No. 23.

to a certain area within the Charter of the West India Company, at whatever period, in what manner the said Regulations might have been issued, promulgated or drawn up; and we now decree, order, and ordain anew that the vessels of the aforesaid inhabitants shall henceforth be permitted to sail in the West Indies, to wit, from the River Oronocque westwards along the coasts of Paria, Cumana, Venezuela, Carthagena, Portobello, Honduras, Campeche, the Gulf of Mexico, and the coasts of Florida, as well as between and around all the islands situated in those parts, including even Curaçoa, Buenayre, and Aruba, without permission to go east along the Wild Coast, much less to the Amazon or the Maransan [sic], or further north than Cape Florida, and equally without permission to come on any account whatever, or in any manner to the Virginias, New Netherlands, Nova Francia, and other places situated thereabouts, or to sail to or along the coasts of Africa, Brazil, or anywhere else where the Company has trade, under the penalty that whoever shall be found to do or to have done contrary to this shall confiscate both ship and cargo, which also it shall be allowable to seize and to hold as confiscated property at the disposal of the Company without any action at law, and in case such ships or cargoes shall have been sold or have put into other countries or ports, the captains, owners, or underwriters shall be sued for the value of the said ships and cargoes according to Article I of the Charter.

Extract from conditions for colonists, provisionally adopted by the West India Company (Zeeland Chamber), October 12, 1656.

[Reprinted from U. S. Commission, Report, Vol. 2, pp. 113-116.]

Copy.

Draft of notification. To all who shall see this or hear it read, be it known:

Whereas the directors of the Zeeland Chamber of the West India Company, for many years, by all conceivable means and ways, both by its, the Chamber's, own means and by contracting with private persons, have tried, not only to increase its trade and commerce from here to the coasts and islands situate under the charter, but also and especially have made it their aim to further the colonization and agriculture of the aforesaid lands, and yet without such success, results, and fruits as they could have hoped.

Therefore, inasmuch as they have found by careful observation and long experience, that not only the islands lying in their district, but also

No. 24.

the mainland coasts, and especially the Wild Coast, extending from the river Amazon to * * degrees northward, are of such situation and soil that one can there cultivate, plant, raise, and gather everything which it has been possible to cultivate and gather in the famous regions of Brazil, yet that there are needed, for the greater increase of population and agriculture, not only persons of reasonable means, skill and experience, but also all others of lesser condition and ability; they are disposed to offer, and do hereby offer, with the knowledge and approval of the States General of the United Netherlands and of the General Chartered West India Company, in order thereby to encourage each and every one, these following conditons:

Firstly, under the sovereignty of the States General and the authority of the Chartered West India Company, every one shall be at liberty to go from this country, in his own, in hired, or in the Company's ships, to the aforesaid Wild Coast, in order to choose there and take into possession such stretches of land as they shall have need of for their purpose and cultivation, to administer, populate, till and plant it, on condition that they provide themselves with proper shoulder and sidearms with their appurtenances.

Secondly, when by God's help the population on the aforesaid Wild Coast shall have grown to two hundred families or more, the colonists themselves shall, provisionally and with the approval of the Zeeland Chamber, elect three, five or seven councillors from their own number, of the most honest, able and wealthy, born in the seven United Provinces or having lived for ten years under this Government, who shall administer justice according to the law of the province of Zeeland, and shall decide all matters touching their condition and circumstances there, to which end the Zeeland Chamber will provide them with the proper commission from the States General and with authorization and instruction from the General Company, to which they shall be required to take the oath.

Thirdly, every colonist shall possess in fee simple the land and strand upon whose possessions he has entered, and retaining the free right to catch game, fish, or birds, without paying any tax, tithe, or other polltaxes for the space of five years, beginning with the year of making their choice and taking possession; but at the end of the five years the colonists shall be dealt with in all fairness; in any case not more exorbitantly than the inhabitants of the other islands, paying yearly for poll-tax 100 pounds of tobacco-other commodities, such as sugar, indigo, cotton, and other products, being reckoned an equivalent according to their value-unless at the time it should be deemed better to pay the tax of the tithes. In case, however, they leave the lands of which they have taken possession, these shall after two years again revert to the company.

Fourthly, if any one of the colonists, through himself, his family, or his servant, discovers any minerals, crystals, stones, marble, of whatever sort,

No. 24.

he shall be at liberty to take possession thereof, possess them, and use them for his profit, for the time of five years; and after the five years the possessor shall be required only to pay tithe to the company.

Fifthly, the colonists shall be at liberty to carry on trade, and to transport their products and wares in their own or in the company's ships (being required only to consign them to the place whence they sailed), free of all dues, as well for merchandise and agricultural implements which they desire to transport thither, as for products which they desire to export from there, only paying tonnage as other Caribbean traders navigating under the rules.

Sixthly, the aforesaid colonists shall also be at liberty to go to the coast of Africa and fetch as many negroes as they shall have need of or may desire to offer for sale, being subject like others to the regulations made therefor or to be made.

Seventhly, the colonists, when any ships of the Company sails from here to the aforesaid coast, or when they find on the islands a ship of the Company destined thither, shall have free passage in that ship (only having to provide themselves with their own food and sustenance), together with their agricultural implements, so far as the ship shall be able conveniently to store these.

Eighthly, in order that everything proceed with complete knowledge, all prospective planters going from here thither, whether in their own ship or, where there is opportunity, in a ship of the Company, shall be required to seek passports from the Zeeland Chamber; or if they journey thither from the islands, they shall upon arriving there give their names to the Commandeur of Essequibo, or his deputy, in order thus to have them registered with the Chamber here.

Liberties and Exemptions offered by the West India Company (Zeeland Chamber) to Patroons of Colonies in Guiana [1657]1.

[Reprinted from U. S. Commission, Report, Vol. 2, pp. 120-123.]

1.

The aforesaid patroons shall be allowed with their ship or ships, whether their own or freighted by them, to transport and betake themselves, or those commissioned by them, to the aforesaid province of Guiana and there

1 Note by Prof. Burr.-The document is undated; but its place in the volume and its palpable connection with document No. 33 (U. S. Commission, Report, Vol. 2, pp. 117-120), as well as the transfer before 1658 of the charge of this coast to the Walcheren cities, put its date beyond question.

No. 25.

establish a colony, on condition that they shall sail forth from the province of Zeeland and shall be required to return there.

2.

They shall be required to take out for the captain or captains at each sailing of the ship or ships, whether their own or hired, the proper and usual commission, giving the name, size, armament and crew thereof.

3.

The aforesaid patroons shall take care that all private persons who are their colonists register their names with the Chamber and promise to live up to the general articled-letter of the company in so far as these concern them; for this purpose they shall be mustered by the Company before the sailing of the ship.

4.

The aforesaid patroons are conceded and granted permission to choose, and occupy, as also to retain in possession, such district of land as their subordinate colonists shall in any wise be able to cultivate, the extent and size of the aforesaid lands to be reckoned by the number of persons, namely, for sixty persons two [Dutch] miles along the coast or one side of a navigable river or one [Dutch] mile along both sides of a river, and as far inland as the circumstances of the occupants shall permit, but for one hundred persons four [Dutch] miles and so on accordingly; all this for the raising of all sorts of products and plants, also of cattle,-with the exception of the annatto dye (which the Company reserves exclusively for itself), which no one shall be allowed to trade in, gather, or transport, on penalty of his life and confiscation of all his goods; on condition, that they shall be required to begin the aforesaid raising and cultivation within a year, and to bring the aforesaid number of persons within the time of four consecutive years, on penalty of losing the acquired liberties in case of evident neglect.

5.

The aforesaid persons shall enjoy freedom from all sorts of dues for all the aforesaid products and plants for the time of ten years; but for wood, or any other thing which can be had there without cultivation and is reckoned as merchandise, they shall pay as other persons do, to which end they are required to make known the arrival of any ship or ships, and to unload only in the Company's warehouses at the place whence they sailed out, on penalty of confiscation of the cargo; and after the expiration of the aforesaid ten years they shall pay as other inhabitants who in the limits of the charter carry on trade under the regulations and the subsequent resolutions.

6.

But, regarding the merchandise and goods which they wish to take along from here, they shall likewise announce these and bring them into

No. 25.

the Company's warehouse and pay as others, it being understood that nothing shall be paid for provisions and necessaries intended and needed for the colony.

7.

The instructions concerning trade and other matters which are given at the departure of a ship must always be communicated to the Company, and the Company shall have the right to place an agent on board the aforesaid ship whom the skipper is required to receive at his table in the cabin without extra charge, but the wages shall be paid at the expense of the Company.

8.

In addition to the wood and salt permits, the Company shall grant letters of reprisal, in order that by virtue thereof they be at liberty to attack and capture the ships of the Portuguese, on condition that the prizes shall be placed at disposal according to the tenor of the aforesaid letters of reprisal, and against such dues as paid by other commissioned ships.

9.

Any one of the colonists who through himself or his family or servants comes to discover any crystals, stones, marble, of whatsoever nature these be, shall be at liberty to take possession thereof and possess them and use them for his benefit for five years, and after the aforesaid years the possessor shall only be required to pay the tithes to the Company, but for ores of gold or silver they shall pay for each return cargo one lawful fifth part.

10.

The aforesaid patroons shall send and maintain in the aforesaid colony an able person as Commandeur, who must take out the usual commission from the Company and also receive from it proper instructions to administer criminal and civil law in the name of the States General and the aforesaid Company, after the system, both in criminal and civil law, which is customary in the province of Zeeland, and particularly concerning the law of inheritance; but the Company reserves for itself the supreme authority in the [appointment] of a Governor General and Councilors when it sees fit.

11.

And, in order that religion be maintained in the aforesaid colony, they shall be required to provide it at the earliest date with an able person for a scripture-reader, so as to come together on the Sabbath day to sing, to read the lesson, and to offer the prayers; but, when the colony has increased to one hundred families, the aforesaid patroons promise to send thither a capable preacher, to whom they alone shall extend the call, but the approval remains reserved to the Company, as also the interpretation of any obscurities.