booting expedition in which he captured
an immense treasure, afterward abandoned; had burned a Spanish
vessel at Cartagena, and captured several ships; had crossed the
Isthmus of Panama and become the first Englishman to see the
Pacific, and had served in Ireland under the Earl of Essex.

It was in December, 1577, that he started on the expedition during
which he visited the Pacific coast as here described. It was a
freebooting enterprise. Drake sailed through the Strait of
Magellan. After visiting California he crossed the Pacific, and,
reaching England by way of the Cape of Good Hope in 1580, Drake
became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. Queen
Elizabeth on his return knighted him on board his own ship. His
after career was equally notable, including as it did an important
command under Lord Howard in the great sea fight of July, 1588, in
which the Armada of Spain was overthrown In the English Channel.

HUDSON'S DISCOVERY OF THE HUDSON RIVER

(1609)

BY ROBERT JUET, HUDSON'S SECRETARY[1]

The first of September [1609], faire weather, the wind variable
betweene east and south; we steered away north northwest. At noone we
found our height to bee 39 degrees, 3 minutes. The second, in the
morning, close weather, the winde at south in the morning; from twelve
untill two of the clocke we steered north northwest, and had sounding
one and twentie fathoms: and in running one glasse we had but sixteene
fathoms, then seventeene, and so shoalder and shoalder untill it came
to twelve fathoms. We saw a great fire, but could not see the land;
then we came to ten fathoms, whereupon we brought our tackes aboord,
and stood to the eastward east south-east, foure glasses. Then the
sunne arose, and wee steered away north againe, and saw the land from
the west by north to the northwest by north, all like broken
islands,[2] and our soundings were eleven and ten fathoms. Then wee
looft in for the shoare, and faire by the shoare we had seven fathoms.
The course along the land we found to be northeast by north. From the
land which we had first sight of, untill we came to a great lake of
water, as wee could judge it to bee, being drowned land, which made it
to rise like islands, which was in length ten leagues. The mouth of
that land hath many shoalds, and the sea breaketh on them as it is
cast out of the mouth of it. And from that lake or bay the land lyeth
n