A.D. 

 1607. 



264 HUDSON. 



Hudson was prevented making further dis- 

 covery upon this coast by the ice, which was 

 now seen to the northward, and with which he 

 soon became much hampered. " It may be ob- 

 jected to us," says Hudson, " as a fault for hal- 

 ing so westerly a course," — but he gives good 

 reasons for so doing. Greenland was not at that 

 time known to extend so far north as he had 

 found it, and the great barrier of ice lying be- 

 tween that country and Spitzbergen was not 

 known to be so connected with the western 

 shore as it has since been found. If he found 

 no land, he thought his passage to the Pole 

 would have been easier, as he would have had 

 more sea-room ; and if he found land, he knew 

 it would be a discovery "worth the seeing." 

 Being now hindered by the ice from holding a 

 northerly course, he stretched over towards 

 Spitzbergen, and on the 27th saw the coast, 

 in about the latitude 77°, and the ice lying- 

 very thick along it. There was, however, a 

 navigable passage, and Hudson sailed as far as 

 Vogel Hook, from whence he stood to the 

 northwest, and was stopped by the ice in the 

 same situation, nearly, as Barentz had been. He 

 made several attempts in this direction, and 

 being unsuccessful, on the 1 st of Julv he direct- 

 ed his efforts to the northeast, hoping to find 



