detaining him in England and in ordering him to serve only under
the English flag; and to infer that his going to Holland was the
result of a falling out with the directors of the Muscovy Company;
and that at their request, when the chances of the sea brought him
within English jurisdiction, he was detained in his own
country--and so was put in the way to take up with the adventure
that led him straight onward to his death. In all of which may be
seen the working-out of that fatalism which to my mind is so
apparent in Hudson's doings, and which is most apparent in his
third voyage: that evidently had its origin in a series of curious
mischances, and that ended in his doing precisely what those who
sent him on it were resolved that he should not do.

All that we know certainly about his taking service with the Dutch
Company is told in a letter from President Jeannin--the French
envoy who was engaged in the years 1608-9, with representatives of
other nations, in trying to patch up a truce or a peace between the
Netherlands and Spain--to his master, Henry IV. Along with his open
instructions, Jeannin seems to have had private instructions--in
keeping with the customs and principles of the time--to do what he
could do in the way of stealing from Holland for the benefit of
France a share of the East India trade. In regard to this amiable
phase of his mission, under date of January 21, 1609, he wrote:

"Some time ago I made, by your Majesty's orders, overtures to an
Amsterdam merchant named Isaac Le Maire, a wealthy man of a
considerable experience in the East India trade. He offered to make
himself useful to your Majesty in matters of this kind.... A few
days ago he sent to me his brother, to inform me that an English
pilot who has twice sailed in search of a northern passage has been