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HUDSON BAY (less often, but more correctly,Hudson’s Bay), an inland sea in the N.E. of Canada, extending from78° to 95° W. and from 51° to 70° N. On the east it is connectedwith the Atlantic Ocean by Hudson Strait, and on the north withthe Arctic Ocean by Fox Channel and Fury and Hecla Strait.Its southern extremity between 55° and 51° N. is known as JamesBay. It is 590 m. in width, and 1300 from S. to N., includingJames Bay (350 m.) and Fox Channel (350 m.). The customaryuse of the term includes James Bay, but not Fox Channel. Theaverage depth of water is about 70 fathoms, deepening at theentrance of Hudson Strait to 100 fathoms. James Bay ismuch shallower, and unfit for shipping save for a central channelleading to the mouth of the Moose river. The centre and westof the main bay are absolutely free from shoals, rocks or islands,but down its east coast extend two lines of small islands, oneclose to shore, the other at 70 to 100 m. distance, and comprisinga number of scattered groups (the Ottawa Islands, the Sleepers,the Belchers, &c.).
Into Hudson and James Bays flow numerous important rivers,so much so that the water of the latter is rather brackish thansalt. Beginning at the north-west, the chief of these are Churchill,Nelson (draining Lake Winnipeg, and the numerous inlandrivers of which it is the basin), Hayes (the old boat route of thevoyageurs to Winnipeg), Severn, Albany, Moose, Rupert river(draining Lake Mistassini), Nottaway, East Main, Great Whaleand Little Whale.
Save for some high bluffs on the east and north-east, the shoresof the bay are low. Around much of James Bay extend marshesand swampy ground. Geologically the greater part of theHudson Bay district belongs to the Laurentian system, thoughthere are numerous outcrops of later formation; Cambro-Silurianon the south and west, and to the north of Cape Jones(the north-eastern extremity of James Bay) a narrow belt ofCambrian rocks, of which the islands are composed. Coal,plumbago, iron and other minerals have been found in variousdistricts near the coast. The climate is harsh, though vegetablesand certain root crops ripen in the open air as far north as FortChurchill; cattle flourish, and are fed chiefly on the nativegrasses; spruce, balsam and poplar grow to a fair size as faras the northern limit of James Bay. Caribou, musk ox and otheranimals are still found in large numbers, and there is an abundanceof feathered game—ducks, geese, loons and ptarmigan;hunting and fishing form the chief occupations of the Indiansand Eskimo who live in scattered bands near the shore. Thebay abounds with fish, of which the chief are cod, salmon,porpoise and whales. The last have long been pursued byAmerican whalers, whose destructive methods have so greatlydepleted the supply that the government of Canada is anxiousto declare the bay amare clausum.
Hudson Strait is about 450 m. long with an average breadthof 100 m., narrowing at one point to 45. Its shores are highand bold, rarely less in height than 1000 ft., save on the coastof Ungava Bay, a deep indentation on the south-east. Noislands or rocks impede navigation. Its depth is from 100 to200 fathoms. Owing to the violence of the tides, which rise toa height of 35 ft., it never absolutely freezes over.
After three centuries of exploration, the navigability of HudsonBay and Strait remains a vexed question. To Canada it is one ofgreat commercial interest, and numerous expeditions have beenmade and reports issued by the Geological Survey. From Winnipegto Liverpool via Churchill is over 500 m. less than via Montreal, andfrom Edmonton to Liverpool almost 1000 m. less. Were navigationopen for a sufficient time, such a route for the grain of the Canadianand American west would be of enormous advantage. But the inletfrom the Arctic sends down masses of heavy ice, which drift aboutin the bay and the strait. Past the mouth of the strait flows astream often over 100 m. wide, of berg and floe ice, carried by theArctic current. Owing to the proximity of the Magnetic Pole (inBoothia) the compass often refuses to work. For sailing ships, suchas the Hudson’s Bay Company has long employed, the season forsafe navigation is from the 15th of July to the 1st of October. Inover 200 years very few serious accidents have occurred to thecompany’s ships within these limits. It is claimed that speciallybuilt and protected steamers would be safe from the 15th of Junetill the 1st of November, and the problem may be solved by ice-breakingvessels of great power. The only good harbour availableis Fort Churchill, at the mouth of the Churchill river, which is largeand easy of access. Moose Factory (at the foot of James Bay) andYork Factory (at the mouth of the Nelson) are mere roadsteads.Marble Island, south of Chesterfield Inlet, where the whalers winter,is too far north for regular shipping.
The Cabots entered the strait in 1498, and during the next centurya series of Elizabethan mariners; but the bay was not exploreduntil 1610, when Henry Hudson pushed through the ice andexplored to the southern limit of James Bay.
See Lieutenant Gordon, R.N.,Reports on the Hudson’s BayExpeditions (1884, 5, 6); William Ogilvie,Exploratory Survey toHudson’s Bay in 1890 (Ottawa, 1891); R. F. Stupart,The Navigationof Hudson’s Bay and Straits (Toronto, 1904).
