them no longer. Robert Juet the mate, and Francis Clement the boatswain, were suspected of making the trouble, and Juet, like most guilty men, endeavored to make a show of innocence by demanding that the charges against him should be investigatCv.. A court of inquiry was therefore appointed to try him. It was proved that before they reached Iceland, Juet had tried to dishearten the men and shake their confidence in the commander : his insolence as regards the quarrel between Green and the surgeon, and his wicked advice to some of the men to keep their arms loaded by them, were also sworn to : and there were wit- nesses to shew that ever since the ship left Cape Digges, he had been endeavoring to plot mis- chief Hudson decided, therefore, that he should no longer be the mate, and Robert Bylot was appointed in his place. The boatswain was found guilty of conduct almost as bad, and his place was given to William Wilson. Hudson seems to have felt sorry that he found these acts necessary, for he admonished both Juet and Clement kindly, and promised that if they would behave well for the future he would not HENRY HUDSON. 103 only forget past injuries, but be the means of doing them good. It was now the 10th of September, and Hud- Son, moving north again, spent the whole of this and the next month in exploring the great bay, still longing for his eastern passage. From time to time tempests would strike the ship, and he would make a harbor where he could. During one storm they were forced to cut their cable, and thereby lost their anchor. At another time the ship ran upon rocks, and stuck fast for twelve hours, but fortunately got off without much injury. At length, the end of October was at hand ; '^ the nights long and cold, the land covered with snow" wherever it was seen, and it was evident that the season for navigation was well nigh past. Hudson now ran the ship into a small bay, and sent Habakkuk Pricket, one of the sailors, and Philip Staffe, the carpenter, off in the boat, to search for a proper place where they might shelter themselves for the win- ter. In a little time they found what they thought a suitable position, the ship was brought there, and hauled aground. It was now the first day of November 5 and by the tenth they found themselves shut up for the season : hard freezing weather had set in, and the ship was completely fastened in the ice. 104 HENRY HUDSON. Some have found fault with this attempt of the commander to winter in this northern bay. It is said " that Hudson, on finding, instead of the India passage, that he was embayed, became distracted, and committed many errors, especially in resolving to winter in that desolate region."* It is easy to find fault with a man, when we do not understand the difficulties of his position, and especially when he proves in the end unfor- tunate. He had enough to distract him : but we can hardly call him distracted, who bore him- self again and again so firmly and calmly against his mutinous crew, and met so resolutely tempest after tempest in that great bay, which the jour- nal speaks of as " a labyrinth without end." * Purchas. CHAPTER Vn The dreary prospect of the winter — Disturbances among the crew — Unexpected supply of wild fowl and fish — Distress from hunger — Hud- son sails from his winter quarters — Green^ Juet^ and Wilson stir the crew up to mutiny — Hudson is seized^ bound, and thrown into the shallop, with others — the shallop set adrift — Fate of the mutineers — The ship arrives in llngland, A LONG and dreary winter was now set in. 1 ivo harsdhips were distinctly before them, the 'igors of a northern winter, and a scanty supply gf provisions ; for the ship had been victualled )nly for six months. Their only hope, therefore, was to take care of what they had, to get what they could in the neighborhood, and have patience till the spring, when they might reach Cape Dig* ges, and then probably obtain supplies. Hudson prudently commenced at once putting the men on an allowance, and then, to encourage 106 HENRY HUDSON. them to industry in procuring other provisions, offered a reward to every man who should kill a ^' Beast, Fish, or Fowl." In about a fortnight, one of their number (John Williams, the gunner) died :* and in addition to the sorrow of losing a companion, another difficulty attended ^his mis- fortune. It seems it was customary, when a man died at sea, after his burial, to bring his clothes to the main-mast, and there sell them to the highest bidder among the sailors. The poor gunner had, among other garments, left an old gray cloth gown, which Henry Green desired, and begged the commander that he would favor him and al- low him to have it. Upon his agreeing to pay as much as any other man would, Hudson impru- dently promised it should be his. This dissatis- 6ed the crew, for it evidently showed that Green was a favorite. Finding his winter quarters not so comforta- ble as they might be, he now ordered the car- penter to go ashore and build a house, for the better accommodation of the crew. The car- penter refused to obey, saying, that the frost and • Hudson is said to have treated this man crueUy, but no word or action of his is brought forward to support thia charge. HENRY HUDSON. 107 snow were such, that he could not do it, and moreover that it was no work of his, for he was only the ship carpenter. Hudson now became angry, and driving him out of the cabin, followed him with abusive words, and even threatened to hang him. The carpenter, still insolent, replied, " that he knew what belonged to his place better than Hudson, and that he was no house carpeu" ter.^^ The carpenter, though insolent, it would seem, was right enough in one particular : it was late to build the house now ; it should have been attended to when they were first frozen in, and he had then spoken to Hudson about it, but at that time he refused to have it done. In this quarrel, Henry Green sided with the carpenter, and this displeased Hudson the more. The diffi- culty bemg ended, the carpenter had time for reflection, and thinking that obedience was best, not only built the house, (which, however, prov- ed of httle advantage,) but was ever after one of the warmest friends that Hudson had in the ship The day after this, the carpenter went ashore with his gun, taking Green along with him. Green left contrary to orders, and the master was again displeased with him. He now took the cloth gown of the gunner that had been prom- 08 HENRY HUDSON. ised to Green, and gave it to Robert Bylot, the mate. Upon Green's return, he was angry, and reminded the master of his promise Hudson upon this spoke harshly to Green, telling him " that all his friends would not trust him with twenty shillings, and therefore why should he ? As for his wages he had none, nor should have, if he did not please him well.'^ These words were never forgotten by Green, but sank deeply in his heart. He seems to have forgotten all former kindness in the remembrance of them. As the season now advanced, they suffered se- verely from the cold : most of the men, from time to time, having their feet frozen, and being ren- dered thereby lame. But in the way of provis- ions, they fared for a while much better than they had even expected. For three months, they found abundance of white partridges around them, and killed of these more than one hundred dozen. Other birds too, were sometimes shot. These afforded supplies through "the extreme cold weather," and when spring came, they were vis- ited by other fowl, such as swan, geese, and ducks. These, however, were taken with diffi- culty. Hudson hoped, when they first made their appearance, that they came to this region to breed, and might be taken easily, but he found. HENRY HUDSON. 109 tliey went farther north for that purpose. Before the ice broke up, these too began to fail, and starvation now drove them to sad extremities They went chmbingover the hills, and wandering through the valleys, in search of anything that might satisfy hunger. They ate the moss on the ground, and every frog that could be found It was a great comfort to them when Thomas Woodhouse, one of their company, discovered in his wanderings a tree bearing certain buds, full of '• turpentine substance." They now, from- time to time, would gather these, boil them, and make a palatable drink. These buds, too, answered another purpose. When steeped hot,, and applied by the surgeon to their aching limbs,, they gave great relief to the sick.* About the time that the ice began to break up,, they were visited by a savage, (the only one they had seen through the winter,) and they were greatly cheered by his arrival. Hudson treated him with great kindness, made him a present of a knife, looking-glass, and some buttons, and the man made signs that he would return again. He was true to his promise this time, for he came back before a great while, drawing his sled, load- • This tree is supposed by Doctor Belknap to be the ^^Pop ulus BalsamiferaJ^ 10 110 HENRY HUDSON. ed with deer and beaver-skins. He was receiv- ed again very kindly, and when he strangely returned the presents he had received, Hudson immediately restored them to him again. He then traded with him for one of his deer-skins, and the savage, as he left them now, made " many signs of people to the north and to the south," and promised that after so many sleeps, he would come again. Whether (as has been said) Hudson's hard bargain for the deer-skin displeased him, or whether some other cause actuated him, certain it is that he came no more, and now all hopes of obtaining provision through him were at an end. Fortunately, now the ice was so far broken up, that they were enabled to make up a fishing party, to try their skill with the net. On the first day they were very successful : they took five hundred fish. They now began to think their sorrows at an end, so far as food was concerned, but they were doomed to disappointment, for on no day after did they take " a quarter of that number." At this time, two of the men (Hen- ry Green and William Wilson) were so dissat- isfied, that they plotted to steal the boat, push off, and shift for themselves. But Hudson now called for the boat himself, and their plot proved idle HENRY HUDSON. Ill He had perceived the woods on fire at the south for some time, and fancied that if he could reach them, he might find some of the people and ob- tain provisions. Accordingly he made ready the boat, took in eight or nine days provisions, and leaving orders that the crew should take in wood, water, and ballast, and have everything in readiness by his return, he departed. His voy- age too, proved profitless — ere long he came back disappointed and tired, for though he could come near enough to see the people setting the woods on fire, he could never reach them.^ The men had obeyed his orders during his ab- sence, and were now prepared to depart from their cold winter quarters. Before he weighed anchor, Hudson, with a sad heart, " distributed among the crew the remnant of provisions," * Hudson is said to have acted foolishly in leaving the men, and not prosecuting the fishing. But this is evidently incor- ^rect, for he took the boat when they were failing in this effort, and went off with the earnest desire of doing good to them all. Purchas (in his pilgrimage) says, " at the opening of the year there came to the ship's side abundance of fish of all sorts that they might therewith have fraught themselves for their return, if Hudson had not too desperately pursued the voyage, neglecting this opportunity of storing themselves with fish^ which he committed to the care of certain careless, dissolute villains, which in his absence conspired against }^ai — in a few iays the fish ali forsook them," 112 HENRY HUDSON. about a pound of bread to each man, " and knowing their wretched condition, and the un- certainty of what might befall them, he also gave to every man a bill of return, which might be showed at home, if it pleased God that they came home, and he wept when he gave it to them." It was about the middle of June, when they hoisted sail. Unfortunately, in three or four days, they found themselves surrounded by ice, and were forced to cast anchor. Here it was discovered, that some of the men had alreadj ravenously ate up all their bread ; and now some cheese was found, and divided among them, " about three pounds and a half to each person." Some of the more prudent part of the crew re- monstrated against this, saying, " that if all the cheese was given out, some of the men would de- vour their share at once, as they had their bread," and they, therefore, advised that a part should be kept back. But as some of the cheese was bad, Hudson determined to make an equal division of all at once, and thereby prevent, as he hoped, all complaints. They were now detained at their anchorage amid the ice for nearly a week, and it was dur- ing this time that signs of open mutiny began to HENRY HUDSON. 119 appear among the crew. Hudson, it seems, said to one of the men, (Nicholas Simmes,) that there would be a breaking up of chests, and a search for bread, and told him if he had any to bring it to him. The man obeyed, and immediately brought forward a bag, containing thirty cakes. Others of the crew now became greatly exasper- ated, and at once commenced their plot for the destruction of their commander. Green and Wilson now went at midnight to Pricket, who was lame in his berth, and opened the plan. This Pricket had been a servant of Sir Dudley Digges,(one of the company who had fitted out the ship,) and the mutineers hoped to secure him as a friend, that he might intercede for pardon in their behalf with his old master when they should reach Endand. These men complained to Pricket, that there was only four- teen days provision in the ship, that the master was irresolute, not knowing what to do, that they had eaten nothing for three days, and " therefore, were determined either to mend or end, and what they had begun they would go through with it, or die." Declaring that they be- lieved their only hope was in taking command of the ship themselves, they expressed themselves fully resolved to do so at all hazards. Their 10* 114 HENRY HUDSON. plan was, to take the master and all the sick, place them in the shallop, set it adrift, and then shift for themselves. In vain did Pricket plead with them of the blackness of this intended crime. He reminded them also, of their wives, their children, and their country, from which they would cut themselves off for ever by the deed, but all to no purpose ; they were fully bent upon it. Green told him " to hold his peace, for he knew the worst, which was, to be hanged when he came home, and therefore, of the two, he would rather be hanged at home than starved abroad.'' He then com- menced cursing, and threatened to have Pricket put in the shallop with the rest. Finding his efforts useless. Pricket now begged that they would delay the crime, but here again he was unsuccessful, they declaring that, if they waited, the plot would be discovered, and sorrow would fall upon themselves. He begged for a delay of three days, of two days, of even twelve hours, but all without effect. He now upbraided them, telling them that it was not their own safety they sought, but blood, and that they were actuated by feelings of revenge. Upon this, Green seized a Bible before him, and swore ^ he would do harm to no man, and what he did HENRY HUDSON. 115 was for the good of the voyage, and nothing else." Wilson then took the same oath, after- wards Juet, Thomas, Perce, Moter, and Bennet came in and swore to the same purpose. The precise words of their oath were as follows : " You shall swear truth to God, your Prince^ and Country ; you shall do nothing hut to the glory of God, and the good of the action in hand, and harm to no man^^ Pricket seems to have brought them to this positive oath, as the only means left for restraining them. How heartless they prov- ed, and how utterly they forgot the oath, we shall presently see. Their plan was now arranged, to be executed at day-light, and in the mean time, the wretch Green hung around the master with pretended love. Besides Hudson and the sick, they had resolved to put into the shallop the carpenter and Henry King. They pretended to be dissat- isfied with these, because of some injustice done about the provisions ; but the true cause of their dislike of the carpenter was, that Hud- son loved him, and after leaving their winter quarters, had made him the mate in place of Robert Bylot. Pricket, however, urged that they could not do without the carpenter, and they consented that he should remain. It hap- 116 HENRY HUDSON. pened that King and the carpenter slept upon deck that night, and at day-break, King was ob- served to go down " into the hold," as Bennet, the cook, was going down for water. Some of the mutineers now ran and closed down the hatches on him, while others held the carpenter in a talk, so that he did not notice what was going on. Hudson now came up from his cabin, and was immediately seized by Thomas and Bennet, who held him fast, while Wilson bound his arms behind him. '' He asked them what they meant? they told him he should know when he was in the shallop." In the mean time, Juet went into the hold to attack King. Here there was a sharp conflict, for King had got a sword, and not only kept him at bay, but would have killed him, had not others who heard the noise ran down to Juet's assistance. Hud- son now called to the carpenter, telling him that he was bound, but he could give him no help. Lodlo and Bute reproached their shipmates, telling them " their knavery would show itself." The boat was now hastily hauled alongside, and the sick and lame were called up from their berths, to get into the shallop. Hudson now called to Pricket to come to the hatch-way to speak with him. Pricket crawled up, and on HENRY HUDSON. 117 his knees " besought them, for the love of God, to remember themselves, and do as they would be done unto." Their only answer was, to or- der him back to his berth, and they would not allow him one w^ord with the commander. He went back, Hudson still calling to him at " the horn which gave light into his cabin, and telling him that Juet would overthrow them all." ^' Nay," replied Pricket, " it is that villain, Henry Green." Hudson, thus bound, was put into the shal- lop, and his son John thrown in alongside of him. Then came the sick and the lame, Arnold Lodlo, Sidrack Faner, Thomas Wydhouse, Adam Moore, Henry King, and Michael Bute. Two others were to have been put in — Francis Clem- ents, and the cooper; but John Thomas was a friend to Clements, and Bennet to the cooper, and while Henry Green swore they should go, they swore they should not, and at last they were al- lowed to remain. The carpenter was now free, and they desired him to remain, but he declared that he would not desert his commander, or stay with such villains. He asked for his chest of tools, and they placed it in the shallop. Before leaving, he went below to talk with Pricket, who begged him to remain and use his influence to 118 HENRY HUDSON. have the others taken ba^k. But the carpenter refused, saying, that they would all be in the ship again, for there was no one on board who knew enough to carry her home. He thought the boat would be kept in tow only for a time ; but begged Pricket, if they should be parted, that if it was his lot first to reach Cape Digges, he would leave some token there, by which he might know it. Promising in return that he would do the same thing, if he had the good for- tune to be first there, " with tears in their eyes,'* they parted. The carpenter, now taking a gun, some powder and shot, an iron pot, a small quan- tity of meal, and some other provisions, leaped into the shallop.* The anchor was now weigh- ed, the sails hoisted, and with a fair wind they stood eastward, dragging the shallop at the * " But see what sincerity can do in the most desperate trials. Phihp Staffe,an Ipswich roan, who, according to his name, had been a principal staffe and stay to the weaker and more un- settled courage of his companions in the whole action, light- ening and enlightening their drooping, darkened spirits, with sparks from his own resolution ; their best purveyor with his piece on shore, and both a skilful carpenter and lusty mari- ner on board, when he could by no persuasions, seasoned with tears, divert them from their devilish designs, notwithstanding they entreated him to stay with them, yet chose rather to commit himself to God's mercy in the forlorn shallop, than with such villains to accept of likelier hopes.**— Pwrc/ia* hU Pilgrims, HENRY HUDSON. 119 stern. When they had nearly cleared the ice, they cut the rope, and the boat was adrift. Now they hoisted their topsails, and stood away into a clear sea. In a little time they low- ered their topsails, righted helm, and commenced the work of ransacking the ship. Chests and lockers were broken open, and every place was pillaged. In the cabin they found some biscuit and a but of beer ; and a few pieces of pork, some meal, and a small quantity of peas were found in the hold. While they were busy at this work, some one cried out, that the shallop was in sight. Pricket now besought them to take their poor comrades on board again. But this they refused to do. Although they had now obtained all the provisions to themselves, and might at least have taken the boat in tow as far as Cape Digges, where Hudson and his compan- ions might have found some relief, and perhaps once more reached Europe — they positively re- fused to aid them in any way. The truth is, these mutineers did not desire that they should live : so they again hoisted sail, and stood away from the boat " as from an enemy." A more outrageous and heartless crime than this, committed by the mutineers, can hardly be thought of. It wac> not only murder, but murder 120 HENRY HUDSON. under the very worst circumstances. Green, the ringleader in it, had been taken by Hudson, when he was a castaway from his own mother, and treated as his own son. He repaid the love of his benefactor, by this act of base in- gratitude ; and his conduct serves to show how early profligacy and sin wall deaden the feelings of the heart, and steel it against all that is good. Juet, another conspirator, had sailed with the commander on former voyages, and shared all his glories and his perils. Wilson, another of the set, had been selected by Hudson as a good man, and appointed the boatswain. This was the man who, more than any other, refused to hearken to the entreaty of Pricket, that the men might be taken aboard — and these were the three principal men who had plotted this mis- chief. To make the crime worse, with cold-blooded cruelty, they took the sick and the lame, and gave these suffering men to the rough winds and cold w^aters of the Northern Sea, with scarcely a morsel to subsist upon. It would have been mercy, indeed, to have killed them all at once, but their cruelty preferred leaving them to a long, lingering, and horrible death. And this horrible death, even the young son of Hudson was to HENRY HUDSON. 121 share, though his tender years might have pleaded in his behalf. The mutineers now kept on their way under Henry Green, who was appointed their com- mander. Their aim was to reach Cape Digges, but it was more than a month before this was accomplished. Green was utterly ignorant and unfit to command ; Robert Juet thought he was wiser, and offered his counsels: but the truth is, Robert Bylot was the most serviceable man among them, and but for him, they would probably have never reached the Capes at any time. Du- ring this month, the ship seems to have been tossed about at the mercy of the winds, and their lives were more than once endangered. At one time they were for a fortnight embayed with ice, which stretched for miles around them, and feared they should never escape. Thrice did the ship run upon rocks, and on one occasion remained so for hours, until the flood tide floated her off. Provisions, too, were scanty ; but they were able to make landings sometimes, and catch a few fish, shoot a few fowl, and gather the cockle- grass which spread itself along the shores. Guilt will make a coward of any man, and so these men were all cowards : while they feared the perils which surrounded them, they also 11 122 HENRY HUDSON. feared even the success of reaching England. Cursing and swearing, they were continually declaring that England was " no safe place for them;" and Green swore that the ship should keep the sea until he had the khig's hand and seal for his pardon. At length, to their great comfort, they came in sight of the Capes, where they hoped for sup- plies. The boat was immediately sent ashore to obtain provisions. As it approached, it was met by seven canoes filled with the natives. The savages w^ere at first alarmed, and drew back; but presently they became familiar, and hostages were exchanged between the parties. After- wards they all went ashore, and met in the tents of the natives. There was great joy among tliem. The savages danced, leaped, stroked their breasts, and offered them many things, so that the men returned to the ship greatly pleased, thinking they had found a kind and hospitable people. Some few of the mutineers were sus- picious of these savages; but most of them, with Henry Green at their head, had all confidence in their kindness. Accordingly, the next day. Green ordered the boat to be made ready, and with Wilson, Thomas, Perse, Moter, and Pricket, started for HENRY HUDSON. 123 the shore : the boat was laden with such articles as they thought of trafficking, and Pricket, being lame, was to remain in the boat, and guard the articles while the others landed. Green foolishly went unarmed, though some of his companions advised him to the contrary. As they came near, they saw the savages upon the hills, dancing and leaping. The boat touched and was fast- ened ; and while Green, Wilson, and Thomas met the savages on the beach, who came down displaying their articles of traffic, Perse and Moter went up on the hills to pick sorrel ; Prick- et, in the mean time, remained in the stern of the boat. While matters were going on thus, one of the savages stepped into the boat ; but Pricket, bemg suspicious, ordered him out. In the mean time, another stole behind Pricket, un- observed, and stabbed him twice before he could reach his own dagger and despatch him. Now there was a general conflict on shore. Green, Perse, Wilson, and Thomas came tumbling into the boat, badly wounded. Moter, seeing the fight from the hill, leaped from the rocks, plunged into the sea, and held fast to the stern ; Perse helped him in, seized a hatchet, laid one of the savages dead, and pushed off the boat. They were followed by clouds of arrows : Green was 124 HENRY HUDSON. instantly killed, and Perse and Pricket again wounded ; still, Perse with Moter rowed rapidly towards the ship, until Perse fainted, and Moter was left to manage the boat alone. Fortunately, the savages did not follow them with their boats. Moter now made signals to the ship, (for he could not reach her,) and she came to his reUef. The body of Green was thrown into the sea ; Wilson and Thomas died the same day, cursing and raving in the most awful manner ; and Perse died two days afterward. The wretched crew still needed supplies, and it was necessary, even at the peril of their lives, to obtain them. A party was therefore formed, who went along the shore and managed to kill a quantity of fowl ; and now they hoisted sail again, glad enough to depart from this inhos- pitable region. By the time they reached the inlet of Hudson's Straits, their provisions again ran so low that they were obliged to live on short allowances, and devour even the skins of the fowls. Now* they pressed toward the Deso- lations, as well as they could. Robert Juet urged them to steer for Newfoundland, stating that there they would find relief from some of their countrymen, or, if they failed in that, would at least discover some supplies left behind by them* HENRY HUDSON. 125 Accordingly they altered their course ; but, for- tunately for them, as it turned out, the wind changed, and they now determined to shape their course for Ireland. It is hardly possible to give any idea of the sufferings of these miserable men, as they were tossed about upon the ocean. Ignorant, discontented, and sad, they lived on, with their sorrows increasing from day to day. All their meat being gone, they were forced to take salt broth for dinner, and half a fowl for supper ; then, as provisions became more scanty, they took the bones of the fowls, fried them in tallow, and ate them gladly. Even the vinegar and candles were now divided among them — about a pound of candles to each man. Yet they were far from Ireland. Exhausted and weakened, they became unable to stand at the helm, but sat and steered the ship. Juet died in agony, of starvation, and the rest were now in despair : they had lost all hope of reaching Ireland ; they cared not which way the vessel went. The poor wretches " would sit and see the foresail or mainsail fly up to the tops, the sheets being either flown or broken, and would not help it themselves, nor call to others for help.'' At length it pleased God to bring them in sight of land. They raised a joyful cry, and now 11* 126 HENRY HUDSON. strived to reach the coast. This they could not do, but now, by God's mercy, a still more joyful cry was heard — "A sail ! a sail !" A fishing Dark on the coast had marked their distress, came off to them, and took them safely into a harbor in Ireland. Their wants were now supplied, and through the kindness of the commander of the bark, and the sympathy of a stranger, they were enabled to reach Plymouth ; thence they proceeded to Gravesend, and ere long were in London. Great was the astonishment of Sir Thomas Smith (one of the company who had fitted out this ship) when these men appeared before him. He had not heard of the ship for nearly eighteen months, and supposed, of course, that she was lost. Great, too, was his sorrow and the sor- row of all England, when the sad story of their sufferings and sins was made known ; for Hud- son had ever reflected honor upon his country, and his countrymen loved him and grieved over him. Such was their love, that the London Com- pany was not satisfied till it had made an effort to save him. The next year, hoping that they might learn something of the fate of Hudson, and possibly relieve him, two ships (the Disco-' HENRY HUDSON. 127 very^ in which Hudson had last sailed, and the Resolution) were sent out, under the command of Captain Thomas Button. Pricket was taken along as a sort of guide ; and as the flood tide near Cape Digges was represented by him as coming from the west, a faint hope was enter- tained that they might also find the Northwest passage. The ships returned the next year, having failed in both objects. No tidings of Henry Hudson were ever more received. Whether he persevered until he reached Cape Digges, and was there murdered by the savages ; whether he perished in the ice, or died by famine, or was swallowed by the waves, no man can tell. All that is known is, that Hudson and his compan- ions were never more heard of. Whatever was his fate, however, he has left behind him a bright and honorable name. His reputation is this ; that with matchless fortitude he lived amid the perils of the seas, still giving names to strange and unknown regions. In England they mourned for him, for he w^as their countryman, and they felt his loss. Yet, though he was no native of our land, his discoveries make him ours. His daring adventures were performed in this New World where we dwell • 128 HENRY HUDSON. and therefore our country has not been un- mindful of perpetuating his memory. She has seized his name as something which belongs to her ; written it upon one of her fairest streams ; and graven it for ever upon the palisades and the hills of the Hudson. His best monument is mdeed in this western world ; for here it is, upon the continent of North America, that a bay, a strait, a city, and a river, all bear the name of Hudson.* * The story of this last voyage is gathered from Hudson's own journal, the journal of Habakkuk Pricket, and a note discovered in the desk of Thomas Wydhouse, all of which may be seen in ^' Purchas his Pilgrims." The names of the crew, as far as they can be gathered, were as follows: Henry Hudson, John Hudson, Robert Juet, Henry Green, Habakkuk Pricket, Robert Bylot, William Wil- son, John Thomas, Bennet the cook, Andrew Moter, Michael Perse, Philip Staffe, Arnold Lodlo, Francis Clements, Michael Bute, Thomas Wydhouse, Sidrack Faner, Adrian Moore, John King, Nicholas Simmes John WiUiams, Matthews and tlw cooper,— 23. CHAPTER VIIL Giaim of John and Sebastian Cabot, as having seen what is now Jfew York in 1497 5 together with the claim of John de Verrazzano, to having entered J^ew York Harbor in 1524. We have now followed Henry Hudson in his last adventure. The whole of his career is in- teresting, but the story of his third voyage par- ticularly so to the citizens of the State of New York — as it sets him forth as the discoverer of this portion of the New World ; the first Euro- pean who trod upon our own soil. I am anxious, however, to do him no more than justice, and while I believe that he was thus the discoverer of what is now New York, it is right that I should tell you, that some have supposed that the land which we tread was possibly seen, and the harbor of New York probably entered, before the days of Henry Hudson. When I shall have told you by whom it is thought this was done, then I shall have fairly finished. 130 HENRY HUDSON. The names of John and Sebastian Cabot are, I dare say, well known to many of you. If not, you will remember now that they were experien- ced navigators — natives of Venice, who lived in England. In the year 1497, these men, under the patronage of King Henry the Seventh, sailed from England in search of a North- West passage to India. It is said, they passed along the coast of North America, from the 67th to the 26th degree of north latitude. In this run, they must have passed what is now known as the State of New York, and it is supposed that they must have seen the land. But if they did, certain it is, that they did nothing more than see it, and even this is im- certain. It is very remarkable, that these men seem not even to have noticed the coasts along which they passed. At least, upon their return to England, they had no satisfactory knowledge to give farther than this, that there was a western continent. Intent, probably, upon the main ob- ject of their voyage, (a passage to the East,) and not finding it, they lost sight of other things. But at best, it is only claimed that they saw the land ; it is not pretended that they landed on any part of it. A stronger claim is set up in behalf of a Flor- entine, John de Verrazzano,who was engaged in the service of Francis First, king of France. It HENRY HUDSON. 131 seems that Verrazzano had been trusted by his master, for some time, with the command of four ships, to cruise against the Spaniards. These ships being at one time overtaken by a storm and separated, Verrazzano resolved now to keep on his way alone, and undertake a voyage in search of new regions. The world was then fill- ed with the stories of maritime adventures and new discoveries, and he seems to have thought an effort this way more pleasant, and perhaps more profitable, than chasing the Spaniards. It was on the 7th day of January, in the year 1524, that with these feelings, he set sail from the des- olate rocks to the east of Madeira, (known by the English as " the Deserters,") and kept his course westerly. Nearly two months passed away, before he came near the American coast. He then reached it in the latitude of 34 degrees north, and was of course off the coast of North Carolina. He now sailed south until he came (it is said) to the region of Palm-trees.^ From this point he turned and sailed north, as far as about the latitude of 41 degrees north, where he • Rev. Dr. Miller, in his lecture before the New York Histor- ical Society in 1809, thinks this must have been as far as the southern part of the State of Georgia, as the Palm-tree is no^ found north of that 132 HENRY HUDSON. entered a spacious harbor. Some suppose that this was the harbor of New York. They reach this conclusion, as they think, by noticing Ver- razzano's description of the harbor which he en- tered, together with some other circumstances. His description is in the following words : " This land is situated in the parallel of jRome, in for- ty-one degrees and two terces; but somewhat more cold by accidental causes. The mouth of the haven lieth open to the south, half a league broad, and being entered within it, between the east and the north, it stretcheth twelve leagues, where it weareth broader and broader, and maketh a gulf about twenty leagues in compass, wherein are five small islands, very firuitfiil and pleasant, full of high and broad trees, among the which islands, any great navy may ride safe, without any fear of tempest or other danger."* This has been thought a tolerably fair descrip- tion of New York harbor by some ; while one celebrated historianf has concluded that it " must be that of JVew YorkJ^ Others again have fan- cied, that it agreed better with the harbor of * Verrazzano's letter to Francis Frst, in Hakluyt^s CoUection of Voyages. The letter will be given entire at the close of this volume. t Dr. Belknap. HENRY HUDSON. 133 Newpou, in Rhode Island. I believe, however, that by looking closely to the description, it will be found by most people, difficult to apply it to either of those harbors.'* Verrazzano remained in this harbor about fif- teen days. He with many of his men was frequently on shore, trading with the natives, and he describes both the country and natives fully. Here again, his descriptions of the persons, dress, and customs of the savages, are supposed to bring before us the same people that were seen nearly a century afterward by Hudson. It must be confessed that he had time for observation, and w^hile his descriptions of the natives may be com- plete, it is well known that they will apply to the savages on other parts of the American con- tinent, as well as to those found upon the soil of what is now the State of New York. All that can therefore be fairly claimed for Verrazzano is the possibility, perhaps probability, of his hav- ing been in New York harbor. Verrazzano left this harbor (whatever harbor it was) on the fifth of May, and keeping a north- easterly course, was ere long as high as the 56th . degree of north latitude — and probably some- * This is the opinion of Rev. Dr. Miller 12 134 HENRY HUDSON. where off the coast of Labrador From this point he sailed directly toward France, which he reached in the month of July. A few days after his arrival at the port of Dieppe, he wrote his letter to the French King, giving the story of his voyage. The story, it seems, caused no excite- ment at home, nor did it serve as a guide to any future navigator. Nearly a century passed away before we hear anything farther of this part of the American continent, and then we hear of it through the voyage and discovery of Hen- ry Hudson. Ignorant of the discovery of this portion of the new world by any preceding nav- igator, he sailed from England, and has left among us the certain memorial of his adven- tures.*" It may prove uninteresting to you now, but * It is stated by Charlevoix ^ that Verrazzano, a short time after his arrival in France, fitted out another expedition, with the design of estabUshing a colony in America ; and that all that is known of this enterprise is, that having embarked, he was never seen more, and that it never has been ascertained what became of him. It is stated, however, by RamusiOj that when Verrazzano landed, he and the people who went ashore with him were cut to pieces and devoured by the savages, in the sight of the rest of the crew, who had remained on board the ship, and were unable to help them. This last story is believed both by Dr. Forster and Dr. Belknap. HENRY HUDSON. 135 possibly interesting to older readers, and to your- selves hereafter — and I therefore give, in an ap- pendix, the entire letter of John de Verrazzano to the King of France, that every one may judge fairly for himself, who was the discoverer of what is now the State of New York. The style and spelling of the letter are quaint and old fashioned, but I prefer publishing it precisely as it is written. APPENDIX. TO THE MOST CHRISTIAN KING OF FKANCE, FRANCIS THE FIRST. THE RELATION OF JOHN DE VERRAZZANO, A FLOREN- TINE, OF THE LAND BY HIM DISCOUERED IN THE NAME OF HIS MAIESTIE. WRITTEN IN DIEPE, THE EIGHT OF JULY, 1524.* I WROTE not to your Maiesty, most Christian King, since the time we suffered the Tempest in the North partes, of the successe of the foure shippes, which your Maiestie sent forth to dis- couer new lands by the Ocean, thinking your Maiestie had bene already duely enformed thereof Now by these presents I will give your Maiestie to understand, how by the violence of the Windes we were forced with the two shippes, the Norman and the Dolphm, (in such euill case as they were,) to land in Britaine. Where after * Taken from Hakluyt^s Voyages. 12* 138 APPENDIX. wee had repayred them in all poynts as was needefulL and armed them very well, we took our course along by the coast of Spaine, which your Maiestie shall understand by the profite that we receiued thereby. Afterwards with the Dolphin alone we determined to make discouerie of new Countries, to prosecute the Nauigation we had already begun, which I purpose at this present to recount unto your Maiestie, to make manifest the whole proceeding of the matter. The 17 of January, the yeere 1524, by the Grace of God, we departed from the dishabited rocke by the isle of Madeira, apperteining to the King of Portugal, with 50 men, with victuals, weapons, and other ship-munition very well pro- uided and furnished for eight months ; and sail- ing Westward with a faire Easterly winde, in 25 dayes we ran 500 leagues, and the 20 of Februarie, we were ouertaken with as sharpe and terrible a tempest as euer any saylers suf- fered, whereof with the diuine helpe and merci- full assistance of Almighty God, and the good- nesse of our shippe, accompanied with the good happe of her fortunate name, we were deliuered, and with a prosperous winde followed our course West and by North. And in other 25 dayes we made aboue 400 leagues more, where we RELATION OF JOHN DE VERRAZZANO. 139 discouered a new land, neuer before seene of any man either ancient or moderne, and at the first sight it seemed somewhat low, but being within a quarter of a league of it, we perceiued by the great fires that we saw by the sea-coast, that it was inhabited ; and saw that the lande stretched to the southwards. In seeking some conuenient harborough, wherein to anchor and to have knowledge of the place, we sayled fiftie leagues in vaine, and seeing the lande to runne still to the southwards, we resolved to returne backe againe towards the north, where wee found our selves troubled with the like difficultie. At length, being in despaire to find any porte, wee cast anchor upon the coast and sent our boate to shore, where we saw great store of people which came to the seaside ; and seeing us ap- proch, they fled aw^ay, and sometimes would stand still and looke backe, beholding us with great admiration; but, afterwards, being animated and assured with signes that we made them, some of them came hard to the seaside, seeming to reioyce very much at the sight of us, and marvelling greatly at our apparel, shape and whitenesse, shewed us by sundry signes, where we might most commodiously come aland with our boate, offering us also of their victuals to 140 APPENDS. eat Now I will briefly declare to your Maies* tie their life and maners, as farre as we could have notice thereof: These people goe alto- gether naked, except only that they couer their loines with certain skins of beastes, like unto marterns. which they fasten unto a narrow gir- dle made of grasse very artificially wrought, hanged about with tayles of divers other beastes, which, round about their bodies, hang dangling down to their knees. Some of them weare gar- lands of byrdes feathers. The people are of colour russet, and not much unlike the Saracens ; their hayre blacke, thicke, and not very long, which they tye together in a knot behind, and weare it like a little taile. They are well fea- tured in their limbes, of meane stature, and com- monly somewhat bigger than wee, broad breast- ed, strong armed, their legs and other parts of their bodies well fashioned, and they are dis- figured in nothing, sauing that they haue some- what broade visages, and yet not all of them, for we saw many of them wel favoured, hauing blacke and great eyes, with a cheerefull and steady looke, not strong of body, yet sharpe wit- ted, nimble and exceeding great runners, as farre as we could learne by experience, and in those two last qualities they are like to the people of RELATION OF JOHN DE VERRAZZANO. 141 the east partes of the world, and especially to them of the uttermost parts of China. We could not learne of this people their manner of lining, nor their particular customs, by reason of the short abode we made on the shore, our com- pany being but small, and our ship ryding farre off in the sea. And not farre from these we found another people, whose lining wee think to be like unto theirs (as hereafter I will declare unto your Maiestie) shewing at this present the situation and nature of the foresayd land. The shoare is all couered with small sand, and so ascendeth upwards for the space of 15 foote, rising in form of little hils, about 50 paces broad. And sayling forwards, we found cer- taine small rivers and armes of the sea, that fall downe by certaine creeks, washing the shoare on both sides as the coast lyeth. And beyond this we saw the open country rising in height: above the sandy shoare, with many faire fields and plaines, full of mightie great woods, some very thicke, and some thinne, replenished with diuers sorts of trees as pleasant and delectable to be- hold, as is possible to imagine. And your Ma- iestie may not thinke that these are like the woods of Hercynia or the wilde deserts of Tar* tary, and the northerne coasts, full of fruitlesse 142 APPENDIX. trees; but they are full of palme trees, bay trees, and high cypresse trees, and many other sorts of trees unknowen in Europe, which yeeld most sweete sauours farre from the shoare, the propertie whereof we could not learn for the cause aforesaid, and not for any difficulty to passe through the woods, seeing they are not so thicke but that a man may passe through them, neither doe we thinke that they partaking of the east world round about them, are altogether voyd of drugs or spicery, and other riches of golde, see- ing the colour of the land doth so much argue it. And the land is full of many beastes, as stags, deere and hares, and likewise of lakes and pooles of fresh water, with great plentie of fowles, convenient for all kinde of pleasant game. This land is in latitude 34 degrees, with good and wholesome ayre, temperate, betweene hot and colde ; no vehement windes doe blowe in those regions, and those that doe commonly reigne in those coasts, are the north west and west windes in the summer season, (in the be- ginning whereof we were there) the skie cleere and faire with very little raine ; and if at any time the ayre be cloudie and mistie with the southerne winde, immediately it is dissolued and wareth cleere and fayre againe. The sea is KELATION OF JOHN DE VERRAZZAIMO. 143 calme, not boysterous, the waues gentle, and although all the shoare be somewhat sholde and without harborough, yet it is not dangerous to the saylers, being free from rocks and deepe, so that within 4 or 5 foote of the shoare there is 20 foote deepe of water without ebbe or floods the depth still increasing in such uniform proportion. There is very good ryding at sea, for any ship being shaken in a tempest, can neuer perish there by breaking of her cables, which we have proved by experience. For in the beginning of March (as it is usual in all regions) being in the sea oppressed with northerne windes, and ryding there, we found our anchor broken before the earth fayled or moved at all. We departed from this place, still running along the coast, which we found to trend toward the east, and we saw every where very great fires, by reason of the multitude of the inhabitants. While we rode on that coast, partly because it had no harbo- rough, and for that we wanted water, we sent our boat ashoare with 25 men ; where, by rea- son of great and continual waues that beat against the shoare, being an open coast, without succour, none of our men could possibly goe ashoare without loosing our boate. We saw there many people which came unto the shoare, 144 APPENDIX. making diuers signes of friendship, and shewing that they were content we should come aland, and by trial we found them to be very corteous and gentle, as your Maiestie shall understand by the successe. To the intent we might send them of our things, which the Indians commonly de- sire and esteeme, as sheetes of paper, glasses, bels, and such like trifles, we sent a young man one of our mariners ashoare, who swimming towards them, and being within 3 or 4 yards of the shoare, not trusting them, cast the things upon the shoare ; but seeking afterwards to re- turne, he was with such violence of the wanes beaten upon the shoare, that he was so bruised that he lay there almost dead ; which the In- dians perceiuing, ranne to catch him, and draw- ing him out, they caried him a litle way off from the sea. The young man perceiuing they caried him, being at the first dismaied, began then greatly to feare, and cried out piteously ; likewise did the Indians which did accompany him, going about to cheere him and to giue him courage, and then setting him on the ground at the foote of a litle hil against the sunne, they began to behold him with great admiration, marueiling at the whitenesse of his flesh ; and putting off his clothes, they made him warme at RELATION OF JOHN DE VERRAZZANO. 145 a great fire, not without our great feare which remained in the boate, that they would have rosted hira at that fire, and have eaten him. The young man hauing recouered his strength, and hauing stayed a w^hile with them, shewed them by signes that he was desirous to returne to the ship, and they with great loue clapping him fast about, with many embracings, accom- panying him unto the sea, and to put him in more assurance, leaving him alone, went unto a high ground, and stood there, beholding him untill he was entred into the boate. This young man obserued, as we did also, that these are of colour inclining to blacke as the other were, with their flesh very shining, of meane stature, hand- some visage, and delicate limnes, and of very little strength, but of prompt wit, farther we observed not. Departing from hence, following the shore which trended somewhat toward the north, in 50 leagues space we came to another land which shewed much more faire and ful of woods, being very great, where we rode at anker ; and that we might have some knowledge thereof, we sent 20 men aland, which entred into the country about 2 leair-*'^^, and they found that the people were fle i * the woods for feare. They saw 13 146 APPENDIX. only one old woman, with a young maid of 18 or 20 yeeres old, which seeing our company, hid themselves in the grasse for feare -, the olde woman caried two infants on her shoulders, and oehind her necke a child of 8 yeeres olde. The young woman was laden likewise with as many, but when our men came unto them, the women cried out, the olde woman made signes that the men were fledde unto the woods. As soone as they saw us to quiet them and to win their fa- vour, our men gave them such victuals as they had with them, to eate, which the olde woman received thankfully, but the young woman dis- dained them all, and threw them disdainfully on the ground. They tooke a child from the olde woman to bring into France, and going about to take the young woman which was very beau- tiful and of tall stature, they could not possibly for the great outcries that she made bring her to the sea ; and especially having great woods to passe thorow, and being farre from the ship, we purposed to leaue her behind, beareing away the child onely; we found those folkes to be more white than those that we found before, being clad with certaine leaues that hang on boughs of trees, which they sew together with threds of Wilde hempe 5 their heads were trussed up after EELATION OF JOHN DE VERRAZZANO. 147 the same maner as the former were, their ordi- nary foode is of pulse, whereof they haue great store, differing in colour and taste from ours ; of good and pleasant taste. Moreover they live by fishing and fowling, which they take with ginnies, and bowes made of hard wood, the ar- rowes of canes, being headed with the bones of fish and other beastes. The beastes in these partes are much wilder then in our Europe, by reason they are continually chased and hunted We saw many of their boates, made of one tree 20 foote long and 4 fodte broad, which are not made with yron or stone, or any other kind of metall (because that in all this country for the space of 200 leagues which we ranne, we neuer saw one stone of any sort :) they help them- selues with fire, burning so much of the tree as is sufficient for the hollownesse of the boate. The like they doe in making the sterne and the foreparte, until it be fit to saile upon the sea. The land is in situation, goodness and fairnesse like the other; it hath woods like the other, thinne and full of diuers sorts of trees, but not so sweete, because the country is more northerly and colde. We saw in this country many vines growing naturally, which growing up, took holde of the 148 APPENDIX. trees ay they doe in Lombardie, which, it by husbandmen they were dressed in good order, without all doubt they would yeeld excellent wines; for hauing oftentimes scene the fruit thereof drj-ed, which was sweete and pleasant, and not differing from ours, we thinke that they doe esteeme the same, because that in euery place where they growe, they take away the un- der branches growing round about, that the frui thereof may ripen the better. We found also roses, violets, lilies, and many sortes of herbes, and sweete and odoriferous flowers different from ours. We knewe not their dwellings, because they were farre up in the land, and we iudge by many signes that we saw, that they are of wood and of trees framed together. We doe belieue also by many conjectures and signes, that many of them sleeping in the fields, have no other couert then the open sky. Farther knowledge haue we not of them ; we think that all the rest whose countreys we passed, liue all after one maner. Hauing made our aboade three days in this country, and ryding on the coast for want of harboroughs, we concluded to depart from thence trending along the shore betweene the north and the east, sayeling onely in the day time, and jyding at anker by night. In the space of 100 RELATION OF JOHN BE VERRAZZANO. 149 leagues sayling we found a very pleasant place situated among certaine little steape hils ; from amidst the which hils there ranne downe into the sea an exceeding great streme of water, which within the mouth was very deepe, and from the sea to the mouth of the same with the tide which we found to rise 8 foote, any great ship laden may passe up. But because we rode at anker in a place well fenced from the wind we would not venture ourselues without know- ledge of the place, and we passed up with our boate onely into the sayd river, and saw the countrey very well peopled. The people are almost like unto the others, and are clade with the feathers of fowles of diuers colours ; they came towards us very cheerefully, making great showts of admiration, shewing us where we might come to land most safely with our boate. We entered up the said riuer into the land about halfe a league, where it made a most pleasant lake aboute 3 leagues in compasse, on the which they rowed from the one side to the other, to the number of 30 of their small boats, wherein were many people which passed from one shore to the other to come and see us. And, behold, upon a sudden (as it is woont to fall out in sayl- ing) a contrary flaw of winde comming from the 13* 150 APPENDIX. sea, we were inforced to returne to our ship, leauing this land to our great discontentment, for the great commodity and pleasantnesse thereof, which we suppose is not without some riches, all the hils shewing mineral matters in them. We weyed anker and sayled toward the east, for so the coast trended, and so alwayes for 50 leagues being in the sight thereof, we discouered an island in forme of a triangle, distant from the main land 10 leagues about the bignesse of the island of the Rhodes ; it was full of hils covered with trees, well peopled, for we saw fires all along the coast ; we gave it the name of your Maiesties mother,* not staying there by reason of the weather being contrary. And we came to another land being 15 leagues distant from the island, where we found a pass- mg good hauen, wherein being entred, we fomid about 20 small boats of the people, which with diuers cries and wondrings came about our ship, comming no neerer than 50 paces towards us ; they stayed and beheld the artificialnesse of our ship, our shape and apparel, they then all made a loud showt together, declaring that they reioyced. When we had something animated • Claudian Island. Claudia was the mother of King Francis. RELATION OF JOHN DE VERRAZZANO. 151 them, using their gestures they came so neere us, that we cast them certaine bels and glasses, and many toyes, which when they had received, they looked on them with laughing, and came with- out feare a board our ship. There were amongst these people 2 kings of so goodly stature and shape as is possible to declare, the eldest was about 40 yeeres of age, the second e was a yong man of 20 yeeres olde, their apparell v/as on this manner, the elder had upon his naked body a harts skin wrought artificially with diuers branches like damaske, his head was bayre with the hayre tyed up behind with diuers knots ; about his necke he had a large chaine, garnish- ed with diuers stones of sundry colours, the young man was almost apparelled after the same maner. This is the goodliest people, and of the fairest conditions that we have found in this our voyage. They exceed us in bigness, they are of the colour of brasse, some of them incline more to whitenesse, others are of yellow colour, of comely visage, with long and black hair, which they are very careful to trim and decke up ; they are black and quick eyed, and of sweete and pleasant countenance, imitating much the old fashion. I write not to your Maiestie of the other parts of their body, hauing al such propor- 152 APPENDIX. tion as apperteeneth to any handsome man. The women are of the Hke conformitie and beautie, very handsome and wel favoured, of pleasant countenance, and comely to behold ; they are as wel manered and continent as any women, and of good education, they are all naked saue their loines, which they couer with a deeres skin branched or embrodered as the men use, there are also of them which weare on their armes uery rich skins of Luzernes, they adorne their heads with diuers ornaments made of their owne hair, which hang downe before on both sides their brestes, others use other kind of dressing themselues like unto the women of Egypt and Syria, these are of the elder sort ; and when they are maried, they wear diuers toyes, accord- ing to the usage of the people of the east, as well men as women. Among whom we saw many peices of wrought copper, which they esteeme more than goolde, which for the colour they make no account, for that among all other it is counted the basest ; \ey make most account of azure and red. The ihings that they esteeme most of all those which we gaue them, were bels, christal of azure colour, and other toyes to hang at their eares or about their necke. They did not desire clothe of silke KELATION OF JOHN DE VERRAZZANO. 153 or of golde, much lesse of any other sort, nei- ther cared they for thyngs made of Steele and yron, which we often shewed them in our armour which they made no wonder at ; and in behold- ing them they onely asked the arte of making them ; the like they did at our glasses, which, w^hen they beheld, they suddenly laught, and gave them us againe. They are very liberal, for they give that which they haue ; we became great friends with these, and one day we entred into the haven with our ship, whereas before we rode a league off at sea, by reason of the contrary weather. They came in great companies of their small boats unto the ship with their faces all bepainted with diuers colours, shewing us that it was a signe of ioy, bringing us of their vic- tuals, they made signes unto us where we might safest ride in the hauen for the safeguard of our ship keeping still our company, and after we were come to an anker, we bestowed 15 dayes in prouiding ourselues many necessary things, whither euery day the people repaired to see our ship, bringing their wiues with them, whereof they were very ielous ; and they themselves en- tring a board the ship and staying there a good space caused their wiues to stay in their boats, and for all the entreatie we could make, offring 154 APPENDIX to giue them diuers things, we could neuer ob- tain e that they would suffer them to come aborde our ship. And oftentimes one of the two kings comming with his queene, and many gentlemen for their pleasure to see us, they all stayed on the shore 200 paces from us, sending us a small boat to giue us intelligence of their comming, saying they would come and see our ship ; this they did in token of safety, and as soone as they had an- swere from us, they came immediately, and hau- ing staied a while to behold it, they wondred at hearing the cries and noyses of the Mariners The Queene and her maids staied in a very light boat, at an Hand a quarter of a league off, while the King abode a long space in our ship uttering diuers conceits with gestures, viewing with great admiration all the furniture of the Shippe, de* manding the property of euery thing particularly He tooke likewise great pleasure in beholding our apparell, and in tasting our meats, and so courteously taking his leave departed. And sometimes our men staying 2 or 3 dales on a little Hand neere the Shippe for diuers necessaries, (as it is the use of seamen,) he returned with 7 or 8 of liis gentlemen to see what we did, and asked of us oftentimes if we meant to make any ong abode there, offering us of their prouision ; RELATION OF JOHN DE VERRAZZANO. 155 /hen the King drawing his bow and running up and down wdth his gentlemen, made much sport to gratifie our men : we were oftentimes within the land five or six leagues, which we found as pleasant as is possible to declare, very apt for any kind of husbandry, of Corne, Wine and Oyle for that there are plaines tw^entie-five or thirtie leagues broad, open and without any impediment, of trees of such fruitfulnesse, that any seed being sowen therein, wil bring forth most excellent fruit. We entered afterwards into the woods, which we found so great and thicke, that any army were it neuer so great might have hid it selfe therein, the trees whereof are okes, cipresse trees, and other sortes unknowen in Europe. We found Pome appil, damson trees, and nut trees, and many other sortes of fruit differing from ours ; there are beasts in great abundance, as harts, deere, luzernes, and other kinds which they take with their nets and bowes which are their chief weapons, the arrowes which they use are made of great cunning, and instead of yron, they head them with flint, with jasper stone and hard marble, and other sharp stones which they use instead of yron to cut trees, and to make their boates of one whole piece of wood making it hollow with great and wonderful art, wherein 156 APPENDIX. 10 or 12 men may sit commodiously, their oares are short and broad at the end, and they use them in the sea without any danger, and by maine force of armes, with as great speediness as they hft themselves. We saw their Houses made in circular or round forme 10 or 12 paces in compasse, made with halfe circles of Timber, separate one from another without any order of building, couered with mattes of Straw wrought cunningly together, which saue them from the winde and raine; and if they had the order of building and perfect skill of workmanship as we have, there were no doubt but that they would also make eftsoons great and stately buildings. For all the sea coastes are ful of clear and glis- tering stones and alabaster, and therefore it is ful of good hauens and harboroughs for Shippes. They moove the foresaid Houses from one place to another, according to the commodity of the place and season wherein they wil make their abode ; and only taking off the mattes they haue other Houses builded incontinent. The Father and the whole Family dwell together in one house in great number, in some of them we saw 25 or 30 persons. They feede as the other doe afore- said, of pulse which grow in that Country, with better order of husbandry than in the others^ RELATION OF JOHN DE VERRAZZANO. 157 They observe in their sowing the course of the Moone and the rising of certaine Starres, and divers other customs spoken of by antiquity. Moreover they liue by hunting and fishing. They live long and are seldom sicke, and if they chance to fall sicke at any time, they heal themselves with fire without any phisician, and they say that they die for very age. They are very pitifuU and charitable towards their neighbours, they make great lamentations in their adversitie, and in their miserie, the kin- red reckon up all their felicitie. At their de- parture out of hfe, they use mourning mixt with singing, which continueth for a long space. This is as much as we could learne of them. This Land is situate in the Paralele of Rome in 41 degrees and 2 terces, but somewhat more cold by accidentall causes and not of nature, (as I will declare unto your highnesse elsewhere,) de- scribing at this present the situation of the fore- said country, which lieth east and w^est. I say that the mouth of the haven lieth open to the south halfe a league broad, and being entred: within it betweene the east and the north it stretcheth twelve leagues, where it wareth broad- er and broader, and maketh a gulfe about 20 leagues in compasse, wherein are five small 14 158 APPENDIX. islands very fruitful and pleasant, full of hie and broad trees among the which islandes any great nauie may ride safe without any feare of tempest or other danger. Afterwards turning towards the south in the entring into the hauen, on both sides there are most pleasant hils, with many riuers of most cleare water falling into the sea. In the middest of this entrance there is a rocke of free stone, growing by nature, apt to build any castle or fortresse there for the keeping of the haven. The fift of May being furnished with all things necessarie, we departed from the said coaste, keeping along in the sight thereof, and wee sailed 150 leagues, finding it alwayes after one maner, but the land somewhat higher with cer- taine mountaines, all which beare a shew of minerall matter, wee sought not to land there in any place, because the weather serued our turne for sailing ; but wee suppose that it was like the former, the coaste ranne eastward for the space of fiftie leagues. And trending afterwards to the north, wee found another land high full of thicke woods, the trees w^hereof were firres, cipresses, and such like as are wont to grow in cold countreys. The people differ much from the other, and looke howe much the former seem- ed to be courteous and gentle, so much were RELATION OF JOHN DE VERRAZZANO. 159 these full of nidenesse and ill maners, and so barbarous that by no signes that euer we could make, we could have any kind of traffic with them. They clothe themselues with beares skinnes and luzernes, and scales and other beastes skinnes. Their foode, as farre as we could perceiue, repairing often unto their dwell- ings, we suppose to be by hunting and fishing, and of certaine fruits, which are a kind of roots which the earth yeeldeth of her own accord. They haue no graine, neither saw we any kind of signe of tillage, neither is the land for the bar- rennesse thereof, apt to beare fruit or seed. K at any time we desired by exchange to haue any of their commodities, they used to come to the sea shore upon certaine craggy rocks, and we standing in our boats, they let downe with a rope what it pleased them to give us, crying continually that we should not approch to the land, demanding immediately the exchange, tak- ing nothing but kniues, fish-hooks, and tooles to cut withall, neyther did they make any account of our courtesie. And when we had nothing left to exchange with them, when we departed from them, the people shewed all signes of dis- courtesie and disdaine, as were possible for any creature to inuent We were in despight of 160 APPENDIX. them 2 or 3 leagues within the land, being in numbei twenty-five armed men of us: And when we went on shore they shot at us with their bowes, making great outcries, and after- wards fled into the woods. We found not in this land any thing notable or of importance, sauing very great wood and certaine hills, they may haue some mineral matter in them, because wee saw many of them haue headstones of copper hanging at their eares. We departed from thence, keeping our course north east along the coaste, which we found more pleasant champion and without woods, with high mountains within the land ; continuing directly along the coast for the space of fiftie leagues, we discouered 32 islands, lying al neere the land, bemg small and pleasant to the view, high, and having many turnings and windings between them, making many fair harboroughs and chanels as they doe in the gulf of Venice, in Sdauonia and DaJ- matia, we had no knowledge or acquaintance with the people : we suppose they are of the same maners and nature as the others are. Sayl- ing north east for the space of 150 leagiies, we approched the land that was in times past dis- couered by the Britons, which is in fiftie de- grees. Hauing now spent all our prouision and RELATION OF JOHN DE VERRAZZANO. 161 victuals, and hauing discouered about 700 leagues and more of new countreys, and being furnished with water and wood, we concluded to returne into France. Touching the religion of this peo- ple which we have found, for want of their lan- guage we could not understand, neither by signes nor gestures, that they had any religion or laws at all, or that they did acknowledge any first cause or mouer, neither that they worship the heauen or starres, the sunne or moone, or other planets, and much lesse whether they be idola- ters, neither could we learne whether that they used any kind of sacrifices or other adorations, neither in their villages haue they any temples or houses of prayer; we suppose that they haue no religion at all, and that they liue at their owne libertie. And, that all this proceedeth of ignorance, for that they are very easie to be per- suaded ; and all that they see us Christians doe in our diuine service, they did the same with the like imitation as they saw us to doe it. THE END. 14* £>. Ajpfleton & Company's Publications. SCIEKTIFIC WOKXS. APPLETON. Dictionary of Mechanics, Machines, Engine Work, ani Engineering, containing over 4000 Illustrations, and nearly '2000 page*. Complete in 4 Vols., large 8vo. Strongly and neatly bound, %V2. APPLETON. Mechanics' Magazine and Engineers' Jouraal. Edited by Julius W. Adams, C. E. Published monthly, 25 cents per No., or $3 p^-r annum. Vol. I for 1851, in cloth, $3 50. AKCHITECTUEE AND BUILDING, Treatises on. By Hoskin^, Tred- good, and Young. Illustrated with 36 steel plates. 4to. |3 50. ALLEN, Z. Philosophy of the Mechanics of Nature. Illus. 6vo. $3 50. ARNOT, D. H. Gothic Archftecture, Applied to Modern Eesidenceb. 46 Plates. lVol.,4to. $4. AETISAN CLUB. Treatise on the Steam Engine. Edited by J. "RouTn4» 33 Plates, and 349 Engravings on wood. 4to. $6. BOURNE, JOHN. A Catechism of the Steam Engine. 16mo. 75 cts. BYENE, O. New Method of Calculating Logarithms. 12mo. $1. BOUISSINOAULT, J. B. Eural Economy in its Eelations with Cbemift- try. Physics, and Meteorology. l'2mo. %\ 'lb. CULLUM, CAPT. On Military Bridges with India Rubber Pontoons, Illustrated. 8vo. $2. DOWNING, A, I. Architecture of Country Houses. Including Designp for Cottages, Farm Houses, and Villas; with Remarks on Interiors, Furniture, and the best modes of Warming and Ventilating ; with 3-20 Illustrations. 1 Vol.,8vo. $4. Architecture of Cottages and Farm Houses. Being th« first part of his work on Country Houses, containing designs for P^armers, and those whc desire to build cheap Houses. 8vo. $2. GRIFFITHS, JOHN W. Treatise on Marine and Naval Architecture; or. Theory and Practice Blended in Ship-Building, 50 Plates. $10. HALLECKS. MOitary Art and Science. 12mo. $1 50. HAUPT, H. Theory of Bridge Construction. With Practical Illustra- tions. 8vo. $3. HOBLYN, R. D. A Dictionary of Scientific Terms. 12mo. $1 50. HODGE, P. R. On the Steam Engine. 48 large Plates, foHo ; and letter- press, 8vo. size. $8. JEEFERS. Theory and Practice of Naval Gunnery. 8vo. Illus. $2 50. KNAPEN. D. M. Mechanic's Assistant, adapted for the use of Carpenters, Lumbermen, and Artisans generally. 12mo. $1. LAFEYER, M. Beauties of Modern Architecture. 48 Plates, large 8vo. $4. LIEBIG, JUSTUS. Familiar Letters on Chemistry. ISmo. 25 cents. OYERMAN, F. Metallurgy ; embracing Elements of Mining Operations, Analyzatioii "^f Ores, &c. Svo. Illustrated. PARNELL, E. A. Chemistry Applied to the Arts and Manufactures. Illustrated. Svo. Cloth, $1. REYNOLDS, L. E. Treatise on Handrailing. Twenty Plates. Svo. $2. SYDNEY, J. C. Yilla and Cottage Architecture. Comprising Residencei actually built. Publishing in Nos., each No. containing 3 Plates, with Ground Platti price 50 cents. (To be completed in 10 Nos.) 1 to 6 ready. TEMPLETON, W. Mechanic, Millwright, and Engineers' Pocket Com- panion. With American Additions. 16mo. $1. UEE, DR. Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines. New Editioi^ with Supplement. Svo. Sheep, $5. '— Supplement to do., separate. Svo. Sheep, $1. YOUMAN, E. L. Class-book of Chemistry. 12mo. 75 cents. • Chart of Chemistry, on Roller. $5. D. Appleton (Sc Company s Puhlicationi. KELIGIOUS. A-RNOLD'S Rugby School Sermons. 16mo. 50 cents. ' ANTHON'S Catechism on the Homilies. 18mo. 6 cents. Early Catechism for Young Children. 18mo. 6 cent& A KEMPIS, Of the Imitation of Christ. 16mo. Complete Edition. T5 etn BURNETT'S History of the Keformation. Edited by Dr. Narei 8 vuls. %-l 50. On the Thirty-nine Articles. Edited by Page. 8vo. $2. BPwADLEY'S Family and Parish Sermons. Complete in 1 vol. $2. OKUDEN'S Concordance to the New Testament. 12mo. 50 cents. V "OTTER. The Romish Mass and Rubrics. Translated. 18mo. 38 ct& CO IT, Dr. Puritanism Reviewed. 12mo. $1. EVANS' Rectory of Va'ehead. 16mo. 50 cents. LIGHT IN THE DWELLING. (A Practical Family Commentary on tht Four Gospels.) By the author ■ f "Peep of Day." Edited by Dr. Tyng. lllualrated. 8vo. Cloth, $2 ; gilt edgeo, $'2 50 ; im. inorooco, $3 50 ; morocco, $4 50. GRESLEY'S Portrwt ot an English Churchman. 50 cents, Treatise on Preaching. 12mo. $1 25. GRIFFIN, G. The Orspel its own Advocate. 12mo. $1. HOOKER'S Complete W orks. Edited by Keble. 2 vols. $4 50. IVES' (Bishop) SermoPA 16mo. 50 cents. JAMES' Happiness; its Nature and Sources. J AR VIS' Reply to Mibjer's End of Controversy. 12mo. 75 cents. KINSGLEY'S Sacred Choir. 75 cents. KIP'S Early Conflicts of Christianity. 12mo. 75 cents. LYRA APOSTOLICA. 13mo. 50 cents. MARSHALL'S Notes on Episcopacy. Edited by Wainwright 12mo. IL MANNING on the Unity of the Church. 16mo. 75 cents. MAURICE on the Kingdom of Christ 8vo. $2 50. MAGEE on Atonement and Sacrifice. 2 vols., 8vo. $5. NEWMAN'S Sermons on Subjects of the Day. 12mo. $1. Essay on Christian Doctrine. 8vo. Cloth, 75 cents. OG ILBY on Lay Baptism. 12mo. 50 cents. PEARSON on the Creed. Edited by Dobson. Best Edition. 8vo. $2. PULPIT CYCLOPEDIA AND MINISTER'S COMPANION. 8vo. 600 paj^es. $2 50. PSALTER (The), or Psalms of David. Pointed for Chanting. Edited bf Dr. Muhlenberg. 12mo. Sheep, 50 cents ; half cloth, 38 cents. BEWELL. Readings for Every Day in Lent. 12mo. Cloth, 75 cents. SOUTHARD. " The Mvsteries of Godliness." Svo. 75 cents. SKETCHES AND SKELETONS OF 500 SERMONS. By the Author