voyage undertaken by Thomas Cavendish in 1586 to the East. Following closely the course steered by Drake nine years previously Cavendish proceeded by way of the Straits of Magellan to the Moluccas and thence home round the Cape of Good Hope. The enterprise was not less successful than was its earlier prototype. Attacks on Spanish shipping in the Eastern seas yielded a rich harvest of spoil which returned to the promoters of the enterprise a handsome dividend on their capital outlay.
Cavendish's success wiped out the effect of Fenton's failure. People once more turned their thoughts to the possibillty of opening up a trade with the East. When the country had fairly settled down after the excitement of the defeat of the Armada a further adventure, having for its object the exploitation of Eastern markets, was floated. It brought to the front, in the person of James Lancaster, a man who was destined to leave his mark on the history of the development of the British Empire in the East.
Lancaster was a typical specimen of the Elizabethan sea dog. His place of birth and his ancestry are obscure, but his early years of manhood appear to have been spent in roving after the approved manner of his class. From his own statements we gather that he was brought up amongst the Portuguese, that during this period of youth he "lived among them as a gentleman, served them as a soldier, and associated with them as a merchant." He acquired a perfect knowledge of their language and as complete an insight into their character. Familiarity, in his case, markedly bred contempt. He described them as a people without truth or faith, who if they could not prevail by force would strive to win an advantage with their "deceivable tongues." His feeling was something more than the
