CHAPTER II

TRADERS AND SETTLERS

As he was returning to Holland from his voyage to
America, Hudson was held with his ship at the
port of Dartmouth, on the ground that, being an
Englishman by birth, he owed his services to his
country. He did not again reach the Netherlands,
but he forwarded to the Dutch East India Com-
pany a report of his discoveries. Immediately the
enthusiasm of the Dutch was aroused by the pros-
pect of a lucrative fur trade, as Spain had been set
aflame by the first rumors of gold in Mexico and
Peru; and the United Provinces, whose indepen-
dence had just been acknowledged, thereupon laid
claim to the new country.

To a seafaring people like the Dutch, the ocean
which lay between them and their American
possessions had no terrors, and the twelve-year
truce just concluded with Spain set free a vast
energy to be applied to commerce and oversea

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