page_title: Red Dragon (1595)
section_title: East India Company, Second Voyage (1604–1605)
hierarchical_section_title: Red Dragon (1595) / Service history / East India Company, Second Voyage (1604–1605)
caption_attribution_description: English: "Moluccæ Insulæ Celeberrimæ". Blaeu's map, which first appeared in 1630 in the Atlantis Appendix., was the first large-scale, detailed map of the now Dutch-controlled islands. It shows the heavily forested nature of the islands and the recently constructed forts. North is on the right direction, with Ternate in the rightmost island followed by Tidore, Mare, Moti and Makian islands. The bottom is the Gilolo (Jailolo or Halmahera) Island. Inset on the top is Bacan Island.
context_page_description: Scourge of Malice or Malice Scourge or Mare Scourge was a 38-gun ship ordered by George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland. She was built and launched at Deptford Dockyard in 1595. The Earl used her as his flagship during raids on the Spanish Main, where she provided additional force to support his fleet. She was later renamed Red Dragon; the East India Company used her for at least five voyages to the East Indies. The first recorded performance of the play Hamlet took place on Red Dragon in 1607 while she was anchored off the coast of Sierra Leone.
context_section_description: The Second Voyage of the East India Company to the East Indies was made by the same four ships that had made the previous voyage, with Red Dragon now under the command of Sir Henry Middleton. The fleet departed Gravesend on 25 March 1604 during the night, but when they stopped at the Downs, it was discovered that they were forty men short of their complement, and so had to wait for the remaining men. 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. When a new muster of the men was taken, it was found that they were now twenty-eight men over their complement; and on contacting the other vessels, they found the same trend amongst them also. Angry that he had lost use of a fair wind waiting for men he had not needed, and now would have to lose further use of it due to having to deposit those same men back to land, Middleton ordered that they should sail on to Plymouth and discharge the men there. Despite these delays, the fleet passed Cabo da Roca on 7 April, and by 15 April had reached the Canary Islands. They anchored at Maio, Cape Verde on 24 April, and set ashore in search of fresh food and water. The following day, Middleton did not go ashore, but sent the three other captains to keep their men from straggling, an order reiterated by Captain Stiles, and then by master Durham, a merchant. 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. A search party numbering 150 men was sent out to search for him, but after a day's hunting failed to find the missing merchant, Middleton resolved to leave without him.
  The fleet crossed the equator on 16 May, and sighted the Cape of Good Hope just under two months later, 13 July. By this stage at least eighty of Red Dragon's crew were suffering from scurvy, and although Middleton wanted to press on with the voyage and round the Cape, his crew protested and asked to put ashore to recover. The weather played against them, and it was six days before they could get their sick on land. 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. On 3 August, the general (Middleton) took Red Dragon's pinnace and a company of men in other boats to hunt whales in the bay. 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. The next shot that held came from the general's pinnace, and had this time struck a younger, smaller whale. As with Susan's pinnace before it, the boat was towed back and forth the bay, while the larger whale stayed with them, harrying the boats with blows. One such blow on the general's pinnace broke the timbers, causing the boat to flood and Middleton to take refuge on another of the boats. With great difficulty, the pinnace was rescued and brought ashore where it took the ship's carpenters three days to repair. Eventually the larger whale abandoned its companion, which took until sunset to die from its wounds, after which it was dragged to shore.  The oil from the whale was intended for their lamps, but a combination of the small size of the whale and bad casks provided the company with less than they would have liked.
  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. On 21 December, the fleet anchored within the islands of Sumatra, having lost a number of men to scurvy, and with a number of those that remained weakened. Due to illness, Middleton was unable to land and present the King of Bantam with a letter from King James until 31 December. It was then decided that Red Dragon and Ascension would proceed to the Maluku Islands, while Hector and Susan would return to England with their cargoes. The ships departed on 1
caption: "Moluccæ Insulæ Celeberrimæ", a map by Willem Blaeu first published in 1630 of the Maluku Islands.
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