kilometers) long. It begins in mountains
that rise from the Plateau of Tibet in
western China. There the river drops
rapidly through deep mountain gorges.
The middle course of the river is a great
loop. Much of it runs through the Loess
Plateau. This region is named for its
crumbly soil, called loess. Large amounts
of soil wash into the river.
The lower course stretches east across
the North China Plain. The river empties
into the Yellow Sea, which is a part
of the Pacific Ocean.
Floodwaters from the Huang He deposit
silt (soil particles) on the North China
Plain. Crops grow well in silty soil.
People have grown crops on the North
China Plain for thousands of years.
Since before 500 BC, people have built
earth barriers called levees to protect
villages near the Huang He from floods.
A break in a levee can cause a major
disaster. The river now has large dams
that control floods, provide electric
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Huang He 89
power, and hold back water for use in
farming.
#More to explore
China • River • Soil • Yangtze River
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay is a large sea in northeastern
Canada. It is named for Henry Hudson,
an English explorer. Hudson
discovered the bay in 1610 while looking
for a way to sail west from Europe to
Asia.
The weather at Hudson Bay is harsh.
Snowstorms and strong winds are common
in winter. Floating sheets of ice
cover much of the bay during the coldest
months.
Most of the coast of Hudson Bay is
lined with marshes. The marshes sit on
top of permafrost, or permanently frozen
soil. Mosses, lichens, and small trees
and bushes grow along the shore. Some
pine forests grow near the shore in the
south.
Hudson Bay was once very important to
the economy of Canada. The Hudson’s
Bay Company built and operated furtrading
posts along the shore. Today the
Canadian government does not allow
much economic activity on the bay. It
wants to protect the area. Native people
who live in small villages around the bay
are allowed to fish and hunt sea mammals.
#More to explore
Canada • Hudson’s Bay Company
• Marsh
Hudson’s Bay
Company
The Hudson’s Bay Company is the oldest
company in Canada. It was started in
1670 as a fur-trading company. Today
the company runs department stores
throughout Canada.
In the 1600s both rich Europeans and
poor settlers in North America wore
clothing and hats made of fur. Explorers
The Hudson’s Bay Company had many
small buildings called stations in the Canadian
Arctic region.
90 Hudson Bay BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
in North America searched for animals
that could provide this fur.
Two French traders found many beavers
as they traveled along the coast of Hudson
Bay, in Canada.With the help of
the king of England, they formed a
company to trade beaver pelts, or skins,
for other goods.
The Hudson’s Bay Company built trading
posts along the coasts of Hudson
Bay, James Bay, and the Arctic Ocean.
The company traded with Native
Americans, who brought pelts from beavers,
foxes, bears, and wolves. In
exchange for the pelts, the company
gave the Indians such goods as weapons,
gunpowder, beads, fishhooks, axes, sewing
needles, scissors, cooking pots, and
wool blankets.
In the late 1800s the demand for beaver
pelts began to fall. The Hudson’s Bay
Company had to find new goods for
trade. By the early 1900s the Hudson’s
Bay Company had turned its trading
posts into shops. It also built department
stores in Canadian cities. By the
late 20th century the company no
longer traded in furs.
#More to explore
Canada • Fur Trade
Hughes,
Langston
The writer Langston Hughes was an
important figure of the Harlem Renaissance.
This was a period of great creativity
among African American artists.
Hughes wrote about the joys and sorrows
of ordinary blacks. He is known
especially for his poetry.
James Mercer Langston Hughes was
born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin,
Missouri. He lived in many different
places as a child. He started writing
poetry while in high school in Cleveland,
Ohio.
In 1921 Hughes entered Columbia University
in New York City. He was so
unhappy that he left school after a year.
Then he took time to explore Harlem, a
mostly black New York City neighborhood.
There he met other people interested
in writing about the experiences of
African Americans.
Hughes’s career as a writer took off in
1925. He was working as a busboy at a
hotel inWashington, D.C. He showed
his poems to U.S. poet Vachel Lindsay
while Lindsay dined at the hotel. Lind-
Langston Hughes
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Hughes, Langston 91
say helped call the country’s attention to
Hughes’s work. Hughes then received a
scholarship to attend Lincoln University
in Oxford, Pennsylvania. He graduated
in 1929.
Hughes published his first book of
poetry, The Weary Blues, in 1926. His
most famous work may be Montage of a
Dream Deferred (1951). This booklength
poem describes the challenges
faced by African Americans living in
cities.
In addition to poetry, Hughes also wrote
novels, plays, essays, short stories, and
children’s books. He died in New York
City on May 22, 1967.
#More to explore
African Americans • Poetry
Huguenots
Beginning in the early 1500s, many
