, so far as they go, substantially are in accord with
Prickett's account. Such agreement is not proof of truth. The newly
adduced witnesses and the earlier single witness equally were
interested in making out a case in their own favor that would save
them from being hanged. But this new evidence does entitle
Prickett's "Larger Discourse" to a more respectful consideration
than that dubious document heretofore has received. Save in matters
affected by this fresh material, the following narrative is a
condensation of what has been recorded by Hudson's authoritative
biographers, of whom the more important are: Samuel Purchas, Hessel
Gerritz, Emanuel Van Meteren, G.M. Asher, Henry C. Murphy, John
Romeyn Brodhead, and John Meredith Read.

T.A.J.
New York, _July_ 16, 1909.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

No portrait of Hudson is known to be in existence. What has passed
with the uncritical for his portrait--a dapper-looking man wearing
a ruffed collar--frequently has been, and continues to be,
reproduced. Who that man was is unknown. That he was not Hudson is
certain.

Lacking Hudson's portrait, I have used for a frontispiece a
photograph, especially taken for this purpose, of the interior of
the Church of Saint Ethelburga: the sole remaining material link,
of which we have sure knowledge, between Hudson and ourselves. The
drawing on the cover represents what is very near to being another
material link--the replica, lately built in Holland, of the "Half
Moon," the ship in which Hudson made his most famous voyage.

The other illustrations have been selected with a strict regard to
the meaning of that word. In order to throw light on the text, I
have preferred--to the ventures of fancy--reproductions of
title-pages of works on navigation that Hudson probably used;
pictures of the few and crude instruments of navigation that he
certainly used; and pictures of ships virtually identical with
those in which he sailed.

The copy of Wright's famous work on navigation that Hudson may have
had, and probably did have, with him was of an earlier date than
that (1610) of which the title-page here is reproduced. This
reproduction is of interest in that it shows at a glance all of the
nautical instruments that Hudson had at his command; and of a still
greater interest in that the map which is a part of it exhibits
what at that time, by exploration or by conjecture, was the known
world. To the making of that map Hudson himself contribu