Page 80 - Dutch Asiatic Shipping Volume 1

S. Tiago - which the Dutch preferred to call Sint Jago - with the harbour Praia was used more frequently. Between 1742 and 1776 this was officially encouraged by the Company. If the empty waterbutts could be filled and sufficient fresh food laid in, ships were allowed to make straight for Asia without calling at the Cape. But no use was made of this licence. Before 1742 it was feared that privateers and pirates or enemy fleets would gear their operations to the arrival of the East India convoys and there was too much apprehension about smuggling via these Portuguese islands. Y et in 1695 ships taking the route north of Scotland were given permission to call at one of the islands, because the voyage to the Cape could prove too lengthy for the crew's health.
During the second half of the eighteenth century the Cape Verde Islands - described by Pieter van Dam around 1700 as having 'an abundance of all fresh provisions' - were afflicted by long periods of drought, and as a result their importance as ports of call diminished. Probably in view of this the vessels AMSTELVEEN and LEIMUIDEN (3838 and 3839) were instructed in 1762 to explore the possibilities of provisioning from the islands S. Antâo and S.Vincente.20
Following the first period of searching for the most suitable route, ships in the long run called at no other ports than the English ones and the Cape Verde Islands. It was only incidental and due to unusual circumstances when a ship called at for instance the Canary Islands, or found itself near Sierra Leone, S. Tomé or Cape Lopez Consalvez. Faulty navigation or bad weather conditions could land ships in bays north of Cape Town, like S. Helena- and Saldanha Bay. Islands like S. Helena and Ascension were hardly ever visited on the journey out, and reports about the Tristan da Cunha Islands, Diego Alvarez (the Gough Island) and Martin Vazmade the Company decide to make further explora- tions, but did not lead to incorporation of any of them into the route.21
d.DurationofvoyagetotheCape
Measures taken by the Company concerning the 'backway', the wagenspoor and ports of
Table 6: Average duration of voyage Netherlands - The Cape
days (trips)
1610-19 156 1620-29 147 1630-39 126 1640-49 128 1650-59 133 1660-69 136 1670-79 140 1680-89 142 1690-99 155
1610-99 142 1610-1794 136
( 23) ( 43) ( 29) ( 12) (131) (220) (203) (186) (227)
days (trips)
1700-09 154 (260) 1710-19 133 (306) 1720-29 139 (364) 1730-39 138 (367) 1740-49 136 (306) 1750-59 121 (286) 1760-69 123 (289) 1770-79 133 (286) 1780-89 127 (274) 1790-94 129 (113)
(1074) 1700-94 (3925)
134 (2851)
20 ARA,VOC131,res.Heren 17of7.5.1762andVOC135,id.of5.11.1776;VanDam,Beschry- vinge, vol. 63, 659, 662, 664-665 and 671; Bentley Duncan, Atlantic Islands, 158-194; Stavorinus, Voyages to the East Indies II, 21-27; Heeres, 'De 'Consideration", 567.
21 Van Dam, Beschryvinge, vol. 63, 667-673; Schilder, De ontdekkingsreis I, 28-49.