e 500 tons
in existence.

In the year 1587 Drake, in his famous marauding expedition in the
Spanish seas, captured a great carrack called the _San Felipe_, which
was returning home from the East Indies. The papers found in her
revealed the enormous profits which the Spaniards made out of their
trade with India, and afforded such valuable information that the
English merchant adventurers were incited to cut in and try to secure
some share of this trade for themselves. This led, ultimately, to the
founding of the celebrated East India Company, and to the conquest of
India by the British. In 1589 certain merchants petitioned the queen to
grant them a licence to trade with the East Indies; but Elizabeth,
fearing the resentment of the Spanish and Portuguese, would not grant
their request for many years, and it was not till the last day of the
year 1599 that she gave a charter of incorporation to the Earl of
Cumberland and 215 knights and merchants for fifteen years, and thus
founded the first East India Company. English adventurers, however, did
not wait for a charter before commencing their trading operations with
the East, for in 1591 an expedition consisting of three ships was sent
out under the command of James Lancaster. Only one of the three--the
_Edward Bonaventure_, which, as already mentioned, had been a merchant
auxiliary in the English fleet that opposed the Armada--ever reached the
East Indies in safety.

A few weeks after the charter had been granted Lancaster led another
expedition to the East. His fleet consisted of five ships; the largest,
the _Dragon_, was of 600 tons, and had a crew of 202. After an
adventurous voyage the fleet returned to England in September, 1602,
having been absent two years and eight months.

There is abundant evidence to show that foreign merchant ships in
Elizabeth's reign were often much larger than any built in this country.
The following are examples. In 1592 a Portuguese carrack called the
_Madre de Dios_ was captured and brought home. She was of 1,600 tons
burthen, 165 feet long from stem to stern, and had seven decks,
including the numerous half and quarter decks which formed the poop. In
1594 a Spanish carrack was destroyed which had 1,100 men on board. When
Cadiz was taken in 1596 two Spanish galleons of 1,200 tons were
captured, and the flagship, the _San Felipe_, of 1,500 tons, was blown
up. In 1602 a Portuguese carrack of 1,600 tons was captured at Cezimbra.
She was na