Page:History of the French in India.djvu/29

 fcEAULlElfs EXPEDITION. 7 successful, was yet deemed so in that age, inasmuch as CI * AP - it was not absolutely a failure. It appears that the. navigators met with considerable opposition from the 1616. Dutch at Java, and as there happened to be a consider- able number of Dutch sailors amongst their crews, they were considerably inconvenienced by an order of the President of the Dutch possessions, by which all ser- vants of the republic were required instantly to leave the French vessels. This neceesitated the sale of Beaulieu's ship, and the transfer of himself and the re- mainder of the crew to that commanded by Commodore de Nets. They succeeded so far, however, in their trading negotiations, that, notwithstanding the loss of one ship, the voyage entailed no actual loss. Encouraged by the result of this first effort, the Company equipped another expedition of three ships in 1619, giving the chief command to Beaulieu, whom they created commodore. The names of the ships were the u Montmorenci," of 450 tons, carrying a hun- dred and sixty-two men, and twenty-two guns ; " L'Es- perance," of 400 tons, carrying a hundred and seventeen men, and twenty-six guns ; and " L' Hermitage," an advice boat, of 75 tons, thirty men and eight guns. They were all victualled for two years and a half. This expedition sailed from Honfleur on October 2, 1619, and, after a prosperous voyage, reached Achin in the island of Sumatra. At Java — whither they subsequently proceeded — Beaulieu had the misfortune to lose one of his ships — " L'Esperance " — not without strong suspicions, amounting in his mind to conviction, that it had been sunk by the Dutch. But, whatever the immediate cause, it is certain that she foundered off Java with all her crew, and cargo valued at between seventy and eighty thousand pounds sterling. After experiencing this loss, Beaulieu returned to Havre, and arrived there, with his vessel well laden, on December 1, 1620.