Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction

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In April 1601 the English East India Company sent its first expedition to the East Indies. After some 18 months its four ships, Ascension, Dragon, Hector, and Susan, had returned from Sumatra and Java with a cargo mainly of pepper. The success of this venture led to a second expedition by the same ships, which left London in March 1604. On the return journey Hector and Susan set off first, but Susan was lost at sea and Hector was rescued by Ascension and Dragon, which found her drifting off South Africa with most of her crew dead. Ascension, Dragon, and Hector made it back to England in May 1606 with a cargo of pepper, cloves, and nutmegs. The shareholders in these two voyages made a profit of 95% on their investment.

Despite the similar success of the third expedition in 1607, the fourth one in 1608, consisting of the ships Ascension and Union, was a complete disaster. The Ascension reached the west coast of India but was there wrecked by its ‘proud and headstrong master’, who drove his ship aground after ignoring local warnings about shoaling waters. The Union called in at a Madagascan port, where the crew was ambushed and the captain killed, but nonetheless the ship made it to Sumatra and loaded a cargo. On her way back, the Union was wrecked off the coast of Brittany. The investors in this expedition lost all their capital.

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