192 



Inasmuch 



The Muscovy 

 Company 



1553 



Captain 

 Frobisher 



travelled and sought, and yet doth travel and 

 seek, and by divers means endeavoureth and 

 laboureth, that the Passage into China and the 

 Isles of the Moluccas, by the Northwestward, 

 Northeastward, or Northward, into which part 

 or parts of the world, none of our loyal subjects 

 have hitherto had any traffic or trade, may be 

 discovered, known and frequented by the 

 subjects of this our Realm.&quot; 

 An early English attempt was made by the 

 Northeastward, around the North Cape and 

 thence along the coasts of Russia and Siberia. 

 The result, and the only result, was the opening 

 up of trade with Northern Russia, and the forma 

 tion of the Muscovy Company of London. 

 Having found a good thing, the Muscovy Com 

 pany determined to keep the benefit thereof to 

 themselves, and opposed all further attempts in 

 that direction. 



The men, however, of the times of &quot;Good 

 Queen Bess&quot; were unaccustomed to allow either 

 the greed of vested interests or the terrors of un 

 known regions to block untravelled pathways. 



&quot;Our General Captain Frobisher,&quot; says the 

 old chronicler, &quot;as well for that he is thoroughly 

 furnished of the knowledge of the sphere and all 

 other skills appertaining to the art of navigation, 

 as also for the confirmation he hath of the same 

 by many years experience both by sea and land, 

 and being persuaded of a new and nearer passage 

 to Cat ay a than by Capo de buona Speranca, 

 (Cape of Good Hope,) which the Portugals yearly 



