Page 46 - Dutch Asiatic Shipping Volume 1

lifted up, then to be pulled by smaller ships (the waterschepen) across Pampus. Camels were also used for negotiating the Enkhuizer Zand.
Ships of the Delft and Rotterdam chambers had to complete a long and laborious route across inland waterways and rivers, before arriving at Goeree from where they put to sea. The Meuse estuary, though closer by, was too much silted up; nevertheless in the seven- teenth century it was used occasionally, particularly by smaller ships. For the Zeeland chamber things were easier in this respect. Middelburg was connected by the Welsingen canal with the Westerscheldt, where the ships soon found deeper water. They anchored in the roads under fort Rammekens, and via the Wielingen they could reach open sea quite easily. (See map 2).
The distance between shipyard, home port and roadstead made special arrangements necessary for loading and unloading and, of course, for taking the ships to and from the chamber cities. In Amsterdam all this was supervised by a commandeur; but after Titsingh's appointment to equipagemeester he was given this responsibility. In Zeeland and probably in the other chambers too, the responsibility lay also with the equipagemeester.*6 It appears from Titsing's instructions that ships had to be given old sails for crossing the Zuiderzee - new sails were not to be used before putting out to sea. The commandeur or equipagemees- ter often came along himself, when both the crew and the workmen on board were under his command. The operation of the camels was precarious. Before the ship entered the camels draught had to be measured; during lifting care had to be taken that the ship was not 'gefatiqueerd'. This meant that by possible uneven pressure the ship would lose its firmness and get a 'hog's back', i.e. that stem and stern would sag and the middle deck become convex. In view of this the equipagemeester had to check draught again after the ship was brought into deeper water.
The equipagemeesters were also responsible for stowage. It was expected of Titsing to make a plan for stowage for every departing ship. By regulation the victuals had to be stored fore and aft and the heavy goods in the hold amidships, this again to prevent 'hog's back'. Down below the ballast was placed. Sometimes it was difficult to find goods for this purpose which could be used by the Company in Asia: often ships took along more coal or stone than Batavia had need of, sometimes old unserviceable guns were used as ballast. Carrying more drinking water than the regulations required was another way of ballasting the ship. Moreover, masters were instructed to fill empty watervessels with seawater during the voyage.3 7
For loading and unloading of ships in the roads the chambers used small barges called lighters. The Amsterdam chamber had some twenty lichterluiden (lightermen) under con- tract, who were not allowed to do outside work except with the directors' permission. One striking clause in the regulations for these lightermen was, that when ferrying crews across they had to protect the steward against them, and that no spirits were to be issued on board the lighters.3 8 The actual loading and unloading was done by dock-hands and garbuleurs. The latter's duties included the unloading and sorting of spices, and they
36 ARA, VOC 360, Ordre en instructie voor Barent Fockes, commandeur (also called equipagemees- ter and stuwagemeester), 23.12.1683; VOC 269, res. A'dam 10.4.1758, instruction for equipage- meester Titsing; ARA, coll. Radermacher, 190, Instructions for the equipagemeesters Joost van Breen (1687) and C. Braams (1735).
37 ARA, VOC 158, res. Heren 17, 17.10.1704; VOC 159, id. 17.10.1708; VOC 161, id., 6.10.1721; Van Dam, Beschryvinge, vol. 63, 527-528.
38 ARA, VOC 360, Ordre en reglement voor de Ligterluiden, printed , 26.3.1708.