Page 182 - Dutch Asiatic Shipping Volume 1

don't know this) took place on the homeward voyage as well. The remainder figure ('Difference' in table 32) represents mainly those staying on, their numbers even rising to thousands after 1730. This rise was initially in agreement with the increasing numbers on board, but especially from 1730 onwards - and also in the decades 1680-1700 - it rose proportionately rather more clearly than before. Was this the result of increased disease on the ships during the outward voyage, extending to increased mortality at the Cape, or did the growing Cape population attract more immigrants? In any case for the transport to Asia of personnel this meant an extra loss, on top of the mortality during the voyage, of 3% or possibly even 5%. A larger or smaller part of this percentage must have died at the Cape of the consequences of the voyage, without being able to contribute to this community in the form of some labour for the VOC ashore.
A similar loss is to be expected on the outward voyage on arrival in Batavia. It is impossible to offset disembarkations against embarkations in a calculation similar to that attempted for the Cape, Batavia being the final destination for most VOC ships from Europe, and any embarking there on the homeward voyage having lived and worked in Asia for longer or shorter periods. But perhaps some data on disease and mortality in Batavia's two hospitals can at least be an indication of the final losses resulting from the outward voyage.
Destination Batavia
For the great majority of VOC ships the final destination on the outward voyage, and the departure point for the voyage home, was Batavia, the VOC's head office in Asia. Many reached this destination after months on the ocean and a brief, or longer, stay at the Cape. And it was from Batavia that each year many Europeans left to return to Europe.
It may be useful at this point to put together most of the figures and percentages on the carrying of personnel on homeward and outward voyages as a total course, even though these figures have already been incorporated in previous tables on various aspects of either voyage. A t the Asian point of arrival and departure this seems justified.
In table 33 below the figures and percentage must be seen as estimates and indications. Those for the outward voyage have been based on the incomplete data reproduced in the Lists of volume II. Like in table 30 the average of known numbers was extrapolated for successful voyages of the same period for which data on voyagers are incomplete or lacking. In general, as is clear from the question-marks in table 32, the figures before
1610 and after 1780 are so incomplete that guesswork for some columns has been forgone. As for the homeward voyage, it has already been pointed out that data on voyagers are only available for the run from Asia to the Cape, and so extrapolation was used for that route to supplement incomplete or absent data for some homeward voyages, while the totals estimated in this way were simply doubled to somehow include the route from the Cape to Europe. A n d finally the (supposed) deaths due to the voyage at the Cape for ships from both directions and on arrival at Batavia after the homeward voyage have been left aside.
The numbers on board destined for Batavia (or in the case of a few, elsewhere in Asia) were, as already pointed out, three times greater than the numbers departing from Asia. The figures for arrivals however indicate that most Company servants reached Asia (espe- cially Batavia) alive, and therefore once landed must have died sooner or later in Asia itself. Since large numbers of Company servants were employed in the VOC's business in Asia - we shall return briefly to the figures later - it may be assumed that many, or very many, remained alive for longer periods after arrival, even though no more than a