Page 22 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

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22 EARLY ENGLISH ADVENTURERS IN THE EAST

voyage undertaken by Thomas Cavendish in 1586 to the
East. Following closely the course steered by Drake
nine years previously Cavendish proceeded by way of.
the Straits of Magellan to the Moluccas and thence home
round the Cape of Good Hope. The enterprise was not
less successful than was its earlier prototype. Attacks
on Spanish shipping in the Eastern seas yielded a rich har­
vest of spoil which returned to the promoters of the enter­
prise a handsome dividend on their capital outlay.
Cavendish’s success wiped out the effect of Fenton’s
failure. People once more turned their thoughts to the
possibility of opening up a trade with the East. When
the country had fairly settled down after the excitement
:• of the defeat of the Armada a further adventure, having for
its object the exploitation of Eastern markets, was floated.
It brought to the front, in the person of James Lancaster,
a man who was destined to leave his mark on the history
of the development of the British Empire in the East.
Lancaster was a typical specimen of the Elizabethan sea
dog. His place of birth and his ancestry arc obscure, but
his early years of manhood appear to have been spent in
roving after the approved manner of his class. From his
own statements we gather that he was brought up amongst
. the Portuguese, that during this period of youth he “ lived
among them as a gentleman, served them as a soldier,
and associated with them as a merchant.” He acquired
a perfect knowledge of their language and as complete
an insight into their character. Familiarity, in his case,
markedly bred contempt. He described them as a people v
without truth or faith, who if they could not prevail by
force would strive to win an advantage with their “ deceiv-
able tongues.” His feeling was something more than the

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