Jacob (Jacques) Mahu (1564 – 23 September 1598) was a Dutch merchant and explorer. In 1598, he led an expedition with five vessels organised by Pieter van der Hagen and Johan van der Veeken intended to find a trade route to the

Spice Islands A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices ar ...

and to incite the local population to rise against the Spanish. The expedition left from

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

on 27 June 1598, but suffered misfortune from the start. The ships with their (initial) captains were: ''Hoop'' (''Hope''), captained by Jacques Mahu, leader of the expedition; ''Liefde'' (''Love''), captained by

Simon de Cordes Simon de Cordes (born around 1559 – died 11 November 1599) was a Dutch merchant and explorer who after the death of Admiral Jacques Mahu, became leader of an expedition with the goal to achieve the Indies,DE REIS VAN MAHU EN DE CORDES DOOR DE ...

, second-in-command; ''Geloof'' (''Believe''), captained by Gerrit van Beuningen; ''Trouwe'' (''Faith''), captained by Jurriaan van Boekhout; and finally ''Blijde Boodschap'' (''Good Tiding'' or ''The Gospel''), captained by

Sebald de Weert Sebald or Sebalt de Weert (May 2, 1567 – May 30 or June 1603) was a Flemish captain and vice-admiral of the Dutch East India Company (known in Dutch as ''Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie'', VOC). He is most widely remembered for accurately p ...

. The ''Blijde Boodschap'' was better known as ''Vliegend Hart'' (''Flying heart'') prior to this particular voyage. ''Liefde'' had been previous known as ''

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

'' and still had a figurehead of him. After leaving European waters the ships spent 2 until 29 September at the

Cape Verde Islands , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

off the coast of Africa. Many of the crew of the ''Hoop'' caught fever there, with some of the men dying, among them Admiral Jacques Mahu. He died on September 23, 1598, leaving the expedition without its leader. The leadership of the expedition was taken over by

. ''Blijde Boodschap'' was captured by the Spanish in South America, ''Hoop'' was lost near Hawaii and ''Trouwe'' was captured by the Portuguese on

Tidore Tidore ( id, Kota Tidore Kepulauan, lit. "City of Tidore Islands") is a city, island, and archipelago in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, west of the larger island of Halmahera. Part of North Maluku Province, the city includes the island ...

. The ''Geloof'' became the first Dutch ship to cross the Pacific and returned to Holland via the Strait of Magellan in July 1600 with only 36 of her original 109 crewmen. ''Liefde'' was wrecked on the coast of Japan with 24 survivors, one of whom, William Adams, remained as a trader and personal advisor to ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

References

16th-century Dutch explorers 1598 deaths 1564 births 16th-century explorers {{explorer-stub