where he was staid by calms and contrary winds six weeks, he ran away to the West-Indies to get some supply, where after touching at several places, the captain and eighteen men went ashore in the little. island Mona, lying betwixt those of Portorico and Hispaniola, but five men and a boy left in the ship cut the cable and sailed away. Lancaster and eleven of his men some days after spying a sail, made a fire; upon which signal the Frenchman, for such a one it proved to be, took in his topsails, and drawing near the island received them aboard, treating them with extraordinary civility, and so brought them to Diepe in Normandy, whence they passed over to Rye in Sussex, and landed there in May 1594, having spent three years, six weeks, and two days in this voyage. Hitherto Hackluyt, vol. II.

An. 1595. The Dutch resolving to try their fortune in the East-Indies, fitted out four ships at Amsterdam, under the command of Cornelius Hootman, which sailed on the second of April, and on the fourth of August anchored in the bay of St. Blase, about forty-five leagues beyond the cape of Good Hope, where they continued some days trading with the natives for cattle in exchange for iron. August the eleventh they departed that place, and coasting along part of the island of Madagascar, came at last into the bay of S. Augustin, where they exchanged pewter spoons and other trifles with the natives for cattle, till they fell at variance; and the natives keeping away, no more provisions were to be had: and therefore on the tenth of December they weighed, directed their course for Java, but meeting with bad weather and strong currents, were kept back till the tenth of January, when they were forced for want of refreshments to put into the island of S. Mary, lying on the eastern coast of Madagascar in 17 degrees of south latitude, whence they removed to the great bay of Antongil, and continued there till the twelfth of February: then putting to sea again, they arrived on the coast of the great island Sumatra on the eleventh of June, and spending some days along that coast, came at last to Bantam in the island of Java. They lay

here, very favourably entertained by the emperor of Java, till falling at variance many hostilities passed betwixt them; and in November the Dutch removed from before Bantam to Jacatra, which is no great distance. In January finding themselves much weakened by loss of men, and the Amsterdam one of the biggest ships leaky, they unladed and burnt her. Having thoughts of sailing for the Molucco islands, they ran along as far as the strait of Balambuon at the east end of Java; but the seamen refusing to pass any further, they made through the strait, and on the twenty-seventh of February sailed along the coast of Java towards the cape of Good Hope; and three of their four ships, besides the pinnace that was a tender, and eighty-nine seamen, being all that were left of four hundred and forty-nine, returned to Holland in August following, having been abroad twenty-nine months. This and the voyage soon after following in 1598, may seem to be mistaken, because it is said in both, that the commander in chief was Cornelius Hootman; but it must be observed, they differ not only in time, but in all other circumstances, and this is certainly the first voyage the Dutch made to India, whereas in the other there is mention of those people having been there before. This is to be seen at large in the collection of voyages undertaken by the Dutch East-India company, printed this present year

1703.

An. 1596. Sir Robert Dudley, as principal adventurer, set out three ships under the command of Benjamin Wood, designing to trade in China; for which purpose he carried letters from queen Elizabeth to the emperor of China: but these ships and the men all perished, so we have no account of their voyage. Purchas, vol. I. p. 110.

An. 1598. Three merchants of Middleburgh fitted out two ships under the command of Cornelius Howteman for the East-Indies, which sailed on the fifteenth of March. In November they put into the bay of Saldanha on the coast of Afric, in 34 degrees of south latitude, and ten leagues from the cape of Good Hope. Here pretending to trade with the natives, they offered

them some violence; to revenge which, three days after they came down in great numbers, and surprising the Dutch slew thirteen of them, and drove the rest to their ship. January the 3d they again anchored in the bay of S. Augustin in the south-west part of the island Madagascar, and 23 degrees of south latitude, where the natives would not trade with them; and being in great want of provisions, they sailed to the island Magotta, or S. Christopher, on the north of Madagascar, and having got some relief went on to Answame, or Angovan, another small island, where they took in more provisions. Then proceeding on their voyage, they passed by the Maldivy islands, thence by Cochin, and in June arrived at Sumatra at the port of Achen, where after being kindly received by the king, be sent many men aboard on pretence of friendship, but with á design to surprize the ships, which they had near accomplished, but were with difficulty beaten off, yet so that the Dutch lost sixty-eight of their men, two pinnaces of twenty ton each, and one of their boats. Sailing hence they watered and refreshed at Pulo Batun off Queda, which is on the coast of Malaca; and having spent much time about those parts, in November anchored at the islands of Nicobar in 8 degrees of latitude, where they had some refreshment, but little; to remedy which, in their way towards Ceylon, they took a ship of Negapatan and plundered it. Then directing their course home in March 1600, they doubled the cape of Good Hope, and in July returned to Middleburgh, Purchas, vol. I. p. 116.

This same year, 1598, the Holland East-India company set out six great ships and two yatchs for India under the command of Cornelius Hemskirke, which sailed out of the Texel on the first of May, and coming together to the cape of Good Hope in August, were there separated by a terrible storm: four of them and a yatch put into the island Maurice east of Madagas car; the other two ships and yatch put into the island S. Mary on the east also of Madagascar; where they made no stay, but sailing thence arrived on the twentysixth of November 1598, before Bantam; and a month

after them came the other four ships and a yatch from the island Maurice. The first comers having got their lading, departed from before Bantam on the eleventh of January 1599, and arrived happily in the Texel on the ninth of June 1599, richly laden with pepper, cloves, mace, nutmegs, and cinnamon, having spent but fifteen months in the whole voyage. The other four ships and yatch left in India under the command of Wybrant, sailed from Bantam along the north side of Javan to the east end of it, where the town of Arosoya is seated. Here the natives, in revenge for some of their people killed by the Dutch in their first voyage, seized seventeen of them that were sent ashore for provisions; and fifty more being sent to their relief in sloops and boats, were all of them killed, drowned, or taken. The prisoners were ransomed for two thousand pieces of eight, and then the ships put to sea, and on the third of March 1599, came into the strait of Amboina, where they anchored before a small town in that island, called Itan. This is near the Moluccos, and produces plenty of cloves. There being lading but for two ships here, the other two were sent to Banda, where they took their lading of cloves, nutmegs, and mace, and returned home in April 1600. The other two ships left behind at Amboina having taken in what lading of cloves they could get, sailed away to get what they wanted at the Moluccos, and anchored at Ternate, where having got the rest of their lading, they departed thence on the nineteenth of August 1599, and came to Jacatra in the island Java on the thirteenth of November, being then reduced to extremity for want of provisions: whence after a few days stay they proceeded to Bantam, and thence on the twenty-first of January for Holland, where after a tedious voyage they arrived in safety, having lost many men through sickness and want of provisions. Every year after the Dutch failed not to set out new fleets, being allured by the vast returns they made; yet there was nothing in these voyages but trade, and some encounters with the Spaniards, and therefore it will be needless to mention them all in particular, till in the

year 1606, the Dutch possessed themselves of Tidore, one of the Molucco islands, and Amboina, expelling the Portugueses first, and afterwards the English. In 1608 the Dutch admiral Matelief laid siege to Malaca, but without success. Soon after they grew formidable at Jacatra, or Batavia, on the island Java, where they continue to this day, that being the chief seat of all their dominions in the east. Not so satisfied, they at length made themselves masters of Malaca, and expelled the Portugueses the island of Ceylon, by which means they are possessed of the most considerable trade of the east, all the cinnamon, nutmegs, and cloves, being entirely in their own hands. Nor is this all, for they. have conquered the island Formosa on the coast of China, whence they trade to Japan, with the exclusion of all christian nations from that island. And here we will leave the Dutch, to give some further relation of the English proceedings, and so conclude with the EastIndies.

An. 1600. A company of merchant adventurers was by patent from queen Elizabeth authorized to trade in the East-Indies, and accordingly in January 1600-1 they fitted out four great ships and a victualler, all under the command of captain James Lancaster, who sailed out of the river of Thames on the thirteenth of February, having four hundred and eighty men aboard his ships, yet got not beyond Torbay till the second of April, and on the first of November doubled the cape of Good Hope. In April following they anchored at the islands of Nicobar, north-east of the great island of Sumatra, and in June came before Achem, where they had a good reception, and settled peace and commerce with that king; but having little to trade with, put to sea, and took a great Portuguese ship richly laden, and returned to Achem, whence they sailed to Bantam in the island of Java: here they had also good entertainment, and liberty of trade was agreed on; and having taken in what more lading was wanting, which consisted in pepper and cloves, on the twentieth of February they set sail in order to return for England, but meeting with violent storms were carried into 40 de