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12 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
to thwart, his proceedings, a letter from the King of Enghmd,
and a vahiablc present to the Emperor, procured him a favour-
able reception, and he had little difficulty in making arrange-
ments for permanent trade. The voyage commanded by Sir
Henry Middleton, notwithstanding the loss of the ' Trade's
Increase,' yielded one hundred and twenty-one per cent ; that
by Captain Saris, two hundred and eighteen per cent. But it
is evident, from the above account of their proceedings,
derived from Beveridge's " History of India," that these
returns have no title whatever to be classed, as they usually
are, under the head of mercantile profits. About the same
time that Captain Saris set out on his voyage, a single vessel,
the ' Globe,' had been despatched from England, under the
command of Captain Anthony Hippon. Instead, however, of
proceeding to Bantam or the Red Sea, the ' Globe' sailed for
the Coromandel Coast, being the first Company's trading
vessel to visit these shores, to which the Portuguese and Dutch
had long before repaired. But the Dutch, who were in superior
force, would not permit Captain Hippon to trade at Pulicat, and,
after visiting Masulipatam, near which, at a place called
Petapoli, he left some people to form the nucleus of a factory,
he proceeded to Bantam, and thence to Patany on the east
coast of the Malay peninsula, ai]d Siam, at both of which
places he established factories.
To Captain Hippon, therefore, belongs the honour of having
been the founder of those factories in the Bay of Bengal,
which developed into magnificent trading establishments, and,
ultimately, gave place to our Presidency cities of Calcutta and
Madras.
Owing to the opposition experienced from the Dutch and
Portuguese, it soon became apparent to the Directors of the
East India Company, that, if they were desirous of continuing
and developing the trade, which, notwithstanding all losses
and obstructions, gave clear profits, seldom below one hundred,
and often more than two hundred, per cent., on the capital
invested on the voyage,* they must be prepared to oppose
force by force. As a result of this determination they equipped
their vessels for fighting, as well as trading, purposes, and
despatched a squadron sufficiently powerful to repel aggression.
The ships consisted of the ' Dragon' and ' Hoseander' (or
' Osiander,') afterwards joined by the ' James' and ' Solomon ;'
and the command of the squadron was entrusted to Captain
Thomas Best.
The two first vessels sailed from Gravesend on the 1st of
* Bruce's "Annals of the Honourable East India Company," Yol. I., pp.
152-163. In this valuable work, published in 1810, a full account may be
found of the early proceedings of the Company, whose historiographer Mr.
Bruce was.