This article reminds me of a tidbit about the VOC (Dutch East India Company): "There was an extraordinarily high mortality rate among employees of the VOC due

This article reminds me of a tidbit about the VOC (Dutch East India Company): "There was an extraordinarily high mortality rate among employees of the VOC due to shipwrecks, illnesses such as scurvy and dysentery, and clashes with rival trading companies and pirates. The VOC 'consumed' approximately 4,000 people per year." [1] [1] Zanden (1993) The rise and decline of Holland's economy : merchant capitalism and the labour market