A Desperate Decision to Divert Certain Death
With the huge iceberg looming before them Henry Hudson was forced to make a decision he surely would have desired not to have to make. He ordered the ship's boat overboard, sending with it all of his men who could handle an oar.
A rope was securely, it was hoped, tied between the ship and the small boat. It was Hudson's plan to use the rowboat to tow the Hopewell out of the path of the iceberg. Hudson had small hope of his plan succeeding, but what else could he do?
As the men in the rowboat strained against their oars the waves began running even higher than before. It was a motion that was quickly sending the Hopewell closer into the path of the iceberg. But still the men in the rowboat put all their strength into the effort. The Hopewell did not respond. There was no hope. Surely there would be a fatal crash.
Then, at last, the wind shifted.
This new direction of the wind was not as forceful as it had been but it was just enough to carry the ship away from the iceberg. Hudson was now certain that the season was too far advanced to continue on and set sail back to England.
He had not discovered the Northwest Passage but he had made other useful discoveries. Among them he could count the abundance of whales sited off of Spitsbergen and had charted its coast. He had discovered a land yet to be included on any map. And for his own reference, and that of other seagoing adventurers, he noted in his ship's log that future voyagers to that same dangerous area should carry with them a good ship's boat and at least a half dozen long oars to tow their ship out of danger.
It was now certain that a direct route to the Orient would not be found by way of the North Pole.
Recommended Reading:
In 1609, Holland sent Henry Hudson to locate a waterway, a Northwest Passage, across North America.
Creek Indians of Georgia's Islands.
St. Simons Island was the home of the Creek Indians until the Spanish invaded it in 1540.
Sources:
Collier's Encyclopedia, Volume 12. Crowell-Collier Educational Corporation, 1968.
Rachlis, Eugene. The Voyages of Henry Hudson. Random House, New York, 1962.
