as it is round the middle.

[Illustration: Map showing how Captain Hudson hoped to reach Asia
by sailing northwest from England.]

Hudson could not find the passage he was looking for; but he saw
mountains of ice, and he went nearer to the North Pole than any one
had ever done before.


53. The Dutch hire Captain Hudson; he sails for America.--The Dutch
people in Holland had heard of Hudson's voyage, and a company of
merchants of that country hired the brave sailor to see if he could
find a passage to Asia by sailing to the northeast.

He set out from the port of Amsterdam,[1] in 1609, in a vessel named
the _Half Moon_. After he had gone quite a long distance, the sailors
got so tired of seeing nothing but fog and ice that they refused to
go any further.

Then Captain Hudson turned his ship about and sailed for the coast
of North America. He did that because his friend, Captain Smith of
Virginia, had sent him a letter, with a map, which made him think
that he could find such a passage as he wanted north of Chesapeake
Bay.

[Footnote 1: See map in paragraph 62.]


54. Captain Hudson reaches America and finds the "Great