132 Arctic and Antarctic Exploration [part i 
that myriads of birds were breeding there. Hudson's 
journal unfortunately comes to an end on the 3rd of 
August, the day the Discovery arrived off Cape Digges. 
The story is continued by Habakuk Prickett, whose 
narrative, that of an unscrupulous time-server, is open 
to suspicion, besides being confused and unsatisfactory. 
During the three months following the arrival off Cape 
Digges, it is not clear what Hudson was doing, or what 
course he took. 
Hudson must certainly have discovered all the east 
coast of Hudson's Bay, for in November he found himself 
obliged to winter in the south-eastern part, now called 
James Bay. There were fir trees on shore, yielding 
plenty of fuel, and some game to eke out the stock of 
provisions on board. The ship was frozen in. A spirit 
of mutiny and discontent appeared during the long and 
dreary nights, which was fostered by one or two designing 
villains. The mate Juet had been disrated for mis- 
conduct and the vindictive old man was ripe for mischief. 
Green was only too glad to join in any mutinous conspi- 
racy, and William Wilson, who had superseded Clements 
as boatswain, was not behindhand in disloyalty. It is 
probable that at first the conspiracy was confined to 
these three. There were privations during the winter, 
and John Williams, the gunner, fell ill and died. The 
provisions had run very low, but Hudson hoped to obtain 
a sufficient supply for the return voyage by salting down 
birds at Cape Digges. On the 18th of June, 1611, the 
Discovery broke out of winter quarters, and a course 
was shaped for Hudson's Strait. 
Meanwhile the conspirators, who had been joined by 
three of the seamen, Thomas, Pierce, and Moter, matured 
their diabolical plan. They thought, or pretended to 
think, that there would not be enough food to take them 
to England, and they conceived the infamous scheme of 
turning the sick and weak adrift in a boat, to reduce the 
number of mouths. As they knew that Hudson and the 
few loyal men would not consent to this, they included 
them among their intended victims. The murderers had 
kept their secret well, and there was no suspicion of the 
plot. Prickett must be included among the criminals. 
He says that Green and Wilson came to his bunk three 
