HUDSON. 273 



but no person had as yet fully examined the a.d. 



1608. 



space between Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen. 

 It is true, that the sea was known to be occa- 

 sionally much encumbered in the vicinity of 

 Cherie Island, and that Barentz, in his voyage 

 from that island to Nova Zembla, had been 

 greatly impeded by ice, and Hyp's unsuccessful 

 attempt to get to the eastward of Spitzbergen 

 could not have been forgotten. Still it was 

 possible that there might exist a passage between 

 Cherie Island and Nova Zembla ; at all events, 

 such was the feeling which still attached to this 

 subject that the merchants were unwilling to 

 abandon it until every hope of its attainment had 

 vanished. 



Hudson was, accordingly, fitted out again, and 

 sailed from the Thames in April 1608. He 

 steered to the northward, passed within sight of 

 the North Cape on the 3rd June, and on the 9th 

 fell in with a great quantity of ice in latitude 75-^° 

 N., but whether to the eastward or westward 

 of Cherie Island does not appear ; but the latter is 

 most probable, as we find him in soundings almost 

 all the way, which would not have been the case 

 had he held a course to the westward of the 

 island. Before he reached this spot he had 

 encountered some heavy weather, and experi- 

 enced sharp frosts, and several of his crew, small 



T 



