Page 29 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

THE DAWN OF THE EMPIRE 29

West Indies , with the despoiled cargo of the captured
Portuguese galleon there was nothing to show for the con­
siderable outlay on the venture. The only substantial
asset was a fund of experience of Eastern navigation,
which, however valuable from the larger standpoint of
national commercial development was of small account
in the calculations of merchants seeking a profitable new
field for the utilization of their capital. Still, the spirit of
enterprise in England at that period was such that men
were found ready to employ Lancaster afresh in a specula­
tive undertaking overseas. Only five months after he
had returned from the Eastern voyage we find him once
more on his native element, the commander of a new fleet
of three vessels equipped for a perilous foray on the Por­
tuguese possessions in South America. The aggregate
tonnage of this little squadron did not reach 500, yet such
was the spirit of the man and his fine contempt for the
Portuguese that lie made directly for the Brazilian port
of Pernambuco, which was then one of the chief centres of
Portuguese trade in the West and as such heavily fortified.
By a display of cool daring and resourcefulness which was
proof .alike against the feeble defensive measures and the
crooked diplomacy of the local Portuguese authorities
he compelled the submission of Ptecife, the port of Pernam­
buco, extracted a heavy ransom in the shape of treasure
and goods, and with heavily laden ships made for home,
arriving at Blackwall in July, 1595. It was a purely
piratical expedition which cannot be justified on any
modern principle, but the Elizabethan age was not a
fastidious one in these matters. In the then near past
the country had suffered grievous wrongs at the hands of
both Portugal and Spain. For long years the nation