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cause the Commandeur Beekman said that he was not well furnished with provisions, so that I have but left my assistant by himself at the fort. Concerning my goods, have duly received all the provisions with which Y. N. have been pleased to supply me; all has come safe to hand with the exception of a half hogshead of prunes and other groceries besides that were therein. So my assistant has been on board of the ship "De Vrijheijt," and asked the mate if he did not know anything of it, who showed him his Memorandum book, and found there nothing about it, so that I believe has happened through fault of the purveyor. I having thus arrived in Bourona, the natives of the land have been very friendly to me. I have been well able to see that it is a good land, by surmise about 11 to 12 miles in the river. I have found the most suitable places, where formerly the magazine stood, for the purpose of constructing a stronghold there, because that now here is any land round empty which was suitable for laying down plantations except on the creek.

The goods sent for, which I, as per accompanying Memorandum, have sent for, is quite ordinary, for some red slaves to barter for oriane dye and vessels and provisions and whatever comes up. But so Y. N. be pleased to send further cargoes in order to make a journey as occasion offers to Orinoco; there Y. N. will be pleased to send forward also other cargoes, in order to traffic among the Spaniards there. Y. N. will likewise be pleased to send some slippers and shoes and white shirts, as well as hats and white fustian, in order to sell them to the soldiers and other folk; also, Y. N. will be pleased to send me five or six red coats and breeches, with some sham gold and silver lace, to keep on friendly terms with the upper Chiefs of the Indians.

The postholders placed in Bourona to barter dye I had determined to keep, but the Commandeur Beekman said that he had need of his people, so the Commandeur summoned them and made them stay here at the fort.

Extract from letter from Abraham Beekman, Commandeur in Essequibo, to West India Company, June 7, 1686.

Just as I am closing this, Daentje, the Company's old negro, comes from the savanna up in Cuyuni, from the Pariacotten. He has been away for fully seven months, and was detained quite three months by

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the dryness of the river. Because the French scour the country up there and buy up everything, he was able to get but little carap-oil and few hammocks.

Extracts from letter from Abraham Beekman, Commandeur in Essequibo, to West India Company, January 7, 1689.

[Reprinted from U. S. Commission, Report, Vol. 2, pp. 187-189.]

SIRS These few respectful lines serve only to inform you that the ship den jongen Indiaen, skipper Gerrit Schonck, having left on the 13th of December last with my letters to you without any return freight, since he had no instructions therefor, and having got down to near the mouth of this river, met there the fishing boat, skipper Steven de Waterman, coming from Orinoco, who told skipper G. Schonck that on the sea, a little below this river, he had met and boarded a large barque, whose skipper had informed him that he had come in seven weeks from Texel, and, intending to go to Surinam, had fallen off too far to leeward, and that shortly before his departure from Texel war had been proclaimed between France and our country, and that our fleet, 100 ships of war strong, was at sea, since there was fear of a rupture with England. This caused skipper Gerrit Schonck to resolve to touch at the coast of Biscay.

Inasmuch as skipper Steven de Waterman is ready to depart to-day with his boat for Surinam, I did not wish to let pass this opportunity of informing you how this news has caused me to look about and employ all means necessary for our defense; that is, above all, to keep a good lookout-watch four or five miles down the river,-to fortify with a double row of strong palisades the house of the Company's plantation New Middelburg, which stands upon a high hill,-to have Mels Goethals and one foreman with all the slaves of the Company's plantation, since the latter is very weak in slaves, transferred to it,—and to add to the six men of those two plantations five or six more men, with two or three small pieces of ordnance, so as to be able to resist a hostile barque or other small craft and not be forced every moment to seek shelter at the fort from so slight a force. This undoubtedly, according to all indications, will happen, as the French are daily sojourning in Barima with the Caribs, often with two or three barques, and the English from the islands may do likewise. And, for a proper occupation of so many posts and the fort, we lack the men, our force consisting of a sergeant and 18 soldiers and three or four workmen, with a surgeon, the skipper of the barque, and six men on the two plantations.

Considering, then, that in Pomeroon the company has nothing to lose but a small bread and yam garden, with five or six decrepit negroes,

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the others having been sold to the free planters, and moreover two onepounders, lent by me to the Commandeur at his earnest request until he should have obtained others (I have sent him, too, at various times, the larger share of the wares, such as beads and heavy ironware, of all of which I have sent you a list by the ship), and the whole force there consists of only nine or ten men, surely a feeble garrison to resist his neighbors the French and Caribs in Barima and elsewhere (though, as these know well, that little or nothing is to be got there, probably no attack is to be feared)-for these reasons, then, and others too long to detain you with, I thought it well, since beyond all question more is to be lost here, and, moreover, both were the Company's property and servants, to notify the Commandeur Jacob de Jonge, to consider, since nothing of consequence and no stores are there, while here are many of importance, whether it would not be to the best interest of the Company, if he, with all his men, and everything he could bring with him, should come hither at the earliest opportunity, and join us, in order here in union with us to help protect what is of most importance, and the more vigorously to resist and in every way to beat off the foe. Upon the receipt of this message, he came in person three or four days ago, since he was not able to write, and his assistant has long been sick here with consumption; whereupon I orally set forth the matter to the Commandeur aforesaid, who said that he was also inclined thereto and considered all those arguments sufficient, but begged a delay until the boat from Surinam should come back and more particulars of the war should be obtained from home via that colony, and [added] that, if our affairs were really in such a dangerous state, he would, upon notification from me, come with all his men and material of war. And, since no provisions are left in Pomeroon, I have, in order to supply his men and replenish our provisions, which likewise were becoming scant because the seaside produces little, requested the Manager Gideon de Bourse to buy for us ten or twelve barrels of fresh meat, together with some refreshments of wine and brandy, and to apprise you.

* * *

Letter from Jacob de Jonge, Commandeur in Pomeroon, to West India Company, July 6, 1689.

[Reprinted from Blue Book, No.3, p. 66.]

This letter of mine humbly to service to make Y. N. acquainted with what has happened since my last, as to how that we in the River Bourona have been suddenly attacked and overpowered by 33 French and about 300 Caribs, the one party by water with 10 canoes and 3 corials, and the other party by land out of the wood (since we had no cannon and were

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but six men strong), to wit, the last day of last April; but I effected my escape, accompanied by some red slaves. The Caribs of the French party pursued me vigorously, so that I was compelled to hurry through the wood to escape them with my clothes all thrown off, and came at last with great distress into Essequebo to the fort, to give them warning of our miserable experiences. They had on the next day, being the 1st May, taken their departure from there, and had taken, moreover, with them everything that was there, and had used strong threats to the people that they would burn everything, unless they sought me out. Yet seeing that they were unaware in what direction I had taken flight, they left it alone, but if they had caught me they would without doubt have made me seek out the red slaves who had escaped. The reason why I was obliged to fly was that I had gone with my surgeon to a house standing some 20 paces from the fort for some business. The French had meanwhile approached from below through the sugar-canes without our knowing anything of it, and were 60 feet from me when they all stood up and rushed upon the house in which I was. When we first became aware of them they stood on the path by which I must needs return to the fort, so that I could not reach the fort, but to my vexation was obliged to betake myself to flight. A few days after this I left again for Bourona to inspect what was the state of things, because not otherwise did it appear whether they should have murdered everyone, since they had so many Caribs with them. But I found my people all still alive, and continued my sojourn with my people there, until I received a letter from the Commandeur of Essequebo, telling how the French were in the River Berbice engaged in hostilities against the other settlements; whereupon I straightway determined with my people to hasten to Essequebo, since we besides had no provisions to live upon. The bread that the Caribs had left there, not cut level with the ground, was very little, so that we in a body have departed for Essequebo, since the people of Berbice had warned the people of Essequebo, that they firmly believed that the French would also make an attack on Essequebo. There are still some red slaves (who had fled before the French), all of these same I shall seek to get hold of among the Indians. We have then carried ourselves over into the Company's service again in River Essequebo until further orders arrive from Y. N. I had thought to have set out for Surinam with the Company's red slaves, and sold the same there to the Company's profit; but hearing the French with seven royal ships of war were attacking Berbice, I was obliged at last to turn away from there without effecting anything, and to continue, therefore, my sojourn here still for a time.

The reason wherefore I have not written more to Y. N. is because that my Secretary Cornelister Bergh has been ill for a long time and unfit for duty, and on the 26th January last is deceased. I was also

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astonished in sixteen months to have had no letter from Y. N. or from the Chamber of Zeeland, nor to have got any assistance of any kind, so that I have needs been in lack of everything, and since the time does not permit greater length I shall, having made this sacrifice to my bounden duty remain,

Extract from letter from Abraham Beekman, Commandeur in Essequibo, to West India Company, October 12, 1689.

[Reprinted from U. S. Commission, Report, Vol. 2, p. 190.]

The French are making a strong-house1 in Barima; they come there often with 3 or 4 barques to traffic with those hostile Caribs, and threaten soon to come and pay us a visit. We are now, thank God, in a condition to resist the enemy, with our 40 able-bodied men, all strong negroes, in this fort with a thick stone wall and heavy palisades a foot thick erected outside against the wall. But the great scarcity of provisions forces us to let 10 or 12 men seek their sustenance outside of the fort, down the river, where they also serve as a lookout watch. Yet, the river being broad and having many mouths, light craft can come in everywhere without [our] having the least [knowledge] of it.

Extract from proceedings of the West India Company (the Ten), Novem

*

ber 15, 1689.

[Reprinted from U. S. Commission, Report, Vol. 2, pp. 190-191.]

It was further resolved that from the colony of Pomeroon shall be removed whatever has been brought thither on behalf of the company, both the employees and the slaves and other commodities, there being left there only three men with a flag for the maintenance of the company's possession at the aforesaid place, and that the aforesaid employees and commodities be transported to Essequibo in order there to be employed for the service of the Company.

1 Note by Prof. Burr.-For the local meaning of this term see p. 47, above, where it is used of the redout building in Essequibo, and De Jonge's letter of April 6, 1688 (Blue Book, No. 3, p. 65), where is described the blockhouse with overhanging upper-story destroyed by the French in Pomeroon in April of this year 1689.