Half Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage that Redrew the Map of the New World by Douglas Hunter
910.92 HUN
Fatal Journey: the Final Expedition of Henry Hudson - a Tale of Mutiny and Murder in the Arctic by Peter C. Mancall
910.92 MAN
Like his first two sea voyages, Henry Hudson’s 1609 voyage began as another unsuccessful search for the Arctic Northeast Passage to Asia. He then turned the Half Moon around heading across the Atlantic, possibly to search for the fabled Northwest Passage, but ended up near the Jamestown colony which he then avoided (although Hudson was English, he was sailing for the Dutch East India Company). Proceeding up the Atlantic coast, Hudson entered what is now New York harbor and explored the river that now bears his name. Douglas Hunter provides a detailed account of the voyage and its legacy, concentrating on the exploration of the river: the navigational difficulties, the encounters with natives (both positive and
negative), and the expanse of natural resources. In 1610 Hudson set out on what would be his last voyage, this time on the English vessel Discovery, to seek a Westerly sea route to the Orient. Excitement was high when the crew entered the strait and bay that now bear Hudson’s name. But there was disharmony among the crew, and the ship got stuck in the ice over the winter in what is now James Bay. After the ice had cleared in the spring of 1611, Hudson had plans for further exploration rather than returning home. Some of the crew mutinied, and eventually Hudson, his son, and a few others were cast off in a shallop, never to be heard from again. Fatal Journey is a riveting account of the voyage, the mutiny, surviving crew member’s accounts, and the subsequent murder trial.