is that he is uncomfortable at being engaged in common project with one he detests as much as the skipper. Another is that the very thing that makes Jacobsz so joyous at the beginning of this voyage is the same thing that makes Pelsaert heavy of spirit. Jacobsz is an old sea dog who is only truly in his element when well out to sea, whereas Pelsaert is a commercial man whose natural element is terra firma, organising trade deals advantageous to the Company. And though the Commandeur has no loving family that he is agonised about leaving behind – he has never married, nor even engaged in long-term relationships, as that would have interfered with his work – still his glumness matches that of even the most devoted family man leaving his loved ones behind.
For the Commandeur , the long journey ahead is naught but something to be endured, so that he can get to his true work in the East Indies, where he first journeyed a decade earlier when very junior in the Company. One bit of solace, at least, is that if all goes well, this trip will make him a very rich man. Notwithstanding the fact that Pelsaert’s original falling out with Jacobsz was over the former’s discovery that the skipper was engaging in private trade, Pelsaert is travelling with a chest containing four bags of jewels, together with an extremely valuable foot-long agate cameo that is over 1000 years old.
The cameo comes from the Eastern Roman Empire and was created early in the fourth century to celebrate Constantine the Great’s coronation (it depicts his family in a classical scene). It is rumoured to be owned by the great Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, and the famed Amsterdam jeweller and agent Gaspar Boudaen has had it mounted within an enamelled frame of silver gilt encrusted with precious stones. Pelsaert thinks it will likely find favour at the Mogul court, where he will hopefully be able to sell it at a profit of 50 per cent. That profit will have to be shared with both Boudaen and the VOC itself – for Pelsaert has at least been careful to inform the Company of it, and it has allowed it. For all aboard the ship, the authority of the Company is like a palpable force, an unseen presence that extends from bow to stern.
It is not only the Batavia ’s officers who are obliged to swear fealty to the VOC at the moment of taking up their commission; it is the crew too. Just a short time before departure, a high Company official with the post of Monster-Commisaris came aboard to ensure that every post on the ship was filled, to read to the crew the ship’s articles – the regulations they must obey and the severe penalties they face if they breach those regulations – and to hear each crew member swear their own oath of allegiance before him.
Now, when anyone high in the hierarchy of the Company gives an order to someone lower, he does so in the total confidence of having the full weight of the Company behind him. This applies to none more so than Pelsaert, who is the very embodiment of Company power. And if soldiers and sailors complain about anything at all to do with the VOC – their terms of employment, the ship, the skipper, Pelsaert himself, anything – the reason they whisper such complaints only to their closest confidants is that it is understood by everyone that the Company is among them at all times, that the walls, the decks, the very hatch doors themselves have eyes and ears, and any disloyalty to the Company risks severe punishment.
And yet, during these first glorious hours of the journey, there is no complaint from anyone. All aboard are aware that this is not just another trip to the East Indies, on just another ship. Apart from being one of the finest ships that the Dutch Republic has ever constructed, she also bears the richest cargo ever assembled. And they are on her!
For all of those new to life on the high seas, their education starts early. The first and most important rule, of course, is to always expect the
For the Commandeur , the long journey ahead is naught but something to be endured, so that he can get to his true work in the East Indies, where he first journeyed a decade earlier when very junior in the Company. One bit of solace, at least, is that if all goes well, this trip will make him a very rich man. Notwithstanding the fact that Pelsaert’s original falling out with Jacobsz was over the former’s discovery that the skipper was engaging in private trade, Pelsaert is travelling with a chest containing four bags of jewels, together with an extremely valuable foot-long agate cameo that is over 1000 years old.
The cameo comes from the Eastern Roman Empire and was created early in the fourth century to celebrate Constantine the Great’s coronation (it depicts his family in a classical scene). It is rumoured to be owned by the great Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, and the famed Amsterdam jeweller and agent Gaspar Boudaen has had it mounted within an enamelled frame of silver gilt encrusted with precious stones. Pelsaert thinks it will likely find favour at the Mogul court, where he will hopefully be able to sell it at a profit of 50 per cent. That profit will have to be shared with both Boudaen and the VOC itself – for Pelsaert has at least been careful to inform the Company of it, and it has allowed it. For all aboard the ship, the authority of the Company is like a palpable force, an unseen presence that extends from bow to stern.
It is not only the Batavia ’s officers who are obliged to swear fealty to the VOC at the moment of taking up their commission; it is the crew too. Just a short time before departure, a high Company official with the post of Monster-Commisaris came aboard to ensure that every post on the ship was filled, to read to the crew the ship’s articles – the regulations they must obey and the severe penalties they face if they breach those regulations – and to hear each crew member swear their own oath of allegiance before him.
Now, when anyone high in the hierarchy of the Company gives an order to someone lower, he does so in the total confidence of having the full weight of the Company behind him. This applies to none more so than Pelsaert, who is the very embodiment of Company power. And if soldiers and sailors complain about anything at all to do with the VOC – their terms of employment, the ship, the skipper, Pelsaert himself, anything – the reason they whisper such complaints only to their closest confidants is that it is understood by everyone that the Company is among them at all times, that the walls, the decks, the very hatch doors themselves have eyes and ears, and any disloyalty to the Company risks severe punishment.
And yet, during these first glorious hours of the journey, there is no complaint from anyone. All aboard are aware that this is not just another trip to the East Indies, on just another ship. Apart from being one of the finest ships that the Dutch Republic has ever constructed, she also bears the richest cargo ever assembled. And they are on her!
For all of those new to life on the high seas, their education starts early. The first and most important rule, of course, is to always expect the
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