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LETTER from Matthias Beck, vice-director of Curaçao to Petrus Stuyvesant

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Noble, Honorable, Valiant, Wise,
Prudent and very Discreet Lord.

My Lord. I am hereby sending the duplicates of the information which I sent your honor with Augustinus Heermans on the occasion of the galiot Nieuw Amstel and it would please us to be informed as soon as possible of its timely and safe arrival; just as I do not want to miss this good occasion and opportunity with skipper Jan Pietersen of the ship Speramundij to inform your honor further (praise God) of the condition of this island. Concerning commerce with our nearest neighbors, because until now we have received so few goods here that have been easily saleable or everything has been sold, and in particular the slave trade for which the Company has reserved this place: Presently there are two ships here almost ready to sail directly to the fatherland. They keep me so busy that I have no time left to write to your honor about these matters in detail. One of them is a Company ship named Den Coninck Salomon which arrived here on the 2nd of July with 331 slaves from Guinea, o£ which I have sold 300 for 150 pieces of eight each upon delivery to a certain Spanish merchant whom I have been expecting to arrive here any day now to pick them up. I hope this takes place before the departure of the aforesaid two ships so that I can send the proceeds thereof to the honorable lords-superiors. From the aforesaid Negroes Franck Bruyn has selected for your honor two boys and a girl who are coming over on this ship. We outfitted them as much as possible against the cold. The aforesaid Franck Bruyn has also selected two for the commissary Van Brugh[1] who are also coming over at this time for the aforesaid commissary’s account. May your honor be pleased to receive the payment from the aforesaid Van Brugh on behalf of and for the Company’s account in whatever manner your honor deems appropriate. The commissary Laurens van Ruyven has also bought here two young Negroes for the account of his brother, the lord secretary there,[2] at the sale price here: 150 pieces of eight each. I am still expecting any day now a ship with Negroes. I wish that they were here; even if they were a thousand, the aforesaid merchant, whom I await here to pick up the aforesaid from Den Coninck Salomon, is not only in the position to but would gladly buy them at once.

I have orders from the honorable lords-superiors to send your honor about 15 or 16 Negroes towards spring. They would have been able to come over now, but because we lack heavy cloth here with which to clothe them, we were afraid that they would not be able to survive there during the winter; and furthermore, because we cannot spare any Negroes here, we have decided, according to the orders of the honorable lords-superiors, to wait until spring when I shall also send a young female Negro for Mr. Augustinus Heermans, as he requested of me. In the meantime I hope to receive instructions and orders from your honor as to whether your honor may need any more Negroes, as stated above, and, for my administration, concerning what ages and quantity your honor desires sent.

We anxiously await here one or another ship which might bring us some provisions, because we are in need of everything here: bread as well as pottage, meat, bacon, etc.

I fear that the lords-superiors presume that the yacht Diemen is bringing us enough provisions from there, by which they and we shall be misled; and it will cause them more losses in the sale of the Negroes than the food which we require both for the maintenance of the garrison and in particular of those Negroes already arrived and still to come. If food does not come soon, which is worth tenfold [ to us ], I cannot understand why the honorable lords-superiors are so remiss in sending provisions because it is one of the most needed items to send for the maintenance of the Negroes and everything else; as I have advised and informed their honors on every occasion.

I was hoping that your honor would have the opportunity to be able to return this ship or another one as soon as possible with as many unfinished timbers previously and once again required here as per memorandum for a reasonable cargo and with as much food as your honor can spare. For this your honor shall do us and the honorable Company a great service. If a load of salt from here or horses from Aruba is needed, they can be provided in return upon your honor’s order.

It grieves me that I am embarrassed by not being able to supply provisions, necessary equipment and other repair materials for the Spanish ships that come into our harbor now and then. For this reason I submitted a proposal some time ago to our honorable lords-superiors in the fatherland to erect here, among other things, a dry dock provided with all kinds of necessary materials and equipment in order to be able to accommodate all such ships with everything, which would serve as a great incentive and inducement to come to our harbor with their ships, and thereby increase our trade. I also proposed that it was necessary to provide these places from now on with stronger garrisons than before as preservation and protection from all foreign designs, which the Company would want to seek to hinder or discourage in this trade which has begun so promisingly and for the increased encouragement of those who come to trade here under their wing, and other accidents which must be expected in times of peace as well as war, so that these places may garner more esteem and respect than they have until now.

It has been on our minds here that if England and Holland go to war again, may God mercifully prevent it, whether we would be attacked here first out of envy for these places and the incipient trade, which they are eager to do because they would like to monopolize trade everywhere and exclude the Hollanders from the same. This has already happened in part, to the prejudice of Holland, in the proceedings with Sweden against Denmark,[3] because the ball had not even been rolled when, according to the news brought here by this ship, fifty large English ships went to the Sound[4] in support of Sweden; on the other hand a fleet lay in Holland ready to go there at once with the fleet which already [      ] from Holland for the assistance of Denmark [      ] under the leadership and command of the vice-admiral DeRuyter. We will be looking for further news concerning its success. May God grant that everything may have turned out for the best for the fatherland and for a good, long-lasting peace, because the war is ruinous and retards all commercial activity.

The bond for the amount of salt loaded on this ship Speramundij from the saltpan of St. Jan was signed here by the skipper and is going to your honor under separate cover, to which I refer for brevity’s sake.[5]

Upon my petition we have received here from the fatherland aboard this ship an excellent young man as predikant by the name of Adriaen Beaumont.[6] He is a kind and edifying young man, extremely gifted and purely educated. Whereas Do. Machiel Zyperus[7] and his wife are coming there on this occasion, with the hopes of acquiring one or another position there, I therefore believe that it would be appropriate for him if he departed from here with a good recommendation which he has earned by his comportment.

I had hoped to have the time and opportunity to be able to write to your honor in more detail, as well as to various other well-known friends there; however, because of the dispatching of the aforesaid ship and other Spanish ships and merchants presently here, I will delay doing so until the next time, God willing.

On account of the continuing drought here, we have not been able to send your honor any oranges or lemons; nevertheless, I am sending your honor herewith four ankers of lemon juice received from the coast of Africa, which I ask be kindly received, with another two barrels of scum salt, appropriately marked, for your honor’s household. According to occasion and opportunity I shall not fail to provide your honor with more and better items.

Herewith,

Noble, honorable, valiant, wise, prudent and very discreet lord, I commend your honor, after our most humble respects, together with Mrs. Stuyvesant and all whom your honor holds dear, to the merciful protection of the Almighty, and remain as long as I live,

[      ] in Fort Amsterdam,
[ 23 ] August 1659.[8]

My Lord, your honor’s
devoted friend and servant.

Notes

i.e., Carel van Brugge, Dutch version of Charles Bridges.
Cornelis van Ruyven.
The Battle of the Sound in October 1658 during the Second Nordic War can be seen as a prelude to the second Anglo-Dutch War, as the Dutch Republic and England supported opposite sides. For more information see: C.R. Boxer, The Dutch Seaborne Empire 1600-1800, (London: Hutchinson & Co., 1965), p. 90.
The strait between Sjaelland Island, Denmark and Sweden, connecting the Kattegat to the Baltic
Does not survive.
Adriaen van Beaumont was ordained 24 February 1659 by the Classis of Amsterdam. See Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York for correspondence with Beaumont while on Curaçao.
According to Corwin’s Manual of the Reformed Church in America, Zyperus arrived in New Netherland in August of 1659 as “a proponent (or candidate).” He joined the church in New Amsterdam as a student of divinity in January 1660. Samuel Drisius writing in August of 1664 to the Classis of Amsterdam states that “Zyperius left for Virginia long ago. He behaved most shamefully here, drinking, cheating and forging other people s writings, so that he was forbidden not only to preach, but even to keep school.” (Ecclesiastical Records, Vol. 1:555) According to Corwin s Manual, Zyperus conformed to the Church of England in Virginia and was still living in 1687.
Date recovered from 17:56 which refers to this letter.

References

Translation: Gehring, C., trans./ed., Curaçao Papers, 1640-1665 (New Netherland Research Center and the New Netherland Institute: 2011).A complete copy of this publication is available on the New Netherland Institute website.