Page 140 - Dutch Asiatic Shipping Volume 1

on Onrust and from then on a parson was present on the island. Some carpenters were housed in an onderlegger, an old ship unfit for sea, in the roadstead.
The neighbouring small islands of Kuiper and Edam had also been put to use. On the first was a slipway, on the second a rope-walk, where convicts served their hard labour. Both islands had a sawmill.
At the end of the seventeenth century personnel in shipyards and workshops amounted to 465 men, nearly 200 of them on Onrust; in the first half of the eighteenth century this number increased to more than 1000, while in 1789 about 750 heads were counted. In 1693 the number of slaves on Onrust was still 126, whereas in the eighteenth century there were said to be 650. The statement of Stavorinus that there were 3000 people on Onrust, 300 of them Europeans, seems exaggerated.31 From the high tribute paid by James Cook in 1770 to the Company servants of the equipage it might be concluded that the yards were efficiently run. On the other hand this speedy assistance to an Englishman puts the officials in a suspicious light, as De Haan quite rightly remarks.32
The ship repairs posed many problems for the Company. For one, repairwork became very costly because of the need for materials from Europe. Moreover, the imported wood was often rotted already on arrival due to the heat and damp in the holds. When expensive repairs were expected on large ships these were preferably to be sent back to the Nether- lands, in accordance with directors' instructions.33 At the end of the seventeenth century the Company laboured under a shortage of skilled carpenters and sailmakers. In 1684 25 ships of the Company's fleet in Asia had to undergo necessary repairs, which the Batavia government expected to take at least two years.34
The equipagemeester was thus responsible for the right conduct of affairs in the road- stead. But Batavia's care for the ships extended as far as the Sunda Strait. For the men on board ship the entering of Sunda Strait meant the end of the voyage. The many bays along the coast provided opportunities for anchoring and refreshment; often there were small ships to supply the fleet with fresh vegetables. After the conquest of Bantam and surroun- ding area in 1684 the VOC had taken the Strait under its jurisdiction, which was recognized by foreign powers. The Company demanded salutes from foreign ships and had the right to hail them. In the eighteenth century two post-holders were stationed there for this purpose. On the arrival of ships from home the post-holders took charge of the papers for Batavia and saw to the first provisioning. Before then masters had sometimes announ- ced their arrival by sending their large boat ahead from Strait Sunda to Batavia.3 5
The Batavia roadstead, extending from the Kratawangsche to the Ruige Hoek or Ontong Java, was considered among the best in the world, the anchoring ground being good and the ships sheltered by many small islands. Due to the silting up of the coastline however, ships came to be further and further away from the town. On arrival salutes were given
31 Van Dam, Beschryvinge, vol. 87,172-179; De Haan, Oud Baiavia 1,446-550; Stavorinus, Voyages I, 382. Comprehensive figures for the workforce in the shipyards etc. in Opper, Dutch East Indies Company artisans.
32 Beaglehole(ed.),ThejournalsofCaptainJamesCookonhisvoyagesofdiscoveryI,438. 33 Clause 11 of the instruction for G. G .Brouwer, Van der Chijs, Plakaatboek I, 266 (17.3.1632);
VI, 609 (13.12.1753). On the complaints about the transport of wood from Europe see Van Dam,
Beschryvinge, vol. 63, 454-455, 526.
34 ARA,VOC 107, res. Heren 17, 2.4.1685. 35DaghregisterBatavia,1681,8thand10thJune(327,357-358);Stavorinus,VoyagesI,52-54,
207-211. Wurffbain, Reise nach den Molukken I, 52. An example of hailing a foreign ship in the journal of James Cook, edition Beaglehole, I, (1955), 421.