ber of
216, having George Earl of Cumberland at their head, under the name of
the _Company of Merchant Adventurers_, for carrying on a trade to the
East Indies. From this period ships were sent there regularly every two
or three years; and thus were laid the foundations of the English East
India commerce, which has subsisted ever since under exclusive chartered
companies.

"Long before the English sailed to India in their own ships, several
English merchants and others had gone to India from time to time in the
Portuguese ships, and some overland; from a desire to pry into and to
participate in the advantages of that gainful commerce. Of those who
went by land, several letters and relations remain which will be found
in the sequel: But of all who performed the voyage as passengers in the
Portuguese vessels, we know of only one who left any account of his
adventures, or at least whose account has been published; viz. Thomas
Stephens. To this may be added the account by _Captain Davis_ of a
voyage in the Dutch ship called the _Middleburgh Merchants_ in 1598, of
which he served as pilot, for the purpose of making himself acquainted
with the maritime route to India, and the posture of the Portuguese
affairs in that country. Both of these journals contain very useful
remarks for the time in which they were made, and both will be found in
our collection.

"Although the first voyages of the English to the East Indies are full
of variety, yet the reader is not to expect such a continued series of
new discoveries, great actions, battles, sieges, and conquests, as are
to be met with in the history of the Portuguese expeditions: For it must
be considered that we made few or no discoveries, as these had been
already made before; that our voyages were for the most part strictly
commercial; that our settlements were generally made by the consent of
the natives; that we made no conquests; and that the undertakings were
set on foot and carried on entirely by our merchants[182]. On this
account it is, probably, that we have no regular history extant of the
English Voyages, Discoveries, and Transactions in the East Indies, as we
find there are many such of the Portuguese and Spanish. It may be
presumed, however, that as the East India Company has kept regular
journals of their affairs, and is furnished with letters and other
memorials from their agents, that a satisfactory account of all the
English Transactions in India might be colle