HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
 

CHAPTER    II.
 

HENRY   HUDSON.

Henry Hudson. — H:s Voyages. — He discovers Manhattan Island. — His Voy¬
age TTP THE Hudson Kiver. — His Visit to an Indian Chief. — His tragical
Fate. — American Furs. — Settlement oir Virginia. — Voyages to Manhattan.
— The Fur Trade. — Burning of the Tigbk. — Building of a Ship at Man¬
hattan. — Description of Manhattan Island. — The Manhattan Indians. —
Customs and Dress. — Money and Politics. — Trading Privileges.

OF the personal history of the Ulustrious navigator Henry Hudson
very Uttle is known. The first view we have of him is in the
church of St. Ethelburge, Bisbopsgate Street, London, in the summer of
1607, whither he had gone with bis crew to partake of the sacrament
before sailing under the auspices of the Muscovy Company in search of a
passage to "Asia across the North Pole." His whole Ufe as known to
the world extends only over a period of about four years; and there is
no portrait of him, not even a contemporaneous print of doubtful authen¬
ticity. This is the more remarkable as he lived in an age when it was
fl[uite the fashion to preserve the pictures of celebrities.^ He appears be¬
fore us a manly man in middle life, weU educated, courageous, cool, an
expert in seamanship, and of wide experience in his country's service.
Who he was, has been a matter of much speculation. His father was
probably Christopher Hudson, one of the factors of the Muscovy Com¬
pany, and their agent in Russia as early as 1560, a personage who a
Uttle later was made governor of the company, — an office he retained
with honor until 1601. The grandfather of the discoverer of New York
is supposed to have been the Henry Hudson who, in 1554, figured among
the founders, and was the first assistant, of the Muscovy Company.

^ Purchas His Pilgrimes and Pilgrimage. Hakluyt Collection of Voyages. Vol. I. N. Y.
H. S. Coll. (First Series). Henry Hvdson in Holland, by Hon. Henry C. Murphy. Henry
Hudson the Navigator, by Dr. Asher, member of the Hakluyt Society of London. Histori¬
cal Inquiry concerning Henry Hudson, by General John M. Read, Jr. Sailing Di'''^ctions of
Henry Hudson, by "Rev. B. F. de Costa.