SC - transporting ingredients

[Jeff Gedney]

> Spices shipped by sea would have been sealed in containers which would
> protect them from water.  This would also help protect them from the air.

Information that I have, from my research into nautical stuff, is that spices were
routinely shipped by the _ton_ (yes, TON) by late period, which is what made 
shipping spices so profitable. They could make it to England in as little as six 
months (though more than a year was usual), and were packaged in dry casks
which would be waterfproof (barring a prolonged soaking). either by virtue of 
construction or by application of a caulking or sealing material (like grease or 
parrafin) to the seams of the cask.
IIRC, the Spices were measured and weiged out by the local authority (usually 
an agent of the king) under the supervision of the Ship's masters or another of 
the Company, placed in leather or cloth bags knotted (and the knots sometimes 
sealed with wax, though this was not ususal) and placed into the casks.

This was a great advantage, because a ship to the East Indies could 
deliver from thirty to as much as a _hundred_  tons of pepper to market in as 
little as six or seven months, as opposed to overland conveyance methods, 
which relied on pack animals to carry the weight, and these needed upkeep, 
stabling, storage, loading, and sometimes rental. Also caravans had to pay 
taxes and for protections every time they crossed borders (and sometimes 
two or three times), whereas the Ocean was generally considered borderless
unless you were actually in a harbor. 
A bag of Sumatran spices may have taken as long as ten years to get to 
European ports by caravan, changing hands several times, contantly being 
bumped, jostled, opened, inspected, sampled, and occasionally cut with 
adulterants to increase the return on investment.
Spices taken by sea were usually directly obtained form the source, and 
therefore likely to be of a higher quality, fresher, and in better condition.

The shipping of bulk spices by sea made Piracy a lucrative, albeit dangerous,
career before the despoiling of the Astec empire made gold the preferred 
commodity cargo.  Many times appropriating the cargoes of other ships was 
how the early East India fleets topped off there holds, which is why the 
company was founded and run notable Elizabethan privateers, such as Sir 
John Hawkins.

Brandu
(yes, I have documentation ...
The best sources are Richard Hakluyts "Voyages", and the collected 
voyages and works of John Davis. )