van der Hagen

Etienne van der Hagen’s expedition (April 6, 1599—July 12, 1601) reached the island of Amboina, where they besieged the Portuguese fort there for 2 months, but were unable to take it.

They made an alliance with the natives before leaving against the Portuguese. The Dutch fleet consisted of three vessels, and was sent out by the Dutch East India Company for trading purposes.

The first expedition of Paul van Caerden (the Blancardo of the Spanish accounts) occupied December 21, 1599—October 11, 1601, and was sent out by the Nouvelle Compagnie des Brabançons.

The fleet of 4 vessels left Holland under Admiral Pierre Both.

In their company sailed four vessels of the old company, but they separated almost immediately.

They all went by way of the Cape of Good Hope.

At Bantam in Java two vessels of the four were sent, under command of van Caerden, to trade for pepper.

The two ships coasted the shore of the island of Sumatra, stopping at various places, without much success, on account of the tricks of the natives in their trade, until they reached Achem in the northern part of the island.

There they had trouble with the natives which was instigated by a Portuguese priest, and after seizing some pepper, which act they justified, returned to Bantam in Java, where their cargo was completed.

Van Caerden lost 27 men on this voyage, but brought back ten others who had been held prisoners at Achem.

The second voyage of van Neck, or Nek (June 28, 1600—July 15, 1604), followed, as the preceding expedition, the African route to Bantam, where it met two Dutch vessels of the new trading company.

The fleet of 6 vessels had separated by common consent, October 10, 1600, in order to facilitate their trade.

Van Neck in the vessels with him, skirted Celebes, and went to Ternate, where he was cordially received by the natives.

There the usual troubles with the Portuguese began, which ended in an indecisive naval battle.

Shortly after, the Dutch left for China, leaving six men to watch their interests among the natives.

“On August 19, they anchored near the island of Coyo of the Philippines.

There they sent a small boat ashore.

Its crew learned that the inhabitants were savages, who paid tribute to the Spaniards.

On August 22 they anchored near another large island of the Philippines, whose name cannot be found on the maps.

It was called Langhairs-eiland, or Longhair Island, because its inhabitants wore their hair long, and hanging below the shoulders.”

September 20 they reached the Chinese coast.

On September 27 they sighted Macao “a large city, built almost like Spanish cities”.

April 5, 1601, a Dutch fleet of five vessels, under Wolphart Harmansan, set out with another fleet under Jaques van Heemskerk. On May 8, the two fleets separated, the former reaching the Bantam channel December 26, 1601. Several naval encounters with the Portuguese fleet under Andrea Furtado de Mendoza resulted in partial victory for the Dutch, who, after refitting at Bantam, took their course through the Moluccas, and then returned to Bantam and Holland, reaching that country, April 4, 1603.

Georges Spilberg left Holland May 5, 1601, with three vessels. Rounding the cape, he cruised along until reaching Ceylon, whence he went to Sumatra in September of 1602. At Sumatra he joined some English vessels, and all remained together, and opposed the Portuguese. April 3, 1603, the Dutch and English left Sumatra and went to Java. At Bantam they were joined by Admiral Wybrant Waarwyk with nine vessels. On June 30, Admiral Heemskerk anchored at the same place with a Portuguese prize. After effecting their trade, the vessels returned to Holland, and Spilberg reached that country May 24, 1604.

Corneille de Veen, in command of nine vessels, sailed from Holland June 17, 1602, and was joined at sea by three others. April 15, 1603, Sumatra was sighted, and the fleet anchored at Bantam in Java on the twenty-ninth. Thence part of the fleet sailed for China. The fleet captured near Macao a Portuguese vessel richly laden. They also fought with a Siamese vessel, mistaking it for an enemy. Leaving Bantam finally on their homeward trip, on January 27, 1604, they reached Holland the thirtieth of August.

The expedition under Wybrandt van Waarwyk marked a new progression in Dutch trading in Eastern seas. His expedition established Bantam in Java more fully as the chief Dutch trading-post and base of supplies. The number of vessels at his command (fifteen) enabled him to despatch them in different directions to pursue their trade. The hostility to, and competition with, the Portuguese became more marked, and the entrance into India (through Ceylon), Siam, and China, more pronounced.

This expedition left Holland July 17, 1602, being joined on the nineteenth by other vessels. Near the Cape of Good Hope three vessels separated with orders to proceed directly to Achem in Sumatra. At that place they met three vessels, which had left Holland May 30, 1602, and whose commander Sebald de Weert received commission from Waarwyk as vice-admiral of the six vessels. After negotiations at Achem, the six vessels established relations and promised assistance against the Portuguese, in Ceylon, but they almost ended by the massacre of the vice-admiral and a number of his men.

Engagements with the Portuguese through these seas, and more or less successful attempts at trading and establishing themselves marked the progress of these vessels, until the return of three of them to Holland in the latter part of 1604. The main body of the fleet had experiences about similar to the above vessels, singly and in company, cruising through the East Indian seas, trading for pepper, cinnamon, silks, and other products. The Moluccas and the Philippines were generally given a wide berth, the Dutch seeking to establish themselves fully on portions of the mainland and in Sumatra and Java. François Wittert, who was later commander of a fleet, was made chief commissary at Bantam and given detailed instructions. The admiral finally reached Holland June 4, 1607, with several vessels.

The expedition in charge of Etienne van der Hagen (or Haagen), that set out from Holland late in 1603 and early in 1604, had also decisive results that more completely established the Dutch power in the East Indies. This expedition was destined to come more intimately in contact with the Portuguese and Spaniards than any former expedition. From this time and even before, the Dutch expeditions overlapped, and Dutch vessels in the Eastern seas were by no means rare. This fleet (the second voyage of van der Hagen) comprised twelve vessels and twelve hundred men. Its course was by way of Goa, Calicut, Cochin, and Ceylon, to Sumatra and Java, reaching the post at Bantam December 31, 1604.

There, shortly after, some English vessels were met. On January 17, 1605, the principal vessels of the fleet left for the Moluccas. February 21, they anchored at Amboina, where they were about to storm the Portuguese fort, when the commander capitulated. “After several conferences between the Portuguese commander’s deputies and the admiral, it was resolved that all the unmarried Portuguese should retire, and that those married could be free to remain, if they took the oath of allegiance to the States-general and to Prince Maurice. Each one was allowed to take his gun or musket, but all the cannon, ammunition, and arms of the king were to remain in the fort.” The admiral and fifty men went to the captured fort, where they ran up the Dutch colors. The fort and island had contained six hundred Portuguese. Forty-six Portuguese families remained and took the oath. “This victory was considerable, not only because of its slight cost, no blood having been shed, but because this place and this island were of great importance.”

Thence five Dutch vessels went to Tidore, where the Portuguese lost two vessels in a sea fight. Then the Portuguese fort was attacked, which was taken May 19, 1605, with a loss of two Dutchmen and seventy-three Portuguese. The Portuguese, five hundred in number, took the boats offered them and set out for the Philippines. “By this last victory, the Portuguese were driven from all the Moluccas, and had nothing more there, except a small fort in the island of Soler, near Timer.”

The conquered fort was destroyed. Meanwhile other vessels of the fleet cruised about Sumatra, Java, Malacca, and neighboring places, trading and seeking to check the Portuguese. Shortly after June of 1607, the Spaniards, two hundred and fifty in number, attacked one of the Dutch and Ternatan forts, but were repulsed. On the desertion of the Tidore fort by the Dutch, seven hundred Spaniards returned to it. Thus the Dutch continued to strengthen their hold throughout the Indies.

The expedition under command of Admiral Corneille Matelief (1605-1608) was remarkable chiefly for its siege of Malacca, and later its manipulations in the Moluccas and in China. The fleet was composed of eleven vessels and one thousand three hundred and fifty-seven men, and cost 1,952,282 livres. Great trouble was experienced by the admiral in the intoxication and excesses of his men, which led to insubordination, during the entire course of the expedition.

Also in all parts he met a great unwillingness among the natives for work and the coming to definite conclusions, the latter exercising duplicity and at times treachery in their dealings with the Dutch. On March 22, 1606, the fleet sighted Sumatra, after hearing of the successes in Amboina and Tidore. Going to the mainland they made agreements or treaties with the king of Johore, clause ten of which reads: “Neither of the two parties shall make peace with the king of Spain, without the consent of the other.” The succeeding siege of Malacca resulted in failure, and on August 24, 1606, the Dutch retired after losing two of their ships. The Portuguese were in charge of Andrea Furtado de Mendoza. On the return of the Dutch to Sumatra and Java, they met the great Portuguese fleet consisting of eighteen galleons, four galleys, one caravel, and twenty-three fustas, with over three thousand men—the largest fleet ever seen in the Indias—and in the combat captured and destroyed four galleons, although with some considerable loss to themselves. The Portuguese prisoners taken formed lengthy material for debates between the Portuguese and Dutch. On December 6, 1606, the admiral determined to go to the Moluccas with six vessels, and to send the others to Achem to load cargo for Holland. Reaching those islands after anchoring at Bantam, the Dutch negotiated with the natives for their aid against the Spaniards garrisoned in Ternate and Tidore.

At Amboina, the admiral “learned that the soldiers of the garrison were living there in great debauchery, and that they became intoxicated, and nearly every man had his concubine. On that account the inhabitants were greatly shocked and were losing all their affection for the Dutch.

They said that the Portuguese married women among them, by which the two nations were united. But since there were no marriages with the Dutch, the two races could not be bound by affection.” Besides the natives wished settlers and not new men continually, whom they did not know. In consequence the Dutch were permitted to marry the native women.

Skirmishes with the Spaniards resulted in little gain for the Dutch, and finally the fleet sailed for China, after passing among a few of the Philippines, where they entered into various relations and had various adventures, trying ever to establish a fixed trade.

Thence the vessels went in different directions and on different missions toward the Dutch base at Bantam. At Bantam Admiral Paul van Caerden anchored on January 5, 1608, to whom Matelief communicated the necessity of first attending to Molucca affairs, giving him also information and advice concerning those islands and the Dutch and Spaniards there.

Shortly after Admiral Matelief returned to Holland, where he anchored on September 2, 1608. Admiral Matelief drew up while on this expedition a good résumé of Dutch aspirations in the East Indies that shows the compelling motive in their expeditions thither. This memorial is as follows.