Page 145 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

main reason for their presence was the direct route that was opened between the Far East and the Bay of Bengal; flutes were the ideal vessel for shipping from Taiwan (see below). Rate  retourschepen made a substantial contribution to the activity level for both Ceylon (Area ) and the Coromandel Coast (Area ). The role of rate  vessels in the slave trade to the Coast has already been explained above. This trade was later shifted from the Coromandel to Bengal and Aracan, and big flutes then replaced the retourschepen. After  the retoursche- pen were more active in military matters in the Arabian Sea. On their journeys to and from this region they visited the Bay of Bengal, traded at the Coromandel Coast and, between  and , engaged in military activities in Ceylon including the transport of troops. An example of military actions by a retourschip in the region was the ‘s Hertogenbosch (ID:). In  the ship left Batavia for a trip to Europe via Mallaca and Ceylon. On New Year’s Eve of that year it anchored on the roadstead of Colombo and fired  shots on the city. The next day the ship and the flute Rarop ran aground near Negombo. The flute was wrecked but the ‘s Hertogenbosch was able to free itself and sail back to the Netherlands (NA .., VOC , fol. ). This must be considered an irregular action since it seems impractical to send a loaded retourschip on such a military mission. Most ships of this rate visited Ceylon between  and  on their voyages to and from the blockade of Goa. Around  these ships were also used for troop transport to Ceylon. After , when the direct route between Taiwan and the Arabian Sea was established, even new retourschepen were employed. Various ships like the Banda (ID ), Vrede (ID ) and Schiedam (ID ) made an ‘Asian grand tour’. In general they sailed from Batavia to Taiwan and from there through the Strait of Malacca and along Ceylon to Persia. On their return trips they visited Galle (after ) and sailed via the Coromandel Coast back to Batavia. Since this trade included valuable items such as silver from Japan and silk from Taiwan the ships needed to be strong and easily defendable. After the truce with the Portuguese in , strong though less easily defensible flutes could replace these ships. Around  the Malabar pepper market increased in importance. Between  and  Galle was visited by older retourschepen like the Banda (the same return ship as above, now considerably older, but still going strong), Maastricht (ID ) and even the Nassau (ID ), built in  and more then  years old on their trips to load pepper on the west coast of India and cinnamon in Galle. Com- pared with the rich cargo transported from the Far East, pepper and cinnamon did not repre- sent much value for the local market; these products only became valuable on the European market, so the VOC could take its chances by using less reliable cargo vessels (Maastricht did indeed sink on its voyage back to Batavia owing to the worn-out state of the ship). After the war with the Portuguese was resumed in , retourschepen were sent from Batavia for military activities in the Arabian Sea. On the return trip back to Java they picked up cargo in the Bay of Bengal region. Sumatra (Areas -) This region includes the whole of the island except the regions of the Strait of Malacca and Sunda. Within the region there are three principal areas. Banda Aceh in the north was an im- portant pepper harbour in the early period but unreliable due to the political situation. The VOC developed their main pepper sources on the southeast and the west coasts. The conditions on the west and the east coasts were completely different. The pepper harbours on the west coast were exposed to the ocean, but the weather patterns were predictable. These conditions required well-constructed vessels. The conditions on the southeast coast were much more shel- tered. The bottleneck there was the accessibility of the harbours. The pepper had to come from locations up river. The logistics of this destination called for smaller vessels often in combina- tion with bigger vessels that could take in cargo on anchor off shore. Apart from the earlier period around Banda Aceh, there was almost no military activity in this region and hence no requirement for a military function. The cargo consisted of pepper to be exchanged for textiles. On the west coast, trade was divided between various harbours, which could best be done with medium-sized flutes and  Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters