Voyages of Willem Barendszoon.
The states-general then resolved to send another expedition to prosecute the search for a passage, and on the 2nd of July 1595 seven ships sailed from the Maas for that purpose under the leadership of the dauntless Willem Barendszoon. There was another man in that fleet whose name stands high on the roll of Dutch heroes, Jacob van Heemskerk, who went on this occasion as supercargo of a ship of Amsterdam. But ice again obstructed the passage, and having done all that was possible to get through it, the explorers were compelled to put about and entered the Maas on the 18th of November.
Barendszoon was now of opinion that by sailing much farther north an open sea might be found, and as several geographers and travellers of note supported him in this view, the city of Amsterdam fitted out two ships, in which he and Heemskerk sailed from Vlieland on the 18th of May 1596. On this occasion Barendszoon visited Spitzbergen and reached 80° north latitude, but ice still blocked the road to China. One of the ships then returned home, the other was frozen fast and wrecked on the coast of Nova Zembla. The crew built a hut on the shore, and passed the winter in it, living largely on Arctic foxes and using the skins for clothing. In the spring they launched their two boats, in which they fortunately reached a Russian settlement onthe mainland, and ultimately Heemskerk and eleven others reached the Maas, 29th of October 1597. Brave Willem Barendszoon died of exhaustion on the journey. In our own time the hut on Nova Zembla was found intact, having stood nearly three centuries on the frozen shore, and the relics it contained are now preserved in the national museum.
Historical Sketches.
When the first of these expeditions had failed, and while the result of the second was still unknown, some merchants of Amsterdam fitted out a fleet of four vessels, which in the year 1595 sailed to India by way of the Cape of Good Hope. Before this date, however, a few Netherlanders had visited the eastern seas in the Portuguese service, and among them was one in particular whose writings had great influence at that period and for more than half a century afterwards.
Jan Huyghen van Linschoten was born at Haarlem, in the province of Holland. He received a good general education, but from an early age he gave himself up with ardour to the special study of geography and history, and eagerly read such books of travel as were within his reach. In 1579 he obtained permission from his parents, who were then residing at Enkhuizen, to proceed to Seville, where his two elder brothers were pushing their fortunes. He was at Seville when the cardinal king Henrique of Portugal died, leaving the succession to the throne in dispute. The duke of Alva with a strong Spanish army won it for his master, and shortly afterwards Linschoten removed to Lisbon, where he was a clerk in a merchant’s office when Philippe made his triumphal entry and when Alva died.
Two years later he entered the service of a Dominican friar, by name Vicente da Fonseca, who had been appointed by Philippe primate of India, the see of Goa having been raised to an archbishopric in 1557. In April 1583 with his employer he sailed from Lisbon, and after touching at Mozambique—where he remained from the 5th to the 20th of August, diligently seeking information on that part of the world—he arrived at Goa in September of the same year.He remained in India until January 1589. When returning to Europe in the shipSanta Cruzfrom Cochin, he passed through a quantity of wreckage from the ill-fatedSão Thomé, which had sailed from the same port five days before he left, and he visited several islands in the Atlantic, at one of which—Terceira—he was detained a long time. He reached Lisbon again in January 1592, and eight months later rejoined his family at Enkhuizen, after an absence of nearly thirteen years.
Work of Jan Huyghen van Linschoten.
Early in 1595 the first of Linschoten’s books was published, in which an account is given of the sailing directions followed by the Portuguese in their navigation of the eastern waters, drawn from the treatises of their most experienced pilots. This work shows the highest knowledge of navigation that Europeans had then acquired. They had still no better instrument for determining latitudes than the astrolabe and the cross staff, and no means whatever for ascertaining longitudes other than by dead reckoning. The vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope was known by the appearance of the sea-birds called Cape pigeons and the great drifting plants that are yet to be seen any day on the shores of the Cape peninsula. The different kinds of ground that adhered to the tallow of the sounding leads to some extent indicated the position, as did also the variation of the magnetic needle, but whether a ship was fifty or a hundred nautical miles from any given point could not be ascertained by either of these means. When close to the shore, however, the position was known by the appearance of the land, the form of the hills and mountains, and the patches of sand and thicket, all of which had been carefully delineated and laid down in the sailing directions.
Linschoten’s first book was followed in 1596 by a description of the Indies, and by several geographical treatises drawn from Portuguese sources, all profusely illustrated with maps and plates. Of Mozambique an ample account was given from personal observation and inquiry. DomPedro de Castro had just been succeeded as captain by Nuno Velho Pereira, who informed the archbishop that in his three years’ term of office he would realise a fortune of about nine tons of gold, or £75,000 sterling, derived chiefly from the trade in the precious metal carried on at Sofala and in the territory of the monomotapa. Fort São Sebastio had then no other garrison than the servants and attendants of the captain, in addition to whom there were only forty or at most fifty Portuguese and half-breed male residents on the island capable of assisting in its defence. There were three or four hundred huts occupied by negroes, some of whom were professed Christians, others Mohamedans, and still others heathens. The exports to India were gold, ivory, ambergris, ebony, and slaves. African slaves, being much stronger in body than the natives of Hindostan, were used to perform the hardest and coarsest work in the eastern possessions of Portugal, and—though Linschoten does not state this—they were employed in considerable numbers in the trading ships to relieve the European seamen from the heavy labour of pumping, hauling, stowing and unstowing cargo, cleansing, and so forth. These slaves were chiefly procured from the lands to the northward, and very few, if any of them, were obtained in the country south of the Zambesi.
Historical Sketches.
It serves to show how carefully and minutely Linschoten elicited information at Mozambique, that he mentions a harbour on the coast which is not named by any of the Portuguese writers of the time except Dos Santos, whose book was not then published, and who only refers to it incidentally, though it is now known to be the best port between Inhambane and the Zambesi. This is Beira, as at present termed, then known to the sailors of the pangayos that traded to the southward as Porto Bango. Linschoten gives its latitude as 19½°, half a league north of Sofala. He mentions also Delagoa Bay, that is the present Algoa Bay, and gives its latitude as 33½°. He describes the monsoons of the Indian ocean, and states that shipsfrom Portugal availed themselves of these periodical winds by waiting at Mozambique until the 1st of August, and never leaving after the middle of September, thus securing a safe and easy passage to the coast of Hindostan.
First Voyage of the Dutch to India.
He frequently refers to the gold of Sofala and the country of the monomotapa, of which he had heard just such reports as Vasco da Gama had eagerly listened to eighty-six years before. Yet he did not magnify the importance of these rumours as the Portuguese had done, though it was mainly from his writings that his countrymen became possessed of that spirit of cupidity which induced them a few years later to make strenuous efforts to become masters of South-Eastern Africa.
Linschoten’s treatises were collected and published in a single large volume, and the work was at once received as a text-book, a position which its merits entitled it to occupy. The most defective portion of the whole is that referring to South Africa: and for this reason, that it was then impossible to get any correct information about the interior of the continent below the Zambesi west of the part frequented by the Portuguese. Linschoten himself saw no more of it than a fleeting glimpse of False Cape afforded on his outward passage, and his description was of necessity based upon the faulty maps of the geographers of his time, so that it was full of errors. But his account of India and of the way to reach its several ports was so correct that it could serve the purpose of a guide-book, and his treatise on the mode of navigation by the Portuguese was thus used by the commander of the first Dutch fleet that appeared in the eastern seas.
The four vessels which left Texel on the 2nd of April 1595 were under the general direction of an officer named Cornelis Houtman. In the afternoon of the 2nd of August the Cape of Good Hope was seen, and next day, after passing Agulhas, the fleet kept close to the land, the littleDuifkesailing in front and looking for a harbour. On the 4th the bay called by the Portuguese Agoada de São Braswas discovered, and as the Duifke found good holding ground in nine or ten fathoms of water, theMauritius,Hollandia, andAmsterdamentered and dropped their anchors.[32]
Historical Sketches.
Here the fleet remained until the 11th, when sail was again set for the East. During the interval a supply of fresh water was taken in, and some oxen and sheep were purchased from the inhabitants for knives, old tools, and pieces of iron. The Europeans were surprised to find the sheep covered with hair instead of wool, and with enormous tails of pure fat. No women or habitations were seen. The appearance of the Hottentots, their clothing, their assagais, their method of making a fire by twirling a piece of wood rapidly round in the socket of another piece, their filthiness in eating, and the clicking of their language, are all correctly described; but it was surmised that they were cannibals, because they were observed to eat the half-raw intestines of animals, and a fable commonly believed in Europe was repeated concerning their mutilation in a peculiar manner of the bodies of conquered enemies. The intercourse with the few Hottentots seen was friendly, though at times each suspected the other of evil intentions.
A chart of the inlet was made,[33]from which it is seen to be the one now called Mossel Bay. A little island in it was covered with seals and penguins, some of each ofwhich were killed and eaten. The variation of the compass was observed to be so trifling that the needle might be said to point to the north.
Account by John Davis.
From the watering place of São Bras Houtman continued his voyage, and reached Sumatra safely. He next visited Bantam in the island of Java, where, owing to the influence of Portuguese traders, he and several of his attendants were made prisoners and were only released on payment of a ransom of £400. Some other ports of Java were visited, as were also Madura and Bali, and a small quantity of spice was purchased, but there were many quarrels and some combats with the natives. So many men died that it was necessary to burn theAmsterdam, which ship was much decayed, and strengthen the crews of the other three vessels. Houtman then left to return home, and reached Texel on the 14th of August 1597, after an absence of over twenty-eight months.
Financially the first venture of the Dutch to the Indies was not a success, but the spirit of enterprise was excited by it, and immediately trading companies began to be formed in different towns of Holland and Zeeland, and fleets were fitted out with the object of opening up an eastern trade. It will not be necessary to give an account of all these companies, but mention must be made of some of the fleets.
On the 15th of March 1598 two ships, theLeeuwand theLeeuwin, sailed from Vlissingen under command of Cornelis Houtman. In theLeeuwthe famous English seaman John Davis was chief pilot, that is sailing master. They put into the watering place of Saldanha for refreshment, where Davis, in his account of the voyage, says that the Hottentots fell by surprise upon the men who were ashore bartering cattle, and killed thirteen of them. In his narrative Davis says that at Cape Agulhas the magnetic needle was without variation, but in his sailing directions, written after another voyage to India, he says: “At False Cape there is no variation that I can find by observingsouth from it. The variation of Cape Agulhas is thirty minutes from north to west. And at the Cape of Good Hope the compass is varied from north to east five and twenty minutes.” At Atchin about a hundred and fifty tons of pepper were purchased and taken in, but on the 1st of September 1599 a party of Sumatrans went on board the two ships and suddenly drew their weapons and murdered Cornelis Houtman and many others. In both ships they were ultimately driven off with heavy loss. Some men were on shore at the time, and they also were attacked, when eight were made prisoners and the others were killed. Altogether sixty white men lost their lives on this occasion. There was no further attempt to trade or to explore, and after a voyage marked by loss the expedition reached home again on the 29th of July 1600.
Historical Sketches.
On the 1st of May 1598 Jacob van Nek sailed from Texel with six large ships and two yachts. Second in command was Wybrand van Waerwyk, and third in rank was Jacob van Heemskerk, who had only returned from his terrible sojourn in the polar sea six months before. This voyage was an eminently successful one. Four of the ships were speedily sent home fully laden with pepper and valuable spices obtained at Bantam; two others purchased cargoes at Banda, and when they sailed left twenty men behind with money and goods to trade until the arrival of another fleet; and the remaining two procured cargoes at Ternate, and left six men there to trade when they sailed. All reached home in safety, with the most valuable cargoes that had ever entered a Netherlands port.
On the 13th of September 1598 Olivier van Noort sailed from Goeree with two ships and two yachts, having in all two hundred and forty-eight souls on board, with the intention of ascertaining whether a western route to India would not be preferable to that round the Cape of Good Hope. It was necessary to burn one of the yachts on the passage, and one of the ships parted company after passing through the straits of Magellan and wasnever seen again. On the western coast of South America Van Noort destroyed several trading vessels, and then set his course for Manilla. Off that harbour, on the 14th of December 1600, two large galleons attacked him, when the yachtEendrachtsailed away, drawing one of the galleons in pursuit. TheMauritiusengaged the other, and after a stubborn combat succeeded in sinking her. As she was going down some two hundred men jumped overboard, but instead of attempting to rescue them, the crew of theMauritiuspushed those who swam alongside their ship underneath the water with poles. After the engagement there were only forty-eight men left in the Dutch ship. The yacht escaped, and reached Ternate, from which island her crew proceeded to Bantam. Van Noort continued his westward course, and was the first Netherlander to sail round the world. He reached Rotterdam on the 12th of August 1601.
The First Dutch Fort in India.
On the 26th of April 1599 Stephen van der Hagen sailed from Texel with three ships, theZon, theMaan, and theMorgen Ster. The people of Amboina were then at war with the Portuguese, and Van der Hagen entered into an agreement with their ruler to assist him in return for a monopoly of the sale of cloves at a fixed price. In accordance with this agreement, in September 1600 under Van der Hagen’s direction a fort was built at Amboina, and when he sailed he left twenty-seven Dutch volunteers under Jan Dirkszoon Sonneberg to aid in guarding it.
No fresh discoveries on the African coast were made by any of the fleets sent out at this time, but to some of the bays new names were given.
In December 1599 four ships fitted out by an association at Amsterdam calling itself the New Brabant Company sailed from Texel for the Indies, under command of Pieter Both. Two of them returned early in 1601, leaving theVereenigde Landenand theHof van Hollandunder charge of Paulus van Caerden to follow as soon as they couldobtain cargoes. On the 8th of July 1601 Van Caerden put into the watering place of São Bras on the South African coast, for the purpose of repairing one of his ships which was in a leaky condition. The commander, with twenty soldiers, went a short distance inland to endeavour to find people from whom he could obtain some cattle, but though he came across a party of eight individuals he did not succeed in getting any oxen or sheep. A supply of fresh water was taken in, but no refreshment except mussels could be procured, on account of which Van Caerden gave the inlet the name Mossel Bay, which it has ever since retained.
Historical Sketches.
On the 14th theHof van Hollandhaving been repaired, the two ships sailed, but two days later, as they were making no progress against a head wind, they put into another bay. Here some Hottentots were found, from whom the voyagers obtained for pieces of iron as many horned cattle and sheep as they could consume fresh or had salt to preserve. For this reason the commander gave it the name Flesh Bay.
On the 21st sail was set, but theHof van Hollandbeing found leaky again, on the 23rd another bay was entered, where her damages were repaired. On account of a westerly gale the ships were detained here until the 30th, when they sailed, but finding the wind contrary outside, they returned to anchor. No inhabitants were seen, but the commander visited a river near by, where he encountered a party from whom he obtained five sheep in exchange for bits of iron. In the river were numerous hippopotami. Abundance of fine fish having been secured here, the commander gave the inlet the name Fish Bay.
On the 2nd of August the ships sailed, and on the 27th passed the Cape of Good Hope, to the great joy of all on board, who had begun to fear that they might be detained much longer on the eastern side by adverse winds.
On the 5th of May 1601 a fleet of three vessels, named theRam, theSchaap, and theLam, sailed for the Indiesfrom Vere in Zeeland, under command of Joris van Spilbergen. On the 15th of November the fleet put into St. Helena Bay, where no inhabitants were seen, though smoke rising from many fires was observed inland. The only refreshment procurable was fish, which were caught in great quantities.
Naming of Table Bay.
On the 20th Spilbergen sailed from St. Helena Bay, and beating against a head wind, in the evening of the 28th he anchored off an island, to which he gave the name Elizabeth. Four years later Sir Edward Michelburne termed it Cony Island, which name, under the Dutch form of Dassen, it still bears. Seals in great numbers, sea-birds of different kinds, and conies were found. At this place he remained only twenty-four hours. On the 2nd of December he cast anchor close to another island, which he named Cornelia. It was the Robben Island of the present day. Here were found seals and penguins in great numbers, but no conies. The next day at noon Spilbergen reached the watering place of Saldanha, the anchorage in front of Table Mountain, and gave it the name Table Bay, which it still bears.
The sick were conveyed to land, where a hospital was established. A few inhabitants were met, to whom presents of beads were made, and who were understood to make signs that they would bring cattle for sale, but they went away and did not return. Abundance of fish was obtained with a seine at the mouth of a stream which Spilbergen named the Jacqueline, now Salt River; but, as meat was wanted, the smallest of the vessels was sent to Elizabeth Island, where a great number of penguins and conies were killed and salted in. The fleet remained in Table Bay until the 23rd of December. When passing Cornelia Island, a couple of conies were set on shore, and seven or eight sheep, which had been left there by some previous voyagers, were shot, and their carcases taken on board. Off the Cape of Good Hope the two French ships of which mention has been made were seen.
Spilbergen kept along the coast, noticing the formation of the land and the numerous streams falling into the sea, but was sorely hindered in his progress by the Agulhas current, which was found setting so strong to the south-westward that at times he could make no way against it even with the breeze in his favour. On the 17th of January 1602, owing to this cause, he stood off from the coast, and did not see it again.
Historical Sketches.
On the 23rd of April 1601 Wolfert Hermanszoon sailed for the Indies with a fleet of five ships. On reaching Palembang in Sumatra he learned from the Chinese crew of a trading vessel that a Portuguese fleet of eight large galleons and twenty-two smaller ships, under André Furtado de Mendoça, was besieging Bantam with a view of punishing its ruler for having traded with the Dutch. Mendoça was a man of renown in the East,[34]having been a successful commander in many wars, and his force was apparently so enormous in comparison with that under Hermanszoon that at first sight it would seem foolhardy to contend with it. But the Sea Beggars were not given to be afraid of anything on their own element, and they realised the importance of relieving Bantam and establishing their reputation for valour in the eyes of the Indian rulers. Accordingly Hermanszoon prepared his ships for action, sailed to Bantam, and on the 25th of December 1601 boldly attacked the great galleons.
It was soon seen that the battle was not such an unequal one after all. Mendoça had eight hundred Portuguese soldiers in his fleet, but the crews of his ships were all lascars or slaves, who were almost useless in battle. Hermanszoon could choose his position, deliver his fire, and then stand off and prepare for another attack. His ships, clumsy as they would appear to our eyes, were to those of the Portuguese like what modern gunboats under steam would be to three-deckers of the last century. Atnightfall Mendoça drew his ships close together under an island, and arranged them to act as a great fort. On the 26th the weather was stormy, so that nothing could be done. On the 27th Hermanszoon attacked again, and succeeded in overmastering and burning two of the smaller ships of war after nearly every one on board was killed. Mendoça used three more of his frigates as fire ships, but the Dutch vessels were too swift for him and were out of harm’s way before they exploded. He did not wait to be attacked again, and on the morning of the 28th his armada was seen to be in full flight and Bantam was relieved.
Success of the Dutch at Bantam.
The Dutch were received with transports of joy by the ruler and people of the place, and a commercial treaty greatly to their advantage was entered into. At Banda also a similar treaty was concluded. When returning home, a Portuguese carrack or freight ship of the largest size, with a valuable cargo on board, was captured off St. Helena, so that the voyage was a very profitable one.
Mendoça, after his flight from Bantam, directed his course to Amboina, where he inflicted heavy punishment upon the natives for trading with the Dutch, and cut down all the clove trees in the neighbourhood of the principal town. He then placed a garrison in the fort there, and took his departure.
Jacob van Heemskerk left Holland in company with Hermanszoon on the 23rd of April 1601 on his second voyage to India as admiral of a fleet of eight ships. In June 1603 he captured a carrack very richly laden with silk, porcelain, and other Chinese productions, on her way from Macao to Malacca. A few weeks later another carrack similarly laden was captured at Macao without resistance by a fleet under Cornelis van Veen.
Altogether between 1595 and 1602 sixty-five ships sailed from Holland and Zeeland for India, of which only fifty-four returned. By this time it had become evident that large armed fleets were necessary to secure safety and to cope with the Portuguese there if a permanent trade wasto be established. The rivalry too between the little companies was raising the price of spices so greatly in the East and lowering it in Europe that it was feared there would soon be no profit left. For these reasons, and to conduct the Indian trade in a manner the most beneficial to the people of the whole republic, the states-general resolved to unite all the small trading associations in one great company with many privileges and large powers. The first step to this end was to amalgamate the various companies in each town, and when this was effected, to bring them all under one directorate. The charter, or terms upon which the consolidated Company came into existence, was dated at the Hague on the 20th of March 1602, and contained forty-six clauses, the principal of which were as follows:—
Historical Sketches.
All of the inhabitants of the United Netherlands had the right given to them to subscribe to the capital in as small or as large sums as they might choose, with this proviso, that if more money should be tendered than was needed, those applying for shares of over two thousand five hundred pounds sterling should receive less, so that the applicants for smaller shares might have the full amounts asked for allotted to them.
The chambers, or offices for the transaction of business, were to participate in the following proportion: that of Amsterdam one-half, that of Middelburg in Zeeland one-quarter, those of Delft and Rotterdam, otherwise called of the Maas, together one-eighth, and those of Hoorn and Enkhuizen, otherwise called those of the North Quarter or sometimes those of North Holland and West Friesland, together the remaining eighth.
The general directory was to consist of seventeen persons, eight of whom were to represent the chamber of Amsterdam, four that of Middelburg, two those of the Maas, two those of the North Quarter, and the seventeenth was to be chosen alternately by all of these except the chamber of Amsterdam. The place of meeting of thegeneral directory was fixed at Amsterdam for six successive years, then at Middelburg for two years, then at Amsterdam again for six years, and so on.
Charter of the East India Company.
The directors of each chamber were named in the charter, being the individuals who were the directors of the companies previously established in those towns, and it was provided that no others should be appointed until these should be reduced by death or resignation: in the chamber of Amsterdam to twenty persons, in that of Zeeland to twelve, and in those of Delft, Rotterdam, Hoorn, and Enkhuizen each to seven. After that, whenever a vacancy should occur, the remaining directors were to nominate three qualified individuals, of whom the states of the province in which the chamber was situated were to select one.
To qualify an individual to be a director in the chambers of the North Quarter it was necessary to own shares to the value of £250 sterling, and double that amount to be a director in any of the other chambers. The directors were to be bound by oath to be faithful in the administration of the duties entrusted to them, and not to favour a majority of the shareholders at the expense of a minority. Directors were prohibited from selling anything whatever to the Company without previously obtaining the sanction of the states provincial or the authorities of the city in which the chamber that they represented was situated.
All inhabitants of the United Provinces other than this Company were prohibited from trading beyond the Straits of Magellan, or to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, during the period of twenty-one years, for which the charter was granted, under penalty of forfeiture of ship and cargo. Within these limits the East India Company was empowered to enter into treaties and make contracts in the name of the states-general, to build fortresses, to appoint governors, military commanders, judges, and other necessary officers, who were all, however, to take oaths of fidelity to the states-general or highauthorities of the Netherlands, who were not to be prevented from making complaints to the states-general, and whose appointments were to be reported to the states-general for confirmation.
Historical Sketches.
For these privileges the Company was to pay £12,500 sterling, which amount the states-general subscribed towards the capital, for the profit and at the risk of the general government of the provinces. The capital was nominally furnished in the following proportions: Amsterdam one-half, Zeeland one-fourth, the Maas one-eighth, and the North Quarter one-eighth; but in reality it was contributed as under:—
The capital was divided into shares of £250 sterling each. The shares, often sub-divided into fractions, were negotiable like any other property, and rose or fell in value according to the position of the Company at any time.
The advantage which the State derived from the establishment of this great association was apparent. The sums received in payment of import dues would have been contributed to an equal extent by individual traders. The amounts paid for the renewal of the charter—in 1647 the Company paid £133,333 6s.8d.for its renewal for twenty-five years, and still larger sums were paid subsequently—might have been derived from trading licenses. The Company frequently aided the Republic with loans of large amount when the State was in temporary need,but loans could then have been raised in the modern method whenever necessary. Apart from these services, however, there was one supreme advantage gained by the creation of the East India Company which could not have been obtained from individual traders. A powerful navy was called into existence, great armed fleets working in unison and subject to the same control were always ready to assist the State. What must otherwise have been an element of weakness, a vast number of merchant ships scattered over the ocean and ready to fall a prey to an enemy’s cruisers, was turned into a bulwark of strength.
Influence of Amsterdam.
In course of time several modifications took place in the constitution of the Company, and the different provinces as well as various cities were granted the privilege of having representatives in one or other of the chambers. Thus the provinces Gelderland, Utrecht, and Friesland, and the cities Dordrecht, Haarlem, Leiden, and Gouda had each a representative in the chamber of Amsterdam; Groningen had a representative in the chamber of Zeeland; Overyssel one in the chamber of Delft, &c. The object of this was to make the Company represent the whole Republic.
Notwithstanding such regulations, however, the city of Amsterdam soon came to exercise an immoderate influence in the direction. In 1672 it was estimated that shares equal to three-fourths of the whole capital were owned there, and of the twenty-five directors of the local chamber, eighteen were chosen by the burgomasters of the city. Fortunately, the charter secured to the other chambers a stated proportion of patronage and trade.
Such was the constitution of the Company which set itself the task of destroying the Portuguese power in the East and securing for itself the lucrative spice trade. It had no difficulty in obtaining as many men as were needed, for the German states—not then as now united in one great empire—formed an almost inexhaustible reservoirto draw soldiers from, and the Dutch seaports, together with Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, furnished an adequate supply of excellent seamen. It sent out strong and well-armed fleets, capable of meeting any force the enemy had to oppose them, and of driving him from the open seas.
Historical Sketches.
The first of these fleets was sent out in two divisions, one of three large ships, under Sebald de Weert, which sailed on the 31st of March 1602, and the other of eleven large ships and a yacht, under Wybrand van Waerwyk, which followed on the 17th of June. Sebald de Weert directed his course to the island of Ceylon, and cast anchor in the harbour of Batticaloa on the eastern shore. The maharaja of Kandy was then the most powerful ruler in the island, and was at war with the Portuguese. Spilbergen had been to visit him, and now De Weert followed, he and his attendants riding inland on elephants. He was received with great state by the maharaja and the people. An agreement was made of close friendship and commercial intercourse, and a plan of operations against the Portuguese was arranged. De Weert returned to Batticaloa, and proceeded to Atchin for assistance, from which place he came back with seven ships.
But now a great blunder was made. No meat was to be purchased, and as some cows were seen a party of men went ashore and shot them, in absolute ignorance of the Buddhist belief in the transmigration of souls and the commandment not to take life.[35]Full payment was offered, but was indignantly refused, and a complete revulsion of feeling towards the Dutch took place. De Weert could not imagine the cause of this, but prepared to give the maharaja, who was on his way to the coast, a splendid reception on board his ship. Meantime four Portuguese vessels were captured, and their crews werereleased and sent away. One of the maharaja’s sons was a prisoner in the hands of the Portuguese, and he thought to obtain his liberty in exchange for the Portuguese officers. When the captives were released without an exchange having been effected the prince’s rage knew no bounds. On the 1st of June 1603 De Weert and forty-six others went ashore unsuspicious of danger, when they were suddenly attacked by the maharaja’s order, and all were put to death. This ended commercial intercourse for a time, but in 1610 another treaty of friendship was entered into with the ruler of Kandy.
Establishment at Bantam.
Wybrand van Waerwyk with the principal division of the fleet cast anchor before Bantam in the island of Java, and in August 1603 concluded an arrangement with the sultan for the establishment of a permanent factory or trading station in that town. A strong stone building was procured for the purpose, goods were landed and stored, and an officer named François Wittert was placed in charge with a staff of assistants. This factory at Bantam was for several years thereafter regarded as the principal establishment of the Dutch in India. Another, but much smaller one, was soon afterwards formed at Grésik in the same island.
Though the Dutch were soon in almost undisputed possession of the valuable Spice islands, they were never able to eject the Portuguese from the comparatively worthless coast of South-Eastern Africa. That coast would only have been an encumbrance to them, if they had secured it, for its commerce was never worth much more than the cost of its maintenance until the highlands of the interior were occupied by Europeans, and the terrible mortality caused by its malaria would have been a serious misfortune to them. It was out of their ocean highway too, for they steered across south of Madagascar, instead of keeping along the African shore. But they were drawn on by rumours of the gold which was to be had, and so they resolved to make themselves masters of Mozambique,and with that island of all the Portuguese possessions subordinate to it. In Lisbon their intentions were suspected, and in January 1601 the king issued instructions that Dom Alvaro d’Abranches, Nuno da Cunha’s successor as captain of Mozambique, was on no account to absent himself from the island, as it might at any time be attacked by either the Turks or the Dutch.
Historical Sketches.
On the 18th of December 1603 Steven van der Hagen left Holland for India with a strong armed fleet, consisting of theVereenigde Provincien,Amsterdam,Dordrecht,Hoorn, andWest Friesland, each of three hundred and fifty tons burden, theGelderlandandZeelandia, each of two hundred and fifty tons, theHof van Holland, of one hundred and eighty tons, theDelftandEnkhuizen, each of one hundred and fifty tons, theMedenblik, of one hundred and twenty-five tons, and a despatch boat named theDuifken, of thirty tons burden. In those days such a fleet was regarded as, and actually was, a very formidable force, for though there were no ships in it of the size of the great galleons of Spain and Portugal, each one was much less unwieldy, and had its artillery better placed. There were twelve hundred men on board, and the equipment cost no less than £184,947 6s.8d.
Van der Hagen arrived before Mozambique on the 17th of June 1604. Fort São Sebastião had not at the time its ordinary garrison of one hundred soldiers, owing to a disaster that had recently occurred. A great horde of barbarians, called the Cabires by the Portuguese, had entered the territory of the monomotapa, and were laying it waste, so the captain Lourenço de Brito went to the assistance of the Kalanga chief, but was defeated and lost ten or twelve Portuguese and part of his stores. Sebastião de Macedo was then in command at Mozambique. He sent a vessel with fifty soldiers to De Brito’s assistance, but on the passage she was lost with all on board. None had yet arrived to replace them, but the resident inhabitants of the island had retired to the fort witheverything of value that they could remove, so Van der Hagen considered it too strong to be attacked and therefore proceeded to blockade it. There was a carrack at anchor, waiting for some others from Lisbon to sail in company to Goa. The boats of the Dutch fleet cut her out, in spite of the heavy fire of the fort upon them. She had on board a quantity of ivory collected at Sofala and other places on the East African coast, but nothing else of much value.
First Siege of Mozambique.
On the 30th of June a small vessel from one of the factories, laden with rice and ivory, came running up to the island, and was too near to escape when she discovered her danger. She was turned into a tender, and named theMozambique. Then, for five weeks, the blockade continued, without any noteworthy incident. On the 5th of August five pangayos arrived, laden with rice and millet, and were of course seized. Three days later Van der Hagen landed on the island with one hundred and fifty men, but found no sign of hunger, and saw that the prospect of the surrender of the fort was remote. He did no other damage than setting fire to a single house, and as night drew on he returned on board.
He was now anxious to proceed to India, so on the 12th of August he set fire to the captured carrack, and sailed, leaving theDelft,Enkhuizen, andDuifken, to wait for the ships expected from Lisbon. These vessels rejoined him, but without having made any prizes, soon after his arrival at Amboina, which was assigned as the place of meeting. He then attacked the Portuguese fort on that island, which was surrendered to him on the 23rd of February 1605. Having placed a Dutch garrison in the fort, and thus secured possession of this valuable island, he sailed to Tidor, where the Portuguese had a fortress. This stronghold he gained in May 1605, but in March 1606 it was recovered by the Portuguese, who at the same time overran a great part of the island of Ternate, where Van der Hagen had obtained tradingprivileges. In 1605 a factory was also established by the Dutch on the island of Banda.
Historical Sketches.
On the 12th of May 1605 Cornelis Matelief sailed with eleven ships for India. One of the most important strongholds of the Portuguese in the East was Malacca, as it commanded the navigation of the strait of the same name. Matelief entered into a treaty with the sultan of Johor at the southern extremity of the Malay peninsula, and with his assistance endeavoured to obtain possession of the stronghold, which was bravely defended by André Furtado de Mendoça. The first blockade of Malacca lasted four months, and ended by Matelief’s being obliged to retire from a very superior naval force sent from Goa. The second blockade was shorter, but though seven Portuguese ships were taken and five hundred Portuguese soldiers were killed, it was unsuccessful. At Amboina, Matelief strengthened the garrison of the Dutch fort, and gave the soldiers and sailors there permission to marry native women. He did not get possession of the Portuguese castle on Ternate, but he built Fort Orange on another part of the island, and left an effective garrison in it.
On the 28th of January 1608 Matelief sailed from Bantam in theOranjeto return home. On the 12th of April he put into Table Bay, as he was badly in want of meat, and hoped to obtain as much as he needed here. In this he succeeded, for he bartered thirty-four oxen, five calves, and a hundred and seventy-three sheep from the Hottentots for pieces of old iron hoop and rings, valued at less than a halfpenny for each animal. His description of the Hottentots is one of the best of that time, and is accurate in all its details. The greatest plague in Table Valley he found to be the flies, which from this and other accounts appear to have been even more troublesome then than they are to-day. On Robben Island he killed about a hundred seals for the sake of their skins, and as he had more sheep thanhe needed, he left twenty there to breed. He remained in Table Bay longer than two months, and with a crew thoroughly refreshed he set sail for Holland on the 22nd of June.
Second Siege of Mozambique.
Another attempt to get possession of Mozambique was made in 1607. On the 29th of March of that year a Dutch fleet of eight large ships—theBanda,Bantam,Ceylon,Walcheren,Ter Veere,Zierikzee,China, andPatane,—carrying one thousand and sixty men, commanded by Paulus van Caerden, appeared before the island. The Portuguese historian of this event represents that the fortress was at the time badly in want of repair, that it was insufficiently provided with cannon, and that there were no artillerymen nor indeed regular soldiers of any branch of the service in it, its defence being undertaken by seventy male inhabitants of the town, who were the only persons on the island capable of bearing arms. But this statement does not agree either with the Dutch narrative or with the account given by Dos Santos, from which it appears that there were between soldiers and residents of the island one hundred and forty-five men in the fortress. It was commanded by an officer—Dom Estevão d’Ataide by name—who deserves a place among the bravest of his countrymen. He divided his force into four companies, to each of which he gave a bastion in charge. To one, under Martim Gomes de Carvalho, was committed the defence of the bastion São João, another, under Antonio Monteiro Corte Real, had a similar charge in the bastion Santo Antonio, the bastion Nossa Senhora was confided to the care of André de Alpoim de Brito, while the bastion São Gabriel, which was the one most exposed to assault on the land side and where the stoutest resistance would have to be made, was entrusted to the company under Diogo de Carvalho. The people of the town abandoned their houses and hastily took shelter within the fortress, carrying their most valuable effects with them. Van Caerden, in theBanda, led the way right underthe guns of São Sebastião to the anchorage, where the Sofala packet and two carracks were lying. A heavy fire was opened on both sides, but, though the ships were slightly damaged, as the ramparts were of great height and the Portuguese guns could not be depressed to command the Dutch position thoroughly, no one except the master of theCeylonwas wounded. Two of the vessels at anchor were partly burned, but all were made prizes after their crews had escaped to the shore.