Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Straits and the Cape of Good Hope was open only to members of the
company. Thus, when the enterprising, independent merchant Isaac
Lemaire of Antwerp wanted to set forth on an Orient venture he had
to think in terms of finding another route to the rich eastern mar-
kets. To lead the expedition he chose an experienced sailor who had
made three voyages to the Indies, William Cornelius Schouten Van
Hoorn. Together the two men organised a carefully planned venture.
Isaac's son, Jacob Lemaire, travelled as supercargo with Schouten in
the 360-ton
Eendracht
and Schouten's brother John commanded the
support vessel
Hoore
(110 tons).
They left the Texel on 14 June 1615 and touched at the Cape
Verde Islands and the coast of Sierra Leone. Interestingly, Schouten
took on board 750 ripe lemons there, which he had dried and added
to the regular diet of his eighty-seven crew members, as long as they
lasted. In this way he avoided scurvy almost completely throughout
most of the voyage. One wonders why this lesson was lost on con-
temporary mariners and why captains experimented over many
decades with a variety of foodstuffs such as decoctions of malt and
meat extracts, most of which were not as efficacious as the simple
lemon. Schouten made straight for Port Desire and there put his
ships in order for the next crucial stage of the voyage. For the plan
was to find a way into the South Sea,
around
Tierra del Fuego. Drake
had been blown far to the south and found open sea. It was possible,
therefore, that South America was not joined onto some southern
continent. But even if that were the case, could men and ships sur-
vive the storms, fogs and bitter cold of that ice-strewn stretch of wa-
ter? Certainly, the vessels would have to be in the best possible trim
before attempting this ascent to the high south latitude. But even the
most carefully-laid plans can come unstuck. While the ships were
being careened at Port Desire a few moments' carelessness almost
ruined the entire expedition. Some sailors, burning accretions from
the
Hoore's
bottom, accidentally set fire to the ship. Despite the ef-
