Complex sentence: He and his crew attempted to establish a trading post on Cuttyhunk so they could trade with the natives; the first attempt by Europeans to do so, the trading post was abandoned after only a few weeks, and Gosnold decided to return home.
Split into simpler sentences: He and his crew attempted to establish a trading post on Cuttyhunk so that they could trade with the natives, the first attempt by Europeans to do so. The trading post was abandoned after only a few weeks, and Gosnold decided to return home.