the high northing made. By observation (July 23, 1607) Hudson was
in 80° 23'. By reckoning, two days later, he was in 81°. His
reckoning, because of his ignorance of the currents, always has
been considered doubtful. His observed position recently has been
questioned by Sir Martin Conway, who has arrived at the conclusion:
"It is demonstrably probable that for 80° 23' we should read 79°
23'."[1] But even with this reduction accepted, the fact remains
that until the year 1773, when Captain Phipps reached 80° 48',
Hudson held the record for "farthest north."

[Footnote 1: "Hudson's Voyage to Spitzbergen in 1607," by Sir
Martin Conway. _The Geographical Journal_, February, 1900.]

To the second voyage belongs the often-quoted incident of the
mermaid. The log of that voyage that has come down to us was kept
by Hudson himself; and this is what he wrote in it (June 15, 1608)
with his own hand: "All day and night cleere sunshine. The wind at
east. The latitude at noone 75 degrees 7 minutes. We held westward
by our account 13 leagues. In the afternoon, the sea was asswaged,
and the wind being at east we set sayle, and stood south and by
east, and south southeast as we could. This morning one of our
companie looking over boord saw a mermaid, and calling up some of
the companie to see her, one more came up and by that time shee was
come close to the ships side, looking earnestly on the men. A
little after a sea came and overturned her. From the navill upward
her backe and breasts were like a womans, as they say that saw her,
but her body as big as one of us. Her skin very white, and long
haire hanging downe behinde of colour blacke. In her going downe
they saw her tayle, which was like the tayle of a porposse, and
speckled like a macrell. Their names that saw her were Thomas