Henry Hudson Discovered The Hudson Strait And The Hudson Bay

The fourth and last trip of Henry Hudson was funded in 1610 by the Virginia Company and the British East India Company. On April 17, 1610, he sailed from London in the ship Discovery in an effort to locate the northwest passage to Asia. After crossing the Atlantic, the Discovery arrived in Iceland on May 11 and the southern part of Greenland on June 4.

It then circled Greenland's southernmost point before entering the Hudson Strait at Labrador's northernmost point on June 25. Henry Hudson thought he had reached the Pacific after passing through the Hudson Strait, but in reality, he had entered a vast bay that is now known as Hudson Bay. The assumption that the ship had finally discovered the Northwest Passage through the continent caused a great deal of excitement. The following months were spent by Hudson surveying and investigating its eastern coasts, but he and his crew were unable to discover a route to Asia. But at James Bay, the ship was stuck in the ice in November, so the crew decided to spend the winter ashore.