Jeffret. See DWARF.
Henry. Of this eminent naval discoverer we know nothing prior to the year 1627; when he was employed by some London merchants in a small vessel, for exploring a north-east passage to China and Japan. He set sail on the 1st of May with only ten men and a boy, and reached as high as 80° of N. Lat., where being stopt by the ice, he returned to England in the month of September following. In his next voyage he landed at Nova Zembla, but could make no farther east, and he returned in August next year. The Dutch East India Company fitted him out in 1629, with a crew of 20 men, English and Dutch, and after in vain attempting to penetrate eastward, he steered for the American coast, and went as far as Chesapeake bay. His crew mutinying, he durst not attempt a westerly passage through Davis's strait, and therefore returned home.
His knowledge in consequence of these voyages increased his ardour for discovery, and he again made an offer of his services to the Dutch East India Company, which were not accepted; and for his last voyage, Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Dudley Digges, and some of his friends, fitted him out. On the 17th of April he set sail, and came in sight of Greenland on the 4th of June. Sailing westward, he reached the mouth of the strait which bears his name, through which he advanced along the coast of Labrador, which he called Nova Britannia. Here he hoped he had discovered the long-
wished-for passage; but he found he was only in a bay, in the southern part of which he determined to winter. After this he fitted out his shallop for farther discoveries, but as he had no means of revictualling his ship, he distributed his last remaining bread with tears in his eyes, among his people, and returned home. His mutinous crew entered his cabin by night, tied his hands behind his back, and set him ashore at the west end of the straits, with eight of the crew who were most attached to him. They were never more heard of, and it is probable they were swallowed up by the waves. Such was the unfortunate end of this adventurous mariner!
William, a celebrated English botanist, was born at Westmoreland about 1730. He was bound apprentice to an apothecary in London, whose business he took, and proved a friend to the widow and daughters. It appears from the testimony of Dr Pulteney, that he had a residence in the British museum, but we are not informed in what capacity. He was also F.R.S. and died of a paralytic distemper in May 1793. He possessed a comprehensive knowledge of English plants, which induced him to undertake an arrangement of English botany according to the Linnean classification, a task which had been previously attempted by Dr Hill, but the execution was very imperfect. Hudson's Flora Anglicae appeared in 1762, in one volume 8vo, the Latin preface to which was written by the ingenious Mr Stillington, and received with great applause, and contributed greatly to the adoption in England of the sexual system.
The merits of Mr Hudson are thus described by Dr J. E. Smith. "His memory requires no studied eulogium here, as every page of the present work is an index to his labours. May the writer of this leave no more errors behind him as an author, or as a man." Mr Hudson well understood the insects and shells of Great Britain, and always meditated a Fauna Britannica. His temper is said to have been gentle, rather close, but kind to those who gained his esteem.