This could simply be a matter-of-fact record of Henry Hudson’s famous 1609 voyage up the great river that bears his name today, but far from being boring and dry, Robert Juet’s account kept my interest all the way through. It does not hurt to be familiar with the locations mentioned in the journal, but this is not necessary. He describes visits with Native Americans (perhaps first contact for many of them), drunken gatherings, armed skirmishes, observations of native flora and fauna, trade, and the unusually warm weather.
This seven-month voyage actually went from Amsterdam to Novaya Zemlya, Norway, Newfoundland, Cape Cod, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and New York. After wandering for six months, only about one month was spent on their very leisurely sail up the river that would be named for Henry Hudson. Hudson had sold his Dutch investors on the idea that he could sail east and find a passage to trade in the orient, the shortcut to increase profits for his Dutch East India Company benefactors. Instead of doing what he had promised his Dutch financiers who gave him the ship, the supplies and the funds, Hudson did a U-turn, crossed the Atlantic, and went to a totally different hemisphere.
Juet’s Journal stands on its own as a fascinating piece of historical documentation but in the case of Robert Juet, what is not said, but known about the author, makes the read even more intriguing. Juet had been a mate on one of Hudson's previous voyages but was not put in this position by the Dutch East India Company for the trip, perhaps because he was an Englishman. The Dutch might have wanted one of their own people in that capacity if they were going to just turn a ship over to this foreign (English) sailing captain who promised what hadn’t been done but had been promised before, finding an eastern route to the wealth of the orient. It could also be that they had concerns about the character and trustworthiness of Robert Juet.
Juet’s motivation for keeping the journal is suspect in light of later revelations. Perhaps he was only an avid writer, or he might have been collecting evidence to defend himself against charges that might be filed against him. In between the departure from Amsterdam and their turning the Half Moon to sail west, sometime between May 5 and May 19 to be exact, continued sailing to the east was impossible due to ice and the crew threatened mutiny. It has been speculated that Robert Juet was a ringleader or at least a participant. There is no mention of this incident and unlike the rest of the log, there are no specific entries on these missing days. Juet was later implicated in the mutiny against Henry Hudson the following year when Hudson, his young son, and a few others were left to die in an open boat in Canada’s Hudson Bay. Juet died before the mutineers reached home, “an ancient man” at the age of 33. Although questions remain about the man, what he left behind is invaluable: a glimpse into the past through his eyes . ( )