Maarten Gerritsz Vries

Gerritszoon Maarten de Vries (* February 28, 1589 in Harlingen, † end 1647 near Manilla, also Fries or other variations ) was a Dutch navigator and explorer from Harlingen. He worked long on Taiwan as a cartographer. Governor - General Anthonie van Diemen was an active board of the Dutch East India Company (VOC ), which intended to increase its colony. He sent among other things Maarten de Vries, to explore the area east of Japan and the coast of Tartary. On board the ship plenty of men and food were to establish a new trading post.

Expedition to northern Japan in 1643

Maarten de Vries was the captain of the ship Castricum, which broke up in February 1643 together with the Breskens under Hendrick Cornelisz Schaep of Batavia. As Quast and Tasman in 1639 they should go the rumors of gold and silver islands on the ground. From Ternate from the small fleet stood out to sea on 4 April. On May 8, 1643 Daitō Islands were discovered and named by their discoverers Breskens Eylant. But already on 20 May lost the ships at Hachijo Shima (290 km south-east of Tokyo, part of the Izu Islands) the contact. The islands were named thus Ungeluckich ( misfortune island). The Castricum under Vries drove further east and reached on June 5, the tip of Honshu. From there we went to Hokkaido and Iturup, which was named Staten Landt. After de Vries reached the neighboring island of Urup, which he called Companijes - Eylandt, shot through the Fries Road ( Proliv Friza ) between Urup and Iturup and reached the Aniwa Bay and the Taraika Bay on Sakhalin. Through the dense fog at this time he could not realize that Sakhalin and Hokkaido was separated. He left the area in August, peaking in December 1643 Batavia.

Breskens

The smaller Breskens fared worse; in the storm she was driven the Japanese coast and ended in a cove near the village of Yamada in feudal Morioka Nambu clan in the province of Mutsu (now Iwate Prefecture). In search of drinking water and eating the men went ashore on June 10, 1643. There they were kindly received by the fishermen. Without order, the ship sailed six weeks later again in this lovely bay. Evening was celebrated with a Samurai on board. Probably also some women were there. The log is not preserved, the story has been constructed later from multiple sources. The next day, July 29, walked nine unarmed crews and the captain Hendrick Cornelisz Schaep on land because they had ordered fresh vegetables and fish, and were (intentionally ) invited ten women. The Dutch were led into a farm, received rice and sake and were subsequently captured by a lot of Japanese men. Meanwhile, the situation in Yamada had changed: the authority were afraid because of strict laws. The Japanese thought they were Spaniards, as an attempt Spanish Jesuits had been discovered shortly before to come unnoticed into the country. They were taken to the feudal capital Morioka and then to Edo. The Breskens drove on July 31, 1643 without further captain and sank on August 1, 1646 in a naval battle in the bay of Tigaol.

The team was interviewed through interpreters from Nagasaki, it was also the former Jesuit Christovão Ferreira ( jap: Sawano Chuan ). The representative of the VOC in Japan Jan van Elserack could reach that the sailors were transferred on December 8, 1643 with the Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu VOC. In January they reached Dejima, and traveled only in October 1644 to Fort Zeelandia on Taiwan. On the way they met the Castricum on their way back to Batavia.

The result of his travels were new map of Hokkaido, the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin ( World Map by Joan Blaeu 1645/46; Fig. 77). His work was not perfect, Korea was reflected in his maps as a strangely shaped land. Furthermore, there was - because of the fog - the La Pérouse Strait between Hokkaido and Sakhalin.

La Naval de Manila

In 1646 he was leader of an expeditionary force of 18 galleons to conquer the Philippines from Spain. The warships were divided into three squadrons, however, until October 1646, repulsed by the Spaniards in the five naval battles of La Naval de Manila, from March. His flagship was badly damaged in the final battle before the village of Mariveles on October 4. de Vries died aboard his ship on the way back and got a sailor 's grave.