Henry Hudson Discovers the Algonquins
Ed Sanders
Beautiful Air — the Voyages of Henry Hudson to the New World and up the Great River
Adapted from America, a History in Verse, Volume 8, The Seventeenth Century
Henry Hudson, a Few Miles North of the Future Kingston, 1609
The weather was very hot on September 16
while during the night a number of canoes came about the ship
and in the morning the Natives climbed aboard
bringing them ears of Indian corn, pompions (that is, pumpkins) and tobacco
Night came and the Half Moon sailed north another 6 miles
On and on Cathay–obsessed
till September 17
it came to a shallowing section of the River
and Hudson was beginning to realize
it was not the Path to Spice
On the 18th
in the shallows above what is now called Castleton
Henry went ashore in a Native canoe
with the senior citizen chief of the tribe
He noticed a well–made circular house of oak bark
with an arched roof and containing a big storage of
corn and beans “enough,” he wrote, “to load three ships”
My guess is that Hudson wanted to ask some
questions about a big body of water up ahead
or a waterway cutting deeply into the continent
Hudson made note of the copper pipes with which the Natives
smoked tobacco
made him wonder if copper mines were nearby
and noted “all kinds of timber suitable for shipbuilding”
and making barrels and casks
important for the shipping of stuff
They apparently wanted him to stay with them for the night
and when they saw he was afraid
broke their arrows into pieces and tossed them into a fire
September 19, 1609 The Half Moon
shoved further up the river
to where now Albany nestles by the water
dropped anchor
and sent a smaller boat upriver
who brought back the news
that neither the Big River
nor its westward tributary
now the Mohawk
was fit for a passage to Spice
September 20
a smaller boat was sent upstream
a second time to “sound the river”
then, uh oh, only two leagues to the north, that’s 6 miles
the river’s channel became narrow
with varying depths
On the 21st, the ship’s carpenter went ashore
to make a fore–yard
Hudson decided to test some Natives
“whether he had any treachery in them”
They brought some Natives into the cabin
to get them drink on wine and aqua–vita
but found no treachery, just a bit of drunken merriment.
September 22
in the spirit of “measure twice, cut once”
a party of five “went up without boat”
to sound the river
In the afternoon Natives boarded
to give Henry Hudson some beads & tobacco
They brought a “great platter” stacked with venison
and pointed out to the captain “all the country round about”
then departed all except the old Native hostage
And then in the evening after dark
the small boat returned
from sounding the Hudson
They had traveled upriver about 24 miles
and found the water so shallow
that the Half Moon would not be able
to advance much further
This was not the route to Cathay
During the next few days the Half Moon
worked back down the River
At one spot they gathered a big store of chestnuts
On the 25th of September
some of Hudson’s sailors walked on the west side of the River
and “found good ground for corn and other garden herbs.”
They noted great stands of oaks, walnuts and chestnuts
and a big amount of what Robert Juet called “good stones,” plus
a “great store of slate” useful for building houses
In his report to the Dutch West India Company
the Captain would stir the advent of Dutch settlers
on the Hudson’s fair shoresides
Poem as PDF
Bio
Edward Sanders is a poet, historian, community organizer and musician who has completed 5 volumes of a 9–volume America, a History in Verse. Among his books are The Family, a history of the Manson group; The Poetry and Life of Allen Ginsberg; Tales of Beatnik Glory, Poems for New Orleans; and his current collection, Let’s Not Keep Fighting the Trojan War— New and Selected Poems 1986–2008.
