Page 203 - Dilmun 21

n a cold dul‫ ﺍ‬day in 1601 the ive ships which were anchored o Woolwich
sailed down the river on what was to be an eventul voyage. hey irst sailed
into alaya Acheen in the East with a letter rom Elivabeth promising the ing

that he should be veyr well sevred and better contented than he had
previously been with the Potrugals and Spaniards, the enemies o England.
he irst commercial transaction was not with the alay prince but with a
privateering raid on another power, a heavy blow to the ancient enemy which
resulted in the looting o one o the biggest Potruguese galleons in the
alaka Strait. n Sept 1the ships arirved back in England, his irst voyage
brought back 1,00,000 pounds o pepper as well as other cargo but what
was more impotrant was their locating o the best spice markets, the best
route or ships and the 1٣ step in the ulitmate lgoyr o the lndian Empire.

During Lancaster s absence Elizabeth passed on to her rest and James ٩٩
became king. He lacked his predecessor s enthusiasm and issued a license
to Sir Edward ichelborne (outr connection) to discover the countires o
hina and Japan and to trade iwth their people, his competing leet (2
ships, the iger and the igers Whelp) was under the command o John
Davis. he ompetitor was Sir Edward ichleborne. n the 21٤' August 1605
the iger and her consotr arirved in the vicinity o Bantam. Again on arrival to
this location, this leet began piratical acts on native as well as lndian ships.
his was at the end o 1606. en years lolowing the chatrer and the 1'
ocmpany s voyage, its representatives has the range o the east rom one
etreme almost to the othe.r its commanders the best was Henyr
iddleton who in ay 1606 brought back home rom Bantam and the
oluacs a 95 proit on their capital. he outrh voyage under the command
o aptain Aleander Sharpeigh established relations with Aden and ocha
and utrher etended the lndian connection.

ln ctober 1609 Sir Henyr iddleton arrived at ocha to be made welcome
by the loacl urkish oicial but suddenly the situation turned hostile and he
was accused o buying all lndian goods and strangling the trade. iddleton
was clapped in irons transpotred to San aa. He managed to escape ater he
was brought back to ocha. He made o with his leet to Surat but returned
later to take his revenge by coniscating the goods o iteen ujerait trading
ships waiitng to enter the port.