Page:The history of yachting.djvu/109

 Rh he lost his life the directors agreed to give his widow £16. sterling. But, on the other hand, if he found "the passage good and suitable for the company to use," they promised to reward Hudson "for his dangers, trouble, and knowledge, according to their discretion; with which the before-mentioned Hudson is content." Evidently he was a man easily satisfied.

On Saturday, April 4, 1609, the Half Moon sailed from Amsterdam, and on Monday, "by twelve of the clock," passed the Texel. She had a crew of sixteen hands, composed of English and Dutch sailors. The mate, Robert Juet, who acted as captain's clerk, was a Netherlander, and had sailed with Hudson as mate on his preceding voyage.

On May 5th they were off the North Cape, steering along the northern coast of Nova Zembla, when they were stopped by the ice. On May 14th Hudson decided to steer to the westward. Two weeks later he put into Stromo, one of the Faroe Islands, where, after filling his water-casks, he kept on his course to the westward and encountered heavy westerly gales with a high sea. On June 15th, in latitude 48, the Half Moon "spent overboard her foremast," and some of her sails were split and blown away. On July 2d she was on soundings off the Banks of Newfoundland, and on the following day Hudson sighted "a great fleet of Frenchmen which lay fishing on the Banks, but he spake with none of them. Soon after, it fell calm, and he allowed his own company to try for cod."