Henry Hudson in HALF MOON in Hudson River.
1609

Watercolor 14" x 21"


The Dutch were keen trading rivals of the English, and were also eager to find the northern passage to the Orient. In 1609 the Dutch East India Company hired Henry Hudson for a second time to search for the Northwest Passage and provided the HALF MOON for the voyage. On March 25th. the HALF MOON sailed from Amsterdam and headed north, with explicit instructions to sail above Nova Zembla. The crew of twenty on this voyage was a mix of Dutch and English, most of whom could not speak the other’s language. At the first sign of ice and bad weather the men began to grumble. As in the previous voyage they threatened to mutiny if they were forced to continue, and to forstall any more trouble Hudson sailed for the warmer east coast of North America, where he always had believed the true Straits of Anian would be found. On September 2 they anchored near Sandy Hook, and the next day entered the river that now bears his name. He was the third explorer to visit the sound, but he claimed the area for the Dutch who employed him.

Contact was made with natives on several occasions on the coast and many times in the river. The relationships were typical of the time; each regarded the other with suspicion, thievery was practiced on both sides, some encounters were friendly, others ended in hostilities. On the peaceful encounters the Europeans were introduced to green tobacco and corn, and were supplied with berries and fish. They explored the river to present day Albany before giving up the notion that they had discovered a passage to the Orient.