Page 111 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters
P. 111
number of vessels. The flutes Witte Duyf. Witte Paard Overschie, Trouw, Os and Koe were listed in the instructions with the assignment to sail directly from Taiwan through Strait of Malacca to the Bay of Bengal and the Ara- bian Sea and to return to Batavia. The Witte Duyf disappeared and never reached Taiwan to even receive the instructions. The other ships apparently made their voyage as ordered, arriving in Batavia between May and September . The instructions also included orders that the flute Swarte Beer return from Taiwan as fast as possible with sugar for ballast for the return fleet waiting in Batavia. This order was not followed, apparently because the flute could not reach Batavia before the expected departure of the fleet to Europe. Another explanation is that local VOC officials were reluctant to employ this flute on ‘ordinary’ sugar transport; in a travel journal of the Swarte Beer was praised for its ‘excellent features’ (Plas , p. ). The Swarte Beer eventually sailed from Taiwan via Tonkin (Vietnam) to Japan and via Siam to Batavia. The sugar that the Swarte Beer was assigned to carry to Batavia, was probably shipped by the flute Sant- The Santdijck was one of four flutes instructed to sail, as a fleet, from Taiwan via Siam to Batavia. Only the Hillegaersberg sailed the prescribed route. The Santdijck, in August , sailed directly to Batavia to meet the return fleet. The Pellicaen stayed near Taiwan and sailed directly to Batavia much later, in February . The last flute, the Potvis was lost on its outward voyage to Taiwan. VOC officials ordered two other ships already in the region to take the place of the missing ships on the route Taiwan-Siam-Batavia. The yacht Hulst and the Maasland replaced the flutes Pellicaen and Potvis. The flute Maasland had been involved in local trade between Taiwan and Tonkin since . Four other vessels included in the instructions did not call in at Taiwan on their outward voyage from Batavia to Japan. The flute the Liefde sailed via Siam on its outward, as well as, homeward voyage, although a stop in Siam on the return voyage was not included in the orders from Batavia. Together with the homeward-bounder Vrede, the Liefde was in Batavia on time to ship Japanese cargo to Europe. The Vrede did not sail back to Europe. In the East Chinese Sea, its masts had to be cut in a furious storm. The ship was repaired in Batavia and sailed with the next return fleet at the end of . Another two vessels, the flute Koning van Polen and the yacht Robyn did not call in at Taiwan, but sailed directly to Japan. The return voyage was, as ordered, via Siam to Batavia. The Koning van Polen carried a cargo of Siamese rice to Malacca before returning to Batavia, the Robyn left some silver in Siam to buy new cargo from Japan and returned with the remainder to Batavia. Two more flutes sailed from Batavia on the north-eastern route in . The Kampen and the Witte Valk were ordered to work the silk-trade between Tonkin and Japan. They indeed did stay in this region, the Witte Valk even until , before returning to Batavia. With the damage to the Vrede and its temporary unavailability a replacement was necessary, which prompted an evaluation of the fleet by VOC Batavia. In addition to the Vrede, the ships Nassauw and Wesel were not available for the fleet. These ships were decommissioned on the easy route to the Spice Islands and were resepectively demolished there and used as a timber carrier. Due to the absence of these ships, there were no suitable capitael (large) ships available for: shipping in India; the blockade of Goa; and the inevitable war with Portugal. It was suggested that the place of the Vrede should be dijck . taken by the flute Reiger . \[The directors in Batavia made the following assessment of their fleet which provides an insight into their view of the VOC shipping capacity in Asia and their efforts to optimise the shipping organisa- tion.\] In Asia are: Knitting all the threads together: the logistics of the network
