It had become the _emporium_ of the Baltic trade.

In 1601 it is stated that between 800 and 900 ships left its quays in three days, carrying commodities to the Baltic ports.

They came back laden with corn and other "east-sea" goods, which they then distributed in French, Portuguese and Spanish havens, and even as far as Italy and the Levant.

Ship-building went on apace at Enkhuizen, Hoorn and other towns on the Zuyder Zee; and Zaandam was soon to become a centre of the timber trade.

In Zeeland, Middelburg, through the enterprise of an Antwerp refugee of French extraction, by name Balthazar de Moucheron, was second only to Amsterdam as a sea-port, while Dordrecht and Rotterdam were also busy with shipping.
The energies of the Dutch at this springtide of their national life were far from being confined to European, waters.