The greatest English navigator in the Spitsbergen quadrant during the first century of the renewal of Arctic discovery was Henry Hudson. Scarcely anything is known of the personal history of this famous sailor previous to the last four years of his life, during which his four voyages were undertaken.
Hudson was a servant of the Muscovy Company, he had a house in London, was married and had children. His selection is a proof that he was an experienced seaman. It has been conjectured that he was a grandson of another Henry Hudson who died when he was an Alderman of London in 155570. There is also some reason for the belief that Thomas Hudson, a merchant of London who had a house at Mortlake and was a promoter of the voyage of John Davis, was his uncle and guardian71.
Our first introduction to him is sufficiently striking. After morning service on the 19th April, 1607, a party of sailors might have been seen to issue from the door of St Ethelburga’s church in Bishopsgate Street, where they had partaken of the Holy Communion with the parishioners, and to wend their way to the river side. At the head of the little procession was the master, Henry Hudson, with his little son John by his side, followed by William Collins the mate, John Colman the boatswain, and James Young, most vigilant of look-out men. Then came the men, John Cooke, James Benbery, James Scrutton, John Playse, Thomas Baxter, Richard Day, and James Knight. These eleven men and a boy formed the crew of the little Hopewell of 80 tons, waiting for them at Ratcliffe, for in four days she was to sail on her great enterprise. The intention was to find the passage to Cathay by sailing due north from Spitsbergen, instead of north-west.
Hudson had studied the accounts of the voyages of Stephen Burrough, Arthur Pet, and William Barentsz. He was led to the conclusion that the attempts to the eastward had offered small hope of success, so he reverted to the advice of Master Thorne to shape a course northward and make boldly for the Pole itself. It was then thought that ice did not form on the open sea, but only on the coast in bays and inlets.
On the 1st May, 1607, the Hopewell sailed from Gravesend, was off the Shetlands on the 26th, and on 13th June was in sight of very high land. James Young was the first to report it, so it received the name of Cape Young. Soon a coast-line was visible extending for 9 leagues. It was the east coast of Greenland. Hudson always calls it Groneland, while the name of Greenland (or Newland) is given to Spitsbergen in accordance with the belief of Barentsz. He got the first name from the misleading Zeno map72.
Behind Cape Young a high mountain, like a round castle, received the name of the Mount of God’s Mercy. On the 22nd, Hudson found himself in 72° 38′ N., and high land was again sighted in 73° N., which received the name of Hold-with-Hope.
Hold-with-Hope is a little to the south of the Pendulum Islands, visited by Clavering 200 years afterwards, and is a position which does credit to the skill and perseverance of Hudson and his companions. His conclusion was that he was too far to the westward, so he resolved to follow the edge of the ice to the north-east, seeking for an opening. This course brought the little Hopewell to 78° N., and in sight of the Newland or Greenland of Barentsz, afterwards named Spitsbergen. This was on June 27th, when Hudson supposed himself to be near the “Vogel Hoek” (Bird Cape) of Barentsz.
Unfortunately Hudson’s own journal is lost. We have only the journal of one of the men named John Playse. It was no doubt copied from the Master’s log, but in such a way that it is not possible to make out the Hopewell’s track by it. After encountering some severe weather, she seems to have passed down the strait between the foreland and the mainland of Spitsbergen, doubled the southern point, and then shaped a northerly course until the 80th parallel was reached. On the 12th July, William Collins the mate saw the land, called Newland by the Hollanders, bearing S.S.W. 12 leagues distant, but Hudson continued to stand to the north. He found that a green-coloured sea was most free from ice and that an azure blue sea was an icy sea. At noon on the 14th the land was approached where there was a bay with very high and rugged mountains at the head of it, and high land at the entrance, with an island which received the name of Cape Collins after the mate. The bay was named Whale Bay. Here Colman and Collins with two other men landed, reporting many footprints of animals, deer-antlers, and much drift-wood. A cape to the north-west of Cape Collins received the name of Hakluyt’s Headland. Hudson again stood along the edge of the ice which closed in upon the land to the eastward. Eventually he came to the conclusion that there was no passage to the north on those meridians, and he resolved to steer southward. He thus discovered the whole western coast of Spitsbergen. He examined the inlet afterwards named Bell Sound, rounded the most southern point of the land, and traced the coast for some distance to the east of it.
This western coast of Spitsbergen, first made known by Henry Hudson, is well described by Scoresby. He tells us how its cliffs rise by steep acclivities from the very margin of the ocean to a stupendous height, the masses of purest snow contrasting with the protruding dark-coloured rocks. The valleys, opening towards the coast, terminate inland with a transverse line of ice-field showing an unbroken surface for many leagues in extent. On the southern part of the coast there are isolated mountains with conical or ridged summits, occasionally terminating in sharp peaks. Further north the mountains are more disposed in chains than in the south, with an inferior range running parallel with the shore, whence ridges project into the sea, and terminate in mural precipices.
“There is indeed a kind of majesty not to be conveyed in words in the extraordinary accumulations of snow and ice in the valleys, and in the peaks rising above the ordinary elevation of the clouds and terminating in crests of everlasting snow. Approaching the shore under shelter of the impenetrable density of a summer fog, sometimes the mist disperses like the drawing of a curtain, when the strong contrast of light and shade, heightened by a cloudless atmosphere and powerful sun, bursts on the senses in a brilliant exhibition resembling the production of magic.”
But these beautiful scenes were not the only attraction. Around them they noted the vast flocks of birds, the numerous seals and walrus, and the great abundance of whales. Hudson had discovered a source of wealth which served to enrich two countries in the ensuing centuries.
In the end of July, Hudson decided on bearing up for his return to England. He passed Cherry or Bear Island on the 1st August, and a few days afterwards another important discovery was made. A lofty peak was seen, rising out of the sea to a height of 5836 feet. It is on an island about 30 miles long by 10 broad, in 71° N., and is now known to be the lofty termination of a submarine volcanic range running out N.E. from Iceland. Hudson gave the island the name of Hudson’s Touches73. The north-eastern cape was named Young’s Foreland, doubtless because the peak was first sighted by that sharp-eyed look-out man James Young; and another cape, almost exactly in 71° N., was named Point Hudson. This island has since, without any justification, been called Jan Mayen.
After leaving Hudson’s Touches the little Hopewell put into the Faroes on the 15th August, and on the same day in September she arrived in the Thames. It is not recorded whether Hudson again took his crew to St Ethelburga’s church to offer up a thanksgiving, but it is more than probable. Thus ended this memorable voyage.
Hudson had tried the route recommended by Master Robert Thorne and had found it to be impracticable, but his employers were willing to send forth another expedition under his command. He therefore decided to try the north-east plan, conceiving that if he could once either get round the north end of Novaya Zemlya, or through Burrough or Pet Straits, and round Cape Tabin, which is shown on the old charts as the northern point of Asia, the rest of the voyage to China would offer no difficulties. This, then, was his plan for a second voyage. He had a third way in his mind, for the Dutch on their latest charts had shown Kostin Shar as a strait through Novaya Zemlya.
The little Hopewell was again fitted out and sailed on the 22nd April, 1608, with a crew of 14 in all, including Hudson’s little son74. On the 3rd June the North Cape was sighted and on the 12th, in 75° 30′ N., the ice was encountered, and the ship’s head was turned to the east. Having examined the edge of the ice for a long distance the Hopewell was in sight of the Novaya Zemlya coast in 72° 25′ N., on the 26th July, at the place called Swarte Klip by the Dutch. Juet and Cooke, the mate and the boatswain, went on shore with two men, and reported having seen antlers and traces of deer, many streams of water, and long grass. In the evening Stacey the carpenter and Ladley the other mate landed and saw much driftwood and a great number of birds. They brought some moss and wild flowers on board. Many walrus were seen in 71° 15′, but none were killed.
When the compact character of the ice-floes between Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya deprived Hudson of all hope by a northerly course, his intention was to pass by the Waigat and the mouth of the river Obi to Cape Tabin, the supposed northern point of Asia. But now a hope was conceived that the quantity of walrus might defray the expense of the expedition, and also that there might be a better passage to the east side of Novaya Zemlya by way of Kostin Shar, as the bay in which he was had been named—the Dutch believing it to be a strait. On the 2nd July the boat was sent on shore with the mate, and brought back four dozen birds, half a boat-full of drift-wood, and a report of many reindeer. But a careful examination showed that the Kostin Shar was only a deep bay and not a strait, to Hudson’s great disappointment. On the 6th, all hope was abandoned of finding a passage by the north-east.
Hudson then resolved to ascertain whether “Willoughby Land” was in the position in which it was placed on his chart, because if so he considered it would be a good place for walrus. So he shaped a westerly course. But no such land was seen, for in reality “Willoughby Land” was the very land of Novaya Zemlya which they had been visiting. On the 18th July the North Cape was again sighted; and the Hopewell arrived at Gravesend on the 26th August, 1608. Hudson tells us that having found the routes by the north pole and the north-east impracticable, he had resolved to try the north-west the same year, taking the route of Lumley’s Inlet and the “Furious Overfall” mentioned by Davis. But the season was far spent and he felt it to be his duty to his employers to return.
Hudson’s next voyage was in the service of the Dutch in 1609, when he discovered the river which bears his name, and it was not until 1610 that he was enabled to undertake the enterprise he had in his heart, an attempt by way of the “Furious Overfall” of John Davis. But that sad episode belongs to another part of the Arctic story.
Of the great commercial as well as geographical importance of the two first voyages of Hudson there can be no question. They led the way to the famous Spitsbergen whale fishery. In 1609 the Muscovy Company sent Captain Jonas Poole to complete the work of Hudson, and he carefully examined the whole of the west coast of Spitsbergen, naming Bell Sound, Ice Sound, and several other positions. He wrote interesting journals which are given in Purchas, and he had a prosperous career before him. But unfortunately he was “miserably and basely murdered between Radcliffe and London,” after his return in 1611.
The reports of Hudson and Poole made it manifest that there was great wealth to be derived from the fishery in the seas round the New Land. In 1612 the Muscovy Company obtained a Charter from James I excluding all others from the fishery, English or foreign, so that henceforward it would be a question which had the strongest fleet. Christian IV thereupon put in a claim on the ground first that the country was Greenland, and then that it was part of Norway. The Dutch obtained a Charter, similar to that of the Muscovy Company, from Prince Maurice. Dunkirk privateers and Biscayners also began to arrive at the fishery. The grand work of discovery, though never quite lost sight of by the English, was practically put aside, and the sordid greed of wealth-seekers was substituted.
The first appearance of the Dutch was in 1612, when a ship arrived at the fishery piloted by an Englishman named Bonner. In that year also, Captain Marmaduke, one of the most able and dashing sailors on the Spitsbergen side in those days, with a crew from his native town of Hull, boldly pushed forward to make discoveries, and we are told by Fotherby, a reliable authority, that he reached 82° N.
The country was called “King James his Newland” by the Muscovy Company, and Greenland by the Dutch and Danes and also for long by the English.
In 1613 the Muscovy Company fitted out a large fleet under the command of Benjamin Joseph, an experienced seaman. The Admiral or leading ship was the Tiger of 200 tons, with Joseph in command and William Baffin as pilot. The Matthew of 250 tons was Vice-Admiral, and Captain Marmaduke appears to have commanded her, with Fotherby as pilot. Thomas Edge, who afterwards did such good service as a discoverer as well as a whaling captain, was also in the fleet. The Rear-Admiral was the Gamaliel of 200 tons, the fourth ship was the John and Francis of 180 tons, and the fifth the Annula of 140 tons. There was also a pinnace of 60 tons called the Richard and Barnard. The fleet left the Thames on the 13th May, and by the 1st June, all the ships being in company, they were off Prince Charles’s Island on the west coast of Spitsbergen, anchoring in Sir Thomas Smith’s Bay between Prince Charles’s Island and the mainland of Spitsbergen. On the 4th June they killed their first whale.
At first the English were quite ignorant of the art of whale-killing, and this, the most important part of the business, was left to two dozen Basques who were shipped for the voyages and ordered “to be used very kindly and friendly, being strangers, and leaving their own country to do us service.”
In the middle ages a whale frequented the Bay of Biscay (Balaena Biscayensis) rather smaller than the right whale, but differing very little in other respects. It is now extinct. The fishermen of Biscay and Guipuzcoa had been engaged in pursuing this whale from time immemorial, and the dangerous occupation had trained a most expert and daring race of sailors along those coasts. They did not use ships in their whaling. There were atalayas or watch-towers on the heights above the little fishing towns, whence signals were made that a whale was in the offing, and instantly the boats started in pursuit. The King and the Church shared the profits. Fernando III of Castile and Leon in about 1220 decreed that “si mactaveris aliquam ballenam dabis mihi unam tiram a capite usque ad caudam sicut forma est.” The churches received part of the whalebone, and in the church at Lequeitio there is a most interesting record of whales caught, with occasional notes of happenings, extending over a century. A whale figures in the coat-of-arms of St Jean de Luz, Fuenterrabia, Guetaria, and Motrico. When the Muscovy Company began to send fleets to Spitsbergen, it was the custom to enter one or two boats’ crews of Basques from St Jean de Luz or San Sebastian to attack and kill the whales, while the rest of the crews got the gear ready on shore for boiling down. But it was not long before the English had learnt their lesson from the Basques and become expert harpooneers.
Captain Joseph found as many as 17 foreign ships on the Spitsbergen coast. All submitted to his superior force, some were ordered away, and a few were allowed to fish on the condition of surrendering half their catch to the English ships.
Baffin showed the same diligence in observing for latitude and magnetism (dip and variation) as in his voyage to Greenland, and he records a very interesting observation for ascertaining the sun’s refraction75. Whatever may be thought of the accuracy of these original observations, the activity of Baffin’s brain and his constant efforts on every opportunity to improve the art of navigation are most remarkable.
Captain Joseph’s fleet returned with full cargoes in September76. We have two narratives of the voyage of 1613, one by Baffin himself and the other by Fotherby77.
In 1614 there was a different story, for the Dutch were the strongest. They were in great force under Antoine Monier, their fleet consisting of 14 ships protected by three or four men-of-war. The English fleet was much weaker. Captain Joseph was again in command with nine ships and two pinnaces. He was on board the Thomasine with Baffin and Fotherby, and again the gallant Marmaduke was with them, in the Heartsease. Sailing from Tilbury on the 4th May, 1614, and running through loose pack on the 20th, it suddenly closed and they were beset for some days, eventually reaching the coast. Sailing northwards as far as Hakluyt Headland they sighted the formidable Dutch fleet, which was avoided, and the Thomasine proceeded to Fairhaven, where a snug anchorage was found in 79° 34′, and named by Fotherby Trinity Harbour.
The interest of the voyage of 1614 consists in the expeditions of discovery made by Baffin and Fotherby to the north and east in shallops or open boats. In three or four expeditions they made their way round Hakluyt Headland to the eastward, a coast which Captain Marmaduke had already discovered in 1612. The royal arms were set up in several prominent places. The explorers were at Cape Barren (Vogelsang) Saddle Island (Cloven Cliff) Redcliffe Bay, Point Welcome, and Wyche’s Sound, which was thoroughly explored down to Point Deceit at the farthest end. They walked over Red Beach, where they were joined by Captain Marmaduke, who discovered it. Passing onwards they rounded Cape Desire, and discovered the great channel which was named Sir Thomas Smith’s Inlet (Hinlopen Strait). These extensive discoveries in open boats reflect great credit on the three able and adventurous explorers. The Thomasine returned to Wapping on October 4th, with full cargo and all in good health78.
There were bickerings and occasional collisions between English and Dutch in the succeeding summers. The English fleets were led by Thomas Edge, one ship being nominally for discovery. At last there was a sort of agreement that the Dutch and Danes should have the north-west corner from Fairhaven to Hakluyt Headland, and the north coast—much the best stations for whales; while the English were to have the west coast bays from Fair Foreland, the northern point of Prince Charles Island, to the south point of Spitsbergen.
The Dutch fishery brought great wealth to Holland. A station, called Smeerenburg, was founded at the south-eastern end of Amsterdam Island, which for many years had all the appearance of a large town, with warehouses, blubber-boiling sheds, dwelling huts, and even a church. Smeerenburg began to decline from 1644, when the whales retreated from the coast and were only taken at sea. But, until 1770, the Dutch fishery throve.
Captain Edge was mindful of discovery as well as of the main business of whaling. He explored to the south and east, and sighted Wyche Land79 far to the east. Indeed he and his predecessors completed the whole outline of the Spitsbergen archipelago, except North-East Land, some gaps being filled in by the Dutch. As the voyages of English and Dutch were contemporaneous, it is not always clear to which nation the discovery of each portion of coast should be attributed, though it is certain that places discovered and named by the English now have Dutch names on the charts80.
In 1630 an English crew wintered in Spitsbergen for the first time, in a hut in Bell Sound, and all survived and were taken home in the following summer. In 1634 some Hollanders were left to winter at Smeerenburg but they all died.
The archipelago of Spitsbergen, thus discovered by English and Dutch in the early part of the 17th century, is 250 miles in length, from 76° 35′ N., to 80° 35′ N., with a width of 200 miles. It is a wild region of barren mountains and glaciers, with some splendid scenery. It is fairly well stocked with animal life both on land and in its seas; bears, foxes, hares and birds on land; whales, walrus, seals, and fish in its seas. Other discoveries connected with the Spitsbergen group, especially as regards its internal physiography and geology, were reserved for later times.