The Navigator : The Log of John Anderson, VOC Pilot
Captain John Anderson served in the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as &#039;Pilot-Major&#039; between 1640 and 1643. Thi...
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The Navigator

European Expansion and Indigenous Response Edited by

Glenn J. Ames, The University of Toledo Editorial Board

João Paulo Oliveira e Costa, CHAM, Universidade Nova de Lisboa Frank Dutra, University of California, Santa Barbara Pedro Machado, Indiana University, Bloomington Malyn Newitt, King’s College, London Michael Pearson, University of New South Wales Alexandra Pereira Pelucia, CHAM, Universidade Nova de Lisboa José Damião Rodrigues, University of the Azores George Bryan Souza, University of Texas

VOLUME 7

The Navigator The Log of John Anderson VOC Pilot-Major 1640–1643 Edited by

Victor Enthoven Steve Murdoch Eila Williamson With the assistance of

Ben Teensma

LEIDEN • BOSTON 2010

On the cover: The naval battle between the Dutch East India fleet under command of Adam Westerwolt and a Spanish fleet [sic] of six galleons and seventeen frigates, 24 January 1638. During the fight two large Dutch ships and one Spanish galleon were burnt, but in the end the Spanish retreated and the Dutch were victorious. The large ship in the centre is the Utrecht, to the right we can see the stern of the Harderwijk. To the right of the Harderwijk there are the three burning ships. Vienna, Östenrreichische Nationalbibliothek, Atlas Blaeu-Van der Hem, vol. V: 38: 25. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Detailed Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Anderson, John, 17th cent. The navigator : the log of John Anderson, VOC pilot-major, 1640–1643 / edited by Victor Enthoven, Steve Murdoch, Eila Williamson with the assistance of Ben Teensma. p. cm. — (European expansion and indigenous response, ISSN 1873-8974 ; v. 7) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-18931-7 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Naval art and science— History—17th century—Sources. 2. East Indies—Discovery and exploration—Dutch— Early works to 1800. 3. East Indies—Commerce—Netherlands—History—17th century—Sources. 4. Netherlands—Commerce—East Indies—History—17th century—Sources. 5. Nederlandsche Oost-Indische Compagnie—History—Sources. 6. Ship captains—Scotland—Biography. I. Enthoven, V. II. Murdoch, Steve. III. Williamson, Eila. IV. Title. VK211.A64 2010 359.0092—dc22 [B] 2010029380 ISSN 1873-8974 ISBN 978 90 04 18931 7 Copyright 2010 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change.

CONTENTS General Editor’s Preface ................................................................... List of Illustrations ............................................................................ Preface ................................................................................................. List of Abbreviations ......................................................................... Notes on Measures, Currencies, and Mileage .............................. Maps .....................................................................................................

vii ix xi xiii xv xvii

PART ONE

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION Chapter One A Many-headed Hydra: An Introduction to the Dutch East India Company .........................................................

3

Chapter Two Introduction to the Log-book of Captain John Anderson ........................................................................................

11

Chapter Three The Log as a Reflection of the Practice of Navigation ......................................................................................

31

Chapter Four

War in the Log of John Anderson .....................

59

Chapter Five Scots and the East Indies: A Background to the Voyage of John Anderson ...........................................................

87

PART TWO

THE LOG-BOOK OF CAPTAIN JOHN ANDERSON Editorial Practice ................................................................................

119

The Log-book of Captain John Anderson .....................................

123

vi

contents

Appendices Appendix A. Foreigners in the VOC, 1602–1660 ................... Appendix B. Known Scots in East India Service, 1600–1660 Appendix C. Two letters of Drummer-Major James Spens, VOC Soldier, 1631–1632 .........................................................

254

Bibliography ........................................................................................ Index ....................................................................................................

259 271

247 248

GENERAL EDITOR’S PREFACE As Adam Smith wrote in his seminal Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), ‘The discovery of America, and that of a passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, are the two greatest and most important events recorded in the history of mankind.’ It is hardly surprising, therefore, that this process of European expansion and global colonization from ca. 1450 to 1900 has attracted extensive historical research and debate over the years. Since the Enlightenment, philosophers, economists, and historians have all sought to analyze and understand the vast range of human experiences embodied in this creation of a world market economy and global society. Much of the scholarly work completed from ca. 1880 to 1940 fell within the limits of what M. N. Pearson has aptly described as the ‘seeds of empire’ school of imperial historiography. Eurocentric, Whiggish, even jingoistic, this work was largely compiled by English, Dutch, French, and Portuguese civil servants active in the administration of the twilight empires of those European powers. It was engendered by a need to glorify past colonial adventures as a means of legitimizing modern European imperialism and, as such, was less than objective. In the decolonization period from ca. 1945 to 1975, the field was tainted by this legacy. In the 1970s, the focus shifted to the long-ignored experiences of the indigenous peoples, sometimes characterized as ‘the Other’, in this process and their relationship with the Europeans, who were largely re-cast as aggressors and not ‘heroes.’ Recently, more balanced studies have appeared, embracing both the European and indigenous perspective. This recent historiography has laudably succeeded in providing an analysis of the symbiotic economic, social, religious, and cultural interaction between Europe and the wider world which accelerated following the voyages of Columbus and Vasco da Gama. European Expansion and Indigenous Response is a series dedicated to contributing to this more balanced historiography. Its volumes will present a broad intellectual perspective, examining whenever possible European and non-European perspectives. These volumes will also utilize a multi-disciplinary approach with diverse

viii

general editor’s preface

forms of analysis from all relevant scholarly disciplines. Its monographs, edited volumes and edited translations will provide new ideas and new perspectives on a topic that has fascinated scholars for the last half millennium. Glenn J. Ames

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS List of Maps Map 1. Map 2. Map 3. Map 4. Map 5. Map 6.

Roads at Hellevoetsluis ...................................................... xvii Map of the octrooigebied .................................................... xviii South Asia ............................................................................ xix The Indonesia Archipelago ................................................ xx Sunda Strait .......................................................................... xxi Banda Archipelago .............................................................. xxii List of Tables

Table 1. Capital invested in the VOC, 1602 ................................ Table 2. Dutch casualties, 1641 ...................................................... Table 3. Proceeds from the Nossa Senhora da Quietação and the Portuguese yacht, 1641 ..........................................................

5 77 78

PREFACE The final production of this edition of John Anderson’s log, and the contextual chapters that precede it, has a long history and results from the collaboration of three scholars with very different historical interests. Steve Murdoch came across the Anderson manuscript when conducting follow up research to his article on the Scots in the Dutch East India Company.1 Steve identified the importance of the manuscript which was used in the teaching of his course ‘The Europeans in Asia in the Early Modern Period’ at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. For it to be a useful teaching aid he had already transcribed a version of the log from a microfilm provided by the National Library of Scotland [NLS], Edinburgh. Having done this he then began to contemplate a more complete and annotated text as the first of a series of publications emanating from the Scotland and the Wider World Project which he directs at the University of St Andrews. It was at this stage that Steve asked Victor Enthoven of the Royal Netherlands Naval College and the Free University of Amsterdam to review the manuscript to see what was known of it among specialist scholars of the Dutch East India Company [VOC]. The value was obvious and Victor was immediately able to identify it as the oldest such log copied directly into a purpose pre-printed log book. The Anderson project, or at least one branch of it, now had two core members. Unbeknown to them another scholar had also started her own transcription. Eila Williamson came across Anderson’s log when searching the NLS catalogues for material for the South-East Scotland volume of the Records of Early Drama: Scotland [RED:S] project. At that time she was working as a research fellow on the RED:S project. While the manuscript was of no significance to that project, Eila was interested in the subject matter and used it as the basis for a paper delivered to the International Association of Medieval and Renaissance Scottish Language and Literature conference, held at Brock University, Canada

1 S. Murdoch, ‘The Good, the Bad and the Anonymous: A Preliminary Survey of the Scots in the Dutch East Indies, 1612–1707’, Northern Scotland, vol. 22 (2002), pp. 1–13.

xii

preface

in July 2005.2 Eila too thought that the text was important enough to consider producing an edition of it. Realising that such an undertaking would involve more work on the VOC, the Scots in the East Indies, and navigation, she contacted Andrew Mackillop and Esther Mijers for advice on British-Asian and Dutch material respectively and both scholars advised contacting Steve. Once in contact it was easy to see the benefits to the project of the three of us working together. Though we all have our specialisms, there is no single chapter that can be called our own as each has contributed significantly to all. This has made the process painstakingly slow on occasions, but ultimately very rewarding. During the final stages of the project we contacted Ben Teensma, emeritus Lusitanist of the University of Leiden. He not only helped us annotate the text of the log, but he also guarded us from many mistakes. We thank him for his assistance. The editors would like to convey their gratitude to the Trustees of the National Library of Scotland and Sheila Mackenzie, Senior Curator of the Manuscripts Division, for her help in providing copies of the manuscript and securing permission for us to produce this edition of the manuscript. To her and all at the NLS who helped we express our sincere thanks. Thanks also to the National Archives of Scotland for permission to publish the James Spens letters.

2 E. Williamson, ‘A Voyage to Batavia in the Words of a Scotsman’, presented at the Medieval and Renaissance Scottish Language and Literature Conference, Brock University, Canada, July 11–15, 2005. Eila Williamson is grateful to the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh for providing financial assistance towards her attendance at this conference.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Adv. MS CMEIC CSPCol. Dagh-Register

DAS

EIC FRS GD Generale Missiven

Itinerario

NA NAS NLS OBP ODNB

RED:S Res. SG

Advocates’ Manuscript Calendar of the Court Minutes etc. of the East India Company, 1635–63, 11 vols. (London, 1907–38) Calendar of State Papers Colonial: East Indies, China and Japan, 5 vols. (London, 1862–92) Dagh-Register gehouden int Casteel Batavia vant passeerende daer ter plaetse als over geheel Nederlandts-India, 31 vols. (The Hague/Batavia, 1887–1931) Dutch Asiatic Shipping in the 17th and 18th Centuries, ed. by J. R. Bruijn, F. S. Gaastra and I. Schöffer, Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën, Grote Serie 165, 166, 167, 3 vols. (The Hague, 1979–87) East India Company Fellow of the Royal Society Gifts and Deposits Generale Missiven van Gouverneurs-Generaal en Raden aan Heren XVII der Verenigde OostIndische Compagnie, Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën, Grote Serie, 13 vols. (The Hague, 1960–2007) J. H. van Linschoten, Itinerario, voyage ofte schipvaert, van Ian Huygen van Linschoten, naer Oost ofte Portugaels Indien (Amsterdam, 1596) The Hague, Nationaal Archief Edinburgh, The National Archives of Scotland Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland Overgekomen Brieven en Papieren Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. by H. C. G. Matthew and B. Harrison (Oxford, 2004), available on internet, URL:www.oxforddnb.com Records of Early Drama: Scotland Resolutiën der Staten-Generaal: Nieuwe reeks, 1610–1670, Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën,

xiv

RH SP TNA Van Dam

VOC WIC

list of abbreviations Grote Serie 135, 151, 152, 176, 187, 208, 223, 7 vols. (The Hague, 1971–94) Register House State Papers London, The National Archives P. van Dam, Beschrijvinge van de Oostindische Compagnie, Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën, Grote Serie 63, 68, 74, 76, 83, 87, 96, 7 vols. (The Hague, 1927–54) Dutch East India Company/Verenigde OostIndische Compagnie Dutch West India Company/West-Indische Compagnie

NOTES ON MEASURES, CURRENCIES, AND MILEAGE Measures Picul A weight of about 60 kg. Ton and last A last is equivalent to two tons, weighing 2,000 kg.1 Currencies An excellent guide on old currencies used in the Early Modern World is J. J. McCusker, Money and Exchange in Europe and America, 1600–1775: A Handbook (Chapel Hill, 1978). Furthermore we have used the VOC-glossarium compiled by the Nederlands Instituut voor Geschiedenis in The Hague, URL: http://www.inghist.nl/Onderzoek/ Projecten/VocGlossarium (Accessed 10 May 2009). Guilder In most of the Dutch Republic the currency unit was the gulden or guilder, the symbol for which is ƒ. Here all amounts are converted to guilders. Between the guilder used in the Netherlands and in Asia there was an exchange rate difference, known as heavy (zwaar) and light (licht) money. Here we have made no distinction between the two.2 ƒ1 = 20 stuivers = 40 groten = 320 penningen (ƒ01:00:00). 1 stuiver = 16 penningen (ƒ0:01:00). 1 duit = 1/8 stuiver = 2 penningen (ƒ0:00:02). Up till 2001, the guilder was in circulation in the Netherlands.

1

DAS, I, p. 42. F. S. Gaastra, ‘De Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw: de groei van een bedrijf. Geld tegen goederen. Een structurele verandering in het Nederlands-Aziatisch handelsverkeer’, Bijdragen en Mededelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden (1976), pp. 249–72; W. L. Korthals Altes, De geschiedenis van de gulden. Van Pond Hollands tot Euro (Amsterdam, 2001), pp. 61–62. 2

xvi

notes on measures, currencies, and mileage

ƒ1 = 100 cents. In 2002 the Netherlands adopted the Euro currency. €1 = ƒ2.20371. Cruzado Portuguese coin, made of gold. Valued at 60 (light) stivers. Ducat Dukaton in Dutch. Portuguese coin, made of gold. Valued at 63 (heavy) stivers. Real Piece of eight. A Spanish silver coin. Pardau Silver Portuguese coin, minted at Goa, valued at 300 reis. Mileage Distances in the log are given in Scottish miles = 1,814 m. Conversion Chart for the Scottish Mile to Other Equivalents Scottish Mile 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

English Mile Nautical Miles French Mille 1.13 2.25 3.38 4.51 5.64 6.76 7.89 9.02 10.14 11.27 12.40 13.53 14.65 15.78 16.91 18.03 19.16 20.29 21.42 22.54

0.98 1.96 2.94 3.92 4.90 5.88 6.86 7.84 8.82 9.80 10.78 11.76 12.74 13.72 14.70 15.68 16.66 17.64 18.62 19.60

0.93 1.86 2.79 3.72 4.65 5.58 6.51 7.44 8.37 9.30 10.23 11.16 12.09 13.02 13.95 14.88 15.81 16.74 17.67 18.60

Kilometre 1.81 3.63 5.44 7.26 9.07 10.88 12.70 14.51 16.33 18.14 19.95 21.77 23.58 25.40 27.21 29.02 30.84 32.65 34.47 36.28

MAPS

Delft

Rotterdam Brielle

Hellevoetsluis Goereesegat

Willemstad

Map 1. Roads at Hellevoetsluis

Mocha

Madagascar

Indian Ocean

Cochin Malabar Colombo

Goa

Surat

Batavia Java

Java Sea

Malacca

Pattani

Macau

Cochin China

Canton

Siam

Map 2. Map of the octrooigebied

Sumatra

Negapatnam Ceylon

l

Coromandel

Bengal

Celebes

Banda

Philippine Islands

Japan

xviii

maps

maps

xix

Indus Ganges

Bengal Surat Arabian Sea

Mumbai Bimilipatnam Vengurla Goa

Coromandel Coast

Bay of Bengal Pulicat Madras

Calicut Malabar Cochin Coast

Negapatnam Trincomale Batticaloa

Maldives Colombo

Ceylon

Galle Indian Ocean

Map 3. South Asia

Mentawai Islands

Padang

Sunda Strait

Sumatra

Malacca

Pattani

Batavia

Bantam

Sumbawa

Lombok

Bali

Map 4. The Indonesia Archipelago

Java

Mataram

Ujung Pandang (Makassar)

Kalimantan (Borneo)

Sumba

Flores

Timor

Ambon Banda

Ceram

Halmahera

xx

maps

maps

xxi

Sumatra

Pulau Babi

Pulau Sebuku Pulau Sebesi

Pulau Sertung

Toppershoedje Varkenshoek Lange Eiland (Tanjung Tua) Dwars in de weg (Sangiang) Teluk Banten Brabandshoedje (Pulau Ular) Sint Nicolaasbaai Pulau Krakatau Kitjil Pulau Krakatau

Java

Pulau Panaitan

Map 5. Sunda Strait

maps

xxii

Bandanaira Pulau Ai

Pulau Run

Lontor Pulau Rozengain

Map 6. Banda Archipelago

PART ONE

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

A MANY-HEADED HYDRA AN INTRODUCTION TO THE DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY Introduction The Dutch East India Company [hereafter VOC] was a complicated institution, being both a chartered trading joint stock company and an instrument of war in the hands of the States General, the highest executive body of the Dutch Republic, at least until 1648. It was the largest privately-owned firm of the early modern era with many thousands of employees extending across Asia and Europe. In the Netherlands the board of directors was known as the Heren Zeventien [hereafter Gentlemen Seventeen] and six branches, called chambers, executed its policies. After 1621 the Company’s headquarters in Asia were located at Batavia (Jakarta) on the Indonesian island of Java. The Company’s Asian-based officials acted almost as an autonomous body, largely independent from the directors in Amsterdam and Middelburg, and engaged in an almost constant war against the Portuguese and a variety of indigenous territories, provinces and kingdoms. The origin of the conflict against other European powers was deeply rooted in the Dutch Revolt against their lord, the King of Spain, who between 1580 and 1640 was also the King of Portugal. The encroachment of the English Honourable East India Company [hereafter EIC] also led to a complex set of alliances which sometimes saw the English and Dutch working together, while at other times they operated in direct competition, which sometimes led to war between the two North-Sea naval powers.1 In the meantime, third only to Venice and Lisbon, Amsterdam became a great city of spice of the seventeenth century.2

1 M. N. van Ittersum, Profit and Principle: Hugo Grotius, Natural Rights Theories and the Rise of Dutch Power in the East Indies, 1595–1615, Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History 139 (Leiden, 2006), esp. chapter six. 2 M. Krondl, The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice (New York, 2007).

4

chapter one The Genesis of the Company3

As will be explained in more detail in Chapter 4, the VOC was established in 1602 in order to address two problems: the declining profits in the spice trade as suffered by Dutch merchants at the end of the sixteenth century and the precarious circumstances caused by the war against their arch-enemy, the King of Spain, around 1600. These private and public issues were merged into one single corporation: the VOC.4 It was apparent from the outset that investing in the new Company would be a highly risky venture. Waging war for a private company against the strongest empire of the world was not an easy task. As compensation for the high risk taken by the investors, the States General granted the VOC a monopoly on all trade from the Dutch Republic for the area east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of Cape Horn. So de jure, too, the Company held a monopoly on the spice trade for the Dutch market. The advantage for the States General, and the war effort as a whole, was that the second front in Asia would thus be financed privately by the VOC investors. Furthermore, in return for granting the new Company its charter, stipulating all kinds of obligations (for instance, that the books be inspected in the presence of a States General committee every four years) and rights, including that of the spice monopoly, the States General received respectable financial compensation.5 On 20 March 1602, the charter containing 46 clauses, outlining the structure and organisation of the new Company, was signed. Over time, a symbiotic relationship developed between the States General and the VOC. By the time that Captain John Anderson made his fourth voyage to the East Indies, in the years 1640–43, the VOC had evolved into two more or less different organisations: one in Europe and one in Asia.6

3

Unless otherwise indicated this section is based on DAS, I, passim. M. Witteveen, Een onderneming van landsbelang. De oprichting van de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie in 1602 (Amsterdam, 2002), passim. 5 V. Enthoven, Zeeland en de opkomst van de Republiek. Handel en strijd in de Scheldedelta, c. 1550–1621 (Leiden, 1996), pp. 248–55. 6 V. Enthoven, ‘Van steunpilaar tot blok aan het been. De Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie en de Unie’, ed. by G. Knaap and G. Teitler, De Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie tussen oorlog en diplomatie, Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 197 (Leiden, 2002), pp. 35–58. For an English 4

an introduction to the dutch east india company

5

The European Organisation In Europe, the six different so-called voorcompagnieën (pre-companies), which had equipped the many expeditions between 1595 and 1602, were in fact turned into branches of the VOC, known as chambers. These chambers were located at Amsterdam, Zeeland (in Middelburg), Hoorn, Enkhuizen, Delft and Rotterdam. The Rotterdam and Delft chambers were sometimes referred to as chambers of the Maze (Meuse), and the Hoorn and Enkhuizen chambers as those of the Noorderkwartier (North Quarter), but all four of them were in fact completely independent branches. The importance of the chambers and their share in the activities in the Company were determined by the capital invested. Table 1. Capital invested in the VOC, 1602 (guilders) Chamber Amsterdam Zeeland Delft Rotterdam Hoorn Enkhuizen Total

Capital

%

Share

3,674,915 1,300,405 469,400 173,000 266,868 540,000 6,424,588

57 20 7 3 4 8 100

1/2 1/4 1/16 1/16 1/16 1/16

Source: F. S. Gaastra, De geschiedenis van de VOC (Haarlem, 1982), p. 22.

The 76 bewindhebbers (directors), who were in fact the principal investors, of the voorcompagnieën became the directors of the six chambers: Amsterdam (23), Zeeland (14), Delft (12), Rotterdam (9), Hoorn (7), and Enkhuizen (11). Later these numbers would differ slightly. Over time the directors were nominated from among the larger shareholders and were appointed for life by the local government. They managed the activities of the chamber: procuring the ships, preferably by building them in the Company’s own yards; equipping and

translation of the first charter, see ‘The licence granted by the States General to the Dutch East India Company on March 20, 1602’, in E. Gepken-Jager, G. van Soloinge and L. Timmerman (eds.), VOC 1602–2002: 400 Years of Company Law, Series Law of Business and Finance 6 (Deventer, 2005), pp. 29–38; H. J. den Heijer, De geoctrooieerde compagnie. De VOC en de WIC als voorlopers van de naamloze vennootschap (Deventer, 2005).

6

chapter one

manning the ships; organising the biannual auction of the spices and other Asian commodities; and keeping the books.7 The Gentlemen Seventeen, who formed the central management of the Company, were selected from the body of directors as representatives of their chambers: eight from Amsterdam, four from Zeeland, and one from each other city. The seventeenth member was appointed alternately by Zeeland and the smaller chambers. Meetings were held at fixed locations: for a period of six consecutive years this was at Amsterdam, followed by two consecutive years at Middelburg. As a rule the Gentlemen Seventeen met two to three times a year, at which time they formulated Company policy. Central to these discussions were the so-called ‘demands for India’. This was a kind of shopping list, determining how much and what kind of goods were expected to be delivered from the East Indies. Furthermore, they decided, for instance, how many ships of each fleet were to be equipped by each chamber according to this usual division: Amsterdam 1/2, Zeeland 1/4 and the smaller chambers each 1/16.8 The Asian Organisation The 1602 charter contained very little information relating to Asia. It stipulated only that the Company had the right to enter into treaties with rulers, to build fortifications and to appoint governors and judges, all in the name of the States General. Initially the highest authority in Asia rested with the person appointed Admiral of the fleet. Since the Admiral had no fixed abode it proved highly problematical to deliver orders and coordinate governance of the Company. Over time a more permanent solution had to be found. In the early 1610s, the Gentlemen Seventeen appointed a Governor General to the fleet, who was to remain in Asia and take on responsibility for supreme authority over all Company settlements and possessions in the region. Finally in May 1619, Governor General Jan Pietersz Coen (1587– 1629) conquered the small port of Jakarta. This provided the Company with a specific rendezvous for arriving ships and a location for the seat

7

H. Bonke and K. Bossaers, Heren investeren. De bewindhebbers van de West-Friese kamers van de VOC (Haarlem, 2002). 8 F. Gaastra, Bewind en beleid bij de VOC, 1672–1702. De financiële politiek van de bewindhebbers (Zutphen, 1989).

an introduction to the dutch east india company

7

of government. The Road of Batavia, extending from the Kratawangsche Hoek (Ujungkrawang) to the Ruige Hoek, was considered the best in the world. The principal concern after the conquest was to establish a protective place for government, personnel, workshops and foods. Thus, a fort, known as the kasteel, was built to the east of the Ciliwung River, on the coast. This fort consisted of two rows of large coral blocks filled with sand and gravel and surrounded by a moat. South of this, and further inland, a small, but in appearance rather Dutch, town intersected with canals sprang up. As a trading company the VOC had no active policy of establishing overseas settlements, nevertheless a thriving multi-ethnic town emerged. Opposite the castle, on the river, a yard was laid out. A boom could be placed across the river to block access to and from the sea. Outside the fort a hospital was built; initially made using bamboo, it was later rebuilt in brick in 1640.9 Central governance of all Company activity in Asia was conducted by the Governor General and the Council of the Indies. This Council consisted of five members, including the Governor General as chairman. The Council also acted as a court of law, with the fiscal as prosecutor. In Anderson’s day Anthony van Diemen (1593–1645) was Governor General between 1636 and 1645. As will be seen later, the Governor General and the Council of the Indies acted more or less independently from the Gentlemen Seventeen. The United Provinces were very far away indeed.10 An Expanding Trade Network The main aim of the VOC was in the first instance to bring Asian products to the European market. The problem, however, was that this vast volume of goods was countered by only very few European export products. In Asia there was no demand for European products whatsoever. With the exception of goods required to sustain the Company itself, such as building materials for the forts and provisions for its personnel, the East Indiamen left the Netherlands empty. Therefore the spices had to be bought with gold and silver. However, ensuring

9

H. E. Niemeijer, Batavia. Een koloniale samenleving in de 17de eeuw (Amsterdam, 2005). 10 L. Blussé, Strange Company: Chinese Settlers, Mestizo Women and the Dutch in VOC Batavia (Dordrecht, 1986), pp. 24–25, 47–48, 63–64.

8

chapter one

regular supplies of bullion was rather tricky because such supplies had to be sourced in the New World, and this trade was firmly controlled by the arch-enemy, the King of Spain.11 The VOC developed a two-track strategy to address this problem. Firstly, the VOC tried to gain control over its Asian trade at the indigenous sources of supply, or even over the production itself, if possible by peaceful means, but if necessary by force (as will be seen in Chapter 4). Secondly, the VOC recognised that by participating significantly in the intra-Asian trade, enough cash flow would be generated for procuring the Asian products in demand. For this, an extensive trade network of factories and forts was needed as was a sophisticated fleet structure which would allow for the transportation of goods to and from Asia.12 The VOC as Shipping Firm To a large degree it was the expected volume of goods to be imported in compliance with the ‘demands’ drawn up by the Gentlemen Seventeen that determined the size of the fleets to be dispatched. But it soon became clear that ships based in Asian waters were needed for purposes of trade, war and communications too, and that this had to be taken into account when dispatching ships. In the first half of the seventeenth century, the Gentlemen Seventeen were usually responsible for deciding which ships should remain in Asia—mostly smaller types of ships, and sometimes an older East Indiaman which was not considered sufficiently seaworthy to undertake the return voyage. Once the building of ships had become well established in the mid-seventeenth century, the shipyards of the chambers were permanently busy. The smaller chambers turned out roughly thirty ships over a period of fifty years. In addition to constructing new ships, repair and maintenance formed an important part of the work. The ships had to withstand

11 E. Sluiter, The Gold and Silver of Spanish America (Berkeley, 1998); A. Attman, Dutch Enterprise in the World Bullion Trade, 1550–1800 (Götenborg, 1983). 12 E. Jacobs, Koopman in Azië. De Handel van de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie tijdens de 18de eeuw (Zutphen, 2000). R. Parthesius, ‘Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters. The Development of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) Shipping Network in Asia, 1595–1660’(Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Amsterdam, 2007).

an introduction to the dutch east india company

9

rough treatment on their voyages to Asia and spending extended periods of time in tropical waters affected the woodwork badly.13 When a ship was completed, or when repairs were finished, a last inspection took place. The ship was then towed from the shipyard and taken to the roads. Ships from the Delft and Rotterdam chambers had to complete a long and laborious route across narrow inland waterways and rivers, before arriving at Goeree near Hellevoetsluis, from where they put to sea. The Meuse estuary, though closer by, was too heavily silted up for use. To load and unload ships in the roads small barges were employed by the chambers to transport the goods.14 Departing East Indiamen were seen off by a director of the chamber concerned. The journey from Delft to Hellevoetsluis was a timeconsuming and, in autumn or winter, not always very agreeable duty for the directors. These directors took the necessary official papers on board and received the bill of loading and receipts signed by the master. They also handed over the sailing orders and instructions on the route to be followed, which were the same for all ships. Outward bound ships tended not to sail in large fleets, but mostly in small squadrons of two to five ships. Conclusion The VOC was, in many ways, a typical company representative of the early modern period, an era in which public and private spheres were not clearly separated. During the first half of the seventeenth century the Company expanded its trade network in Asia. As a joint stock company the VOC was also an instrument of war in the hands of the States General. In Asia war and trade were never far apart and, as the subsequent chapters reveal, John Anderson found himself in the middle of this.

13

H. Ketting, Fluitschepen voor de VOC. Balanceren tussen oncostelijckheijt en duursaemheijt (Zaltbommel, 2006). 14 H. L. Houtzager et al. (eds.), Delft en de Oost-Indische Compagnie, Genootschap Delfia Batavorum 14 (Amsterdam, 1987).

CHAPTER TWO

INTRODUCTION TO THE LOG-BOOK OF CAPTAIN JOHN ANDERSON Introduction Captain John Anderson served in the VOC as ‘Pilot-Major’ of a fleet of ships that set sail from the Dutch Republic in December 1640 and returned in July 1643.1 The destination of the outward journey was Batavia (Jakarta) in the island of Java, the Company’s headquarters in Asia. On this outward journey Anderson piloted the vessel ’s Hertogenbosch.2 We know this because a copy of his log-book (in heavily Scotticised English) is now preserved in the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh. Though a copy, completed some time between July 1643 and February 1657, it is nonetheless written directly into a purpose pre-printed Dutch maritime log-book, presumably provided to ensure that transcription (and translation) from the original could be accompanied by the full navigational notes on the left hand pages (folios verso).3 Many of the left hand pages are blank, however, but on a number navigational directions and measurements are recorded.4 Of 1

The designation of John Anderson as ‘Captain’ is interesting and suggests that he once held the status of a commissioned officer, although in whose service is unclear. For certain he was employed in the VOC for his navigational abilities alone. 2 Her departure from the Dutch Republic is recorded in DAS, II, pp. 84–85, no. 0566.3, ’s Hertogenbosch, Kornelis Leendertsz (master). She was 600 lasts, built in 1631 in Delft. She departed from Goeree on 29 December 1640 and arrived in Batavia on 12 May 1641. She carried 216 seamen and 67 soldiers (and presumably 7–8 officers). Anderson’s log contains a minor discrepancy, stating in different places a total number of 289 (fol. 2r, 29 December 1640) and 290 (fol. 17r, 10 May 1641). Since no ports of call are recorded en route and no deaths are reported, the 290 figure can be surmised to have been rounded up, or else Anderson did not include himself in the first count but did in the second. For a brief introduction to the VOC, see Chapter 1. 3 NLS, Adv. MS. 33.3.14, ‘The Woyage of Cap: Jhone: Andersone Pilat Maior of a Fleit of Hollanders to ye orientall Indies wich went out from Halmerslusse in South Holland in Anno 1640. and Returned from thessnce, to ye Flee in ye Mounth of Julay 1643’ [hereafter Anderson’s Log]. The log-book measures 312 × 205 mm and appears to be the oldest surviving example of a standardised log using a pre-printed format. See Chapter 3. 4 The navigational information is contained on the versos of fols. 1–15, 18–24, 46–51, 54–55, 57–60, and 69–71.

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the right hand pages (folios recto), eighty are written on. These pages contain the main text of the journal and record daily events such as land sightings and arrivals and departures alongside coasts, as well as navigational matters. Fuller descriptions of places such as the Cape of Good Hope, Goa, Malabar, Banda and Madagascar are also given, as well as descriptions of indigenous peoples, flora and fauna. It is the main text which has been transcribed for this edition. From the author’s dedication ‘The Author to the Reider’ we know that, in addition to a circumnavigation of the globe, this particular journey was Anderson’s fourth to the East Indies, and at one point he mentions having passed the Cape of Good Hope in 1618.5 He was thus an experienced mariner and one of a number of Scots in VOC service. Throughout the seventeenth century Scots can be found engaged in the Company as both soldiers and sailors. Deconinck has calculated numbers of foreigners in the VOC between 1602 and 1660 (see Appendix A). Although Scots were a small proportion of the total number of employees in VOC service, they made a significant contribution to the work of the Company, as Chapter 5 indicates. The early seventeenth century was an era in which the Portuguese, Dutch and English were vying for control of the spice trade. VOC pilots were required to keep official log-books of their voyages. These were handed over to the Company so that cartographers could update maps and charts with the latest geographical and navigational information (see Chapter 3). As a historical source they are useful in several ways, not least through the events that they describe. Anderson’s log is especially important due to the insights he gives into the military operations conducted against the Portuguese at Goa in 1641–42, for which service he was seconded to the fleet of Admiral Matthijs Hendriksz Quast and served upon the Harderwijk.6 Sailing along with the ships Hollandia and Egmont, this small fleet made it to Goa by 21 September. They found there a large Portuguese vessel, the Nossa Senhora da Quietação (which Anderson refers to as Santa Maria de Gosta),7

5

Anderson’s Log, fols. 80r and 11r (22 March 1641). Anderson’s Log, fol. 18r. 7 For the name of the Portuguese carrack Anderson uses the heavily corrupted name Santa Maria de Gosta. George Winius has identified this ship as Nossa Senhora da Quietação: ‘On September 22, 1641, the slower message-bearing ship, the Nossa Senhora da Quietação, Captain de Faria commanding, came lumbering up to the harbor entrance of Goa under a flag of truce, bearing Dutch letters of safe-conduct obtained in Europe. Admiral Hendrik M. Quast, who had received news of the 6

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which displaced some 2,200 tons. The three Dutch ships engaged her, killing some 150 of her 550 crew against the loss of 24 on the Dutch side. The reward was fabulous and was recorded by Anderson with relish: 1,000 tuns of Spanish wine, 10,000 crusadoes of gold, 10 chests of amber, quantities of emeralds and pearls, 14 chests of red coral and various other treasures (see Chapter 4).8 The VOC fleet blockaded Goa from September 1641 until May 1642 waiting for the other Portuguese ships to venture out, but they never did. The sea battle and descriptive sections about Goa and other places along the coast of India form the central focus of Anderson’s log. As will be shown below many of these descriptions of places are taken from the work of earlier travel writers (a not uncommon practice in early modern travel writing) and thus the log has tremendous value to scholars who work in the area of reception studies. After the sojourn off the coast of Goa, the three VOC ships departed on 10 May 1642, Hollandia and Harderwijk heading back to Batavia.9 Once there, a great fleet was prepared to return to the Dutch Republic. Anderson reports ten ships leaving the road of Batavia on the same day. Seven were bound for Amsterdam ahead of the rest. These were to head for the Cape of Good Hope, with Anderson back aboard his old ship.10 The others were to follow and rendevous at Saint Helena before making the final leg back to the Texel. The ’s Hertogenbosch finally arrived home on 9 July 1643, sailing into the Flee after a rendezvous off Orkney with Dutch pilots who ordered them to go there instead of the Texel.11 So ended the last known East Indian journey of Captain John Anderson.

Portuguese restoration politely enough some days before, promptly opened fire with five of his blockading vessels. Both Quast and Faria were killed, and the Quietação was taken as a prize’. G. D. Winius, The Fatal History of Portuguese Ceylon: Transition to Dutch Rule (Cambridge, 1971), pp. 52–53. See also A. van Wickeren, Geschiedenis van Portugal en van de Portugezen overzee, 20 vols. (Heerhugowaard, s.l.), XVII, chapter 1. Available on the colonialvoyages.com web page, URL: www.colonialvoyage.com/ geschiedenis_portugal_overzee/deel17/hoofdstuk_1.3.html (accessed 13 May 2009). 8 Anderson’s Log, fol. 26r (21 September 1641). 9 Anderson’s Log, fol. 47r (10 May 1642). 10 Anderson’s Log, fol. 55r (12 December 1642). 11 The vessel’s homeward journey is recorded in DAS, III, pp. 46–47, no. 5307.3. According to this source she left Batavia on 13 December 1642 and arrived at the Texel on 15 July 1643. Anderson is explicit that they were ordered not to go to the Texel and his journal finishes with the ship’s arrival in the Flee on 9 July. See Anderson’s Log, fols. 78r–79r.

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chapter two Anderson as a Travel Writer and the Sources used in his Log

In addition to their practical uses as navigational guides and imparting information about foreign places to traders, in the Low Countries a number of ships’ journals were printed in the seventeenth century for ‘diverting or instructing armchair-travellers at home’.12 For example, Skipper Willem Ysbrantsz Bontekoe’s voyages from 1618 to 1625 were printed in ‘at least fifty editions between 1646 and 1756’.13 A similar situation occurred elsewhere. For instance, in England the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries saw the printing of the large collections of travel accounts compiled by Richard Hakluyt and Samuel Purchas (see below). Anderson’s log shares similarities with other travel journals. The combination of navigational information and descriptive passages about places can be found in the journals of Bontekoe and Thomas Roe, for example, and it is noticeable that both of these journals commence in a similar way to that of Anderson, with information about the departure of the respective ships and the courses sailed.14 Nevertheless, there are many differences. Bontekoe’s account is more personal, including direct speech. For example, when his ship was approaching Java, known by the sighting of two high blue mountains, he tells the merchant that he believed they were ‘right before the strait of Sunda’ and ‘Then said the merchant: “Well, Captain, if such is your mind of it, let us then call the men together and sail thereto, for your conjecture and reasoning are in my opinion well founded” ’.15 Similarly, the Icelander Jon Olafsson, whose memoirs include an account of his voyage to India and employment as a gunner in Danish service in Tranquebar from 1622 to 1625, provides fascinating details about ‘life below decks’. He does this through a lively narrative in which he discusses omens, dreams and sorcery, and gives character sketches of his fellow 12 C. R. Boxer, The Dutch Seaborne Empire 1600–1800 (Harmondsworth, 1973), p. 181. 13 Ibid., p. 181; G. Verhoeven and P. Verkruijsse (eds.), Journael ofte Gedenckwaerdige beschrĳvinghe vande Oost-Indische Reyse van Willem Ysbrantsz Bontekoe van Hoorn: descriptieve bibliografie, 1646–1996 (Zutphen, 1996). 14 See W. Y. Bontekoe, Memorable Description of the East Indian Voyage 1618–25, trans. by C. B. Bodde-Hodgkinson and P. Geyl (London, 1929) and ‘The Journal of Sir Thomas Roe, Embassador from his Majesty King James the First of England, to Ichan Guire, the Mighty Emperor of India . . .’, in A Collection of Voyages and Travels, compiled by A. and J. Churchill, 6 vols., 3rd edn. (London, 1744–46), I, pp. 617–67. 15 Bontekoe, Memorable Description of the East Indian Voyage, 1618–25, p. 71.

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voyagers, including Big Anders and the boatswain, Ivar Hansen from Jutland, who is described as a ‘big and violent man’.16 In contrast to these accounts, Anderson very rarely names his contemporaries. He mentions Anthony van Diemen, the aforementioned Governor General, and also Admiral Matthijs Hendriksz Quast, who died in the sea battle at Goa, but he does not name any of his fellow officers and sailors. The log-book entries are mainly factual, although at times Anderson uses similes when describing land, as is the case in other travellers’ accounts. For example, Ilha da Trindade (Anderson’s Altrinidado) is described as ‘appeiring to ws lyke a cowes foote’, while the island of Krakatoa (Anderson’s Cracatow) is ‘lyke, dutche hate’.17 From a literary perspective the most interesting sections of Anderson’s journal are those which describe particular places, people, animals and fruit. These are interspersed with the navigational entries and relate to the relevant places encountered. However, many of these are not original, having been copied or adapted from earlier writers. It was not an uncommon practice for authors of travel accounts to use earlier writers, with or without attribution. For example, in his accounts of Asia and Africa, Sir Thomas Herbert ‘inserted materials into his narrative about places he had not visited although he sometimes implied that he had, and in each succeeding edition the amount of this secondhand material increased significantly’.18 In Anderson’s log ten folios (that is fols. 27–36) are taken from the Itinerario of Jan Huygen van Linschoten (1563–1611), a Dutchman who had entered Portuguese service and had become clerk to the archbishop of Goa, where he resided for five years in the 1580s. His Itinerario, voyage ofte schipvaert, van Ian Huygen van Linschoten, naer Oost ofte Portugaels Indien was printed in Dutch in 1596. It is the first part of a three-part work (often referred to as the Itinerario, although only the first part has this term on its title page), the third part of which was also printed in 1596. The second part—the Reysgheschrift (see Chapter 3)—had been printed the previous year. Anderson’s log utilises twenty-seven chapters of the first part of Van Linschoten’s work: the

16 Memoirs of Jon Olafsson, Icelander and Traveller to India 1622–1625 as Written by Himself, 1661, ed. and trans. by I. Barnes (Cambridge, 1998), p. 43. 17 Anderson’s Log, fol. 7r (15 February 1641); fol. 17r (8 May 1641). 18 R. H. Fritze, ‘Herbert, Sir Thomas, First Baronet (1606–1682)’, in ODNB, URL: www.oxforddnb.com (accessed 6 July 2006).

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Itinerario proper [hereafter Itinerario].19 An English translation of this, entitled Iohn Huighen van Linschoten his Discours of Voyages into ye Easte & West Indies, appeared in 1598.20 It is noteworthy that the text which is used in Anderson’s log follows the same sequence as in Van Linschoten. In some places the text is followed closely, while in others there is paraphrasing or summarising. There are alterations. For example, where Van Linschoten has ‘Those lands of Bardes and Salsette, are by the Kings of Portingale, let out to farme . . .’, Anderson uses a past tense: ‘Thosse landes of Bardes & Salsette wer formerly’.21 With regard to the description of Goa and the surrounding area, Anderson adds or updates information. He names the five parish churches within the town of Goa and counts the number of churches within the islands of Goa, Bardes and Salsette.22 None of this features in Van Linschoten. One noteworthy addition in this section is a comment on religious life in Goa. To Van Linschoten’s text ‘The towne hath in it all sortes of Cloysters and Churches as Lisbone [hath], onely it wanteth Nunnes, for the men cannot get the women to travell so farre, where they should be shut up, and forsake Venus’, Anderson adds the phrase ‘to make ye Rable Compleit they want Nuns . . .’ (emphasis added).23

19 J. H. van Linschoten, Itinerario, voyage ofte schipvaert, van Ian Huygen van Linschoten, naer Oost ofte Portugaels Indien (Amsterdam, 1596); D. F. Lach, Asia in the Making of Europe volume I: The Century of Discovery (Chicago and London, 1965), pp. 201–02. Van Linschoten himself used a number of earlier sources (ranging from classical antiquity to the sixteenth century) in his work, including the Lusiads of Camoëns and Cristobal de Acosta’s Tractado de las drogas; see ibid., pp. 200–01. See also A. C. Burnell and P. A. Tiele (eds.), The Voyage of John Huyghen van Linschoten to the East Indies. From the Old English Translation of 1598, Hakluyt Society, 1st series 70–71, 2 vols. (London, 1885); J. H. van Linschoten, Itinerario. Voyage ofte schipvaert van Jan Huygen van Linschoten near oost ofte Portugaels Indien, 1579–1592, ed. by H. Kern and H. Terpstra, Werken uitgegeven door de Linschoten Vereeniging 57, 58, 60, 3 vols. (The Hague, 1955–57); A. van der Moer (ed.), Een zestiende-eeuwse Hollander in het verre oosten en het hoge noorden. Leven, werken, reizen en avonturen van Jan Huygen van Linschoten, 1563–1611 (The Hague, 1979); R. van Gelder, J. Parmentier and V. Roeper (eds.), Souffrir pour Parvenir. De wereld van Jan Huygen van Linschoten (Haarlem, 1998); E. van den Boogaart (ed.), Het verheven en verdorven Azië. Woord en beeld in het Itinerario en de Icones van Jan Huygen van Linschoten (Amsterdam and Leiden, 2000). 20 For the English translation of the Itinerario, see Burnell and Tiele, The Voyage of John Huyghen van Linschoten. 21 Ibid., I, p. 177; Anderson’s Log, fol. 28r. 22 Anderson’s Log, fol. 28r. 23 Burnell and Tiele, The Voyage of John Huyghen van Linschoten, I, pp. 178–79; Anderson’s Log, fol. 28r.

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There are also omissions. In a passage about black crows being bold by flying in through windows and taking meat, Anderson omits Van Linschoten’s personal anecdote about crows flying in through the window when he was writing and blotting his paper with ink.24 At times omissions can lead to errors. For example, in writing of a defensive wall at Goa, where Van Linschoten has ‘it hath divers times béene besieged by Dialcan or Hidalcam, at the mouth and the entrie of the river. On the North side lyeth the land of Bardes, wich is high land . . .’, Anderson omits the details of besieging and confuses the locational information, writing ‘for it diuers tymes hath beine beseidged. At ye Mouthe and Entrey of ye Riuer lieth ye land of Bardes . . .’.25 Chapters 28 (about Goa) and 34 (about the times of year in India and diseases) of Van Linschoten’s Itinerario are used extensively by Anderson who, at the end of the latter, corrects Van Linschoten’s statement that ‘In Goa you may see both the Poles of the world, the North and South starres stande not farre above the Horizon’.26 Anderson writes: And heir I can not omitt yat Error of Linchotten quho wretts yat in Goa. one may see bothe ye poles; wich can not be for heir ye pole is Eleuat. 15. degrees and 30. Minuttes, and so ye Southe pole, must be als maney degrees wnder ye Horizon as ye North is eleuat aboue, for the Poles are only tuo Imaginarey axells, and not wisible in them selues.27

Later sections of the Itinerario are dealt with more succinctly. Chapters 49–55 are each summarised by a sentence or two. For example, chapter 49 ‘Of all fruits, trees, plants, and common hearbs in India, and first of a [certain] fruit called Ananas’, chapter 50 ‘Of Iaqua or Iaacca’ and chapter 51 ‘Of Mangas’ are summarised as: The Indian fruitts ar Ananas, Iaacas wich grow one trees lyke nutt tries. Mangas a fruitt goning one trees lyke ye Iaaca trees and in shape resemibling a peache, they are Ripe in Lent and continew till ye mounth of Agust.28

24 Burnell and Tiele, The Voyage of John Huyghen van Linschoten, I, p. 302; cf. Anderson’s Log, fol. 33r. 25 Burnell and Tiele, The Voyage of John Huyghen van Linschoten, I, p. 176; Anderson’s Log, fol. 27r. 26 Burnell and Tiele, The Voyage of John Huyghen van Linschoten, I, p. 241. 27 Anderson’s Log, fol. 32r. 28 Anderson’s Log, fol. 34r.

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Chapters 63–68 and 74–77 are abbreviated in a similar way. It is plausible that Anderson’s text could have come directly from the 1598 English edition of Van Linschoten’s Itinerario. However, another route is possible. The 1598 translation by William Phillip had been made on the initiative of Richard Hakluyt, famous for his The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation, which included accounts of English voyages before 1600. This work was printed in two editions: the first in 1589 and the second in 1598–1600.29 Hakluyt’s work in bringing together these accounts of voyages and discoveries was extended by Samuel Purchas in his Pilgrimages, printed in four editions between 1613 and 1626, and in his Pilgrimes, which appeared in 1625.30 An abbreviated version of Phillip’s English translation of Van Linschoten’s Itinerario features in Purchas’ Pilgrimes, but it concentrates only on Van Linschoten’s account of India.31 Similarly Anderson uses Van Linschoten only for India and not for areas further to the east, such as Java and the Moluccas, which were included in the 1598 edition, thus increasing the probability that Purchas was used. Following on from the Van Linschoten sections Anderson has sections on Malabar, Cowlam (Quilon), Coromandel, Narsinga (Bisnagá and Vijayanagar), Malacca (Melaca), Pattani and Siam (Thailand). Later on there are sections on the Molucco Isles (Moluccas), Banda, Borneo, the Cape of Good Hope, Madagascar and Saint Helena. It is likely that much of this material has been incorporated from the work of earlier writers and two other seventeenth-century printed works have been found which appear to incorporate this source or sources. The sections on Malabar, Coromandel, Narsinga, Malacca, Pattani, Siam, the Cape of Good Hope, Madagascar and Saint Helena have close similarities to corresponding sections of Rev. Samuel Clarke’s A Geographicall Description of All the Countries in the Known World, which was printed in London in 1657 and is therefore a later source than the

29 For Hakluyt, see A. Payne, ‘Hakluyt, Richard (1552?–1616), in ODNB, URL: www.oxforddnb.com (accessed 13 February 2008); D. B. Quinn (ed.), The Hakluyt Handbook, Hakluyt Society, 2nd series 144–45, 2 vols. (London, 1974). 30 For Purchas, see D. Armitage, ‘Purchas, Samuel (bap. 1577, d. 1620), in ODNB, URL: www.oxforddnb.com (accessed 13 February 2008); L. E. Pennington (ed.), The Purchas Handbook: Studies of the Life, Times and Writings of Samuel Purchas 1577– 1626, Hakluyt Society, 2nd series 185–86, 2 vols. (London, 1997). 31 Pennington, The Purchas Handbook, I, pp. 259–60.

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manuscript of the log.32 Since Anderson’s account was never printed, this suggests strongly that these sections in the log and Clarke share a common earlier source. The title page of Clarke’s book indicates that he used material collected from other authors, but in the main text of the volume these authors are not specified in every instance. As stated above, though, it was not uncommon for writers of travel journals to incorporate sections from earlier works without attribution.33 The second seventeenth-century source which shares some similarities with the text of the log, although to a lesser extent than Clarke’s work, is Sir Thomas Herbert’s A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile Begunne Anno 1626. In Afrique and the Greater Asia, which was printed in London in 1634. ‘Herb. Travels’ is one of the sources acknowledged by Clarke in his book, as can be seen, for example, at the end of Clarke’s section on Madagascar. However, Clarke’s description of Madagascar is not identical to that of Herbert. Some of the same information which is given in Clarke appears in Herbert, but it is not in the same order.34 In Anderson’s log the section on Madagascar parallels the order used in Clarke, as does Anderson’s description of the Cape of Good Hope, which in Clarke’s work also has similarities to the description given by Herbert. However, Anderson’s description of the Cape of Good Hope contains the phrase ‘or quhat ells ye Mirthfull sayler exchange for Beeiffe, Mutton ostridge eggeshells, litle tortoizes &c.’ which does not appear in Clarke, but is close to Herbert’s ‘or what else the mirthfull Saylers exchange for Ostrich-egge-shels, Tortoises, Wood-sorrell, Beeues, Mutton, or the like’.35 Likewise Anderson’s section on ‘Patania’ has similarities with the description of ‘Patania’ in Clarke and in Herbert, and includes material found in the latter which is not in the former. For example, Anderson describes the people as frequently speaking three languages:

32

As will be discussed below the log is written in the hand of Sir James Balfour of Denmilne who died on 14 February 1657. 33 Samuel Clarke is known to have used other writers without attribution in this 1657 work. Pennington states that Clarke ‘seldom gives his sources directly, but according to Colin Steele, he borrowed heavily from Purchas, particularly for his Spanish authors, and his account of Bartolomé de las Casas is taken word-for-word from Pilgrimage’. Pennington, The Purchas Handbook, I, p. 6. 34 S. Clarke, A Geographicall Description of All the Countries in the Known World . . . (London, 1657), pp. 78–79; T. Herbert, A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile Begunne Anno 1626. In Afrique and the Greater Asia . . . (London, 1634), pp. 19–20. 35 Anderson’s Log, fol. 64r; Herbert, A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile Begunne Anno 1626, p. 14.

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chapter two Malaya wich they as ye Hebrues from ye right hand to ye left, Syam from ye left hand to ye right as we, China right doune, all three wssefull and affected by the Industrouus.36

Similarly Herbert states that they frequently speak three languages and that: Their writing differs, one which is the Malay from the right hand to the left, as the Hebrewes, another the Syam, from the left to the right, as we, a third which is the China, right downe, and bending to way, all very vsuall and affected by the darefull.37

Anderson does not refer to Herbert or to Clarke, thus not diminishing the probability that an earlier common source was being used. However, in the description of Malabar and its ruler, Anderson does refer to and corrects ‘Maffeus’. Regarding a comment on the Naire, the Malabar nobility, he states ‘Maffeus Improperly Imagins them a kynd of Bramenes, to no sorte of people more wnlyke, the Bramyns beinge men of peace; the Nayro euer quarraling’.38 Petrus Maffeus, or rather Gian Pietro Maffei, a sixteenth-century Italian Jesuit wrote Historiarum Indicarum libri XVI, a Latin work, which was first printed in 1588. It was a popular work, being reissued in 1588, 1589, 1590 and 1593, and was translated into Italian (printed in 1589) and French (printed in 1604).39 Many seventeenth-century travel writers used Maffei’s writings in their works. While Anderson uses older material (and notably mentions Van Linschoten and Maffei directly), he gives the impression of being knowledgeable about recent events. Aside from his valuable, detailed description of the sea battle against the Nossa Senhora da Quietação, he writes of the capture of Malacca by the Dutch from the Portuguese in 1642 (recte 1641) and of events in Borneo in 1638.40 However, elsewhere there is no up-to-date information. Despite the fact that his voyage was to and from Batavia, his description of Batavia itself is disappointingly slim. For instance, there is no account of recent building work in the town such as the Cross Church and the Chinese hos-

36 37 38 39 40

Anderson’s Log, fol. 46r. Herbert, A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile Begunne Anno 1626, pp. 197–98. Anderson’s Log, fol. 37r. Lach, Asia in the Making of Europe volume I, p. 325. Anderson’s Log, fols. 45r and 53r. See Chapter 5.

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pital which were both built in 1640 and are later mentioned by John Nieuhoff in his journal entries (for 1665).41 The Copyist: James Balfour of Denmilne As already stated, the manuscript of Anderson’s journal is a copy. This raises the question of whether the more descriptive sections about places and peoples were inserted by the copyist rather than Anderson. The statements correcting Van Linschoten and Maffei would suggest otherwise, perhaps. In addition, these descriptive sections are inserted between the log-book entries for September 1641 and May 1642, during which time Anderson was involved in the VOC blockade off the coast of Goa and may have had the opportunity to write up these sections. Anderson makes no decisive statement, though, to confirm this. He can be contrasted with John Nieuhoff who, when referring to the house which lodged all the artisans belonging to the Company at Batavia, stated: I had for some time my lodgings in this house; and here it was that I first made the draught, and afterwards made the description of Batavia.42

Anderson’s journal is written in the hand of Sir James Balfour of Denmilne (d.1657), who held the official position in Scotland as Lord Lyon King of Arms from 15 June 1630.43 In this capacity Balfour was responsible for recording ceremonial events, such as the funeral accounts of members of the nobility.44 He also wrote historical works and was a

41 ‘Mr. John Nieuhoff’s Remarkable Voyages and Travels to the East Indies’, in A Collection of Voyages and Travels, compiled by A. and J. Churchill, II, pp. 138–302, at pp. 253 and 255. 42 Ibid., p. 255. 43 For biographies of Balfour, see Alexander Du Toit, ‘Balfour, Sir James, of Denmiln and Kinnaird’, in ODNB, URL: www.oxforddnb.com (accessed 20 December 2006) and I. C. Cunningham, ‘Sir James Balfour of Denmilne’. Available on the NLS web page, URL: www.nls.uk/pont/bio/balfour.html (accessed 27 June 2005). In these two biographies, however, there is some discrepancy about the date of Balfour’s birth. Du Toit gives the date as 1603/4 while Cunningham has ‘probably in the mid 1590s’. For discussion of the dating problem, see J. D. Mackie, The Denmilne Manuscripts in the National Library of Scotland, The Historical Association of Scotland, new series 5 (Edinburgh, 1928), p. 4. 44 See, for example, Balfour’s notes on the funeral ceremonies of five nobles between 1625 and 1637. NLS, Adv. MS. 33.2.11, Register of interments and Funeralls since the ʒeir of our Redemptione (1620).

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great antiquary. According to Ian Cunningham ‘the main period of his collecting activity seems to have been the late 1620s and the 1630s’.45 Balfour’s diverse interests are displayed in a catalogue, compiled in 1698, for a sale of manuscripts which had belonged to him.46 In the section of the list entitled ‘Modern Histories MS’ are the titles of eight works, including Henry Maule of Melgum’s History of the Picts and annals of the reign of Charles I by Balfour himself. The eighth item is: Captain John Anderson his fourth voyage to the East Indies, containing the Course he kept, the Winds and Weather by the way, and Description of the chief Places frequented by the Europeans, folio.47

Books which had belonged to James Balfour and his brother Andrew were listed in a catalogue for a sale in 1699. This catalogue includes several works of interest in the context of this discussion. For example, there are four volumes of the 1625 edition of Purchas’ Pilgrimes and a 1617 edition of his Pilgrimages, as well as two volumes of the 1599 edition of Hakluyt’s Principal Voyages (entitled Voyages of the English Nation in the catalogue) and a French volume, Hist. de Navigation aux Indies Orientales par les Hollandois (Amsterdam, 1558). Interestingly, there is also the English edition of Van Linschoten’s Itinerario (entitled Voyages to the East and West Indies in the catalogue).48 The mere presence of these items in this latter catalogue may help to explain why Balfour was interested in copying Anderson’s journal, or even suggest and support the notion that it was Balfour himself who inserted the lengthier passages. Furthermore, Balfour had been created a baronet in 1633 and had been granted lands in Nova Scotia. Although he does

45 Cunningham, ‘Sir James Balfour of Denmilne’. For an account of Balfour and his writings, see Mackie, The Denmilne Manuscripts in the National Library of Scotland. See also I. C. Cunningham, ‘Sir James Balfour’s Manuscript Collection. The 1698 Catalogue and Other Sources’, Edinburgh Bibliographical Society Transactions 6, pt. 6 (2004), pp. 191–255. 46 A Catalogue of Curious Manuscripts being Historical, Political, Theological, Juridical, Physical, and Philosophical, with some Poets and Orators, their Writings, Ancient and Modern. Collected by Sir James Balfour of Kinaird, Knight-Baronet, and Lyon King at Arms, Kept in his Famous Study of Denmilne. And Now Exposed to Sale (Edinburgh, 1698). 47 Ibid., p. 6. 48 Catalogus selectissimorum in quavis Lingua & Facultate librorum quorum maxima pars pertinebat ad Clarissimos Fratres D. D. Balfourios Jacobum de Kinnaird, Equitem, Leonem Regem Armorum, et Andream Med. Doct. Equitem Auratum . . . (Edinburgh, 1699), pp. 18, 20.

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not seem to have taken possession of these lands, and that the ‘new and not highly valued Nova Scotia baronetcies were dreamt up as a revenue-making device’, it does highlight that he had direct knowledge of contemporary colonisation schemes.49 Balfour had interests in chorography too, compiling (between c. 1632 and c. 1654) a manuscript entitled Topographical Descriptions relating to Scotland50 and he had gained possession of the maps of the Scottish cartographer Timothy Pont in or shortly before 1628, through purchase from Pont’s heirs, with an intention to publish them.51 These maps were later to be used by Willem Jansz Blaeu (1571–1638) and Joan Blaeu (1598/9–1673) for Volume Five (printed in 1654) of their world atlas—Theatrum orbis terrarum sive Atlas Novus—after Sir John Scot of Scotstarvit had informed the Blaeus of the existence of the maps.52 Jeffrey Stone has written that it is unclear, though, whether Balfour passed Pont’s maps to Blaeu directly or whether John Scot of Scotstarvit acted as an intermediary.53 Sir John Scot of Scotstarvit (1585–1670), who held office as Director of Chancery, Lord of Session and Privy Councillor, ‘had been in correspondence with Willem Blaeu about the publication of a volume of Latin poetry’ since the mid-1620s and became an instrumental figure in securing and compiling Scottish material for the Atlas Novus. What survives of Scot’s correspondence with Willem and Joan Blaeu in the years 1626–33 and 1641–57 is held in the National Library of Scotland and has recently been translated and published.54 Balfour is mentioned a couple of times in this correspondence. In a letter of Willem Blaeu to John Scot, 17 June 1631, Blaeu makes reference to a letter of Balfour,

49 Du Toit, ‘Balfour, Sir James, of Denmiln and Kinnaird’; K. M. Brown, Noble Society in Scotland: Wealth, Family and Culture, from Reformation to Revolution (Edinburgh, 2000), p. 9. 50 NLS, Adv. MS. 33.2.27. 51 C. W. J. Withers, ‘ “Our Scotland is Put on View”: Mapmaking, Geography and National Identity in the Seventeenth Century—Blaeu’s 1654 Atlas Novus in Wider Context’, in The Blaeu Atlas of Scotland: Scotland from Theatrum Orbis Terrarum sive Atlas Novus Pars Quinta. Published by Joan Blaeu. Amsterdam. 1654 (Edinburgh, 2006), pp. 11–15, at pp. 11 and 14. 52 Cunningham, ‘Sir James Balfour of Denmilne’. 53 J. Stone, ‘Sir John Scot of Scotstarvit’. Available on the NLS web page, URL: www. nls.uk/pont/bio/scotstarvit.html (accessed 27 June 2005). 54 Withers, ‘ “Our Scotland is Put on View”: Mapmaking, Geography and National Identity in the Seventeenth Century’, p. 11. The surviving correspondence between Scot and the Blaeus has been translated and published in The Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, pp. 21–26.

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which had obviously been enclosed with Scot’s latest correspondence.55 Another letter of Willem Blaeu to John Scot, 7 June 1633, contains the statement ‘Greet Lord Balfour from me’.56 Furthermore, regarding Balfour’s Topographical Descriptions relating to Scotland Ian Cunningham has stated that: According to Sibbald this volume was also sent to Joan Blaeu, who was so pleased with it that he dedicated his map of Lorne to Balfour in the 1654 Atlas novus, and displayed an engraving of Balfour’s coat of arms.57

This all suggests a positive relationship between the Blaeus and Balfour. On the other hand, although Balfour had gained possession of Pont’s maps from his heirs and had made them available to the Blaeus, a letter dated 24 January 1648 from Robert Gordon of Straloch to John Scot not only criticises the neglect of the heirs in preserving the maps but also claims that the unnamed purchaser of the maps (presumably Balfour) was even worse than the heirs and intended to keep the maps secret.58 Scot is presented as the hero who rescues them from obscurity and ruin. This would suggest that Balfour was not so interested in such matters, but he may be being presented in a bad light in this letter in order to enhance Scot’s role in the venture.59 Balfour’s links with the Blaeus is significant because in 1638 Joan Blaeu was appointed Chief Cartographer to the VOC and would therefore have had access to official log-books such as that of Anderson, since it was a requirement that ships’ journals were handed in to the Company so that corrections and additions could be made to Company charts.60 We know that in September 1645 Scot of Scotstarvit went to Amsterdam to assist Joan Blaeu with the compilation of the Scottish

55

The Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, p. 23, no. 6. Ibid., p. 23, no. 7. 57 Cunningham, ‘Sir James Balfour of Denmilne’. For the Lorne map, see The Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, Map 34. Mackie notes that ‘Sir Robert Sibbald published in 1699 his Memoria Balfouriana commending Sir James and his brother Sir Andrew’. Mackie, The Denmilne Manuscripts in the National Library of Scotland, p. 4 n. 1. 58 The letter is printed in The Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, p. 32. See also J. Stone, ‘Timothy Pont: Three Centuries of Research, Speculation and Plagiarism’, in I. C. Cunningham (ed.), The Nation Survey’d: Timothy Pont’s Maps of Scotland (East Linton, 2001), pp. 1–26, at pp. 8–10. 59 See Cunningham, ‘Sir James Balfour of Denmilne’. 60 C. Fleet, ‘Joan Blaeu (c.1599–1673)’. Available on the NLS web page, URL: www. nls.uk/pont/bio/blaeu.html (accessed 27 June 2005); DAS, I, p. 61; K. Zandvliet, Mapping for Money: Maps, Plans and Topographic Paintings and their Role in Dutch Overseas Expansion during the 16th and 17th Centuries (Amsterdam, 1998), pp. 118–30. 56

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material for the Atlas Novus. This was not too long after Anderson’s return from the East Indies in July 1643. One can only speculate that this may have been a good opportunity for the log-book to have been passed to Scotstarvit who may then have passed it on to Balfour for copying. The Market for Anderson’s Log The journal ends with an address to the reader which appears to be signed by John Anderson. It reads: The Author to the Reider Courteous Rider [sic] after my circumnauigatione of the Globe, and three seuerall, woyages, to ye orientall Indies and Iyllandes therof, I againe, made this fourte woyage to Battauia in ye Iyle Iaua wich Now I present wnto the, with all intreatting ye to be aduertissed yat ye accompte of this iornall is according to ye New style, wich is .10. dayes befor—yat of ye old. and yat ye Myles in this Jornall lykwayes, are all Scottes Myles, wich compte of lenthe, and breid I haue reduced to ye Measure of my auen Natione. and nather folloued ye dutche nor Englische. so wishing the partaker of thesse pleasures, in the Reiding of this, wich I my selue fand in performance therof, and besydes all happines both heir and eternally heirafter, shall be ye earnist desire of thy. faithfull frind. John Andersone61

This address is revealing in a number of ways. Not only does it place emphasis on Anderson’s experience as a mariner who has circumnavigated the globe and completed four voyages to Batavia, but it also lays stress on his nationality. Furthermore, it is clear that he wanted his journal to be read by a non-official readership and that he does not make his address to a specific individual. There was clearly an expectation that his work would be published, more than likely for a Scottish readership who would welcome his use of Scots miles; Scots words such as ‘fyreslaught’ (lightning); and the mention of Scottish places, such as the island of Fulla and the Wick of Caithness, towards the end of the return voyage.62 61

Anderson’s Log, fol. 80r. For the use of ‘fyreslaught’, see Anderson’s Log, fol. 9r (10 March 1641); fol. 23r (14 August 1641); fol. 62r (21 February 1643). For mention of Fulla and the Wick of Caithness, see Anderson’s Log, fols. 78r-79r (28 June, 29 June, 2 July 1643). The River Forth is also referred to in comparison with a river at Malacca; see Anderson’s Log, fol. 45r. 62

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There was a market in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Scotland for works relating to navigation, voyages and discoveries. The navigational works The Rudder of the Sea and The Art of Navigation, a translation by Richard Eden from Martin Cortes, are listed in the wills and inventories of the Edinburgh printer Thomas Bassandyne and Robert Gourlaw, an Edinburgh bookbinder, respectively.63 Several works in booksellers’ inventories and university libraries relate to discoveries in North America. For example, in the 1636 Edinburgh University library catalogue there is ‘Nova Scotia. The King’s Patent to Sir W. Alexander . . . From the fourth part of Purchase his Pilgrimes’.64 According to Robert MacDonald booksellers’ inventories and university catalogues reveal evidence about what was being sold, taught and studied but may ‘not tell us much about the reading taste of Scottish literate society in the early seventeenth century’.65 Works contained within private libraries are perhaps more indicative of reading tastes. The poet William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585–1649) owned Edward Wright’s navigational work Description and use of the sphere and had several books relating to the New World discoveries as well as Jesuit material from the East: Rerum a Societate Iesu in Oriente gestarum volumen . . . (Cologne, 1574).66 Furthermore, ‘we can be almost certain that he had the second edition of Samuel Purchas’ Pilgrimage, for he used that in his Cypresse grove.’67 It is highly likely that the English translation of Van Linschoten’s Itinerario was owned by James Balfour of Denmilne (see above) and a further connection with Van Linschoten’s work can be found on the decorative ceiling in the chapel of the residence of Stobhall in Perthshire. Stobhall was built in 1578 by David, second Lord Drummond

63 M. A. Bald, ‘Vernacular Books Imported into Scotland, 1500–1625’, The Scottish Historical Review 23 (1925–6), pp. 254–67, at p. 261. For the wills and inventories of Bassandyne (1577) and Gourlaw (1585), see The Bannatyne Miscellany; Containing Original Papers and Tracts, Chiefly Relating to the History and Literature of Scotland, ed. by W. Scott, D. Laing and T. Thomson, Bannatyne Club 19, 3 vols. (Edinburgh, 1836), II, pp. 191–204, 209–17. 64 Bald, ‘Vernacular Books Imported into Scotland, 1500–1625’, p. 263. 65 R. H. MacDonald (ed.), The Library of Drummond of Hawthornden (Edinburgh, 1971), p. 43. 66 For The Description and Use of the Sphere in Drummond’s library, see MacDonald, The Library of Drummond of Hawthornden, pp. 69 and 203, no. 950. For works relating to the New World, see pp. 67, 187, no. 697, 195, no. 813, 201, nos. 917, 918. For the Jesuit volume, see p. 177, no. 523. 67 Ibid., p. 49.

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and the painting is datable to the reign of Charles I.68 The ceiling consists of five sections with two labelled portraits of reigning monarchs and The pictures of several of the monarchs resemble contemporary equestrian portraits of Charles I, Gustavus Adolphus and so on, but the King of Mauretania, who rides an elephant with naked attendants holding swords and shields, is modelled on a print by Jan Doetechem of ‘Cochini Rex’ in J. H. van Linschoten’s Itinerario Voyage Ofte Schipvaert . . . naar Oost (Amsterdam 1596, English trans. 1598).69

An especially popular Scottish travel account was (and remains) William Lithgow’s The Totall Discourse of the Rare Adventures and Painefull Peregrinations of Long Nineteene Yeares Travayles from Scotland to the Most Famous Kingdomes in Europe, Asia and Africa (London, 1632), which contains accounts of three main expeditions undertaken by Lithgow over almost two decades.70 Regarding travel writing in English, Hadfield has written that the ‘first significant works by travel writers—Fynes Moryson, Thomas Coryat, William Lithgow—betray signs of anxiety and confusion concerning their exact purpose and generic identity’.71 Nevertheless, the Totall Discourse was a popular work: its popularity can be gauged from the number of editions, possibly ten, which were printed in the seventeenth century and its translation into Dutch.72 Reid attributes its popularity not to novelty, nor

68

M. Bath, Renaissance Decorative Painting in Scotland (Edinburgh, 2003), pp. 267–68. 69 Ibid., p. 268. 70 The Totall Discourse of the Rare Adventures and Painefull Peregrinations of Long Nineteene Yeares Travayles from Scotland to the Most Famous Kingdomes in Europe, Asia and Africa (London, 1632) includes and expands upon earlier printed works by Lithgow. His A Most Delectable and True Discourse, of an Admired and Painefull Peregrination (London, 1614) was written as an account of his first expedition. A later edition in 1623 added accounts of the later expeditions. For Lithgow, see M. Garrett, ‘Lithgow, William (b. 1582, d. in or after 1645), in ODNB, URL: www.oxforddnb.com (accessed 19 January 2007). 71 A. Hadfield, Literature, Travel, and Colonial Writing in the English Renaissance, 1545–1625 (Oxford, 1998), p. 4. 72 D. Reid, ‘What William Lithgow was Doing Abroad: The Rare Adventures and Painfull Peregrinations’, in G. Caie, R. J. Lyall, S. Mapstone and K. Simpson (eds.), The European Sun: Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Scottish Language and Literature (East Linton, 2001), pp. 520–33; Willem Lithgouws 19. jaarige lant-reyse vyt Schotlant, near [. . .] Europa, Asia ende Africa (Amsterdam, 1652). Reprints of the Dutch edition appeared in 1653, 1656, 1669 and 1694.

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informativeness, but to the personal element—particularly the character of Lithgow himself.73 Lithgow was not only a travel writer, though. His later works, in poetry and prose, include descriptions of warfare and fortifications. He was an eye witness of the sieges of Breda (1637) and Newcastle (1645).74 In addition, he wrote a poetic discourse on the explosion at Dunglass castle in August 1640, which includes a list of many of those who were killed, and later, in 1643, a survey of London, focusing on its fortifications.75 That Lithgow’s descriptions of warfare at Newcastle and Dunglass were both printed in Scotland suggests that Scottish printers were catering for a Scottish readership which had an appetite for accounts of contemporary warfare. Several manuals on military discipline were printed in the early seventeenth century in Scotland; for example, Rudiments of militarie discipline (1638) and Articles of militarie discipline (1639).76 Earlier, in 1627 Sir Thomas Kellie’s Pallas Armata, or militarie instructions for the learned . . . had been printed. Its introductory matter includes commendatory verses written by William Drummond, who had a copy of the book in his library.77 Among the 1,200 books owned by Walter, first earl of Buccleuch (d. 1633), a soldier and contemporary of Drummond, ‘the most common theme was warfare and military science, including mathematics, horsemanship and history’.78 The exploits of Scots in Swedish service in the first half of the seventeenth century were also being recounted and printed for readers in Scotland and elsewhere. The catalogue of James Balfour’s books includes The Swedish Intelligencer, an account of Swedish military activity in 1630–34, which was written by an anonymous Englishman and printed in several parts from 1632 to 1634. It featured much Scot-

73

Reid, ‘What William Lithgow was Doing Abroad’, pp. 521, 529–33. A True and Experimentall Discourse, Upon the Beginning, Proceeding, and Victorious Event of this Last Siege of Breda (London, 1637); A True Experimentall and Exact Relation Upon That Famous and Renowned Siege of Newcastle (Edinburgh, 1645). 75 A briefe and summarie discourse upon that lamentable and dreadfull disaster at Dunglasse (Edinburgh, 1640); The present surveigh of London and Englands state (London, 1643). 76 H. G. Aldis, A List of Books Printed in Scotland Before 1700 (Edinburgh, 1970), nos. 934, 939. 77 T. Kellie, Pallas Armata or Militarie Instructions (Amsterdam and New York, 1971); MacDonald, The Library of Drummond of Hawthornden, pp. 50, 197, no. 852. 78 Brown, Noble Society in Scotland, p. 220. 74

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tish participation as did The Swedish Discipline, which was printed in 1632.79 The same decade saw what ‘appears to be the first history of a regiment ever written, in any language’. This was Monro His Expedition with a worthy Scots regiment—called Mac-Keyes (London, 1637).80 This narrative by Colonel Robert Monro (c. 1590–1680) has been described as: a swash-buckling account of his adventures in Danish and Swedish service, a tale of sieges, battles, mutinies, murders, rapes and heroism worthy of a Hollywood epic.81

It is in this printing context that Anderson’s log has to be considered, yet his account of his voyage to Asia was never published. There are several reasons that can be suggested for this. First, the ending of Anderson’s voyage in 1643 and presumably the subsequent attempt to publish his account of that voyage coincided with the period of the British Civil Wars. Balfour, who had copied the only extant copy of the log, had possibly been asked to help with its publication. He may even have inserted some of the narrative passages to improve the material for this purpose. Balfour was a strong supporter of King Charles I (1625–49) and during the Civil War period his political career and influence was bound up with the fortune of the King, although he remained as Lord Lyon King of Arms until he was deposed by Cromwell in 1654.82 Secondly, from what has been discovered about the borrowing of material from earlier writers in the log, it appears that there was little new information in the narrative sections, other than the sea battle involving the capture of the Nossa Senhora da Quietação and perhaps some of the other comments on indigenous warfare, and it may have been considered that it was not worth publishing for

79 Catalogus selectissimorum in quavis Lingua & Facultate librorum quorum maxima pars pertinebat ad Clarissimos Fratres D. D. Balfourios, p. 21; Anon., The Swedish Intelligencer (London, 1632–34); Anon., The Swedish Discipline (London, 1632). 80 W. S. Brockington (ed.), Monro, his Expedition with the Worthy Scots Regiment called Mac-Keys (Westport, CT and London, 1999), p. ix. 81 [T.] C. Smout, ‘The Culture of Migration: Scots as Europeans 1500–1800’, History Workshop Journal 40 (1995), pp. 108–17, at pp. 111–12. For two later narratives by Scots involved in seventeenth-century military service, see T. Ameer-Ali (ed.), Memoirs of Sir Andrew Melvill (London and New York, 1918) and Sir James Turner, Memoirs of his own Life and Times, ed. by T. Thomson, Bannatyne Club 28 (Edinburgh, 1829). 82 Du Toit, ‘Balfour, Sir James, of Denmiln and Kinnaird’; Mackie, ‘The Denmilne Manuscripts’, p. 6.

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this reason.83 Thirdly, the narrative lacks a strong personal element: Anderson reveals very little about himself and nothing about those with whom he sailed. Conclusion Although Anderson’s log was not published in the years immediately following what was his fourth voyage to Java, today it is valuable as a historical source. Not only are the navigational directions and details which it contains particularly useful to historians of navigation, but for Scottish historians it provides significant information about a Scot in Dutch service in the mid-seventeenth century, supplementing a growing body of evidence of nautical and military careers. Furthermore, it contains new information about military matters, especially the VOC blockade off the coast of Goa in 1641–42 and is thus of considerable value to scholars of European warfare in Asia. Finally, the log should also be considered within the genre of travel writing. While it can be assessed as a work within its own right and in comparison to other journals, its use of works by earlier writers makes it extremely relevant to the area of reception studies. Balfour’s role as a copyist raises interesting questions too about how the log was transmitted to Scotland and whether or not he added material to the original source. Therefore Anderson’s log is a work which has much to offer to scholars with interests as diverse as literary studies, navigation and, importantly, the history of warfare.

83 Originality in travel writing in the seventeenth century did not ensure publication, however. One instance of this is the writings of the Cornish traveller Peter Mundy (c. 1596–c. 1667), whose diary records his travels to Europe and Asia, with a particular focus on India. Mundy’s work was not published until the early twentieth century despite the fact that his observations ‘appear to have been designed for a wider readership and reveal more about Jacobean perceptions of India than many more limited accounts more firmly in the public domain’. A. Hadfield (ed.), Amazons, Savages, and Machiavels. Travel and Colonial Writing in English, 1550–1630: an Anthology (Oxford, 2001), pp. 8 and 225.

CHAPTER THREE

THE LOG AS A REFLECTION OF THE PRACTICE OF NAVIGATION Introduction1 In December 1640, John Anderson left the Netherlands on board the East Indiaman ’s Hertogenbosch destined for Asia. The ship was built for and equipped by the Delft chamber of the VOC. It was normal practice for Dutch East Indiamen to sail in convoy during the transit between the United Provinces and Asia, both outward bound and homeward bound. The overall command of each fleet was under the charge of an Admiral. He was usually a senior merchant or a highranking Company servant, lacking in any nautical expertise or knowledge. To ensure the safe conduct of the fleet, the Admiral was assisted by the so-called brede raad, a privy council comprising senior servants and officers, including a Vice-Admiral, the merchants and the ships’ masters. When they were assembled onboard the flagship it flew a white flag.2 The safe, timely, and economical operation of a Dutch East Indiaman was the overall responsibility of the master. Fortunately, he could share this burden with two to four masters’ mates. These men played a variety of roles: the more experienced ones would participate in the daily chores, such as standing watch, making observations, calculating positions, correcting charts and drawing up the sailing directions. The younger members of the team studied and memorised the appearance of the sea and coasts. The sea is a telltale of all sorts of information, as John Anderson observed: this day in ye morning by brecke of day wee Did see the watter changed, then wee lookit out about .9. in ye Morning, and discrayed land. berand

1 We would like to thank Karel Davids and Anton Scheele for their comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this chapter. 2 Anderson’s Log, fol. 19r (19 July 1641), fol. 22r (7 August 1641); fol. 24r (27 August 1641); H. Ketting, Leven, werk en rebellie aan boord van Oost-Indiëvaarders, 1595–1650 (Amsterdam, 2002), p. 98.

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chapter three Northen to East from ws some 24. Myles distant Euen low land not heighe, wich wee Esteimed to be ye land by west Baya de La Goa lyand be East Cap de Aguilias being ye Southmost land of Affrick. quher wee threw out our lead and found 65. fathome Gray ousie clay and sand mixed, heir wee did see Infinitt Mumbers of sea foulles As Alcatrazes, Soland geeisse, and whyte Mewes. & Pictarnes, with grate Numbers of Sealls suiming about our shippes.3

The senior mates had to learn operational skills: how to operate an observation compass, judge speed, leeway, and drift, mark the passing of time and tides, interpret the weather, sound with lead and line to determine the depth and nature of the seabed, make celestial observations, and keep a daily reckoning (the so-called Day’s Work). The log of Captain John Anderson reflects this daily practice of navigation.4 This chapter deals with the art of navigation, which developed out of the art of pilotage, to meet the needs of the oceanic sailor who wished to find his position when out of sight of land.5 The Outward Bound Voyage The most important source of information for the sea route to Asia was the aforenoted Jan Huygen van Linschoten. He returned to the Netherlands in 1592, having spent thirteen years abroad, including five years in the Indian port of Goa. His Reysgheschrift was prepared for publication in March 1595 for the benefit of Cornelis de Houtman. The book is ‘a kind of seaman’s manual with sailing instructions and descriptions of harbours, compiled from Portuguese and Spanish seafaring manuals’.6 It is apparent from Anderson’s log that he was familiar with the writings of Van Linschoten.7 The voyage undertaken by the ’s Hertogenbosch was a typical one for the mid-seventeenth century. Upon leaving the roads of Goeree on 29 December 1640, the shortest route south was that through the English Channel. After that, the first point of reference was the Canary Islands, which Anderson sighted on 11 January 1641.8 Having passed 3

Anderson’s Log, fol. 63r (22 February 1643). A. R. T. Jonkers, Earth’s Magnetism in the Age of Sail (Baltimore and London, 2003), pp. 131–33. 5 D. W. Waters, The Art of Navigation in England in Elizabethan and Early Stuart Times (London, 1958), p. 39. 6 DAS, I, p. 59. For De Houtman’s voyage, see Chapter 4. 7 Anderson’s Log, fol. 32r. See Chapter 2. 8 Anderson’s Log, fol. 2r (29 December 1640); fol. 4r (11 January 1641). 4

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the Cape Verde Islands, which were not sighted by Anderson, ships often found themselves in great difficulties. Ships on the Atlantic north of the equator ran the risk of sailing either too far west, or too far east, ending up in the Gulf of Guinea. By the 1620s, the recommended course for crossing the equator was set out in detail in sailing instructions. A virtual shipping lane, depicted on the charts as way points connected by lines, was used: the so-called wagenspoor (cart track). As long as ships managed to stay between these lines there was no danger of erring too far east or west. The wagenspoor started south of the Cape Verde Islands at about twelve degrees and, propelled by the trade winds, the ships could easily cross the equator safely. Upon arriving in the southern hemisphere and having passed the easternmost point of Brazil (for which Anderson used the Ilha da Trindade (20° 30’ S, 29° 19’ W) as reference)9 ships crossed the western part of the Atlantic with a favourable wind and current. From around 30 degrees south ships made for the Cape of Good Hope. As early as 1616, it was decided that the only port of call on the way to Asia was to be the Cape of Good Hope. But in practice this rule was not always obeyed. The voyage of the ’s Hertogenbosch was one such exception. Already in the southern Atlantic the ship reached a latitude of 39 degrees south, staying clear of the Cape. On 23 March 1641 the ship crossed the meridian of Cape Agulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa. The stage to the Cape was the longest lap both in distance and in time. For VOC ships the average time taken was 136 days. At an average daily speed of a good 60 nautical miles an East Indiaman would reach the Cape in four-and-a-half months. Lasting less than 80 days, the crossing by the ’s Hertogenbosch was rather fast. This may be why the ship did not call at the Cape. Now the second stage of the voyage began: the crossing of the Indian Ocean to the East Indies. By the 1620s, it was already compulsory at this point in the journey not to sail northwards, along the African east coast, but to make use of the westerlies prevailing south of the Cape. By sailing far enough east the ship could be taken to the East Indian archipelago by the southeast trade wind. An important additional advantage of this southern route was the reduced risks of hurricanes and the benefit of cooler temperatures, resulting in the better preservation of victuals; in addition, those on board stayed in better health.

9

Anderson’s Log, fol. 7r (15 February 1641).

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chapter three

So, upon leaving the Cape, an easterly course had to be sailed, with westerlies, for a thousand miles; after that a northern course was followed to Java. It is not clear which mile was meant at that time, probably the Snellius mile of 7,158 metres. Two dangers lurked in an untimely change of course. If ships heading for Batavia on the island of Java via the Sunda Strait turned north too early, they ended up near the coast of Sumatra. If a ship sailed too far east, however, it faced the rocky coastal waters of western Australia. It is obvious that determining the point at which the thousand miles had been completed was highly susceptible to error. The islands of Saint Paul and Amsterdam, situated at about 38 and 36 degrees and, according to these instructions, 700 miles east of the Cape, formed some point of reference. Moving on from the meridian of Cape Agulhas, for the following three weeks the ’s Hertogenbosch sailed 2,612 Scottish miles, approximately 2,558 nautical miles (4,738 km). After crossing the Cargados Carajos Shoals (also known as the Saint Brandon Rocks), lying 16 degrees south, on 12 April 1641, and passing the Île Saint Paul and Île Amsterdam the next day, a more northerly course was steered, heading for the Sunda Strait. For the majority of ships, Batavia was the first destination in Asia. The average duration of the journey from the Cape to Batavia in the 1640s was 63 days. For this stage the ’s Hertogenbosch took only 49 days. The approximately 15,000 nautical miles from the Netherlands to Batavia were on average completed in 243 days, which is about eight months; this includes a stopover at the Cape. Anderson’s voyage took only 134 days (29 December 1640–11 May 1641) to cover the distance. The Homeward Bound Voyage The same patterns of winds and ocean currents which determined the course on the voyage out to Asia also determined the return voyage from Batavia. Ships could sail with the wind at their back the whole way and, moreover, the currents flowed in the same directions. There were no problems at the equator: the south equatorial current helped ships through the doldrums. Only rounding the Cape could be difficult. The directors wanted some certainty about the returning fleets’ expected dates of arrival. They considered the period between April and October to be the most favourable. The heavily laden ships could reach port before the autumn gales, and the goods could be auctioned before winter. Buyers could still ship their purchased goods before

the log as a reflection

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the onset of frosts. The authorities in Batavia had to ensure that the homeward bound fleet departed in November and certainly no later than 15 December. The war against the Iberians necessitated sailing in convoy whenever possible, to ‘be of assistance to one another in danger and otherwise’.10 Anderson’s return fleet, comprising the Tijger, Middelburg, Vrede, West-Friesland, ’s Hertogenbosch, Enkhuizen, and Henriette Louise, left Batavia on 13 December 1642. Dutch East Indiamen had no need to take the seasons into consideration when leaving the Batavia roadstead and passing through Sunda Strait. In reality, however, because the westerlies prevailed most strongly in December–February, right at the start of the return voyage, sailing through the Sunda Straight was no easy matter. It took Anderson almost two weeks. Past the Strait the west or east monsoon enabled a ship to reach the necessary latitude. Anderson used approximately twenty degrees south, where the southeast trade winds prevailed, and an approximately southeast course could be held to the Cape of Good Hope. One potential danger awaited the homeward bound fleet on its way to the Cape. Cyclones frequently raged in the area round Mauritius from January to March. The sailing orders describe how a ship should try and weather these as best it could. The ’s Hertogenbosch, luckily, did not encounter such an event. Thus, the journey across the Indian Ocean was a straightforward route: upon reaching the trade wind a ship practically steered a straight line to the Cape. Even before a settlement was established at the Cape to provide a supply and refreshment station in 1652, most ships already used the Cape as the first port of call, as with the outward bound journey. The ’s Hertogenbosch was no exception. On 2 March she anchored in the False Bay. The distance between Batavia and the Cape is nearly 5,900 nautical miles. The average duration of this trip in the 1640s was 79 days, so at 80 days Anderson’s crossing was average. Near the Cape of Good Hope there are several bays which offer good anchorage for ships. False Bay is situated east of the Cape of Good Hope, and west of the southernmost point of Africa, Cape Agulhas. Table Bay is located to the west of the Cape, and Saldanha Bay is a more northerly inlet. At the Cape there was plenty of fresh water, and the sailors could gather fruit and sometimes even had the chance of buying livestock from the indigenous population, the Khoikhoi. In Anderson’s words: 10

Van Dam, II, p. 42.

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chapter three quher wee lay till ye 11. day of this same Mounthe, takinge, freche watter. wich is werey Excellent and to be had with small paines. The people of this Cape, are Tauney Moores, and Gentills. they are a werey Miserable, and Basse people as in this Enseuing descriptione ʒe shall heire.11

Following a stop-over of 11 days, the ’s Hertogenbosch left the Cape on 11 March for the next leg of the voyage. The route to be taken from the Cape was almost self-evident. Seventeenth-century sailing instructions mentioned little more than to head for Saint Helena, this ‘buoy in the middle of the Spanish sea [Atlantic Ocean]’, as Van Linschoten