Our data regarding Norwegian emigration to America prior to 1825 are very fragmentary, but it is possible to trace that emigration as far back as 1624.[18] In that year a small colony of Norwegians was established in New Jersey on the site of the present city of Bergen.[19] While it is not known that the names of any of these first colonists have come down to us, we do have the name of one Norwegian, who visited the American coast on a voyage of exploration in the year 1619, that is, the year before the landing of the _Mayflower_. In the early part of 1619 King Christian IV of Denmark fitted out two ships for the purpose of finding a northwest passage to Asia. The names of the ships were _Eenhjörningen_ and _Lampreren_, and the commander was a Norwegian, Jens Munk, who was born at Barby, Norway, in 1579. With sixty-six men Jens Munk sailed from Copenhagen, May ninth, 1619. During the autumn of that year and the early part of the following year he explored Hudson Bay and took possession of the surrounding country in the name of King Christian, calling it Nova Dania. The expedition was, however, a failure, and all but three of the party perished from disease and exposure to cold in the winter of 1620. The three survivors, among whom was the commander, Jens Munk, returned to Norway in September, 1620.[20] [18] The Vinland voyages in the 11th-14th centuries do not come within the scope of our discussion. [19] It seems that this city was so named by the colonists after the city of Bergen, Norway. [20] Anderson's _First Chapter of Norwegian Immigration_, p. 21.