CHAPTER II THE STEUGGLE WITH THE PORTUGUESE 1612 - 1622 (CAPTAIN BEST'S fight off Suwali in 1612 sounded J like a trumpet-call to the nation. It found the Company ready to make a gallant response. Having resolved in 1612 to adopt the Joint Stock system, the committees raised an unprecedented subscription of £429,000 in 1613-about equal to the total of all the separate ventures since 1600. They thus got command of a capital which might almost vie with that of the Dutch Company, or with the state-resources of Por- tugal. The whole sum was not, however, called up at once, but was to be paid during four years for an annual voyage, so that the actual number of ships em- ployed still remained insignificant compared with the long established fleets of England's rivals. Before entering on the political events which grew out of this development, let me briefly summarize its commercial results. The four voyages extended from 1613 to 1616, with an average capital of £107,000; a fleet of about seven ships a year which exported goods and silver averaging £47,379 on each voyage, and yielded an average profit of 87H per cent, on the aggre- 81
