Page 57 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters

but were completely dependent for their departure on the permission of the Japanese author- ities. The ships then only had a very short period to reach Batavia in time to load their goods onto the ships of the return fleet. Ships for Japanese trade did not need to be heavily armed, but they had a good chance of encountering hurricanes while sailing in the East China Sea or in the strait between the Pescadores and Taiwan. In addition to concerns about their highly valuable cargoes, this also meant that ships travelling on this route had to be sturdy and robust. Never- theless, quite a number of VOC ships were lost due to the weather conditions in this region. Because the VOC did not succeed in establishing factories in China, the Company tried to buy Chinese products in Cambodia and Vietnam. In the th century this area consisted of kingdoms that were more or less vassals to the Chinese emperor and in a permanent state of war with each other. The VOC still tried to get a foothold in a number of places despite these dangerous conditions. Ships could not be too large, because in most cases they had to sail far up river, but on the other hand they had to be heavily armed. Some rivers were so narrow that flutes were preferred over yachts because the woodcarving on the transoms of the latter could be severely damaged by collisions with trees on the shore (NA .., VOC , fol. ). The VOC lost at least three ships in the period covered by this study due to hostilities in the region. Mostly ships would sail directly from Batavia to the Asian mainland around May to be in Taiwan in time to transport a part of their cargo to Japan. Tonckin (the northern part of modern Vietnam) proved to be the most profitable and stable connection. For some time the VOC oper- ated with a number of ships in the silk trade on the Tonckin-Japan-Taiwan-Tonckin route. The VOC called the waters around Taiwan a harde en swaer vaerwater (hard and heavy waters), which meant that ships had to be strongly built and be in good shape in order to sail this route with its difficult sea conditions. The route between Batavia and Siam was considered to be easy and for this old ships could be used. Inter-regional transport: The compilation of the ‘return cargo’ in the s The main cargo for Europe consisted of pepper and spices, but numerous other products were also requested. In a general memorandum written in the s, the VOC directors in the Neth- erlands instructed the Governor-General, his council and all the merchants in the trading posts all over Asia to send specific products for which they also specified the quantity as well as the quality. Heading the list was large quantities of pepper. Based on the experience up to that time, they expected that this pepper could come from the production areas on Sumatra: Jambi, Campar, Andrigiry, Tyco, Priaman, Celiber, Achim, Ligor, and Bordelon. The directors consid- ered the Malabar Coast to be a potentially rich supplier, if the problem of the Portuguese in that region could be solved. The responsible authorities needed to ensure that only the largest and cleanest peppercorns were sent to the Netherlands. The VOC also requested that cloves, mace and nutmeg be sent annually in enough quantity for a two-year supply in case ´through an accident or other inconvenient circumstances, that God prevent´ there was a shortage and trade in Europe would come to a halt (NA .., Geleynssen de Jongh , fol. ). The retourschepen followed a strict time schedule. As stated before, the VOC’s preference was to leave Batavia before the end of December; the ship could then arrive in the Netherlands in the late summer or early autumn. During two to four months time, the cargo was unloaded, the ship cleaned, repaired and equipped. Depending upon the weather conditions in Europe, the ship could then leave the North Sea in January to sail to Batavia in seven to eight months. The Cape of Good Hope was not yet a permanent staging post and compulsory stopover for the ships on their way to the East Indies before . Still, the Cape was often used as a meeting place and somewhere to leave messages. Supplies and water were taken on board at various places. On the way back to Europe, St Helena was the most frequented place for meeting and supplies. The Hollandia (ID:) is a good example of one of the first retourschepen that sailed almost exclusively between Europe and Asia. The ship left the Netherlands for the first time on Boxing Day, th December . Built in  for the Chamber Amsterdam, the Hollandia made the  Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters