Page 51 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

were of very little importance and ships very seldom made a direct return trip between these places and Batavia. Due to the smuggling trade, the relationship with Macassar was often tense and as a result this region became an occasional destination for military operations. The only independent destinations on the eastern route for VOC ships, were the islands of Timor and Solor. At nearly every monsoon, one or two yachts sailed to these islands to buy sandalwood, an important trade product for the Asian mainland, and returned directly to Ba- tavia. Local political and geographical circumstances meant that the VOC ships had to collect the sandalwood themselves near the areas were it grew. Vessels needed to be medium-sized and easily manoeuvrable for this trade, as the places from where the sandalwood was shipped were often on dangerous lee-side shores. The VOC tried to establish strongholds for them- selves, first on fort Henricus on Solor and later fort Concordia on Timor, but they gave up on this policy because the local traders could not be persuaded to bring the sandalwood to the trading posts. VOC ships regularly visited ports on central and western Java for provisions and building materials for Batavia. This required a number of ships of different sizes; sometimes with the ability to load long wooden logs, but these ships were usually utility vessels rather than trade vessels from the network. There was a link with the north-eastern route to the Far East by way of the VOC ships de- ployed for a military action. From the Moluccas, they attempted to intercept the Spanish ships around the Philippines carrying supplies and soldiers to the Spanish allies in Tidore. The VOC also tried to intercept the Spanish silver galleons arriving in the Philippines from Mexico. They were, however, unsuccessful in this mission. Throughout the whole period of Dutch-Spanish warfare not one Spanish silver ship was captured in this region. In some periods a number of heavily armed ships left the Moluccas for this destination around January/February. After their activities in the region between the Moluccas and the Philippines, these ships would sail further north. Here they tried to intercept Chinese junks travelling to Manila. The VOC was much more successful in these actions and large quantities of Chinese products entered the VOC trade system in this way. Small amounts of cloves were also brought to the Chinese market in these ships. Weather conditions made this voyage a lot more dangerous then the eastern spice route. Larger ships in good condition were required, not only to withstand weather conditions, but also to resist assaults from Spanish ships which were much more powerful then those of the Asian enemies the VOC encountered around the Spice Islands. Before , these ships sailed on to Japan on a regular basis where they could sell the captured trade items and wait for the change of the monsoon. In the second half of the period covered here, that base moved to Taiwan because entry to Japan had become restricted. The north-western route, Branch A The VOC’s north-western voyages during this time were influenced by the military conflict with the Portuguese in the Arabian Sea. Naval expeditions to the area commenced in the s with some being undertaken in conjunction with the English. Later, more attention was given to the blockade of Goa. From , the VOC sent a large, strongly manned and armed fleet to the Indian west coast nearly every year. The Portuguese port of Goa on the west coast of India – the centre of their Asian administration – was highly monsoon-dependent. Between April and September, this coast had a very dangerous lee shore where hardly any shipping was pos- sible, making the blockade of the port of Goa only worthwhile in the period from September to April. In order to be effective, Dutch ships had to be near Goa at the earliest possible occasion. Because it was difficult to sail northwards through the Strait of Malacca just before September, these ships would sail through Sunda Strait and search for the most favourable winds in a long curve over the Indian Ocean. After a first fleet had arrived in Goa travelling through Sunda Strait, other ships would arrive later in the season at Goa by way of the Strait of Malacca. From late September the passage to the Indian Ocean was much faster following this route than it had been through the Sunda Strait.  Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters