Page:The history of yachting.djvu/104



N the year 1609, Henry Hudson, an Englishman, set sail from Amsterdam in command of the yacht, Halve Mæne. She is known in history as the Half Moon, of eighty tons burden, and was owned by the Dutch East India Company. The object of this voyage was the discovery of a northern route to India, a vision that allured merchants and navigators of England and Holland at that period, and which was realized only during the latter part of the last century.

Hudson was an able navigator, and had attracted the attention of the directors of the Dutch East India Company by his two voyages from England in search of a northeast passage to India. Moreover, during one of these voyages he had reached a higher latitude than any previous explorer. Hence, the Dutch East India Company fitted out the Half Moon, and paid Hudson the sum of £64. sterling with which to provide an outfit. In case