SECTION VI.
First Voyage of the English to India in 1591; begun by Captain George
Raymond, and completed by Captain James Lancaster.[7]
INTRODUCTION.
We have at length arrived at the period when the English began to visit
the East Indies in their own ships; this voyage of Captain Raymond, or,
if you will, Lancaster, being the first of the kind ever performed by
them. From this year, therefore, 1591, the oriental navigations of the
English are to be dated; they did not push them with any vigour till the
beginning of the next century, when they began to pursue the commerce of
India with unwearied diligence and success, as will appear from the
narratives in the next succeeding chapter.
[Footnote 7: Hakluyt, II. 286. Astley, I. 235.]
"As for Captain Raymond, his ship was separated near Cape Corientes, on
the eastern coast of Africa, from the other two,[8] and was never heard
of more during the voyage, so that, whether he performed the voyage, or
was lost by the way, does not appear from Hakluyt; from whose silence,
however, nothing can be certainly concluded either way, for reasons
that will appear in the sequel[9]." - Astley.
[Footnote 8: This is a singular oversight in the editor of Astley's
Collection, as by that time there were only two ships, the Royal
Merchant having been sent home from Saldanha bay.
