ope. So Henry Hudson
was employed by the Muscovy Company "to discover a shorter route to
Cathay _by sailing over the North Pole_." He knew the hardships of
the way; he must have realised the fate of Willoughby, the failure
of Frobisher, the sufferings of Barents and his men, the difficulties
of Davis--indeed, it is more than probable that he had listened to
Davis speaking on the subject of Arctic exploration to the merchants
of London at his uncle's house at Mortlake.

Never did man start on a bolder or more perilous enterprise than did
this man, when he started for the North Pole in a little boat of eighty
tons, with his little son Jack, two mates, and a crew of eight men.

"Led by Hudson with the fire of a great faith in his eyes, the men
solemnly marched to St. Ethelburga Church, off Bishopsgate Street,
London, to partake of Holy Communion and ask God's aid. Back to the
muddy water front, opposite the Tower, a hearty God-speed from the
gentlemen of the Muscovy Company, pompous in self-importance and lace
ruffles--and the little crew steps into a clumsy river-boat with
brick-red sails."

After a six weeks' tumble over a waste of waters, Hudson arrived off
the coast of Greenland, the decks of the little _Hopewell_ coated with
ice, her rigging and sails hard as boards, and a north-east gale of
wind and snow against her. A barrier of ice forbade further advance;
but, sailing along the edge of this barrier--the first navigator to
do so--he made for the coast of Spitzbergen, already roughly charted
by Barents. Tacking up the west coast to the north, Hudson now explored
further the fiords, islands, and harbours, naming some of
them--notably Whale Bay and Hakluyt Headland, which may be seen on
our maps of to-day. By 13th July he had reached his Farthest North,
farther than any explorer had been before him, farther than any to
be reached again for over one hundred and fifty years. It was a land
of walrus, seal, and Polar bear; but, as usual, ice shut off all further
attempts to penetrate the mysteries of the Pole, thick fog hung around
the little ship, and with a fair wind Hudson turned southward. "It
pleased God to give us a gale and away we steered," says the old ship
log. Hudson would fain have steered Greenland way and had another try
for the north. But his men wanted to go home, and home they went, through
"slabbie" weather.

But the voice of the North was still calling Hudson, and he persuaded
the Muscovy Company t