“ Crossing later to Ceylon, the crews insisted on returning home; the voyage back was disastrous; only twenty-five officers and men reappeared in England in 1594. Lancaster himself reached Rye on the 24th of May 1594; in the same year he led a military expedition against Pernambuco, without much success; but his Indian voyage, like Ralph Fitch’s overland explorations and trading, was an important factor in the foundation of the East India Company. ”

“ In 1600 he was given command of the company’s first fleet (which sailed from Torbay towards the end of April 1601) ; he was also accredited as Queen Elizabeth’s special envoy to various Eastern potentates. ”