Page 144 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters
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to the Arabian sea. The retourschepen gradually played a more important role in Asia as the fleet of these big vessels grew and the VOC had more choice in using ships in various stages of their careers. After the composition of the fleet shows a greater emphasis on trade and, therefore, on medium-sized yachts and flutes. For the local trade a sharp increase in smaller vessels can be observed. The preference for medium-sized yachts was already evident as early as . A skipper and a merchant, probably experienced in shipping in Asia, advised the directors of the VOC to employ smaller swift-sailing vessels to the Coromandel Coast rather than the big ships. For efficiency these vessels had three decks, so the hold could be used for cargo, while the second deck could be used for victuals. As an experiment a vessel of feet was bought in Amsterdam (NA .., VOC , fol. ). These rate vessels turned out to be successful. They went through a steady growth and became the most intensively used vessels in the re- gion. After the VOC became more proactive in their military actions, mainly in Ceylon, and well-armed yachts were required; both the rates and show a sharp increase in the periods after , partly due also to the re-gathering of the Goa blockade fleet in Ceylon. Table .: The activity level of the various types of VOC vessels in the separate destinations in the region Bay of Bengal, - (areas in the first row of the table: . Gulf of Manar, . Ceylon, . Coro- mandel coast, . Northeastern India, Bangla Desh, . Myamar, . Andaman Islands) From the differences in the activity levels of the rates for the various destinations in the Bay of Bengal region (Table -), it becomes clear that Ceylon was the pivotal point for shipping and the connection with other regions (e.g. for blockade fleets to Goa and ongoing shipping be- tween east and west). The role of the smaller vessels also becomes apparent from the detailed analysis of the local shipping from Ceylon. In the years of Galle’s isolation immediately follow- ing its capture from the Portuguese and when it was without a hinterland, some small vessels were essential for the supply of foodstuffs and for communication. These vessels also took part in the blockades of Colombo. As expected, the contribution to shipping of yachts and flutes as pure cargo carriers in this region is prominent. The greater role of yachts in Ceylon compared with other destinations is mainly due to military action around Ceylon. Flutes were suitable for the local cargo but the Fleets per region
