The Eastland Company, or North Sea Company, was an English crown-chartered company, founded in 1579 to foster trade with Scandinavia and Baltic Sea states. Like the better-known Russia Company, this was an attempt by the English to challenge the Hanseatic League's dominance in the commerce of northern and central Europe. The privileges specific to this company, compared to other English companies of the time, were: The company's crest featured a creature called an allocamelus, which was either a mythical beast or may have been inspired by the first llamas brought to Europe.