Page 131 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters
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were considered too high. This shipping also had a negative effect on the trade with Atjeh, where arrivals fall by % to visits in this period. In the eastern part of the archipelago, the actions against the Spaniards in the Philippines (Area – Sulu Sea) were not very successful; attempts to intercept the Spanish silver ships from Mexico failed time after time. However, the expeditions were still lucrative because of the VOC’s capturing of Chinese jonks on their way to the Philippines ( visits). The shipping to this area was principally military in nature. In part it has been described how the sale of the cargo of the captured junks became a kind of trade route in itself. Shipping from Java to Japan by the northeastern route over the South China Sea was initiated at the end of the previous period and intensified during this period. Thailand, then known as Siam (Area ), was an important area on this route for the collection of deer and ray skins for trade with Japan so as to acquire products from China and the tropical forest for shipment to Europe. arrivals are shown for this period. Some ships made landfalls on the coast of China but mostly on an incidental basis. In this period visits were made to Japan. On the route between Japan and Siam and vice versa captured or bought large junks were used, but this practice, over which he had no control, was not approved by the commercial director Coen in Batavia. C t s a E Arabia Afrika Region Arabian Sea Region Bay of Bengal Region Sumatra Region Strait of Malacca Region Java Sea Region Route Spice Islands Region Route Far East Bengal China 102 Java 400 Taiwan Philippines Persia h i n a a t s a 8 India o C l e d a m o b a r r A n y o n h t a u B o M S i a n i S fC B e S e h n C a e g a a S l e a l a b a r S t r a i t oM f I o a l a c c a Malaysia Sumatra n S a B v a d a J a S a a i d n O e a e c e a a n Map .: Developments of the frequency of the VOC shipping < Sri Lanka 51 Vietnam Thailand (Siam) Cambodia 51 In the western part of the Indian Ocean, on the west coast of India (Areas and ), the strong emphasis on fighting the Portuguese in their strongholds declined. The regions around Goa and the Malabar Coast were visited only three times, as against visits in the period to . Military expeditions to Malacca ceased which resulted in a decline of visits to the Strait of Malacca by nearly % to visits. This decline is not extraordinary since it was, after all, the period of truce with the Iberians. Although the truce was not strictly adhered to in Asia, it obviously had some effect on the military operations in this region. In any case, the VOC be- An analysis of the development of VOC shipping in Asia until 95 Sulawesi Lesser Sunda Island Kalimantan Spice Islands 371 Japan
