PRIVATE VENTURES AND THE THIRD VOYAGE 9 ern seas, he returned to England in 1606, never to sail again. This first of the " Interlopers " had seriously com- promised the position of the Company in the Archi- pelago. " If there should any more such as he be per- mitted by His Majesty to come into these parts,' ' wrote its factor at Bantam, " our estate here would be very dangerous.' ' King James had put an end to the nine- teen years' state of war with Spain and Portugal by the treaty of 1604, and although the hostility between the nations in the East still smouldered, our captains could no longer obtain a cargo by rifling a Portuguese ship, as Captain Lancaster boldly did on the first voy- age. While the Company had thus lost an enfeebled prey, it had made a powerful enemy. The Dutch were stronger in the East than the Portuguese and the Eng- lish put together, and for Michelborne's attack on them a heavy price was to be paid. Their reprisals for Ban- tam ended in the tragedy of Amboyna. The Company's third expedition, consisting of three vessels under Captain Keeling, Captain Hawkins, and Captain David Middleton, sailed in 1607, and brought home a rich cargo of pepper from Bantam and cloves from Amboyna, which, together with the profits of plun- der, yielded 234 per cent, on the subscriptions. Before its tardy return the Company had almost lost heart. For on the arrival of the ships from the second voyage, in 1606, the difficulties of realizing the profit seemed so great that " most of the Members were inclined to wind up their affairs and drop the business.' f
