He had previously
made two fruitless voyages for the Muscovy Company--an English
corporation--in quest of a passage to China, _via_ the North Pole and
Nova Zembla.
In the autumn of 1608 he was called to Amsterdam, and sailed from
Texel, April 5, 1609, in the service of the Dutch East India Company.
Reaching Greenland he coasted southward, arriving at Cape Cod August
6th, Chesapeake Bay August 28th, and then sailed north to Sandy Hook.
He entered the Bay of New York September the 3d, passed through the
Narrows, and anchored in what is now called Newark Bay; on the 12th
resumed his voyage, and, drifting with the tide, remained over night
on the 13th about three miles above the northern end of Manhattan
Island; on the 14th sailed through what is now known as Tappan Zee and
Haverstraw Bay, entered the Highlands and anchored for the night near
the present dock of West Point. On the morning of the 15th beheld
Newburgh Bay, reached Catskill on the 16th, Athens on the 17th,
Castleton and Albany on the 18th, and sent out an exploring boat as
far as Waterford. He became thoroughly satisfied that this route did
not lead to China--a conclusion in harmony with that of Champlain,
who, the same summer, had been making his way south, through Lake
Champlain and Lake George, in quest of the South Sea.
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