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Noble, Honorable, Esteemed,Wise, Prudent and very Discreet Lords.
My Lords. I refer your honors to my most recent letters dated September the 3rd which were sent with the ship Den Coninck Salomon and St. Jan. Since then I have duly received on the 23rd of November with the ship De Gidion via Cabo Verde[1] your honors letter of 7 August,[2] with enclosures; and on the 24th of December with the ship De Liefde your honors letter of 8 October, with enclosures. Praise God that both ships have safely arrived here without mishap, carrying those friends who came over with them. And if the ship De Gidion goes at once to Aruba to pick up horses there for the Caribbean islands, under the conditions granted to him by your honors according to the documents which I received thereon,[3] and if the aforesaid ship also spends some time there at the islands before it is able to resume its voyage, then I hope to have the opportunity sooner or later to be able to answer your honors directly from here and to report necessary matters. We let these few lines precede only for the accompaniment of the bearer of this, commissary and skipper of the ship St. Jan, which was coming from the coast of Guinea with Negroes when it ran aground at Rocus, leaving behind some eighty living slaves, in addition to many more than that who died along the way from lack of provisions. Your honors can see from the accompanying papers what effort we made to save the living; at the same time, how the pirates, of whom I informed your honors previously, not only took the Negroes but also the Companys best bark, can be seen in the same papers to which I refer for brevitys sake together with the verbal report of the aforesaid commissary and skipper; and I would, by your honors leave, not deem it inadvisable if a proper seaworthy vessel or yacht equipped with a half dozen guns could be employed to pick up the horses from Aruba and bring them here and to Bonairo, because so many have been bitten to death by rattlesnakes; and which could be manned by a sufficient crew, whenever the occasion arises, in order to pursue pirates. However, it would not be employed for this alone but also for all other necessary occasions. Whereas it is urgently necessary that we search out the pirates in order at least to scare them away from us here if they come for more, we have hired here a small private boat carrying six guns and manned by a heavily armed crew, which is [ to search ] for the aforesaid pirates at those places where we think they make their residence, hoping that we not only may be able to gain some advantage over them but also can take the ringleaders in order that they may be punished as an example to others. For this we shall spare no effort here.
Concerning the strict orders, about which your honors remind us, not to risk in trading what belongs to your honors, we have not only observed since your honors orders thereon, but shall also continue to adhere to them in the future.
The Biscayer, Joan dAguira, from whom we shall stand to receive 3000 hides for your honors account at the island of Cuba, according to the previously reported agreement,[4] has gone to the mainland on other business because neither ships nor opportunities offered themselves in that direction, after having contracted to pay infranquia [5] for those Negroes which were bought here from the ship De Perel; and he advised me that he hoped to return here immediately after the transaction thereof. I would wish when he was here that the occasion arises to secure your honors hides; I shall do my utmost in this matter.
I also wish that the Negroes, who are expected aboard the ship Den Eyckenboom, were presently here; because two large Spanish ships with a yacht from Cadix[6] arrived in the harbor here on the second of this month, after having sailed over in five weeks expressly to fetch the Negroes contracted for on your honors account by Sr. Guilliamme Momma and company. Without a doubt if they were here they would have been tempted to buy much more; however, because the ships are so costly they cannot afford to wait for the Negroes, and if they do not arrive in five or six days the ships will depart in great disgust. I have apologized to them for your honors and myself since I first received orders and instructions with the ship De Gidion, long after the Negroes who had come with the ship Den Coninck Salomon were traded away.
With the aforesaid ship De Gidion I received 28 Negroes and Negresses, old and young, from Cabo Verde, according to the receipt issued to the skipper, among whom three or four are very old and infirm. Those Negroes who are sound and merchantable I trust shall be sold to the aforesaid friends. I shall keep your honors informed, God willing, of our successes and whatever else happens as soon as possible, along with further and more detailed responses to your honors letters; and for brevitys sake refer further to the accompanying enclosures.[7]
Herewith,
Noble, Honorable, Esteemed, Wise, Prudent and very Discreet Lords, I commend your honors, after wishes for a happy New Year, to the merciful protection of the Almighty, and remain, My Lords,
Your honors humble servant,
Curacao, in Fort Amsterdam the 5th of January 1660.
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