Page 54 - Dutch Asiatic Shipping Volume 1

Other round-backed ships
Among the various small round-backed ships employed by the Company for a variety of business, the galjoot (galliot) must be mentioned first. The first one was built in 1640 and followed by a number of others until 1664. The galliot was probably ousted by the hooker. Around 1690 and later it returned a number of times. After the voyage out they were used for further service at the Cape or in Asia. Most galliots were no more than 60 to 70 ft long, carried one large and one small mast with fore-and-aft sails and had lee-boards. Speed was important and so the hull was 'fore and aft very sharp'. They were built in the yards of all chambers. They were highly suitable for dispatches and for the reception of the return fleet. A well-known example of this is the SNOEPER (1263 and 1356) which was used for special assignments under Barend Fockesz. The WEZELTJE (1742) was useful on De Vlaming's voyage of exploration.16
The hoeker (hooker) was suddenly incorporated into the fleet in 1664. The Delft cham- ber took the initiative by purchasing some four of these ships (1017-1020). The Rotterdam chamber and subsequently the other chambers followed this example. They were slightly larger ships than the galliots: from 70 to 90 ft long. They carried a large and a small mast with square rigging, or three masts, depending on their size, and were 'for high speed made very sharp'. They had some gunports enabling them to be armed. In 1667 the Rotterdam chamber was the first to build a series of hookers, adorned with bird names: KOKMEEUW (blackheaded gull), ROTGANS (brentgoose), SCHOLLEVAAR (cor- morant), and LEPELAAR (spoonbill) (1076, 1078,1086,1092). This was an obvious case of quantity production, to be continued during the following years. Most of the hookers were destined for wartime dispatches and remained in the East afterwards. After their great popularity around 1665-1670 they disappeared from the Company's stock of ships, only to be built again very occasionally, as for instance in 1719 the METEREN (2414) and another four around 1760 for service on the Cape run (3753,3802,3907 and 4037).1 7
One of the types of ship rarely mentioned is the bootje (0852,1077 and 1222). Not much is known about it. It was also described as a small fluyt. The outstanding difference with the fluyt was certainly its lack of superstructures; but it did carry three masts with square sails. Its length will have been about 70 ft. Possibly the PRUYEN (1640), described as a loodsboot (pilotboat), was a bootje.1* The TOBIAS LEIDSMAN (1570), which in 1688 did not get beyond the Shetland Islands, was a buis (herringbuss), the vessel used in herring fishery, and probably acquired for a special assignment.
The rates of 1697
Among this diversity of smaller ships even contemporaries did not always find their way, as indicated by the Witsen quotation. The hiring and purchasing of ships, particularly during the wars in Europe, made the situation worse: other dimensions and denominations were introduced in this way. In the Company's books one ship would sometimes be given different type names, incorporated in the published lists. In 1668 the Heren Zeventien did in fact rule that the dimensions of all ships built after 1656 were in future to be centrally registered. This was done in Amsterdam. But according to V an Dam these data too were
16 Van Dam, Beschryvinge, vol. 63, 394; Van Beylen, Schepen van de Nederlanden, 125.
17 Van Dam, Beschryvinge, vol. 63, 472 and 490; Van Beylen, Schepen van de Nederlanden, 125
and 141-143; Schilder, De ontdekkingsreis, 7-8.
18 Van Dam, Beschryvinge, vol. 63, 469, 473 and 491; Van Beylen, Schepen van de Nederlanden,
116. No. 1428 is probably abootje; the nos. 1079,1108,1120,1460,1472 and 1512 are hookers.