Nathaniel's nutmeg (41 page)

at least in the short term, Courthope realised that the island was extremely vulnerable to a sea blockade, a situation aggravated by the fact that he had landed on Run with scarcely any provisions. His two ships had been loaded with only a few chickens and a small quantity of rice and arak, most of which had been consumed on the journey to Run. Unable to restock en route, the Englishmen arrived to find that the island offered little in the way of food. Although nutmeg grew in abundance, there was not enough fresh fruit or vegetables to feed the native islanders and the only other plant that thrived was the sago palm whose pithy trunk could be boiled down into a glutinous, porridge-like starch. The inhabitants of Run had always depended on their neighbouring islands for their supplies, but all of these were now firmly under Dutch control. Their only hope of replenishing stocks lay in the occasional junk or trading craft that happened to put into the islands natural harbour.

More serious was the shortage of water. Run had no water reserves and the islanders had traditionally survived by collecting the monsoon rains in 'jarres and cisternes' and using the water sparingly during the dry season. But Courthope s men brought an increased demand and water soon began to run low. A group of them offered to sail across to Neira or Great Banda to replenish supplies but Courthope considered such a move far too dangerous and ordered them to survive on reduced rations. But his authority over one group of rebellious spirits, never strong, was now weakened by dissension between the ships' companies. Many of the professional sailors were horrified at the prospect of spending many months on this remote island and, led by John Davis, the master of the
Swan
, they announced their intention of sailing to Ceram to fill the water casks. Unrelated to his more famous namesake, Davis was nevertheless a sailor of ripe experience who had taken part in no fewer than five voyages to and from the East Indies. But his abilities as a leader of men were not so obvious. His quarrelsome disposition upset many of his own crew while his deep attachment to the bottle frequently clouded his judgement.

Courthope, 'very sick,' pleaded with him to rethink but Davis had already tired of Run and refused to stay on land, 'obstinately contrarying my command'. He was about to set sail when a native pinnace arrived from Great Banda with some surprising news. The elders of one of the villages on that island, hearing of events on Run, had held a meeting at which it was decided to surrender themselves 'unto his Majestie'. The island of Rozengain, four miles farther to the east, had followed suit and also asked for English protection.

Since Davis was adamant about putting to sea, Courthope ordered him to call first at Great Banda and then at Rozengain in order to receive the islanders' formal submission. He also suggested that Sophony Cozucke and three other merchants should hoist the flag of St George on the latter island and establish a factory there. Davis carried out these instructions but was unable to persuade Cozucke to step ashore at Rozengain. As soon as the village elders had surrendered their islands to the English king, the men set sail for a watering hole on the coast of Ceram.

The casks were soon filled and Davis shaped his course for Run, but scarcely had he put to sea than the
Swan
found itself in difficulty. The wily Dutch commander, Cornelis Dedel, had been spying on the English from his ship the
Morgensterre
and now decided to attack.The
Swan
was of a similar size to the Dutch vessel and at one time a 'very warlike ship,' but its crew were sick and hungry and most its guns were ashore on Run. Sensing his vulnerability, Davis tried to outsail the
Morgensterre
but 'they did shoote at me twice before I began, although I was in the sea eight leagues off when they chased me.' Aided by the wind, Dedel managed to manoeuvre his ship alongside the
Swan,
enabling his men to hurl grappling irons onto the decks of the English vessel. The Dutch then boarded the ship and, swords drawn, began a bloody hand- to-hand battle. 'We fought almost boord and boord for the space of one houre and a halfe,' recalled Davis,'untill they had killed five men, maymed three and hurt eight. And when we began we had not thirtie men able to doe anything, nor no wind to worke withall.' Those who hid inside the ship were flushed out with musket fire; those on deck were cut down with swords. One of the dead was the adventurous Sophony Cozuke, 'torne in pieces with a great shot,' while those who were 'maimed' were unlikely to live, 'having lost legs and arms, and almost all hope of life, if not dead already'.

After the
Swan
had been ransacked, her cabins smashed to pieces and all the trunks thrown into the sea, she was towed in triumph to Neira, the Hollanders 'much glorying in their victory, and showing the Bandanese their exploit, in the great disgrace of the English ... saying that the King of England might not compare with their great King of Holland, and that one Holland ship would take ten of the English ships, and that Saint George is now turned child'. It was three weeks before Courthope learned for certain of the
Swan's
capture — the news being brought to him by a local merchant who described how she was lying crippled and rifled under the guns of Neira Castle. One of Courthope's most trusted men, Robert Hayes, was despatched to Neira under a flag of truce to demand the restitution of both the ship and her crew. Not surprisingly the Dutch refused, boasting that it would only be a matter of weeks before they had captured the
Defence
as well. They also warned Courthope that unless he submitted without a fight, 'there will be much slaughter about it.'

The loss of the
Swan
was a terrible blow for the Englishmen left on Run for they were totally reliant on their ships, both for supplies and for escaping in an emergency. Although the
Defence
was still seaworthy, Courthope desperately needed her cannon to make his island fortress secure. Since disarming her would render the ship unserviceable, his only option was to draw her up onto the beach where she would be protected by the on­shore gun batteries. This would maroon him on Run, a precariously exposed position which left him unable to replenish his supplies.

He was soon struck by further misfortune: long before he had a chance to land the
Defence's
weaponry, the ship mysteriously drifted from her anchorage and floated out to sea. Courthope initially thought this had happened through carelessness but it soon became apparent that the cable had been deliberately cut by 'a plot of knaves' whose long months on Run had proved more than they could endure. The ship was sailed to Neira where her crew surrendered to the Dutch and proceeded to hand over detailed plans of all the defences on Run and Nailaka. They were, remarked one of Courthope's more loyal companions, 'a company of treacherous villains who have deserved hanging better than wages'.

It was shortly after this unfortunate event that the Dutch governor-general, Laurens Reael, arrived in the Banda Islands to take over the handling of the crisis. Informed of the hopelessness of Courthope's position, Reael decided to bring to an end the English stand on Run by negotiation rather than force, inviting Courthope to Neira for discussions. But although the Dutch governor-general held the upper hand, his position was an awkward one for he could scarcely ignore Courthope's treaty, nor could he claim any authority over Run. Instead, he took the line that the islanders had pledged to sell their spices to the Dutch after the 1609 murder ofVerhoef — which was not true — and argued that this pledge still held.

Courthope agreed to meet with Reael as long as suitable hostages were sent to Run as a sign of good faith. These duly arrived bearing a letter from John Davis who languished in Neira prison.'If I lose any more men by your arrogance,' he warned Courthope, 'as I have here lost by sicknesse already, their lives and blouds shall rest upon your heads ... and this I will write with dying hand.' Courthope ignored the note and rowed across to the Dutch castle on Neira to discuss the future of the Banda Islands. Reael was the first to lay his bargaining chips on the table, offering to return the captured ships and men, pay compensation for everything that had been rifled and assist the English in leaving Run with a foil cargo of nutmeg. In return he demanded that England sign away forever her rights to the island. Courthope flatly refused to countenance such an offer, answering that 'I could not, unlesse I should turne traitor unto my King and Countrey, in giving up that right which I am able to hold; and also betray the countrey people, who had surrendered up their land to our King's Majestie.'

It was the sort of answer he might have expected from the Englishman, but Reael had naively assumed his offer would be accepted and, infuriated by such defiance, 'threw his hat on the ground and pulled his beard for anger'. Courthope now placed his chips on the table, informing Reael that he would leave Run immediately if the Dutchman would agree to the question of sovereignty being settled in Bantam or Europe. This time it was Reael s turn to refuse and the two men parted with the island's fate unresolved. It was clear that the issue could only be settled by war, and the Dutch governor-general curtly informed Courthope that within three days he 'would bring all his forces and take us perforce'.

These forces were not inconsiderable. In addition to his bases on Neira, Great Banda and Ai, Reael had more than a dozen ships at his disposal as well as a thousand soldiers. He had a total mastery of the sea, leaving Courthope with no option but to sit tight, knowing that Reael could stop any supply ships from reaching the island of Run.

Courthope had taken an enormous risk in declining Read's offer but he remained confident that the Dutch would find it almost impossible to mount a frontal assault on Run, even with their overwhelmingly superior forces. The battery on Nailaka was virtually impregnable and Courthope had a brave and highly competent network of spies at his disposal - local men — who rowed backwards and forwards between Run and the other islands keeping him informed of every development.

In the spring of 1617 he took a gamble, despatching six men to Bantam in a hired vessel, a small native pinnace, in order to urgently request reinforcements and aid. The man in charge of this perilous journey was Thomas Spurway, one of Courthope's most trusty lieutenants who, after numerous mishaps, pitched up in Bantam to plead Courthope's case. To his dismay, he discovered that John Jourdain had left for England some months earlier and instead found himself dealing with George Ball who had visited Run the previous year and must have understood the precariousness of Courthope's position. But Ball's promotion had quite gone to his head and he spent much of his time tending to his extensive and lucrative private ventures. A man of inordinate pride and vanity he maintained a personal guard of fifty negro slaves and was preoccupied with continual quarrels with other factors, caring little for the Company's concerns. Indeed, for an entire year not a single ship was laden for England, even though there were six vessels in Bantam harbour and plenty of money in the coffers. Despite continued pleas from Spurway, Ball refused to send a ship to relieve Courthope.

Reael, too, had returned to Bantam, determined to bring to a satisfactory conclusion the tiresome business in the Banda Islands. He wrote to Ball ordering the immediate evacuation of Run and declaring that any ships found in the Banda Islands, or anywhere else in the Moluccas, would be sunk.'If you refuse,' he fulminated, 'we shall have to help ourselves with all means time and opportunity will give us, believing ourselves to be guiltless before God and the world.' Ball scoffed at this threat and stood defiant, so infuriating Jan Coen that he posted a declaration of war on the gates of the Dutch compound, 'threatening to put them [the English] to the edge of the sword'. Hostilities between the English and Dutch now became so serious that even the local ruler became alarmed. When he asked to see a copy of the Dutch declaration of war, the English ran back to the Dutch compound 'and when they were unable to detach the paper, they tore down the gate and brought it to him (document and all)'.

Ball now decided it was time to act. In a letter to Reael he wrote: 'for your threats, I respect them not, having God and a just cause for my comfort, and you a foul and horrid and shameful matter ... Hitherto I have shed no blood willingly; and if blood must be shed, it shall not be my fault, it being lawful in defence of myself.'

That Ball had shed no blood was hotly disputed by the Dutch. Fifteen of their compatriots had recently been massacred in Macassar, an atrocity they ascribed to the machinations of the English factor. Worse still, a number of Spanish and Portuguese prisoners had escaped from a Dutch ship in Bantam harbour and the English had promptly given them asylum. This last event tipped the balance from hatred into warfare and every day there were skirmishes on the streets of Bantam as rival sailors attacked each other with knives and cutlasses. The East India Company archives are littered with accusations of Dutch brutality; a steward named

William Clarke, for example, claims to have been wandering through the marketplace when set upon by a gang of Dutch sailors, stripped naked, and whipped across his bare back. They 'cruelly cut his flesh, and then washed him with salt and vinegar, and laid him again in irons'.