222 HISTORY OF INDIA. [Book I.
A u. 1598. began to steer for the Cape of Good Hope. Their veaseLs, a.s alrea*ly mentioned, had been reduced to tliree ; and of the 249 men who ha<l quitted Holland, only eiglity-nine now survived. Besides these, however, they had with them two negi-oes taken up on the coast of Madagascar, a Chinese, two Malabars, a native of Java, and a pilot, wlio was said to be originally from Gujerat, and luid volunteered to make the voyage to Europe. Sailing by the south of Java, the coast of Natal was reached on the 24!th of Apiil, St. Helena on the 25tli of May, the island of Ascension on the 2d of June, the Azores on tlie 12th of July, the English Channel on the 5th, and the port of Amsterdam on the 14th of August. Results of Though the results of Houtmann's voyage were by no means brilliant, his
voyage. arrival was hailed with loud acclamations. He had successfully performed a voyage in which the English had twice failed, and made it plain that, with due circumspection, a direct and lucrative trade with the East, by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, might easily be established. The Portuguese would doubtless throw every possible obstacle in the way; but their power of mis- chief was greatly abridged by the loss of their independence, and more was to be hoped from the victories which might be gained over them, than feared from the injm'ies which they might be able to inflict. The native powers, too, had evidently no love for the Portuguese, of whose tyranny and bigotry they had too good reason to complain, and were disposed to form friendly connections with any foreigners by whom the Portuguese supremacy might be undermined or finally overthrown. Even the returns by Houtmann's voyage, though ob- tained under the most unfavourable circumstances, nearly covered the expense ; and there was therefore every reason to hope, that in proportion as the na^■i- gation and the nature of the trade came to be better understood, great profits would be regularly realized. Newexpe Influenced by these and similar considerations, Houtmann's return was no
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sooner announced than aU the principal ports of Holland were eager to share in the new Indian traffic; and various companies, having that object in dew, were formed. As before, the Company for Distant Countries, which had sent out Houtmann, took the lead, and made all haste to fit out four ships. Other four were fitted out by a rival company. The leading merchants in both, afi-aid of the injury which they might inflict on each other, by appearing in the Indian market as competitors, proposed and eflfected an amalgamation. The eight vessels thus fitted out at the expense of private individuals, but provided with cannon by the government, sailed in 1598. Four of them made a voyage remarkable for its rapidity at that early period, and in the course of fifteen months returned from Bantam with a valuable cargo of pepper ; the other fom- occupied more time, but appear to have turned it to good account ; and after visiting Amboyna, Banda, and Ternate, came home laden with rich spices, which yielded an immense profit. During another voyage, fitted out by Middel-
