 Nuyts was held under house arrest by the Japanese from 1632 until 1636 , when he was released and sent back to Batavia . During this period he passed the time by mining his collection of classical Latin texts by writers such as Cicero , Seneca , and Tacitus to write treatises on subjects such as the elephant and the Nile Delta , exercises which were designed to display rhetorical flair and high style . He also further annoyed Dutch authorities by spending lavish sums on clothing and food , things for which the VOC had to foot the bill . 
