Brief Encounter at Macao

Abstract

The real issue at stake is the following: Since 1595 merchants from Holland and Zeeland have sent ships for trading purposes to several islands of the Indies that are not dependent upon Portugal. Now when the crews of these ships as well as the natives that were friendly to them had suffered great losses of lives and possessions due to the mischief of the Portuguese and their henchmen—unreliable and violent people who did not shrink from openly attacking the Dutch with force of arms—only then did the Dutch at long last fit themselves out to take revenge. After several hostilities from both sides Jakob van Heemskerck received command over an Amsterdam fleet of eight sails and with it he forced into submission on February 25th 1603 in the Strait of Singapore (that is, one of the two straits that separate Sumatra and Malacca) a Portuguese vessel, a so-called caracca, named Catarina and loaded with merchandise. merchandise. He released the crew and carried off the ship as a prize. Others have performe such exploits before and afterwards, yet because this feat of arms has caused the greatest stir, have decided to emphasize it in my enquiry so that one can easily judge the other events on basis of it.