Page:History of India Vol 6.djvu/293

 POWEES AND PRIVILEGES OF THE COMPANY 233 proved unprofitable to the realm, it might be revoked on two years' notice from the crown; if beneficial, the charter should be renewed on the expiry of the fifteen years for another like period. The body corporate thus created represents both COTTON FOE EXPORT FROM INDIA. as to the nature of its business, and as to the mechan- ism for conducting it, the final stage of sea-enterprise in the Elizabethan age. As regards the nature of its business, Elizabethan maritime adventure had started with voyages mainly of discovery, but with an eye also to the Indian trade. Such voyages are summed up in