The Portuguese, in the early part of the 17th century (1578-1640), were under the dominion of Spain, and their enterprise was to some extent damped; but their missionaries extended geographical knowledge in Africa. Father Francisco Paez acquired great influence in Abyssinia, and explored its highlands from 1600 to 1622. Fathers Mendez and Lobo traversed the deserts between the coast of the Red sea and the mountains, became acquainted with Lake Tsana, and discovered the sources of the Blue Nile in 1624-1633. Rivalry in the East. But the attention of the Portuguese was mainly devoted to vain attempts to maintain their monopoly of the trade of India against the powerful rivalry of the English and Dutch. The English enterprises were persevering, continuous and successful. James Lancaster made a voyage to the Indian Ocean from 1591 to 1594; and in 1599 the merchants and adventurers of London resolved to form a company, with the object of establishing a trade with the East Indies. On the 31st of December 1599 Queen Elizabeth granted the charter of incorporation to the East India Company, and Sir James Lancaster, one of the directors, was appointed general of their first fleet. He was accompanied by John Davis, the great Arctic navigator, as pilot-major. This voyage was eminently successful. The ships touched at Achin in Sumatra and at Java, returning with full ladings of pepper in 1603. The second voyage was commanded by Sir Henry Middleton; but it was in the third voyage, under Keelinge and Hawkins, that the mainland of India was first reached in 1607. Captain Hawkins landed at Surat and travelled overland to Agra, passing some time at the court of the Great Mogul. In the voyage of Sir Edward Michelborne in 1605, John Davis lost his life in a fight with a Japanese junk. The eighth voyage, led by Captain Saris, extended the operations of the company to Japan; and in 1613 the Japanese government granted privileges to the company; but the British retired in 1623, giving up their factory. The chief result of this early intercourse between Great Britain and Japan was the interesting series of letters written by William Adams from 1611 to 1617. From the tenth voyage of the East India Company, commanded by Captain Best, who left England in 1612, dates the establishment of permanent British factories on the coast of India. It was Captain Best who secured a regular _firman_ for trade from the Great Mogul. From that time a fleet was despatched every year, and the company's operations greatly increased geographical knowledge of India and the Eastern Archipelago. British visits to Eastern countries, at this time, were not confined to the voyages of the company. Journeys were also made by land, and, among others, the entertaining author of the _Crudities_, Thomas Coryate, of Odcombe in Somersetshire, wandered