Page:Early English adventurers in the East (1917).djvu/71

Rh with pepper and, having dispatched them home, proceeded with the other two to the Moluccas, where he, in the face of some Dutch opposition, did a brisk trade and established what seemed then likely to prove profitable relations with the native powers. He returned home in May, 1606, with cargoes which brought to the investors a clear return of 95 per cent. on their capital, although one of the four ships had been lost on the voyage back.

In quick succession three other ventures were launched by the Company in the period immediately following Middleton's return. The first of the trio, which figures in history as the third voyage, was commanded by Captain William Keeling, who had as his chief lieutenant David Middleton, a brother of Henry. This voyage is chiefly interesting from the fact that it established the first connexion of the Company with India, one of the three ships of which the fleet was composed—the Hector—paying a flying visit to Surat prior to proceeding to Bantam, and leaving there in circumstances to be related in a subsequent chapter William Hawkins with instructions to proceed as envoy to the Court of Jehangir at Agra. Another of its features was the opening of a factory at Banda, an important seat of the spice trade in the Eastern seas, with a consequent further development of the rivalry between English and Dutch in that region. The venture which followed upon this, known as the fourth voyage, with Captain Alexander Sharpeigh as commander, established relations with Aden and Mocha and further extended the Indian connexion. But its course was so marked with misfortune that it did little to promote the cause of English trade expansion in India. First, Sharpeigh, on landing at Aden, was taken prisoner by the Turkish governor and