Page 168 - Dutch Asiatic Shipping Volume 1

Table 28 shows by random sampling over two centuries that in the seventeenth century
more than a quarter of sailors on Dutch ships came from abroad, this proportion being
even higher for soldiers, and that in the eighteenth century the number of foreigners
among sailors rose to nearly half, among soldiers to sometimes three quarters. To get
some idea of the possible maritime experience of the sailors one should note the percen-
tages of men recruited from the land provinces and the interior of other countries: after
1750 the number of seafarers coming from the country, and therefore most likely to be
inexperienced, increases from around 10% to 20%.
Table 28: Random samples of recruitment in the Netherlands (in percentages)
24
a. Sailors
1637
1661
1682
1690
1700
1710
1720
1730
1740
1750
1760
1770
1780
1790
b. Soldiers
Originating from
the Netherlands
62 7.6
Originating
from abroad
25.6 2.5
29.8 3.2
19 3.1
17.3 2.6
17.6 3.1
17.9 3.9
28.9 5.2
28.9 5.2
25.1 9.4
35 8
24 12.3
28.2 14.2
29.2 11.9
25 15.5
34.8 22.3
23.8 24.1
20.5 25.7
15.1 16
15.9 32.1
15.6 43.9
15.6 48.8
13.5 46.8
Unknown
1.7
1.5
2.1
Total
1637 23.2
8.9
1661
1682-83
1700-01
1720-21
1750-51
1770-71
1790-91
17.7
24.9
46.5
25.7
14.6
9.7
16
17.8
15.3
14.5
11.5
6.2
10.5
16
14.3
45.3
65
68.7
69.8
69.5
55.5
55.5
51.9
44
47.4
40.9
45.3
41.4
5.7
8.7
7.8
0.6
4.5
2.1
2.4
2.4
2.2
3.7
3.7
5.7
6.4
7.9
10
10.1
11.7
8
14.8
6.6
4
7.7
1.2
1
100 289
100 437
100 1,548
100 1,318
100 3,376
100 3,852
100 4,714
100 4,714
100 4,323
100 5,719
100 4,983
100 5,537
100 2,274
100 4,966
100 112
100 248
100 1,008
100 1,347
100 2,984
100 3,253
100 2,906
100 1,316
13 7.9
6.1
6
5.7
0.5
1
5.7
6.8
5.9
0.7
0.1
0.2
0.2
0.3
2.7
3.6
4.5
3.1
3.9
3,9
3.7
4.5
8.3
6.2
8.3
6.1
24 Derived from Bruijn & Lucassen, Op de schepen der Oost-Indische Compagnie, 139-140, with
references to evidence.
1
1.1
%