Everyone knows that in 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic, seeking a new route to the East. Few note, however, that Columbus's intention was also to sail south, to the tropics.
Loet Velmans was seventeen when the Germans invaded Holland. He and his family fled to London on the Dutch Coast Guard cutter Seaman’s Hope and then sailed to the Dutch East Indies—now Indonesia—where
Anna, Lady Brassey (1839–1887) was an English travel writer and philanthropist best known for her vivid accounts of ocean journeys undertaken with her family. Her husband was a Civil Lord of the Admiralty who made many ocean voyages by steam yacht to test this new technology. Anna Brassey's description of these travels led to her becoming a best-selling author. In 1874 and 1878 the Brasseys sailed around the Mediterranean and as far as Constantinople in the Sunbeam. Her account of the voyages, with many delightful illustrations, is vividly written in considerable detail. It mixes exotic descriptions of people and places with lively accounts of domestic life on board. Inconveniences are made light of, and she relishes new experiences and acquaintances, showing none of the condescension towards foreigners often exhibited by Victorian travellers. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=brasan
During the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, the transpacific treasure galleons sailed annually from Manila to Acapulco. In Manila, the vessel was loaded with the scented spices of the East, luxurious silks from China, exquisite hand crafted lacquerware from Japan and a multitude of Oriental goods that the Spaniards of New Spain longed to own. The returning galleon from Acapulco to Manila, carried as much as 2.5 million silver pesos in payment of the goods sent to the New Spain in the previous year, as well as a yearly silver subsidy of 250,000 reales for the maintenance of the colonial government in the Philippines. But while the galleons mainly sailed alone and unaccompanied from Manila to Acapulco and vice versa, they were vulnerable to a host of calamities and misfortunes. A fire on board the vessel or a terrifying storm could end the voyage and the lives of every one on the ship even before the galleon was able to reach land. Additionally, the commanders of the galleons were
This 1937 work is framed as a maritime history as distinct from an economic history, and was highly acclaimed on first publication. Parkinson's focus is the activities of the East India Company in India and the East Indies between 1793 and 1815. Although a scholarly work, firmly founded on primary sources, it presents a potentially dry subject in a vivid and lively way which is extremely readable. Rather than narrating the history of the East India Company, Parkinson provides a series of descriptions of how it operated, the goods it traded, and the experiences of employees or passengers who sailed east. He reminds the modern reader of how fundamental the prevailing winds were to the trade routes, and the great discomforts of long sea voyages. This is a fascinating story of the realities of British economic involvement in India and the Far East during a key period of consolidation.
In the early decades of the eighteenth century, Yemen hosted a bustling community of merchants who sailed to the southern Arabian Peninsula from the east and the west, seeking and offering a range of
Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge (c.1570?1632) was admiral of the Dutch East India Company when it sailed to Asia in 1605 and besieged Portuguese Melaka in 1606 with the help of Malay allies. A massive Por
Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781–1826) was a British civil servant and statesman best known for his founding of the city (now Republic) of Singapore. After the capture of Java by the British in 1811, Raffles was appointed Lieutenant Governor of the island, a position he held until 1815. After a two-year interlude in England, he sailed back to the East, and established the city of Singapore in 1819. These volumes, written during his governorship and first published in 1817, contain his monumental survey and history of the island state. Raffles provides a comprehensive ethnographic description of the island's society, describing its economy, trade, languages and dialects, and religious and social customs, together with a detailed history of the island, including a discussion of the introduction of Islam. These volumes provide invaluable information of the study of contemporary Javanese society and history. Volume 2 contains Raffles's historical study.
Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781–1826) was a British civil servant and statesman, best known for his founding of the city (now Republic) of Singapore. After the capture of Java by the British in 1811, Raffles was appointed Lieutenant Governor of the island, a position he held until 1815. After a two-year interlude in England, he sailed back to the East, and established the city of Singapore in 1819. These volumes, written during his governorship and first published in 1817, contain his monumental survey and history of the island state. Raffles provides a comprehensive ethnographic description of the island's society, describing its economy, trade, languages and dialects, and religious and social customs, together with a detailed history of the island, including a discussion of the introduction of Islam. These volumes provide invaluable information of the study of contemporary Javanese society and history.
Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781–1826) was a British civil servant and statesman best known for his founding of the city (now Republic) of Singapore. After the capture of Java by the British in 1811, Raffles was appointed Lieutenant Governor of the island, a position he held until 1815. After a two-year interlude in England, he sailed back to the East, and established the city of Singapore in 1819. These volumes, written during his governorship and first published in 1817, contain his monumental survey and history of the island state. Raffles provides a comprehensive ethnographic description of the island's society, describing its economy, trade, languages and dialects, and religious and social customs, together with a detailed history of the island, including a discussion of the introduction of Islam. These volumes provide invaluable information of the study of contemporary Javanese society and history. Volume 1 contains Raffles's ethnographic study.
