[4] Having had Scourge of Malice built, the Earl then departed in his new ship, along with three smaller vessels, on another expedition to raid the Spanish Main.

[4] After Sir Francis Drake's defeat at San Juan in 1595, the Earl of Cumberland was under orders to capture Brazil from the Spanish.

By the time the Earl's fleet appeared off the coast of the islands on 16 June 1598, many of the Spanish soldiers had lost their discipline and turned to theft due to dysentery and the lack of food.

Two initial attacks by the English were fruitless, costing them lives without any gain; the Earl of Cumberland himself almost drowned trying to cross the San Antonio channel.

[14] In spite of their February departure, the fleet did not clear the English Channel until early April due to delays from contrary winds.

They replenished their provisions from a captured Portuguese vessel en route, but much of the fleet was affected by scurvy by the time they arrived at Table Bay on 9 September.

Adverse wind conditions, and a second bout of scurvy, forced the fleet to drop anchor in Antongil Bay, where they remained from Christmas Day through until 6 March 1602.

On the resumption of their journey, they reached the Nicobar Islands after two months further travel, and took the opportunity to take on water and trim their vessels, staying for three weeks.

There, Lancaster contacted the King, Ala-uddin Shah, who was delighted at the prospect of trade with the English, and granted them an exemption from customs dues.

The goods at Achin failed to even fill one of the ships, and with Susan having already been sent to Priaman to try and procure pepper and spices, Lancaster decided to target Portuguese vessels in the Strait of Malacca to increase his cargo.

The vessel had sailed from San Thomé (now part of Chennai), and the goods of calicoes and other produce were transferred onto the English ships.

As in Achin, they presented a letter from Queen Elizabeth I to the reigning monarch, and were granted permission to trade freely and "settle a factorie".

The return journey proceeded without incident until they had rounded the Cape of Good Hope, when they were caught in a heavy and sudden storm.

[21] When morning broke, the storm cleared as suddenly as it had appeared, and Hector was not yet over the horizon; their captain having been reluctant to leave Red Dragon while she was in distress.

After undergoing further repairs at St Helena, Red Dragon and Hector eventually arrived back in England on 11 September 1603,[23] three months after Ascension.

[26] On 1 April, Red Dragon took on twenty-eight men, and despite this, Middleton was determined to set sail to make use of the beneficial wind conditions.

[31] They were due to set sail early the next morning, but before the anchor had been raised, Captain Stiles sent word to Red Dragon that master Durham was missing.

Having landed at Table Bay, the company traded successfully with the local inhabitants, securing over two hundred sheep, a number of beeves, kine and a bullock.

The first harpoon to take a solid hold came from the pinnace of Susan, which was then dragged up and down the bay for half an hour until they were forced to cut the rope to ensure their own safety.

[33] Following attacks from the native population, the fleet's company returned to their ships on 14 August, and then, with fair winds, set sail five days later.

The ships departed on 16 January, and just under a month later on 10 February made anchor off Ambon Island; having lost a number of men to flux during their journey from Java.

In view of this, Middleton declared that the only way they could acquire the necessary quantity of goods was for the two vessels to split up, with Red Dragon doing her best to go to the Maluku Islands, while Ascension made for the isles of Banda.

[34] The company purchased fresh supplies from the people of Maquian, but the natives refused to trade or sell any cloves without permission from the King of Ternate.

Middleton ordered the ship to slow and find out what was going on; they found that the galley contained the King of Ternate and three Dutch merchants.

When the next day came however, they were told that there were no ripe cloves on the island, and Middleton, suspecting Ternatan duplicity, decided to sail for Taffasoa.

That evening Captain de Torres came aboard and told Middleton that they (the Portuguese) were sure of victory against the Dutch, and would trade any remaining cloves with the English.

The morning of 9 May, the attack began before sunrise, and catching the Portuguese unaware, the Dutch and Ternate scaled the walls and raised their colours in the fort.

"[39] Journals from the voyage exist, that of John Hearne and William Finch is held in the British Library, while that of Keeling has been lost, but extracts have been variously published.

[43] Red Dragon was again commanded by William Keeling during a voyage that also included Lyon, Peppercorn, and Expedition which sailed from Tilbury in February 1615.

Although Sainsbury and Boulger both record the sinking of the vessel in 1619, a later reference is made to a ship named Dragon, commanded by John Weddell in 1637–38.