Page 163 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

between China and the Iberian settlements by confiscating some Chinese junks could be profit- able. Although the overall balance is difficult to measure, it is clear that through the availability of a differentiated fleet with vessels that combined military power with a reasonable cargo capacity, the VOC was able to combine an offensive mission with trade activities and so reduce the expenses. For instance the vessels from the Goa blockade could ship pepper from the Mala- bar Coast and cinnamon from Ceylon on their way back to Batavia. An interesting aspect of this policy was the way in which the VOC could acquire the neces- sary vessels for their centralised Asian organisation. The decentralised structures in the Nether- lands, of Chambers with often local interests, was basically the cause of a persistent policy to build and purchase the vessels of the Asian fleet in the Netherlands. Even some of the smallest vessels that were used by the VOC in Asia were from the Netherlands. The building of vessels in Asia by the VOC was marginal and for the bigger ships almost non-existent. However de- centralised shipbuilding and an active policy of purchasing vessels from the ship market in the Netherlands allowed a swift response to the arising needs for certain types of vessels. The tension between the European and Asian organisational set-up was also tangible in the sending of the cargo to Europe. The management in Batavia was in principal bound to the orders they received from the Netherlands for the return cargo. However to a certain extent VOC Batavia was able influence policy by the implementation of the return shipping. Often they deviated from the orders using unforeseen circumstances as an acceptable excuse (Cool- haas , p. ; Colenbrander , p. ). Obsessively the organisation in Batavia tried to meet the prescribed division of cargo for the various Chambers. They sometimes blamed the Netherlands organisation for not sending a fleet of Retourschepen that would allow then to make the division of cargo over the various Chambers (Coolhaas , p. ). An extra complication for VOC Batavia was that the home- ward-bounders did not have standardised dimensions (NA .., VOC , --). The internal structure of the VOC with its strict division of activities between the various chambers was often a burden for the organisation. The authorities in Batavia must have grown grey hairs in order to meet the requirement of proportional division of the cargo for the various chambers in the Netherlands. It would be interesting to examine in depth how the ‘egalisatie’ driven organisation from the Netherlands sat with the establishment of the VOC in Asia, which had another mission and was only confronted with the consequences of this policy through the ships that were granted for the Asian fleet, the restrictions in developing their own ship build- ing programme and of course the complex division of the return cargo. Illustrative of the com- plexity and mistrust of the situation is an order from the Heren XVII in  to Batavia to strictly follow the instructions by their college and pay no attention to possible private requests by the individual chambers ‘niettegenstaende eenich particulier schrijven contrarieerende met gemelte resolutie van de Seventien’ (Colenbrander , --). Dutch spirit of commerce? One of the assets of the intricate structure of the VOC shipping network in Asia was the possi- bility for fast communication. The extensive correspondence between this network of trading posts, the central rendezvous Batavia and the directors in the Netherlands allowed the VOC to have access to accurate and detailed information. In the disciplined exchanged administration and letters a wide range of subjects was covered. For commerce it was of major importance to have knowledge of profitable products, current prices and the available shipping capacity. It was possible for the VOC management to send detailed instructions and evaluate the results of a policy: those disobedient but with fortunate alterations to the instructions were praised whilst the less creative, strict followers of instructions with consequently poor results were repri- manded. This type of communication occurred between Batavia and the VOC and associated trade posts in the region. Through this extensive source the impression arises that, regardless of the many cases of private trade, the working culture within the VOC in Asia was clearly aimed at cooperation for the benefit of the Loffelijke Compagnie (Laudable Company). Conclusions 