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Testimony taken by order of the honorable Director Matthias Beck concerning the seizure of the Company’s Negroes who were left aboard the ship named St. Jan at the island of Rocus, as well as the seizure of the Company’s vessel which the aforesaid honorable Director M. Beck sent out to save them.

Appeared Jan van Gaelen who was sent out by the honorable director in the Company’s vessel with Skipper Hans Marcussen Stuyve in order to help save the aforesaid slaves, and having sailed off from the fort here on the seventh of November, with the skipper of the lost ship and some of his sailors, arrived towards the evening of Saturday in sight of Bonairo. While running towards shore they met an English pirate ship or privateer whose captain was Jan Pietersen born in Denmark. They came out from the shore, having the weather-gage of them, and ordered them to strike, threatening to fire if they did not do so at once. When this deponent came on board the aforesaid privateer, he was asked where he was coming from and where he intended to go. He replied that he was coming from Curaçao and intended to go to Bonaira. Whereupon the captain of the privateer asked what he intended to do there. To which the deponent replied, “To go visit the Company’s personnel.” Whereupon he said, “I’ll accompany you with my ship and with you on board here, and let the vessel go on ahead.” Which they did. And when they arrived at the roadstead of Bonairo with the aforesaid vessel, which had 5 to 6 of the privateer’s crew on board, one of the men from the wrecked ship called out from shore to those on the vessel, as the deponent learned afterwards, whether they had brought along Skipper Blaes, the skipper of the wrecked ship, and whether they had been to Rocus^[1] to save the Negroes who were left behind on the stranded ship or whether they were just on their way there now to rescue them. Whereupon the privateers, who were on the bark, said, addressing the aforesaid skipper, “Now it is enough that we know that you are the skipper of the wrecked ship.” About two hours later the privateer with his ship named ‘t Casteel Ferget, carrying four guns and about thirty men, arrived in the roadstead close by to where the vessel lay at anchor. Then his mates aboard the Company’s bark or vessel shouted over to him, “Captain, we have a good prize.” When they told him of the wrecked ship at Rocus, he berated the deponent severely for not having told him about this, to which he replied that he was not obliged to do so; at the same time he demanded and protested for his release so that he might continue the voyage he had been sent out on. He was not willing to do this; on the contrary, he detained him by force, and on the following Sunday sent the vessel, against his will, to Cleen Curaçao^[2] where the aforesaid privateer’s lieutenant was with a group of his men and a pirogue watching, as they said, the Company’s vessels. On the following Monday morning the aforesaid vessel returned with the lieutenant and the crew, leaving their pirogue, which they had taken from the Spaniards on the coast of Caracas, at anchor at Cleen Curaçao, which it still is. Towards evening they set sail, taking with them by force the Company’s vessel, upon which he put his own crew, leaving only the aforesaid Skipper Hans with two men on board; and they took by force the deponent with the rest of the crew of the vessel and some from the wrecked ship on board his ship and proceeded to sail to the coast of Caracas. When they arrived there the privateer ran a frigate aground which they learned carried six guns; and which they crossed over and came to land near the little Ilhe Davits^[3] where they anchored. When the deponent requested that he and the rest of the crew be put aboard their bark, they would only allow the deponent to go aboard the bark or vessel. Then the privateer remained there and sent the deponent with fourteen of the privateer’s crew aboard the Company’s vessel to Rocus with instructions to seize the slaves as a good prize upon arrival, even if the bark named De Jonge Bontecoe, commanded by Jan Ryckartsen, which had also been sent out by the director to rescue the aforesaid slaves, might have them on board. The aforesaid bark had been there four days by the wreck and had made fast a line to it in order in this way to get the Negroes to their bark and rescue them; however, they could not carry it out for fear of the Negroes and because there were too few hands on board. Therefore they decided to wait for the Company’s vessel, commanded by the aforesaid Hans Stuyve, so that the crew would be stronger and thus make it easier to be able to bring the Negroes on board. Upon arriving there the privateer’s fourteen men boarded them with the vessel, in the presence of the deponent, and attacked and overpowered them in a hostile manner, seizing boats from the bark and sloop, both Company’s property, and fetched the Negroes out of the wreck to the number of 84, and loaded them in the aforesaid bark De Bontecoe. They then proceeded to Ilhe Davits where the privateer lay and took all the Negroes on board. In the meantime the sloop or vessel stayed with the deponent at Rocus, claiming to want to save other things and went the following day to the aforesaid Ilhe Davits, after having salvaged some cooking pots and rope, which they also took aboard the privateer. When this was done the deponent asked whether they were now satisfied, and requested permission to depart with the aforesaid vessel or Company’s sloop. They replied, after they had taken on wood and water. Persisting in his request he finally received the reply that the vessel was of use to him and he did not intend to return it; and also, if the bark could be of use, he would keep it as well, in addition to everything coming from and going to Curaçao belonging to the Company. “However, since it is of no use to me, you can go with all the crew aboard; and don’t mouth off too much or you shall all leave naked; and dont make sail until we have gone.” On the evening of the 23rd, when he^[4] made sail and steered a course towards the mainland, he^[5] set sail and arrived here today. This he declares to have truly occurred and will confirm it by oath if necessary. For which purpose he was summoned to Fort Amsterdam on Curaçao, in the presence of Theunis Lucassen and Pieter de Leeuw as witnesses, 1659 the 25th of November.

Appeared Jan Rijckartsen, skipper of the Company’s bark De Jonge Bontecoe who said that he had been ordered to go to Aruba by the honorable director. While there he received orders to proceed on to Rocus immediately to rescue the Company’s slaves who had been stranded in the ship St. Jan coming from the coast of Guinea. “I carried out these [ orders ] at once. Upon arriving there I made every attempt to reach the wreck and even managed to get a line on board; then two Negroes came swimming to the boat by which the line had been brought on board. Afterwards it came loose again and because of the severe weather we could not get it on board again. Therefore we decided to wait for the Company’s vessel, commanded by Hans Marcussen Stuyve, which I had been notified was also coming to help rescue the slaves; especially because my crew was small in number and therefore stood in fear of the Negroes. On the 16th of this month the vessel arrived which attacked me in a hostile manner.” When the deponent asked what they wanted, he said he was to show them his sea certificate, which he did. They said it was in order and told him that he was to remain in their service as long as they wished. He refused to do this because he was not obligated to serve them but rather the honorable director in the service of the Company for which he was dispatched. Nevertheless, he and his crew were forced to submit and they took his boat away by force, and with the same, together with the vessel’s boat, they secured the Company’s slaves aboard the aforesaid bark. “Then we sailed with him to line Davits where the privateer named Casteel Ferget lay, commanded by Jan Pietersen from Coldingen in Denmark, to whom the crew belonged who had overpowered and taken the aforesaid Company’s vessel; and they transferred the slaves into the ship.” In the meantime the aforesaid vessel remained at Rocus with the deponent’s boat in order, as they claimed, to use them to save still more things with the aforesaid vessel and boat; and they did, indeed, take off two more slaves, some elephants’ tusks and other trifles, so that altogether they took 84 slaves and 2 nursing children. They also seized and made off with the Company’s vessel commanded by Hans Marcussen Stuyve, and told the deponent that “even if I had had the aforesaid slaves on board the bark upon their arrival at Rocus, they would have taken them off and declared them a good prize, because I had no commission, but only a sea certificate.” And the deponent says that they offered him money for the service performed by his bark and crew; as it was involuntary he refused to take it because no service was owed them, and he could accept nothing for compulsory service. The deponent also say’s that he gave the captain a note stating that he had received nothing from them; and also, that “the captain of the aforesaid privateer sent on board to me all the remaining crew of the aforesaid Company’s bark of Hans Marcussen Stuyve, and ordered me not to set sail before he was under sail, which was the evening of the 23rd of November, with him steering his course towards the coast and us towards this place, where we arrived on this date.” This he declares to be the truth and, if necessary, will confirm by oath.

Curaçao in Fort Amsterdam the 25th of November 1659.

Appeared Hans Marcussen Stuyve, skipper of the Company’s vessel, who declared, “On the 7th of November I set sail from here by order of the honorable director for Rocus in order to rescue the Company’s slaves there and anything else from the stranded ship St. Jan which was sailing from Guinea. On the following day we arrived off Bonajira with the aforesaid bark and met an English privateer or pirate, who had the wind of us and forced us to strike. We then launched our boat manned by Jan van Gaelen and two of his mates, whom they kept on board and set my boat back with men to take over my bark. This they accomplished and took us against our will to Bonajra.” After arriving there, they put more men on board and sent this deponent from there to Cleen Curaçao in order to fetch the privateer’s lieutenant and some men from a pirogue which they had taken from the Spaniards along the coast of Caracas and which was stationed there to watch the coming and going of the Company’s vessels. “After they arrived there, they came over into our vessel and abandoned the pirogue, leaving it riding at anchor. Then they returned to Bonajra where the privateer was anchored. After arriving there, they all set sail together for the coast of Caracas, in spite of every protest against the injustice being done to us. Upon arriving there they ran a Spanish ship aground and we ran a pirogue aground with our sloop. Striking back over from there we came to land at little line Davits^[6] where the privateer anchored. After putting more men on board with us, he forced us to go to Rocus to rescue the slaves from the stranded ship; and if they had already been rescued by the Company’s bark commanded by Jan Ryckertsen, to overpower it and take them off. Upon arriving there we found the aforesaid bark, which we immediately boarded and took by force, thinking that they had taken all the slaves on board; however, although they had been there four days before us, they were unable to accomplish anything because the line they had put aboard the wreck had come loose again and they could not approach the wreck again because of the severe wind. Only two Negroes were brought on board by swimming over; in addition, they felt their crew was too small, so they were waiting for us to arrive in order, with more hands and calmer weather, to be able to rescue the slaves and anything else. Then, as I said, after coming to the bark, they seized it by force, and with their boat and ours the privateer’s crew rescued 82 slaves and two nursing children and put them aboard the aforesaid bark of Skipper Jan Rijckertsen, in spite of our protestations that we could not assist them much less allow our vessels to be used. They then took them away to line Davits, where the aforesaid privateer lay at anchor with his frigate named Casteel Ferget commanded by Jan Pietersen from Denmark; and they forced us to remain with our aforesaid bark at Rocus in order to salvage, so they said, anything else with the boat belonging to the aforesaid Jan Rijckertsen. And they did salvage eight or nine small elephants’ tusks, two cooking pots, some pewter ware and rope, with which they proceeded to the aforesaid line Davits, where the aforesaid privateer transferred everything from the aforesaid Company’s vessels and forced us to stay put until he had taken on wood and water.” He also wanted to pay the deponent for his labors and the use of the vessels and boats, but he would accept nothing, answering that they had been sent out not for their service but on the Company’s service by the honorable director Matthias Beck, and that force and violence had been used against them. Whereupon the captain of the privateer became very irritated and seized the deponent’s vessel, even though he had showed him more than three times the sea certificate issued by the aforesaid honorable director, acknowledging even that the sea certificate was valid and that he was a free man, and had nothing to say against him. “Nevertheless he still took my vessel, saying that he needed it and made me and my crew evacuate it, allowing us only to take our clothing, and then put us aboard the aforesaid Jan Rijckertsen’s bark.” The deponent says that he was forced to sign a note without knowing its contents, for it was written in English, and this deponent does not understand the English language. “And after being ordered not to set sail before they had made sail, which was the evening of the 23rd of this month, they set their course for the mainland and we, leaving behind one of our crew named Jacob Pietersen van Belcom who voluntarily stayed with them, headed the bark of Jan Rijckertsen to this harbor, where we arrived safely today.” And this he declares to be true and will confirm the same, if necessary, by oath; in the presence of Mr. Ghijsberto de Rosa and Pieter de Leeuw summoned hereto as witnesses. Curaçao in Fort Amsterdam, the 25th of November 1659.

Appeared Roelff Roelffsen van Wessen and Cornells Ierman[      ] van Meerdum, sailors of Skipper Jan Rijckertsen, who, after having seen the deposition of their aforesaid skipper, declared that it was indeed the way everything occurred, and they are willing to confirm the same by oath, if necessary. In the presence of Mr. Ghijsberto de Rosa and Pieter de Leeuw summoned as witnesses thereto. Curaçao in Fort Amsterdam, the 25th of November 1659.

Appeared Jan Gertsen and Jan Pietersen, sailors of Skipper Hans Marcussen Stuyve, who, after having seen the deposition of their aforesaid skipper, declared that it was indeed the way everything occurred, and they are willing to confirm the same by oath, if necessary. In the presence of Messrs. Gisberto de Rosa and Pieter de Leeuw summoned thereto as witnesses. Curaçao in Fort Amsterdam, the 25th of November 1659.

Appeared Skipper Adriaen Blaes van der Veer who says that he was commanded by the honorable general of El Mina^[7] and the Gold Coast named Johan Valckenburch on this last 4th of March to sail as skipper of the ship St. Jan from the roadstead of the aforesaid castle El Mina with Commissary Johan Froon and the accompanying crew or sailors who are in the Company’s service, to the Calabari^[8] or Rio Real^[9] in order to trade there for slaves and to proceed with them, by order of the aforesaid general, to this place. “In obedience to these orders 219 slaves, large and small, were actually traded for and purchased, and with them we set sail in order to continue our aforesaid voyage and execute our instructions. Whereas we were unable to acquire sufficient provisions at the aforesaid Calabari, which this voyage required for the maintenance of the aforesaid slaves, we decided to go to the highlands of Ambosius^[10] where we were unable to acquire the desired provisions. Therefore we went to the river of Camerones ^[11] where we acquired some things, although not as much as needed. Nevertheless, we proceeded on our voyage to the Cabo de Lopo Gonsalves^[12] where we took on wood and water. From there we struck out across to Anabo,^[13] experiencing great misery for want of provisions, where we acquired some food. Continuing on our voyage we made land in this past month of October at the island of Tabago, after the majority of the slaves had died from deprivation and disease,^[14] as a result of the extremely long voyage, so that only 90 slaves had survived out of the entire cargo. After taking on water and some food, we set sail from there round about the islands; and after setting our course west by south on the first of this month, we ran aground two hours before daybreak on one of the reefs of Rocus at the northeast side of the island. After perceiving our danger, I saved myself in the boat, together with all the crew, leaving the Negroes in the ship, and continued our voyage to this place in order to inform the honorable lord director M. Beck of our misfortune. After leaving some men on Bonairo, because the boat was overloaded with the entire crew, we came here to this place on the fourth of this month. After giving our report to the aforesaid lord director, he sent me with the same boat to Aruba, to which place the Company’s ships had gone the previous day on Company’s business, with orders to cross over in the same Company’s vessels with just five of my crew members and Jan van Gaelen, the Company’s servant. When we arrived there the following day, I transferred to the Company’s vessel commanded by Hans Marcussen Stuyve, together with Jan van Gaelen and two of my mates, and [ put ] the other three of my mates aboard the bark named De Jonge Bontecoe commanded by Jan Rijckertsen, all Company’s servants. We set out without delay, pursuant to the orders received from the aforesaid lord director here, and headed towards Rocus to rescue the aforesaid slaves and anything else from the ship. After having waited here for half an hour we departed on the evening of the seventh and in the afternoon of the following day we reached the coast of Bonajra, where we met an English privateer who, by virtue of having the wind of us, overtook and forced us to strike and set out a boat, aboard which was Jan van Gaelen.” He told them that they were coming from Curaçao destined for Bonajra. “Whereupon the aforesaid privateer detained Jan van Gaelen and sent the boat back, which he had used, with some of his men to our vessel, looking for pieces of eight which they said we had on board. When they found none, because we did not have any, they forced us to run with them to the roadstead of Bonairo where we arrived about two hours before the privateer. While riding in the roadstead, where we were seen by some of my men on shore who knew nothing of these proceedings, someone called out whether I was on board. The privateers seizing the word before me asked, ‘Who?’ Whereupon they replied, ‘The skipper of the stranded ship at Rocus, adding whether we had been for the slaves yet or were just going now to rescue them. To which the privateers replied that they were going to save them, and exhibited great joy over it. When the privateer came to anchor, they said, ‘Captain, we have a good prize!’ “ Whereupon they forced the deponent to go aboard the privateer, which was a small frigate carrying four guns and about thirty men, commanded by Jan Pietersen born in Denmark. The aforesaid frigate was named ‘t Casteel Ferget. When [ the deponent ] came on board, the captain asked how many Negroes he had left aboard his ship. He answered, eighty. When he discovered this, he sent the Company’s vessel to Cleen Curaçao to fetch his lieutenant and some of his men who were waiting there watching the Company’s vessels in a pirogue, which they had taken from the Spaniards. In the meantime the deponent remained aboard the privateer, and when they returned to the aforesaid roadstead of Bonajra, the privateer allowed the deponent to return to the bark, aboard which was still Skipper Hans Marcussen with one of his men, who had been forced to go with them to Cleen Curaçao to fetch his lieutenant and men. “As stated, I came to this vessel with two of my men from the aforesaid privateer; there being in all five Company’s servants aboard the aforesaid Company’s vessel. When the captain also placed his lieutenant and pilot, together with some of his crew, aboard the bark, we set sail, under compulsion, leaving behind Jan van Gaelen and some of his men whom the privateer held aboard his ship by force, refusing to heed any protests or requests as freemen, which they themselves admitted we were, after being shown the sea certificate issued by the lord director to the aforesaid Hans Marcussen Stuyve as skipper of the aforesaid Company’s vessel; and that they were consequently using force and violence towards us who could not in any manner serve them, but only the Company, to which we alone owed obedience, and that for the purpose of executing the orders of the honorable director, for which purpose and no other we were sent out. In spite of all this we were forced to make sail with the aforesaid privateer who set his course for the mainland of Caracas, where they ran aground a Spanish ship carrying six guns, and with our bark they ran aground in our presence a Spanish pirogue. After this, they and the privateer forced us to cross over and come to anchor below little Ilhe Davits where they put still more men on board our bark until their strength was fourteen men altogether. While he^[15]† remained there at anchor, we set sail for Rocus. When we arrived there we found the other Company vessel named De Jonge Bontecoe, commanded by the aforesaid Jan Rijckertsen with three men from my boat on board who had gone over with him to Aruba. As stated, they had gone there by order of the aforesaid lord director; also, with orders [ to be used ] for no other purpose than to rescue the aforesaid slaves and other effects, and had waited there four days, and had done so much as to put a line aboard my ship. After two of the Negroes came on board by swimming, the line came loose again and when they saw they did not have enough strength because of the strong wind, they decided to wait for us, having been informed of our arrival, in order, with the added strength and calmer weather, to rescue the aforesaid slaves and other effects with our sloops or boats from my aforesaid ship which also belonged to the Company. Then they, the privateer’s men who were aboard our bark, thinking that the aforesaid Jan Rijckertsen with his crew and my three men had saved all of them, approached and boarded them with our bark, pursuant to the orders they had thereto from their captain, who had been informed of the departure of the aforesaid Company’s bark and the reason why we were sent out by a Friesian named Jacob Pietersen van Belcom, a sailor in the Company’s service under the aforesaid skipper Hans Marcussen Stuyve, who had voluntarily deserted to them on the same day that we boarded the privateer. These orders were to board them and see if they had rescued the aforesaid slaves and other effects, and to seize and remove them. This they did in a hostile manner, in the presence of the deponent and four others of the Company’s servants, who were unable to restrain themselves from objecting to the injustice being carried out against them; and when they saw that no more than two of the aforesaid slaves had been rescued, they took our boat away from us by force as well as Jan Rijckertsen’s boat and all the property belonging to the Company’s vessels, and with them, as the weather moderated, fetched the slaves out of my ship, making use of one of my sailors named Marten Michielsen van Hulst who was aboard the aforesaid Jan Rijckertsen’s bark. By his assistance, because the Negroes knew him and called him by name, the aforesaid Jan Rijckertsen also got the line on board; and he also got over with one of the privateers at the time when all the slaves and everything else were still on board. Then the privateer’s lieutenant and two of his men swam to the ship, making four of them, and brought another line aboard the Company’s vessel by which they had the Negroes, who could swim, climb down to the reef, and those unable to swim they brought to the same reef with the boat from the vessel. In the meantime, after the other boat was bailed out and brought within the reef, they used it to bring aboard the aforesaid Jan Rijckertsen’s bark eighty-two slaves and two babies.” This deponent requested of the lieutenant and the men of the privateer, before they had taken any slaves from the ship, that he be allowed to go on board with his sailors, but was disallowed until there were no more than thirty left on board. After all the Negroes had been removed from the ship, this deponent was put aboard Jan Rijckertsen’s bark together with the instructions issued to him by the honorable lord general Johan Valckenburch as well as all the papers and accounts of his aforesaid commissary relating to his cargo and other business done according to the Company’s orders. Then they took the deponent, together with the aforesaid bark and Negroes, from there to line Davits where the privateer lay at anchor waiting for us, leaving behind the vessel commanded by Hans Marcusen Stuyve to rescue two Negroes whom the deponent left there when he vacated his ship. “It then joined us the following day at the aforesaid Davit’s Island^[16], bringing with it the aforesaid two slaves, rope and about 70 pounds of elephants’tusks, as well as some flags, compasses and other trifles.” After the privateer transferred everything from the Company’s vessel, the slaves as well as other articles, he also took from the deponent the aforesaid instructions issued by the lord general, together with all the papers of the commissary, in spite of every protest and request to the contrary, giving the deponent as an answer that everything belonged to him. In addition, he instructed them to stay there until he had taken on wood and water; and afterwards he took Hans Marcussen Stuyve’s aforesaid vessel, stating that he needed it and made the deponent stay aboard the aforesaid Jan Rijckertsen’s bark, forcing him to make room for the aforesaid Hans Marcussen Stuyve with all of his crew and some of the deponent’s men. When this was done, he ordered them not to sail for this place until he had set sail, which was the 23rd of this month, setting his course for the mainland; and this deponent, with his crew and that of the Company’s bark, set their course, with the aforesaid bark of Jan Rijckertsen, for this place, where they safely arrived on the 25th of this month. This he declares to be the truth and to have occurred in this manner, and will confirm the same by oath if necessary. In the presence of Messrs. Ghijsberto de Rosa and Pieter de Leeuw, summoned hereto as witnesses. Curaçao in Fort Amsterdam, the 27th of November 1659.

Appeared Claes Jacobsen van Rotterdam, Frans Willemsen van Terwoude, Jan Joorissen van Middelburgh, Marten Michielsen van Hulst, sailors of the ship St. Jan commanded by Adriaen Blaes van der Veer, who declare that everything to which the aforesaid has attested concerning the stranding of his ship at Rocus and the removal of its slaves by the frigate named Casteel Ferget, commanded by Jan Pietersen from Denmark, is the complete truth; and they declare themselves ready at any time to confirm the same, as if it were written here word for word, by oath if necessary. In the presence of Messrs. Ghijsberto de Rosa and Pieter de Leeuw hereto summoned. Curaçao in Fort Amsterdam, the 27th of November 1659.

After collation we find it to agree word for word with the original. Curaçao, the 27th of November in Fort Amsterdam, 1659.

Nicolaes Hack, secretary

Notes

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.