Page 200 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

200 EARLY ENGLISH ADVENTURERS IN THE EAST

reaped and throughout the island there went up a shout of
anticipatory triumph. But, alas! the sanguine hopes
aroused were destined never to be realized for reasons
which must now be related.
Sir Thomas Dale, one of the most experienced com­
manders of the Company at the time, was sent in 1619 from
India to Bantam charged with the special duty of protect­
ing English shipping and English interests from the attacks
of the Dutch. In his early days Dale had served as a
military commander in the service of the States General.
But he is best known as one of the first governors of the *
infant Colony of Virginia. It was he who brought over
to England the celebrated Princess Pocohontas whose
romantic story so stirred the sentimental hearts of a past
generation. He was a bluff, choleric type of man, ready
of tongue and in official matters exacting and punctilious.
He was rather feared than loved by those under him.
As far as the particular service upon which he was engaged
was concerned, he was at a distinct disadvantage owing to
the fact that his experience in positions of authority had
been gained in the West and not in the East.
On receiving at Bantam the intelligence of the latest
moves of the Dutch, Dale’s hot blood boiled over with
r
indignation. He swore with all the freedom which he
allowed himself that he would have vengeance of these
ruffianly Hollanders, and especially of that arch enemy of
the English, Jan Pietersoon Coen, who had distinguished
himself by his cruel treatment of the English prisoners in
his hands. \
As a preliminary to larger operations Dale seized a
Dutch vessel called the Zwarte Leeuw (Black Lion) and
put her crew ashore with the intimation that if he caught