The Dutch lodge on Banda Neira

The house from which Van Warwijck and Van Heemskerck traded on Banda Nera.

Bottom centre: No: 10.

The second Dutch expedition to the Indies, led by Jacob van Neck and Wijbrant van Warwijck, set sail from the Dutch Republic in May 1598 and arrived in Bantam, on West Java, towards the end of that same year. From Bantam, four vessels sailed on to the Moluccas, commanded by Wijbrant van Warwijck and Jacob van Heemskerck. Two of these, the Gelderland and Zeeland, subsequently visited the Banda islands from Ambon, spending several months from March to July 1599. The objective was to trade to obtain cloves and nutmeg. After a difficult start, the Dutch managed to acquire sizable stocks of the products by establishing good contacts on Banda Neira, and they left some personnel to man the lodge they had been able to establish, which is depicted in this print. Shown in the foreground centre is how the goods were weighed.

Cf. Rijksmuseum, inv. nr. RP-P-OB-75-390.