Career
The first expedition, which was organised by Pieter van der Hagen and Johan van der Veeken, consisted of a fleet of five ships and about 500 mentor The ships with their initial captains were:
The Hoop, captained by Jacques Mahu
The Liefde, captained by Simón de Cordes
The Geloof, captained by Gerrit van Beuningen
The Trouwe, captained by Van Boekhout
The Blijde Boodschap, captained by Sebald de Weert
The expedition left from Rotterdam on 27 June 1598, but suffered from misfortune from the start. Many men died from sickness off the coast of Africa, amongst them Mahu himself.
The leadership of the expedition was taken over by Simon de Cordes.
