THE EAST INDIA COMPANY. 11 



Following the coast to the south-west, he skirted ' an outpoint of wooded land ; ' and about 

 noon of the 14th of May he anchored ' near Savage Rock/ to the east of York Harbour. 

 . . . Not finding his ' purposed place ' he stood to the south, and on the morning of the* 

 loth discovered the promontory which he named Cape Cod. He and four of his men went 

 on shore. Cape Cod was the first spot in New England ever trod by Englishman." 

 He traded with the natives in peltries, sassafras, and cedar-wood, and was probably the 

 first to sow English corn on the Island of Martha's Vineyard. In 1606 two maritime 

 companies, the " Plymouth Adventurers/' and the South Virginia Company, were authorised 

 to colonise and form plantations ; the first having right to the territory which now embraces 

 Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York; and the second, to that which now includes 

 Maryland, Virginia, and North and South Carolina. A single steamer of these days has 

 often landed more emigrants at New York than did a dozen of these early expeditions at 

 other points, for their progress at first was painfully slow. 



The great East India Company was formed in England more than a century after the 

 discovery, by Vasco de Gama, of the route to India via the Cape. The first voyage of Thomas 

 Cavendish is worthy of more note than it has received, inasmuch as it contributed more 

 than anything else to awakening the merchants of London to the importance of the trade 

 prospects there. Starting in July, 1586, he circumnavigated the globe, passing through the 

 Straits of Magellan westward, in eight months less than Drake. He was the first English 

 navigator to discern the value of the position of St. Helena, to describe with accuracy the 

 Philippine Islands, and to bring home a map and description of China; and what is more 

 remarkable is the fact that he was scarcely more than twenty-two years of age when he 

 took command in this first most adventurous voyage. He was shipwrecked five or six years 

 later on the coast of Brazil, and lost his life there. Through Mr. Thome, an English 

 merchant, often mentioned in connection with these early voyages, the London merchants 

 gained a considerable amount of knowledge relating to the important trade with the Indies 

 enjoyed by the Spanish and Portuguese; and at length, in the year 1600, more than 200 

 shipowners, traders, and citizens associated, and formed a body corporate, having received 

 many special privileges from the Crown, " including," says Lindsay,* " that of punishing 

 offenders either in body or purse, provided the mode of punishment was not repugnant to the 

 laws of England. Its exports were not subjected to any duties for the four first voyages, 

 important indulgences were granted in paying the duties on imports, and liberty was given 

 to export 30,000 each voyage in coin or bullion, provided 6,000 of this sum passed through 

 the Mint. But not exceeding six ships, and an equal number of pinnaces, with 500 seamen, 

 were allowed to be despatched annually to whatever station might be formed in India, with 

 the additional provisoes that the seamen were not at the time required for the service of 

 the Royal Navy, and that all gold and silver exported by the Company should be shipped 

 at either London, Dartmouth, or Plymouth." The Company started with a capital of 

 72,000, and equipped five vessels for the first venture, the largest of which was the Dragon 

 of 600 tons ; her commander, according to the practice of the day, receiving the title of 

 "Admiral of the Squadron/' The first voyage was very successful ; important commercial 



* " History of Mciuhunt Shipping and Ancient Commerce." 



