Compagnie van Verre

To do this, it sent an expedition of three heavily armed ships and a pinnace under the leadership of Cornelis de Houtman, with orders to break into the trade.

The expedition (which became known as the Eerste schipvaart) followed the routes described by Jan Huygen van Linschoten after he had made the journey in the pay of the Portuguese.

On 6 June 1596 the ships arrived at Bantam, the most important pepper port on Java.

During the return trip, on 11 January 1597, Amsterdam was badly damaged and had to be left behind at the island of Bawean.

The voyage was not a success commercially, but it proved that not only the Portuguese had the potential to trade in pepper.

Itinerario, voyage ofte schipvaert, naer Oost ofte Portugaels Indien inhoudende een corte beschryvinghe der selver landen ende zee-custen met daarin ook de Beschryvinghe van de gantsche custe van Guinea en het Reys-gheschrift vande navigatien der Portugaloysers in Orienten.