England, becoming jealous of the advantages that might accrue to her maritime rival by these discoveries, prevented Hudson from returning to Holland, and his connection with the East India Company ended. He never revisited the river that makes his name immortal, but under English patronage he continued the vain search for a sea-way to India and lost his life in Hudson's Bay in 1611. The company abandoned all effort to discover a northwest passage, and made no

CAPTAIN HEXRY HUDSON.

attempt to utilize the discoveries that had thus been made. The Half-Moon, surviving her famous commander, was subsequently sent upon a voyage to the East Indies, and was wrecked in 1615 on the island of Mauritius.

Although the East India Company gave no further attention to the region their enterprise had discovered, it was impossible for the active Hollanders not to make an effort to gain some advantage from it. The fur trade had already become an important interest with the Dutch. During the war with Spain they had opened and developed a profitable interchange ot commodities with the countries of the Baltic, and they had become the chief distributors of Russian furs to the countries of Europe. Naturally, they soon turned their attention to the prosecution of the fur trade with the Indians of the Hudson River, where beaver, otter and other valuable fur-bearing animals were abundant.

Merchants fitted out vessels and sent them across the ocean under such skillful commanders as the former mate of the Half-Moon and Captains Chris-