The despenseiro (purser/steward) was in charge of food stores and rations. Unlike ships of other nations, Portuguese vessels did not usually have a cook aboard, sailors were expected to cook their own meals themselves at the ship's ovens.Hutter (2005: p. 177) Rations were composed primarily of ship biscuit (the main staple, rationed at 2 lb per person per day). Other provisions included wine, salt, olive oil, salted cod, sardines, pork, cheese, rice, and the like, with fresh fruits and vegetables available on the initial part of the journey. Rations were suspended if the ship was at dock and the men ashore. On the return journey, the crown would only supply enough biscuit and water for a ship to reach the Cape of Good Hope; the ship's crew would have to find its own provisions thereafter.Matthew, 1988: p. 250 The following is a sample composition of a typical 16th-century Portuguese India nau (carrack):Castro (2005: p. 63) 1 captain ( capitão ) 1 clerk ( escrivão ) 1 chaplain ( capelão ) 2 pilots ( piloto, soto-piloto ) 1 master ( mestre ) 1 boatswain ( contramestre ) 1 boatswain's mate ( guardião ) 2 windlass operators ( estrinqueiros ) 45 seamen ( marinheiros ) 48 ship-boys ( grumetes ) 4 pages ( pagems ) 2 carpenters ( carpinteiro and carpinteiro sobressalente ) 2 caulkers ( calafate and calafate sobressalente ) 1 cooper ( tanoeiro ) 1 steward ( despenseiro ) 1 bailiff ( meirinho ) 1 barber-surgeon ( barbeiro ) 1 constable ( condestável ) 11 gunners ( bombardeiros ) In the Netherlands, the preacher and cartographer Petrus Plancius had long been urging his countrymen to set out on their own route, rather than relying on the Portuguese hauls. The Dutch effort received an injection from the information provided by Cornelis de Houtman, a Dutch spy dispatched to Lisbon in 1592 to scout the spice trade, and Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, a Dutch sailor who had served on many Portuguese India armadas from the 1580s. With this information in hand, the Dutch finally made their move in 1595, when a group of Amsterdam merchants formed the Compagnie van Verre and sent out their first expedition, under de Houtman, to the East Indies, aiming for the market port of Bantam. That same year, Linschoten published a little tract in Amsterdam entitled Reysgheschrift vande navigatien der Portugaloysers in Orienten (Travel Account of the Voyages of the Portuguese in the Orient), a rutter giving the details of the sailing directions of the Portuguese India Run. It was republished in 1596, as part of a larger book, the Itinerario, where Linschoten gave the details of the trade and the condition of Portuguese defenses in Asia. It was an explosive sensation. It was immediately translated into English, German, Latin and soon French.
The (purser/steward) was in charge of food stores and rations. Unlike ships of other nations, Portuguese vessels did not usually have a cook aboard, sailors were expected to cook their own meals themselves at the ship's ovens.Hutter (2005: p. 177) Rations were composed primarily of ship biscuit (the main staple, rationed at 2 lb per person per day). Other provisions included wine, salt, olive oil, salted cod, sardines, pork, cheese, rice, and the like, with fresh fruits and vegetables available on the initial part of the journey. Rations were suspended if the ship was at dock and the men ashore. On the return journey, the crown would only supply enough biscuit and water for a ship to reach the Cape of Good Hope; the ship's crew would have to find its own provisions thereafter.Matthew, 1988: p. 250 The following is a sample composition of a typical 16th-century Portuguese India nau (carrack):Castro (2005: p. 63) 1 captain ( ) 1 clerk ( ) 1 chaplain ( ) 2 pilots ( ) 1 master ( ) 1 boatswain ( ) 1 boatswain's mate ( ) 2 windlass operators ( ) 45 seamen ( ) 48 ship-boys ( ) 4 pages ( ) 2 carpenters ( and ) 2 caulkers ( and ) 1 cooper ( ) 1 steward ( ) 1 bailiff ( ) 1 barber-surgeon ( ) 1 constable ( ) 11 gunners ( ) In the Netherlands, the preacher and cartographer Petrus Plancius had long been urging his countrymen to set out on their own route, rather than relying on the Portuguese hauls. The Dutch effort received an injection from the information provided by Cornelis de Houtman, a Dutch spy dispatched to Lisbon in 1592 to scout the spice trade, and Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, a Dutch sailor who had served on many Portuguese India armadas from the 1580s. With this information in hand, the Dutch finally made their move in 1595, when a group of Amsterdam merchants formed the Compagnie van Verre and sent out their first expedition, under de Houtman, to the East Indies, aiming for the market port of Bantam. That same year, Linschoten published a little tract in Amsterdam entitled (Travel Account of the Voyages of the Portuguese in the Orient), a rutter giving the details of the sailing directions of the Portuguese India Run. It was republished in 1596, as part of a larger book, the Itinerario, where Linschoten gave the details of the trade and the condition of Portuguese defenses in Asia. It was an explosive sensation. It was immediately translated into English, German, Latin and soon French.
D
despenseiro
D
capitão
D
escrivão
D
capelão
D
piloto, soto-piloto
D
mestre
D
contramestre
D
guardião
D
estrinqueiros
D
marinheiros
D
grumetes
D
pagems
R
carpinteiro and carpinteiro sobressalente
and
R
calafate and calafate sobressalente
and
D
tanoeiro
D
despenseiro
D
meirinho
D
barbeiro
D
condestável
D
bombardeiros
D
Reysgheschrift vande navigatien der Portugaloysers in Orienten