Nathaniel's nutmeg (13 page)

Their reasoning as to why the voyage should go ahead
was nothing less than a stoutly argued refutation of the
Treaty of Tordesillas. 'Let the Spaniards,' they wrote, 'shewe
any juste and lawful reasons
...
why they should barre her
Majestie and all other Christian princes and states, of the
use of the vaste, wyde and infinitely open ocean sea, and of
access to the territories and dominions of so many free
princes, kings and potentates in the East. 'These dominions,
they argued, should be free to all merchants, 'for [the
Spaniards] have noe more soveriegn comaund or
authoritie, than wee, or any Christians whatsoever'.

The Queen read the document with great interest, then
handed it to the learned Fulke Greville, Treasurer of the
Navy, who concurred with every word and proceeded to
strengthen its central argument by adding references to the
spice trade from books in his impressive private library,
'espetially owt of the voyages of John Huighen
[Lindschoten],' the man who had made possible the first
Dutch voyage. Greville also provided a list of all the eastern
kings already trading with Spain, leaving the inescapable
conclusion that any potentates yet to sign a trading alliance
were free to be exploited by whichever country reached
them first.

When the London merchants held another meeting, on
23 September 1600, exactly a year had passed since their
first gathering, yet they were no closer to setting sail for the
East Indies. Increasingly impatient, they now resolved to
'goe forwards with the voiage' whether or not they had
permission from the lords. Just two days after the meeting
they bought their first ship, the
Susan,
for the princely sum
of £1,600 and, on the following day, purchased the
Hector
and
Ascension
as well.

The obsequious courtiers, who had done so much to
throw obstacles in the path of the merchants, now realised
they had been wrong-footed. Instead of continuing their
policy of refusing consent for the voyage they decided,
instead, to wrest control from the merchants by placing one
of their own in overall command. There was an obvious
candidate: for months one of the chief players at court, the
gentleman adventurer Sir Edward Michelborne, had been
petitioning for an exclusive patent for trade to the Indies.
Now, the Lord High Treasurer recommended Michelborne
to the London merchants, politely instructing them to give
him the position of 'principal commander'.

The merchants, mindful of Edward Fenton's disastrous
expedition to St Helena, refused to be dictated to, even by
so grand a luminary as the Lord Treasurer. They declined to
take up his offer, explaining with considerable relish that
they had resolved 'not to employ any
gentleman
in any place
of charge', and added that they preferred to 'sorte their
business with men of their own qualitye, lest the suspicion
of the employment of gentlemen being taken hold of by
the generalitie, do drive a great number of the Adventurers
to withdraw their contributions'.

Michelborne was livid at this snub and refused to pay
the subscription for which he had signed up. His name, in
consequence, was removed from the Company's roll and,
fuming and humiliated, he dropped from the scene to nurse
his grievances. It was to be four years before he made his
first independent foray into the eastern trade; when he did
so, it had a devastating effect.

The merchants now settled on equipping a voyage to set
sail in the spring of 1601 but the ships they had already
bought were tiny, even by the standards of the time.
Realising they would need a larger flagship if they were to
have any hope of seeing off any war-mongering
Portuguese carracks, they began to scout around for a more
impressive vessel. The Earl of Cumberland had just the ship
they needed: called the
Malice Scourge,
of 600 tons, she was
offered for sale at the high price of £4,000. A deal was
struck, she was bought for £3,700, and renamed the
Red
Dragon.
She was a sturdily built and seaworthy vessel and
although her construction was better placed for the chill waters of the north than for the tropics, she made an
impressive sight on the Thames, her towering stern and
carved poop betraying the large and comfortable living
quarters for the captain and his lieutenants. Her low waist
caused her to sit deep in the water, and she had a jutting
prow adorned with an elaborate figurehead. She sub­sequently had a glorious career in the East Indies and was
not sunk by the Dutch until a 'cruel, bloody fight' in
October 1619.

After numerous arguments and deliberations the
merchants settled on a mixed cargo of lead, iron (both
wrought and unwrought), Devonshire cotton kerseys,
broadcloth and Norwich woollens, as well as several boxes
of trinkets and playthings suitable for presenting to the
various potentates who would be encountered on the
voyage. These included girdles, a case of pistols, ostrich
plumes, looking glasses, spoons, glass toys, spectacles, and
ewers wrought from silver.

The provisions were a subject of even more careful
thought with every last pea and carrot calculated in
individual portions. Food was not supplied for the time
when the ships were in port: it would be up to the captains
to barter from the natives enough to feed their crew. Even
so, the detail that went into provisioning the ships is proof
enough that the merchants were determined this voyage
should succeed.

And so the list continues. There were peas and beans to go
with the pork, three months' supply of salted fish, oatmeal,
wheat,'olde holland cheese', butter, oil, vinegar, honey, sugar,
and rice. The crew were even allowed a couple of pounds of
nutmeg, cloves and pepper to help disguise the taste of rank
meat, as well as fourteen hogshead of aqua vitae.

The merchants, though busy preparing the victualling of
the ships, had not overlooked the appointment of the
various captains and commanders. After electing Sir
Thomas Smythe, a man of ripe experience, as the first
governor of the Company, they next turned to the day-to­day running of the expedition itself. It came as no surprise
that James Lancaster was named as 'General' or Admiral of
the Fleet, nor that John Davis - only recently returned from the Dutch voyage - was appointed as pilot-major in
charge of navigation. John Middleton, William Brund and
John Heyward, all of whom had previously covered the
route in various ships, were given command of the other
three vessels.

There were also the on-board merchants, known as
factors, to be chosen. These men were professional traders
upon whose shoulders the financial success of the voyage
would hinge. Selected with considerable care, they
numbered 36 and would, all being well, settle in the East
Indies and establish trading bases for future voyages. Those
with foreign languages were particularly favoured,
especially those who could speak Portuguese, Spanish or
Arabic, the languages of trade in many of the larger ports
in the East. Along with the crew the total tally came to 480
men, most of whom were experienced mariners.

Soon the wharves of London were alive with the clatter
of ships being loaded with ropes, anchors, pennants, kegs of
powder, and muskets. The cargo was loaded, the holds were
filled and finally the heavy kegs of ale and cider were lashed
to the decks.

There was one final business to attend to before the
ships could set sail: the Queen's signature was still needed
on the charter of what had now become known as the
Governor and Company of Merchants trading to the East
Indies. In this document, drawn up by the merchants
themselves, they were to be granted a total monopoly of
trade over 'traffic and merchandise to the East Indies, the
countries and ports of Asia and Africa, and to and from all
the islands, ports, towns, and places of Asia, Africa, and
America, or any of them beyond the Cape of Bona
Esperanza [Good Hope] and the Straits of Magellan'.

On 31 December 1600, it was at last signed by the Queen. Valid for fifteen years, it conferred massive powers
upon a small group of men
—
218 in total. The merchant
adventurers were given the exclusive right to trade with
the East Indies — a vague geographical term which
included the entirety of South-East Asia - without any
interference from the Crown. They could take as much
bullion out of the country as was necessary, found trading
posts wherever they wished, and govern as they saw fit. In
return for these sweeping powers they were to furnish a
fleet of six ships annually.