vy Company in the second half of
the Sixteenth century passed through the Cattegat in large numbers to
make their appearance at Reval and Libau and Danzig, seeking there the
raw materials so vitally necessary to England. "Muscovia and Polina doe
yeerly receive many thousands for Pitch, Tarre, Sope Ashes, Rosen, Flax,
Cordage, Sturgeon, Masts, Yards, Wainscot, Firres, Glasse, and such
like," wrote Captain John Smith, "also Swethland for Iron and
Copper."[1-2]

But this solution of her problem was obviously unsatisfactory to
England. The northern voyage was long, dangerous and costly; the King of
Denmark, who controlled the entrance to the Baltic, had it within his
power at any moment to exclude the English traders; the Muscovy company
no longer enjoyed exemption from customs in Prussia, Denmark and Russia.
In case war should break out among the northern nations this trade might
for a time be cut off entirely, resulting in strangulation for England's
basic industries. "The merchant knoweth," said the author of _A True
Declaration_, "that through the troubles in Poland & Muscovy, (whose
eternall warres are like the Antipathy of the Dragon & Elephant) all
their traffique for Masts, Deales, Pitch, Tarre, Flax, Hempe, and
Cordage, are every day more and more indangered."[1-3] Moreover, the
trade was much impeded by the ice which for several months each year
choked some of the northern ports.

The most alarming aspect of this unfortunate situation was the effect of
the shortage of shipbuilding material upon the merchant marine. Situated
as it was upon an island, England enjoyed communication with the nations
of the world only by means of the ocean pathways. Whatever goods came to
her doors, whatever goods of her own manufacture she sent to foreign
markets, could be transported only by sea. It was a matter of vital
import to her, then, to build up and maintain a fleet of merchant
vessels second to none. But this was obviously difficult if not
impossible when "the furniture of shipping" such as "Masts, Cordage,
Pitch, Tar, Rossen" were not produced in quantity by England itself, and
could be had "only by the favor of forraigne potency."[1-4] Already, it
was stated, the decay of shipping was manifest, while large numbers of
able mariners were forced to seek employment in other countries. "You
know how many men for want of imploiment, betake themselves to Tunis,
Spaine and Florence," declared one observer, "and to serve in course