nd landed the rest of the
cloth, quicksilver, and vermilion, all the elephants' teeth, and some
twelve hundred bars of lead, carrying the rest along with him, as also
all the pieces-of-eight and iron, and so, the 18th present, departed."

In such manner did the company gain at last a certain foothold in the
Mogul empire. The factors stationed at the new post reported that Surat
was the best situation in India to vend English goods, particularly
broadcloths, kerseys, quicksilver, lead, and vermilion, to be exchanged
for indigo, calicoes, cotton yarn, and drugs, and added a list of such
goods as might annually be disposed of there. They requested the
merchant adventurers in London to send them some four thousand pieces of
broadcloth, sword-blades, knives, and looking-glasses. They hinted that
toys and English bull-dogs should be sent as presents. But the new
trade, they were careful to explain, could only be protected by
stationing five or six ships in the river at Surat to defend the factory
and its occupants against the Portuguese.

On his return home Best was summoned to Philport lane to give a detailed
account of his exploits, and was considered by the court to have
"deserved extraordinarily well." Yet his "great private trade," whereby
he had enriched himself, caused some dissatisfaction, and the governor,
Sir Thomas Smythe, while admitting that no one could be a fitter
commander than Best, thought that "Captain Keeling was far before him
for merchandise, and so should command at Surat." But this did not
satisfy the victor of Swally. Unless he were allowed private trade he
refused to make another voyage for the company, and finally insisted on
an investigation into his conduct. The upshot was that the company was
"content to remit all that is past and let these things die, which
should not have been ripped up had he not called them in question
himself."

The various inconveniences to the company from the separate classes of
adventurers being enabled to fit out equipments on their own particular
portions of stock, finally evoked a change in the constitution of the
company. In 1612 it was resolved that in future the trade should be
carried on by means of a joint stock only, and on the basis of this
resolution the then prodigious sum of four hundred twenty-nine thousand
pounds was subscribed. Although portions of this capital were applied to
the fitting out of four voyages, the general instructions to the
commanders