The Portuguese continued their surveys of the northern coasts most likely to discover advantageous fisheries. They advanced slowly along the shores of Newfoundland and then up to the mouth of Hudson strait, then through that strait, and at last into _Hudson bay_. With a certain number of ancient maps, ranging from 1529 to 1570, before us we can trace the progress step by step. In 1554 the Portuguese seemed not yet to have reached the mouth of the Hudson strait. In 1558 their geographical knowledge extended beyond the mouth of the strait and in 1570 they had reached the bay. The authorities for all this are our ancient geographical delineations. Much geographical intelligence in those days was kept secret. _We can therefore state with the greatest certainty that Hudson bay had been discovered before the publication of Ortelius’s Atlas, published 1570. So said Dr. Asher._ General J. M. Read, Jr., with competent assistants, much time and ample means, pursued a thorough, exhaustive examination to ascertain all possible about the Hudsons, of which Henry was one; and while the book is very interesting and many ingenious theories presented, yet rock-foundation of evidence seems to be lacking. While neither the parents of Henry Hudson nor the date of his birth have been ascertained, that he was born in England, and almost beyond question in Hoddersdon (where so many of the Hudsons lived) in Hertfordshire, about seventeen miles north by east of London, seems settled. It, moreover, seems highly probable that our Henry Hudson was the grandson of Henry Hudson, a Londoner of great wealth and influence, one of the founders and the first president of the Muscovy or Russian Company which Sebastian Cabot suggested and of which he became its first governor, and that in the service of that company our navigator there had his first service and won the rank and distinction of captain. The Muscovy or Russian Company was formed of London merchant adventurers for the purpose of seeking an all-water route to the Indies by sailing north of Russia and then down the Pacific, greatly shortening the route via the Cape of Good Hope. This company was held in such high esteem that both England and Russia granted it a charter in 1555. Several unsuccessful voyages for this purpose were made, the ice and storms proving insurmountable obstacles. It was in the employ of this company where, and in his own journal, our Henry Hudson first makes himself known as the captain of the “Hopeful,” which sailed April 19, 1607, with ten sailors and his son John, a boy, aboard, with directions to explore the coast of Greenland, pass around it to the northeast, or directly under the Pole or, in his own words, “for to discover a passage by the North Pole to Japan and China.” The “Hopeful” left Gravesend May 1, 1607, and in twenty-six days reached the Shetland Islands, where supplies were taken on. Four days after leaving these islands it was