 |
| The
English East India Company: The Early Voyages |
 |
On 13 February
1601 four ships left Woolwich in London on their way
to the pepper producing islands of Sumatra and Java.
In charge of the voyage was James Lancaster, a member
of the new Company of Merchants of London trading into
the East Indies. The Company had been founded by a charter
from Queen Elizabeth I. The charter granted the members
a monopoly of all trade with the East.
 |
|
|
The ships
sailed around the coast of South Africa and across the
Indian Ocean to Sumatra where two ships stopped at Aceh.
The other two ships arrived at the busy port of Bantam
in December 1602. They were carrying a cargo of woollen
cloth and different kinds of iron. The problem was that
Sumatrans were not very interested in trading precious
spices for these goods. Lancaster acted quickly: he
decided to capture a Portuguese carrack (a large ship)
and steal its rich cargo of gold, silver and Indian
textiles so that he could buy pepper at Aceh. Soon he
noticed that pepper was even cheaper in Bantam on the
Island of Java and traded more cloth there.
All four
ships, filled with pepper, arrived back in London in
1603. Many sailors had died on the voyage. They had
all lived in cramped conditions, their diet was poor
and sickness was common. Over the next 9 years 11 more
voyages left the Thames for the factory that James Lancaster
had set up at Bantam. The East India Company had begun.
Next
/ Menu
|
