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The
English, bless our little cotton buds, have always loved a gallant
loser. Years of feeble cricket and football performances have assured us
that we may not be, at the moment, the world power we assume we once
were. But this is no recent phenomenon. Oh no, we’ve long been able to
lose in the most heroic, and often futile, manner possible.
Let’s
look at the spice race. That indiscriminate race between the Portuguese,
the Dutch and the English to dominate the supplies of clove, nutmeg and
mace from the fragrant isles of the Moluccas to Europe. Where bemused
islander stared on in amazement at those hardy old sea dogs who traveled
half way round the world just to drink themselves into a stupor and
fight with each other.
The
Moluccas are a chain of islands in the extreme East of Indonesia
bordering the massive isle of New Guinea and while they may be mere pin
pricks on most maps today, in the 16th and 17th
Centuries their produce sure packed a hefty profit. After the Portuguese
were the first to diddle around a while, the aggressive Dutch set up
shop on Java and went sailing the eastern seas signing agreements with
all the petty potentates who would listen and were soon able to gain a
monopoly on the shipments back to the West and those good burghers of
Amsterdam.
The
English got involved hesitantly, testing the water in the manner they
still adopt today. High-speed rail link to the Channel Tunnel? Of course
those early explorers who made it to the islands after journeys of
several months across harsh oceans arrived to find the Dutch with their
feet well entrenched, especially on the Banda Islands and, in a most un
European gesture, were most unwilling to share the spoils with the
perfidious Albion. The story was the same on Great Banda and Neira so
the English, never ones to slink off with the tail between the legs, set
off to Ai, a few miles distant and yet to have an agreement with the
Dutch.
The Ai
inhabitants welcomed the English, well that is how contemporary accounts
describe it, and they set about fortifying the island in anticipation of
a Dutch invasion which they were sure would come. Sure enough, the Dutch
attacked, were pushed back once, attacked a second time and triumphed,
locking up the English and ‘pissing and shitting on their heads’ leaving
only a distant island named Run to be untouched by the ‘Hollanders.’
Some
of the Ai survivors escaped to Run and it was here the English
determined to do all in their power to keep a toehold on the Spice
Islands. In 1616 they sent an expedition from Bantam to the island and
the natives willingly agreed to make the island over to the English
Crown forever. King James became ‘King of England, Scotland, France and
Ireland is also now by the mercy of God King of Pooloway (Ai) and
Pooloroone (Run).’ One of the English remarked that these islands would
prove more profitable than Scotland ever had. The English in return were
entreated to respect the local religion, not misbehave with the women
and not breed pigs.
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The man in charge rejoiced in the
name of Nathaniel Courthope and, living up to his name, was an
optimistic gentleman by all accounts. He knew he was vulnerable
to attack but also knew the island was difficult to invade
because of natural defences. Still, he prepared a couple of
rudimentary forts and some defensive positions. The island was
though defenceless to a naval blockade. It relied on the outside
for all its supplies, including drinking water, and the Dutch,
forced to agree to the legitimacy of English claims to the
island were not so inclined to be neighbourly. |
Additional Reading:
The Honourable
Company - John Keay
Nathaniel's Nutmeg - Giles Milton
How To Get There:
The islands of Run and Ai are still remote as
in they have no airports. I haven't been..yet!
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With
little in the way of supplies reaching Run, some of the crew set off to
try at least to get some water but the mission was doomed. The Dutch
were alert to their plight on Run and waiting such a moment. The vessel
was caught and trashed, the men locked up.
With
no help coming on their doorstep, Courthope sent one of his most trusted
crew to Bantam seeking supplies from there but a change in leadership
had seen a pompous preener take over with little interest in the outer
isles. Finally, in the spring of 1618 3 ships heavily laden with
supplies were sent and within an hour of Run were getting ready to
unload when a Dutch patrol came upon them. Courthope looked on in dismay
as the wind changed and the Dutch got closer. The English were slow to
move, so weighed down with supplies. The fight, with the inhabitants of
Run looking on in a state of impotence had only one outcome. The Dutch
were overjoyed at their unforeseen bounty while Courthope, in that fine
English tradition, sent off a strongly worded letter to his employer.
By
1619 he had resigned himself to the fact that help was unlikely in his
plucky fight to keep one of the islands under the English flag. He had
no money, no natural resources and little in the way of spices. His
dwindling crew was steadfastly behind him which would have been
comforting but on this tiny rock surrounded by enemies and seas he must
have felt that the world was a very big place indeed.
But in
October 1620 news came through that over on Great Banda, their had been
an uprising and the natives there wished to join with Courthope and the
people on Run and take on the Dutch. The plucky Englishman determined to
sail over to the island under the cover of darkness and meet with the
rebels but was betrayed. Some Dutch were at sea that night, silently
waiting their hated foe who had kept the English flag high among a sea
of orange. Courthope went down fighting but went down he did. The body
wasn’t found but later the story emerged that the Dutch had buried the
man who had held them at bay for 1,540 days with full honour and
respect.
With
Courthope out of the way, the Dutch returned and stayed until 1665 when
a couple of English vessels fronted up at the harbour and reclaimed the
nearly forgotten harbour. But at this time, the English were looking
west as well as east and the year before had received from the Dutch an
area called Manhattan. By 1667 the English and Dutch were tiring of
fighting each other all over the known globe and decided to try and find
a peaceful way out. The English though wanted Run officially handed
back, the Dutch wanted Manhattan returned and on this point they got
stuck. Finally, though, they thought sod it, let’s do it, so officially
exchanged the island of Run in the East Indies for Manhattan, including
New York, in the American colonies.
While
Courthope’s spirited defence was, in the battle for the spice trade
ultimately irrelevant and soon forgotten, if history were a card game,
he held on to the two of diamonds which was later traded for the ace of
spades. Today, Courthope is all but forgotten but in his own way, he
along with those who stuck by him, he has his own historical legacy.
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