Oude Compagnie
Because of the cutthroat competition, the companies were forced in 1602 by the government to unite for 21 years in the VOC, which was given exclusive right to trade in Asia.
[4] Before the VOC (I+J+K+L) was founded in 1602, 12 different pre-companies existed in the space of 7 years: According to a contemporary, "people sailed each other's money out of the purse and the shoes off their feet".
Towards evening they came back on board with nine of a kind of large birds which they called dodos, larger than turkeys, and also equipped with wings too small to fly.
On April 20, a thanksgiving service was held on land, it was the day of the Amsterdam fair and that is why the dodo was initially also called 'fairground goose'.
On the homeward journey, Van Neck called at the coast of Sumatra where the sick were brought ashore and water was loaded.
Along the shores where the sea was playing sweetly, came many lands, with her bearing good fruits, which were bought by ours and carried to the ships, which were to be seen gracefully anchored there among many merry islands.
The shareholders received a substantial dividend and Reverend Petrus Plancius, who had invested ƒ 50,000 in the company, will not have regretted it.
On April 6, 1599, the expedition (3rd equipage) led by Steven van der Haghen set course from Texel towards the South East.
The Dutch also obtained permission from the inhabitants of the Hitu peninsula to set up Castle Van Verre in exchange for military support against the Portuguese.
The fleet departed on December 21, 1599, and consisted of the ships: Mauritius, Hollandia, Vriesland and Overijssel, led by Jacob Wilckens.
The fleet departed on June 28, 1600, and consisted of the ships: Amsterdam, Dordrecht, Haarlem, Leiden, Delft and Gouda, led by Jacob Cornelisz van Neck.
Each of the 600 crew members on board the six ships was entitled to four pounds of bread a week and a liter of wine a day.
The Moluccan fleet was ordered to head directly to Bantam and to contact the people left behind there earlier, on the islands of Molocus and Banda.
Bantam was reached on December 26, but the port was already occupied by a Portuguese fleet of 30 ships (8 of which were galleons), led by Andrea Furtado de Mendoza.
In the region of Banda and Ternate, trade was carried on between the local kingdoms, alliances were made and the ships were loaded with merchandise.
The fleet docked on the island of Fernando de Noronha on January 9, 1603, where the intended trade was disappointing.
