Page 18 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

For a general comparison with the modern measure of cargo capacity, the ‘tonnage’ the last value can be multiplied by two. The structure of the voyages Shipping destinations, areas and regions Every destination was initially included in the database under its spelling used in the sources. To systemise the data without losing information on these names, an additional module was developed and every separate destination was allocated a -digit code. Historically linked des- tinations are grouped in  areas with a -digit code, consisting of the first two numbers of the -digit destination code. These areas are chosen following the terminology in the VOC sources as much as possible. On the most general level, the areas are grouped in  regions of which the  code only contains one number . For instance, in Region , the Bay of Bengal, all destinations on the Coast of Coromandel (Area ) are listed with a -digit code starting with . All twenty-two variations of the spel- ling of the destination that is now called Pulicat are listed under the Destination . The largest area is the Strait of Malacca (Area ), ranging from Phuket ( as Udjong Salang) in the north to Cape Ramunia near modern Singapore ( as Barbequet). VOC ships patrolling somewhere between these two places are regularly reported in the th century sources as being in "de strate van Malacca" () without further specification. 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 f Taiwan Persia India Sri Lanka Vietnam Thailand (Siam) Cambodia China Japan Philippines Kalimantan Java Spice Islands Sulawesi Map .: VOC trading area in Asia with the main shipping Regions The database and methodology  Lesser Sunda Island C t s a E h i n a e a t s a o C l e d a m o b r a r C o n h y A n t a M o u B a i n i S S B C e h e S a n a g a S l l e a a b a r S t r a i t o f M a l a c Malaysia c Sumatra a I o n S a B v a J d a e a a S a a i d n O e a c e a n