ould you be on the other side of the world and get back to your home in time for your granddaughterís christening? Henry Hudson did. He took 4 voyages. His first exploration was in 1607. He went with his son John and ten sailors. He was commissioned by someone to find a polar route to China. His boat was called Hopewell.

He did not find a route to China because he found a block of ice. So he returned to England. His second voyage was the next year in 1608. He had to search for the Northeast Passage on the coast of Russia. He found a way to sail around the shore of the Novaya Zemlya Islands but did not find a way through. Hudson wanted to go farther but the people on the ship did not want to. 1609 he took his third voyage.

The Muscovy Company stopped looking for the Northeast Passage. Everyone really wanted to send Henry Hudson. They sent him on a larger ship called the Halve Mean. His crew mutinied him on the way there. Hudson decided to look for Northwest Passage in America instead. He sailed up north to what is now the Hudson River. His fourth and last voyage was in 1610.

Some Dutch people who were a threat lead some English to recruit Henry back again to find the Northwest Passage. He went on an English ship called the Discovery. He went through what is now the Hudson Bay. There was ice on the way and the ship had to stop at the end of the Bay. In 1611, the ship was free to sail again. The crew mutinied and put Hudson, his son John, and some loyal sailors on a small boat. Henry Hudson was never seen again.