The bay was discovered (1610) by Henry Hudson but was named for Capt. Thomas James, an Englishman who explored much of it in 1631. An early fur-trading post established by Groseilliers and Radisson became (1670) Rupert House, the first post established there by the Hudson's Bay Company. Other important posts on James Bay were Fort Albany, Fort George (now Chisasibi), and Eastmain.

Founding

The company was founded as a result of the exploration of the region by Pierre Radisson and the sieur des Groseilliers in 1668-69 under the auspices of London merchants. The expedition's success in opening up the fur trade with the Native Americans prompted Prince Rupert, Charles's cousin, and others to appeal to the king for a charter. A preliminary charter seems to have been granted that year, but it was not until 1670 that the much-discussed permanent charter was granted to these "Gentlemen Adventurers trading into Hudson's Bay." It conferred on them not only a trading monopoly but practically sovereign rights in the region specified as that drained by rivers flowing into Hudson Bay. The extent of this vast region was not then known, nor was it fully known for about a century.

Early Years

The company's monopoly was not respected by other English traders. The Great Company, as the Hudson's Bay Company was known, did a highly profitable business, but Hudson Bay was claimed also by the French, who sent expeditions against the posts that recently had been established near the mouths of the Moose, Albany, Severn, and Nelson rivers. Warfare went on, almost regardless of whether there was peace or war between the two nations in Europe, until after the Peace of Utrecht (1713-14). The French on the whole were more successful than the British in the conflict over control of the posts, but ultimately all of Hudson Bay was recognized as British territory. Rivalry, however, continued between the French traders from Montreal and Quebec and the Hudson's Bay men.

The Great Company was content to remain at its seaboard posts and made little effort either to send traders inland or to search out the Northwest Passage. The only notable early voyages made westward that are known today were those of Henry Kelsey, the disastrous attempt of James Knight in 1719 to find by sea the Northwest Passage and fabled gold mines, the expeditions of Anthony Hendry (1754), and the journey of Samuel Hearne across barren grounds to the mouth of the Coppermine River in 1771, which definitively proved that there was no short Northwest Passage out of Hudson Bay. The company was harshly criticized in the middle of the 18th cent., chiefly because of its failure to discover the Northwest Passage.

Rivalry with the North West Company

With the transfer of Canada from France to England by the Treaty of Paris in 1763, new competition developed in the lands nominally held in monopoly. Scotsmen had assumed a large role in the Montreal fur trade, and their trade cut into the declining returns of the Hudson's Bay Company. Out of the combinations of these Montreal merchants grew the North West Company, which was to be the chief rival of the older company. The Hudson's Bay men were stirred out of their lethargy: Samuel Hearne founded Cumberland House on the Saskatchewan River in 1774, and thereafter the Hudson's Bay Company took a greater interest in the West.

Other difficulties beset the company. In 1782 a French naval expedition took Fort Prince of Wales, on the Churchill River, one of the most important company posts. It was returned and became Fort Churchill, but trade there and at York Factory, the other great eastern post, declined. Brisk rivalry with the Northwesters (as the traders of the North West Company were known) in the West did not turn to the advantage of the Hudson's Bay Company. Company policy apparently did not encourage exploration, and the great geographer, David Thompson, left it to join the Northwesters.

Amalgamation

The whole policy and nature of the Hudson's Bay Company was altered when the earl of Selkirk gained control after 1808. His scheme to colonize Scottish and Irish farmers on company lands led to the Red River Settlement trouble, which brought disaster to the company. The ruinous and bloody rivalry was brought to an end by the amalgamation of the companies in 1821. The name of the older company was retained.

The amalgamation marked the beginning of a period of true monopoly. The new united company virtually had absolute rule over a vast territory that extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific, since all of Canada except the settled eastern provinces was leased to the company. Parts of the United States, especially the Columbia River country, were subject to joint Canadian and American occupancy, but virtually were under company rule, especially during the long tenure of John McLoughlin, who acted as administrator there. The governorship (1821-56) of Sir George Simpson marked the peak of the company's fortunes.

Diversification

In 1857 the company was subjected to a parliamentary investigation. Although the company trade privileges were renewed, its position was not secure. In 1863 the stock of the company was bought up and reissued by the International Financial Society; the stock passed from a few to many holders. This internal reorganization had a vast effect on the company.

The company also was changed from without, particularly after confederation (1867). Opponents were able to challenge successfully its monopolistic operations. In 1869 the company territory was by governmental order transferred to Canada in return for £300,000. The nature of the company was thereafter entirely different.

It began to change from being solely a fur-trading organization and eventually became a gigantic corporation of almost innumerable interests. The sales of company lands brought in much money. For many years (1889-1914) Lord Strathcona was governor. It was after his death that the real expansion of the company into retail trade and varied manufacturing took place, in the administrations of Sir Robert Molesworth Kindersley (1915-25) and Charles Vincent Sale (1926-30). In World War I company ships were used as transports and the company rendered great service to the war effort. In 1930 the company was split up: the Canadian stores became a separate organization, and the London portion once more turned to the fur trade. Company headquarters were transferred from England to Canada in 1970, and most enterprises other than retail stores were sold off in 1983. In 1987 the Northern Stores division, which served N Canada and had originated as the old trading posts, was sold as well, becoming (1990) the North West Company. In 2006 control of the Hudson's Bay Company was acquired by an American investor, Jerry Zucker.

2 City (1990 pop. 18,170), seat of Matagorda co., S Tex., near the Colorado River and the Gulf of Mexico; inc. 1894. It is a shipping and industrial center for a region that produces oil, gas, salt, beef cattle, rice, cotton, and grains. Plastics and chemicals are produced. The county museum is there, and Matagorda Bay and several Gulf beaches are nearby.

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Semicircular or nearly circular concavity, similar to a gulf but usually smaller. Bays may range from a few hundred yards to several hundred miles from side to side. They are usually located where easily eroded rocks, such as clays and sandstones, are bounded by harder, more erosion-resistant formations of igneous rocks, such as granite, or hard calcareous rocks, such as massive limestones. Some bays form excellent harbours.

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Former inlet of the Ross Sea, Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. It was first seen by the British explorer James C. Ross in 1842. The bay was the continent's most southerly open harbour in summer and was the site of several important bases for Antarctic exploration. More than 10 mi (16 km) wide in 1911, it gradually narrowed as advancing ice sheets collided. It disappeared entirely in 1987 when an iceberg 99 mi (159 km) long broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf.

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Town (pop., 2001 prelim.: 40,849), west-central Namibia, on the Atlantic Ocean. A mid-19th-century rush to exploit guano deposits on nearby islands was followed by British annexation of the bay and the adjacent land in 1878. It was incorporated into Britain's Cape Colony in 1884. In 1910 it was included in the newly united South Africa. Administered as part of South West Africa (1922–77), it was then governed directly by South Africa, which retained the enclave after Namibia reached independence in 1990. The two countries administered the enclave jointly from 1992 to 1994; then South Africa transferred it to Namibia. Its harbour serves as Namibia's chief port.

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Inlet, southern Hudson Strait, northeastern Quebec, Canada. It is about 200 mi (320 km) long and 160 mi (260 km) wide at its mouth, with a maximum depth of 978 ft (298 m). Fed by several large rivers, including the Feuilles, Arnaud, Baleine, and George, it is ice-free only four months a year. At its mouth, Akpatok Island (551 sq mi [1,427 sq km]) rises to 930 ft (283 m).

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City (pop., 2001: 109,016), west-central Ontario, Canada. It is located on the northwestern shore of Lake Superior. Its first settlement was a French fur-trading post circa 1678. In the 1870s and '80s silver strikes and the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway brought prosperity to the twin towns of Port Arthur and Fort William that had grown up there. Their rivalry was resolved with the unification of their harbour facilities in 1906; the towns merged in 1970 and created the city of Thunder Bay. It is one of Canada's busiest ports, with grain storage and transshipment depots; other industries include shipbuilding.

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Inlet, Gulf of Mexico, western Florida, U.S. The bay is 25 mi (40 km) long and 7–12 mi (11–19 km) wide, and it serves the recreational and commercial activities of Saint Petersburg on the western shore and Tampa on the northeast. Hernando de Soto began his travels through the southeastern U.S. region when he reached Tampa Bay in 1539. Tampa Bay is spanned by the 15-mi (24-km) Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

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Inlet, Atlantic Ocean, forming the harbour of Cape Town, South Africa. It is 12 mi (19 km) long and 8 mi (12 km) wide. Although less sheltered than other bays along the coast, it became a port of call for ships traveling to India and the East because of the availability of fresh water. The shore was permanently settled by the Dutch in 1652.

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Large, nearly landlocked bay indenting west-central California, U.S. A drowned river valley paralleling the coastline, it is connected with the Pacific Ocean by the Golden Gate Strait, which is spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge. The bay is one of the world's finest natural harbours. Treasure, Yerba Buena, Angel, and Alcatraz islands are there; the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley are nearby.

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Arm of Lake Ontario, southeastern Ontario, Canada. It extends for 75 mi (121 km) from its entrance near Amherst Island to Murray Canal at the western end. A resort area, it is a scenic, narrow bay with many small inlets. Among the major settlements around the bay are Trenton, Belleville, Deseronto, and Picton. The bay's name was derived from Kenté, an Indian village on the bay's western shore.

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Small inlet of the Beaufort Sea, northern Alaska, U.S. It has been the centre of oil-drilling activities since the discovery in 1968 of vast petroleum deposits on Alaska's North Slope. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline links the area to Valdez on Prince William Sound.

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Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, southeastern Rhode Island, U.S. It extends north for 28 mi (45 km) into the state, almost dividing it into two parts. The bay includes Rhode, Prudence, and Conanicut islands and Mount Hope Bay, which is crossed by one of New England's longest bridges. Since colonial times it has been an active shipping centre; its chief ports are Providence and Newport. Much of the bay's area is devoted to fishing and recreation.

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Inlet of the Pacific Ocean, southeastern coast of Queensland, Australia. It is 65 mi (105 km) long and 20 mi (32 km) wide, and it serves as the gateway to Brisbane. In 1770 British navigator Capt. James Cook named the bay (misspelling it) for the earl of Morton. The first settlement on the mainland was a penal colony established at Redcliffe in the early 19th century.

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Seaport (pop., 2000 est.: 89,859), northwestern Jamaica, located northwest of Kingston. It lies on the site of a large Arawak village visited by Christopher Columbus in 1494. The Spanish, ousted by the British after 150 years, destroyed most of the original buildings. One of Jamaica's largest cities, it is a commercial centre and busy port. It is also a popular tourist resort noted for its white sandy beaches.

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Inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, extending 35 mi (56 km) north to the mouth of the Mobile River in southwestern Alabama, U.S. It is 8–18 mi (13–29 km) wide and enters the gulf through a dredged channel between Dauphin Island and Mobile Point. During the American Civil War it was the scene of the Battle of Mobile Bay.

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Inlet of the South China Sea extending into southwestern Luzon island, Philippines. Considered one of the world's great harbours, it forms a nearly landlocked body of water with an area of 770 sq mi (2,000 sq km). It measures 36 mi (58 km) across at its widest point. The decisive Battle of Manila Bay, in the Spanish-American War, took place there in 1898. The Japanese gained control of the bay in 1942 during World War II, but it was recaptured by U.S. forces in 1945. Corregidor Island, the scene of intense fighting in the war, divides the bay's entrance into the South Channel and the North Channel.

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Inlet of the Tasman Sea, southeastern New South Wales, Australia. It is about 10 mi (16 km) long and 6 mi (10 km) wide. It was discovered in 1770 and named Long Nose by Capt. James Cook, but in 1791 it was renamed for Adm. John Jervis. In 1915 it was transferred from the jurisdiction of New South Wales to the Australian Commonwealth to provide the Australian Capital Territory with access to the sea. The bay is a resort area and the site of the Royal Australian Naval College (founded 1915).

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Extension of Hudson Bay, located between northern Ontario and Quebec, Can. Generally less than 200 ft (60 m) deep, it is 275 mi (443 km) long and 135 mi (217 km) wide. It contains numerous islands, of which the largest is Akimiski Island. The many rivers that empty into the bay, including the Moose, are the cause of its low salinity. Visited by Henry Hudson in 1610, it is named for Capt. Thomas James, who explored it in 1631.

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Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. It occupies about 20 sq mi (50 sq km) along the southwestern shore of Long Island, in southeastern New York, U.S. Part of the Port of New York, it is sheltered on the south by Rockaway Peninsula and connects with the ocean through Rockaway Inlet. Near the entrance channel is Coney Island. On the northeastern shore, at Idlewild, is the John F. Kennedy International Airport.

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Corporation prominent in Canadian economic and political history. It was incorporated in England (May 2, 1670) to seek the Northwest Passage to the Pacific, to occupy lands adjacent to Hudson Bay, and to carry on commerce. The lands granted to the company, known as Rupert's Land, extended from Labrador west to the Rocky Mountains and from the headwaters of the Red River on the southern Canadian border north to Chesterfield Inlet on Hudson Bay. The company first engaged in the fur trade and established trading posts around Hudson Bay. By 1783 competitors had formed the North West Co., and armed clashes continued until the two companies merged in 1821. The company was given exclusive fur-trade rights until 1858, when the monopoly was not renewed and independent companies entered the fur trade. In 1870 the company sold its territories to the government in exchange for £300,000 and mineral rights to lands around the posts and a fertile portion of western Canada. It remained a large fur-collecting and marketing agency until 1991, with extensive real-estate interests and many department stores.

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Inland sea, indenting east-central Canada. With an area of 480,000 sq mi (1,243,000 sq km), it is bounded by Nunavut, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. It is connected with the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson Strait and with the Arctic Ocean via the Foxe Channel. Named for Henry Hudson, who navigated its eastern coast in 1610, the bay and the surrounding area, known as Rupert's Land, were controlled by the Hudson's Bay Company (1821–69). Hudson Bay is shallow, with an average depth of 330 ft (100 m); the coast is mainly a marshy lowland. The islands it contains are administratively part of Nunavut. For conservation purposes, the Canadian government has designated the whole Hudson Bay basin a “mare clausum” (closed sea).

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City (pop., 2000: 102,313), northeastern Wisconsin, U.S. Located on the Fox River at Green Bay, an inlet of Lake Michigan, it was the site of French trading posts from 1634 until the War of 1812. The U.S. took possession when the army built Fort Howard there in 1816. With the decline of the fur trade and the opening of the Erie Canal, it developed as a lumbering and agricultural centre. A Great Lakes port of entry with heavy shipping, it has a large wholesale and distributing business. The city is famous for its professional football team, the Green Bay Packers, which it has supported since 1919. It is the site of a University of Wisconsin branch and a technical college.

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Northeast arm of Lake Michigan, indenting northwestern Michigan, U.S. Located off the coast of the Lower Peninsula, the head of the bay is 32 mi (52 km) long and 12 mi (19 km) wide. It is divided into the east and west arms by Old Mission Peninsula, with Traverse City at its base. The Leelanau Peninsula lies west of the bay, which is noted for its year-round fishing. The area is an important summer resort region.

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Natural area, southeastern Alaska, U.S. Located on the Gulf of Alaska, it was proclaimed a national monument in 1925, established as a national park and preserve in 1980, and designated a World Heritage site in 1992. It covers 5,040 sq mi (13,053 sq km). It includes Glacier Bay, much of Mount Fairweather, and the U.S. portion of the Alsek River. Among its great tidewater glaciers is Muir Glacier, which rises 265 ft (81 m) above the water and is nearly 2 mi (3 km) wide. The park also includes a dramatic range of plant species and such wildlife as brown and black bears, mountain goats, whales, seals, and eagles.

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Inlet, Lake Huron, southeastern Ontario, Canada. Sheltered from the rest of the lake by Manitoulin Island and the Bruce Peninsula, it is 120 mi (190 km) long and 50 mi (80 km) wide; its maximum depth is 540 ft (165 m). The Georgian Bay Islands National Park, established in 1929, comprises some 40 islands in the southeastern and western parts of the bay. The Thirty Thousand Islands along the bay's eastern shore constitute a popular summer resort area.

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Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, southeastern Canada. Located between the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, it extends 94 mi (151 km) inland and is 32 mi (52 km) wide at its entrance. It is noted for its fast-running tides, which may produce rises as great as 70 ft (21 m), the highest in the world. Noted also for the spectacular rock formations and forests of its shorelines, it has several deepwater harbours, including one at St. John, N.B. In 1948 a 51,000-acre (20,700-hectare) section of the bay's New Brunswick coast was set aside as Fundy National Park.

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Inlet of the North Atlantic Ocean. Extending northwest from the southeastern tip of Baffin Island, Can., it is about 150 mi (240 km) long and 20–40 mi (32–64 km) wide and has a maximum depth of 400 ft (120 m). It was discovered in 1576 by Martin Frobisher. The town of Iqaluit at the head of the bay is the capital of Nunavut.

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Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. Forming part of the New Jersey-Delaware state border, it extends southeast for 52 mi (84 km) from the junction of the Delaware River with Alloway Creek to its entrance between Cape May and Cape Henlopen. Bordered by marshy lowlands, the bay is an important link in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.

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Bay, southeastern coast of Mozambique. Some 19 mi (31 km) long and 16 mi (26 km) wide, with Inhaca Island, a tourist resort, at its mouth, it also is the site of Maputo, the nation's capital. First explored by the Portuguese in 1544, it was important as an outlet for ivory and slaves, a way station for Indian Ocean trade, and a route to the South African diamond mines and goldfields. Ownership was contested by the Portuguese, Dutch, English, and Boers until it was awarded by arbitration to Portugal in 1875.

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Town (pop., 2000: 15,374), southwestern Oregon, U.S. Located on Coos Bay, an inlet of the Pacific, it was settled as Marshfield in 1854 and developed early shipbuilding industries. In the early 1900s it became a major lumber-shipping port. A port of entry, it also processes seafood products and is the heart of a seaside resort area. Incorporated in 1874, it was renamed Coos Bay (after an Indian tribal name) in 1944.

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Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, eastern U.S. With its lower section in Virginia and its upper section in Maryland, it is 193 mi (311 km) long and 3–25 mi (5–40 km) wide and has an area of about 3,230 sq mi (8,365 sq km). It receives many rivers, including the Susquehanna, Patuxent, Potomac, and James. Jamestown, the area's first European settlement, was founded in 1607; a year later, Capt. John Smith explored and mapped the bay. The bay's waters had supported vast amounts of marine life, but by the 1970s development of the surrounding area led to alarming pollution of the bay; fishing dropped off sharply. Efforts have since been made to reverse the damage.

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Inlet of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, southeastern Canada. It extends about 90 mi (145 km) between northern New Brunswick and the Gaspé Peninsula. It receives many rivers, including the Restigouche. The bay is famous as a fishing ground, especially for mackerel. It was navigated and named in July 1534 by Jacques Cartier.

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Inlet of the South China Sea, south-central Vietnam. Located between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, it was a French colonial naval base. It was used by the Japanese in World War II. From 1965 it was a major U.S. base in the Vietnam War. It later was a major Soviet naval base, and Russia maintained a presence there after the dissolution of the U.S.S.R.

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Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, southeastern Massachusetts, U.S. Connected to Cape Cod Bay by the Cape Cod Canal on the northeast and bordered on the southeast by the Elizabeth Islands, it is 30 mi (48 km) long and 5–10 mi (8–16 km) wide. Its coastline is dotted with fishing villages and summer resorts. Buzzards Bay town (pop., 2000: 3,549) is the site of Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

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Inlet of the South Pacific Ocean, southeastern Australia. Lying south of Sydney off Port Jackson, it is about 5 mi (8 km) at its widest. It was the scene of the first Australian landing by Capt. James Cook in 1770; he named the bay for its great variety of plants. It was selected in 1787 as the site for a penal settlement, but the settlement was soon transferred inland. Its shores are now ringed by Sydney's suburbs.

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Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, southeastern U.S. Located along southeastern Florida, it is about 40 mi (64 km) long and 2–10 mi (3–16 km) wide; it forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It is bordered by Miami on the northwest and the Florida Keys on the east. The bay was named for the early explorer El Biscaino, of Viscaya (Biscaya) province, Spain. Seealso Biscayne National Park.

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Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, bounded by southwestern France and northwestern Spain. It has an area of about 86,000 sq mi (223,000 sq km) and a maximum depth of 15,525 ft (4,735 m). It is known for its rough seas. Rivers flowing into the bay include the Loire, Adour, and Garonne. Its ports include (in France) Brest, Nantes, and Bordeaux, and (in Spain) Bilbao, Santander, and Avilés; none can accommodate large vessels. French coastal resorts include La Baule, Biarritz, and Saint-Jean-de–Luz.

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Part of the Indian Ocean. Occupying about 839,000 sq mi (2,173,000 sq km), it is bordered by Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and the northern Malay Peninsula. It is about 1,000 mi (1,600 km) wide, with an average depth exceeding 8,500 ft (2,600 m). Many large rivers, including the Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri (Cauvery), Ganges (Ganga), and Brahmaputra, flow into it. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the bay's only islands, separate it from the Andaman Sea to the southeast. It has long been crossed by Indian and Malaysian traders; Chinese maritime trading dates from the 12th century. Vasco da Gama led the first European voyage into the bay in 1498.

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Inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, southeastern Louisiana, U.S. The bay is about 15 mi (24 km) long and 12 mi (19 km) wide, and its entrance is a narrow channel, navigable through connecting waterways into the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway system. The area is noted for its shrimp industry and natural-gas and oil wells. Jean Laffite and his brother organized a colony of pirates around its coast in 1810–14, and it is sometimes called Laffite Country.

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Large inlet, Atlantic Ocean, between western Greenland and eastern Baffin Island. With an area of 266,000 sq mi (689,000 sq km), it extends 900 mi (1,450 km) southward from the Arctic and is connected to the Atlantic by Davis Strait. It was visited by the English captain Robert Bylot in 1615 and named for his lieutenant, William Baffin. Its climate is severe, and icebergs are dense even in August.

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