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Today by far was the most disappointing day I have ever had on a voyage. For days now we have been heading down that new river we found last month, until today when we hit a harbor. We proceeded up the harbor into a new river. We continued down the river until it got narrower and narrower, which meant we were headed towards land. My crew was ecstatic when we reached the land, but I told my crew not to get too excited, because I was not completely positive where we were at that point. Turns out that we had hit a city, but it was not a southwest passage we had found. We had actually come from an entirely different direction than the one we intended. So, with that in mind, we were forced to turn the ship around, and start over, once again. I could practically feel the hatred shooting out of my crew members’ eyes when they looked at me. I feel horrible, but there is nothing I can do. Why do we seem to be having such terrible luck lately? I am starting to think, perhaps there is no southwest passage, and the relayed information from John Smith was probably wrong. But John was just as determined to find this route as I was, and I don’t believe that he would make up something like that. I trust that there really is a southwest passage somewhere out there, and it is just waiting for someone to discover it.
A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. After that last voyage we turned around once again and ended up in this land called Amsterdam. The fog there was unbearable and it was almost impossible to steer the ship. My 
crew was sick of the constant change
of voyage and were not treating me with the respect I would like, being their captain and all. After less than a week I decided it was impossible to sail through the fog and that we would head in a new direction and start looking for the route John Smith had told me about in his letter, so we left Amsterdam and now we are heading west in search of the new route. Smith shared some of his accounts of his past exploration with me to help with this voyage. Smith is a nice guy. By undertaking this search for a western route to Asia I hope that this is my chance to show everyone that I can have some success on an expedition. It is embarrassing that this now my third voyage and I still have not had one ounce of success.
A few days ago we arrived at the banks of “Newfoundland,” and noticed that some native 
canoes were approaching our ship. They were friendly, and traded with us for some nice trinkets. They told me of mines where we could find gold, silver and copper. We stocked up on water, and fish and even cut down a tree to fix the Half Moon (our boat)’s mast.
Today on the other hand was a day I would call a disaster. I am slowly losing control of my crew. I feel like my son is even starting to betray me. Behind my back, my crew grew suspicions of these kind natives that gave us food and trinkets, and raided the Native’s from their homes with guns! I never gave any permission for them do this, and I am extremely upset. After all the help the natives gave us, it is absolutely evil and barbaric that my crew backstabbed them, and even worse, me.
We have experienced a lot in the past few weeks. We have passed the cape and continued north until we passed Vir
ginia. We met some new natives (although we did not stay long with them, considering the last incident with natives), and we even discovered a new river. Unfortunately, we have lost three crew members, one due to an attack by natives (ironic, I know). We captured these natives and forced them to wear read cloaks, but they escaped a few days later. We are close to a set of mountains; I can almost see them from here. I guess you could say this voyage was a success. We did not find the passageway, but we did discover a river. We sailed down the river and saw lots of abundant trees and plants along the river. I have them all recorded in my notebook. The picture on the right is a sketch of what the pretty trees looked like. I am proud of myself for enduring all the hardships I have had in the past two years and getting this far. At least this makes up for the other disastrous voyages I am known for. The only thing that discourages me about this voyage is that I feel my crew is plotting against me. I’ve been trying to keep a good eye on them lately, especially Juet. They all seem like they’re out to get me, and I really don’t know why. I think I have been a good captain! I will keep you posted.
http://www.mariner.org/exploration/index.php?type=explorer&id=15
http://library.thinkquest.org/4034/hudson.html
http://www.mariner.org/educationalad/ageofex/hudson.php
http://www.hudsonriver.com/halfmoonpress/stories/hudson.htm
http://www.ianchadwick.com/hudson/hudson_01.htm
http://www.usmm.net/deck.html
http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/E/newnetherlands/nl1.htm
http://www.ulster.net/~hrmm/halfmoon/halfmoon.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/h/hudson.shtml
http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/exhudson.htm
http://virtualology.com/hallofexplorers/HENRYHUDSON.ORG/
Baker, Doug. "Hudson, Henry." In Smith, Billy G., and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: Colonization and Settlement, 1608 to 1760, vol. 2. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2003. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHII185&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 21, 2007).
Lindaman, Matthew. "Northeast Passage." In Mancall, Peter C., and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: Three Worlds Meet, Beginnings to 1607, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2003. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHI276&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 21, 2007
Juet, Robert . "Journal of Henry Hudson's Voyage (excerpt)." New York Historical Society, Second Series, 1841. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=E13616&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 21, 2007), "Journal of Henry Hudson's Voyage (excerpt)." American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=E13616&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 21, 2007).
Waldman, Carl, and Jon Cunningham. "exploration of Hudson Bay." Encyclopedia of Exploration, vol 2. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2004. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=EEXII114&SingleRecord=True (accessed May 21, 2007).
Today by far was the most disappointing day I have ever had on a voyage. For days now we have been heading down that new river we found last month, until today when we hit a harbor. We proceeded up the harbor into a new river. We continued down the river until it got narrower and narrower, which meant we were headed towards land. My crew was ecstatic when we reached the land, but I told my crew not to get too excited, because I was not completely positive where we were at that point. Turns out that we had hit a city, but it was not a southwest passage we had found. We had actually come from an entirely different direction than the one we intended. So, with that in mind, we were forced to turn the ship around, and start over, once again. I could practically feel the hatred shooting out of my crew members’ eyes when they looked at me. I feel horrible, but there is nothing I can do. Why do we seem to be having such terrible luck lately? I am starting to think, perhaps there is no southwest passage, and the relayed information from John Smith was probably wrong. But John was just as determined to find this route as I was, and I don’t believe that he would make up something like that. I trust that there really is a southwest passage somewhere out there, and it is just waiting for someone to discover it.
