Spice at Any Price: The Life and Times of Frederick de Houtman 1571-1627
by Howard Gray

Item Description

Frederick de Houtman - spy, navigator, astronomer, ship's master, prisoner, linguist, VOC Governor, field commander - was a key figure in the earliest days of the Dutch forays into the East Indies spice trade, surviving four journeys to today's Indonesia, the first two disastrous with enormous loss of life, then twice as VOC Governor, involved in the domination of the Portuguese, Spanish and English rivals and the local populations. He incidentally was the first European to encounter the south-west corner of Australia and the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, ending much speculation about Terra Incognita Australis.

For sale from the Geraldton Regional Library for $40.00