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Audio Transcript of Henry Hudson (English; for England) 1610 to 1611

Audio Transcript: Hudson's expedition for the Northwest Company left London, England, on 17 April, manned by a crew of variable experience and temperaments. His objective was to penetrate the "inlet" or "gulfe" marked by strong easterly currents described by Davis and Waymouth. On 25 June, he reached the entrance of the straits later named after him. By this time, he already had had to quell several serious quarrels between members of his crew. On 3 July, the expedition reached Cap Wolstenholme through an ice-choked Hudson Strait despite the near-mutinous objections of members of the crew. The expedition now followed the east coast of Hudson Bay to Pointe Louis XIV. Seeing "a large sea" to the south, Hudson headed into James Bay. Here he spent most of October sailing back and forth trying to find a southern outlet. On 1 November the Discovery was beached and by the 10th was frozen in. Considering the cantankerous nature of the crew and the fact that the expedition was not equipped for wintering, they survived remarkably well.

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Portrait of a Young Henry Hudson, 1609

On June 12, 1611, short on rations, the expedition set sail for home. On 21 June, while becalmed in ice, claiming that Hudson had withheld food rations, apart of the crew mutinied. The next day Hudson, his son and seven men were set adrift in a shallop (a small boat) among the islands of James Bay. Bylot and a few others who had remained neutral were spared because they were necessary to pilot and man the ship. On 28 July, they reached Digges Island off of the northern tip of Quebec where they met a camp of Inuit and attempted to barter for food. An altercation developed and four members of the crew, including the leaders of the mutiny, were slain. Out of an original complement of 22 men, ten remained. One more died on the way before the ship reached England on 6 September, 1611.

Source: Voiceovers by Kyle Rawn, Christian Wyss and LeeAnn McLellan, Algonquin College, Ottawa. Assistance provided by Don Crockford, Coordinator, Broadcasting Radio and Media Design Sector, Algonquin College.