_Testimony of a Dutchman named Juan who was taken in the factory
at Tidore_
In the port of Tidore, on the sixteenth day of the month of March,
in the year one thousand six hundred and six, the captain and
sargento-mayor Christoval Asqueta Minchaca of the regiment of the
master-of-camp Joan de Esquibel, the royal commander of this fleet,
declares that the said master-of-camp, Joan de Esquibel, sent to him
in his ship a foreigner, whom he found with others in the factory
[15] at Tidore, that he might undergo examination.
The following interrogatory was put to this man: "What are the names of
this declarant and his companions? In what vessels did they come? How
many are there in Maluco and in these Eastern Yndias? In what regions
have they been, each of them, and how long in each region, and in what
vessels did they come? To whom do these vessels belong? who equipped
them? on whose account did they make their voyage? and for whom is this
factory conducted? Are this factory and that of Terrenate all one,
belonging to the same owners? With what permission did they come to
these regions?"
He said that he was named Joan and was a native of Amberes, a
Christian, and had been baptized in the said city. Of his companions,
the factor, named Jacome Joan, is a Dutchman, a native of the city
of Absterdaem; the second is named Pitri, a native of Yncussa in
the islands of Olanda; a third is named Costre, by his last name,
and this declarant does not know his first name. He is a native
of Campem, of the states of Olanda. This declarant came to these
regions in the ship of the [Dutch] vice-commander, which voyaged in
company with the other four; and they seized Ambueno and this fort
of Tidore. It is eight months since they left him on this island,
and two months before they had anchored in the said port, the said
five ships had halted for supplies in Java, where they remained
fifteen days. Jacome Joan, who is at present factor of this island
of Tidore, has spent five years in Terrenate. The declarant does not
know from what place he came. The merchants of Jelanda of the city of
Millburg--named Joan Comne, another Burriel, and another Muniq, natives
of Amberes--are known to this declarant, and have other associates
in Olanda in the city of Ambstradama, in Cuyssem and in Horrem. [16]
All of these together have a common purse, and it is all one amount;
it is they who have equipped these vessels for this expedition. The
names of the citizens of these cities of Olanda and Gelanda are known
to one of the associates of this declarant, the one named Costre. The
factories of Tidore and of Terrenate are all one, owned by the same
persons. In Ambueno, in Java, in Banda, in Sunda, in Pajani, in Achi,
on the coast of Vengala, [17] and in some regions the names of which
are not known to this declarant the said merchants have factories,
under such an arrangement that the whole affair is all one thing,
owned by the same proprietors. Of these fleets none set sail except
by permission of the prince of Oranje, to whom is given the part
which pertains to him as lord. And this is his answer.
He was asked, "What ship is the one which was met by this fleet? whence
comes it? what arms and artillery, powder and provisions does it
carry? whence are they obtained and provided? and where have they
their factory?" He answered that the ship about which the inquiry
is made is one of the five which came with this witness when they
seized the said forts of Ambueno and Tidore. The captain was a certain
Gertiolfos, a native of Olanda. He set sail from Yncussen with money
and provisions for only two years. He has been cruising about these
islands for ten months, and in the opinion of this declarant the said
ship carries at present forty seamen, more or less; while the exact
number of the forces in the said ship will be stated by Costre and
Pitri, since they came as seamen in her. This declarant does not know
that they carry more arms than are needed to arm all the men on board
her. Their weapons are muskets, arquebuses, and half-pikes. When this
declarant went aboard the ship, it seemed to him she had twenty-nine
or thirty pieces of artillery. As for her provisions they get them in
places where they have factories. He does not know how much gunpowder
they carry, except that they came out from Olanda and Jelanda provided
with it.
He was asked what treaties they had with the king of Tidore and the
king of Terrenate, and what oaths the king of Tidore had made to them;
he replied that the treaty which they had made is of the following
nature: The king of Tidore at the time when they took this fort
told the commander of the fleet, who was called Cornieles Bastian,
that they should leave here forces and that he would build a fort
where these might be kept, so that if Portuguese or Castilians came
they might be able to defend the country; while he would assure them
that the country should be for the Dutch. The commander answered that
he had not a sufficient force to be able to leave any to defend the
country; and the said king asked him to leave three or four Dutchmen,
that they might carry on their trade and barter. When the commander
asked with what security he could leave them, and what the other would
do, the said king then caused the books of his Mahometan religion to
be brought; and, laying his hands upon them, made an oath after his
custom that he would protect, favor, and defend the Dutch as if they
were his own sons. In the same manner he swore that he would sell
cloves to no people except to the Dutch, unless extreme need of food
should force him to sell them to some other people, in which case he
would not sell them except to Java. In this manner was carried out that
which is contained in this interrogatory. Being asked if the kings of
Tidore and Terrenate were at peace, and how and under what conditions,
for how long a time, and who intervened in forming the peace--he
answered that it is a matter of public knowledge in this region that
they have not made peace or amity, but that both kings are at war.
When asked what goods they have in the factory on this island of
Tidore, what amount of cloves is due to them, who they are who owe the
Dutch, and how many the king owes--he answered that the goods which
they have in the factory are bales of cloth--such as fine muslins
and linens, gauzes [_word illegible_] and iron. This declarant knows
that the king of Tidore owes the factory a great amount of cloves,
and that some of the people of Tidore likewise owe some. He refers to
the accounts of the factor. Being asked who or which of them keeps
the book of accounts and reckoning of the factory, that he might
exhibit it, he answered that the factor, named Jacone Joan, had it,
and he referred to him.
Being asked with what intention they remained in these islands, when
they expected to leave them, and whether they intended to maintain
a permanent trade there--he responded that this declarant and his
companions remained in order that commerce with the people of Tidore
and Terrenate might be opened, and that they were waiting for ships
from Olanda in which a commanding officer and troops would come to
remain as colonists and inhabitants, like the Portuguese, and to
carry on commerce with the islands from Olanda and Jelanda. And this
is his answer.
Being asked what offer they had made to the kings of Terrenate and
Tidore as to aiding and assisting them against the Spaniards: he
answered that the king of Tidore had agreed with the commander that if
the Spaniards came with such a fleet that he would be unable to resist
them he would be obliged to yield the country; and by consequence,
if the Dutch had a force sufficient to take it from the Spaniards or
Portuguese, he was not sufficiently powerful to defend the country
against them. He knew that the commander had written to Java that
six vessels which he had been informed were to go to Java should come
here; after this had been done, the said commander went back to Patan,
but the ships had not come. This declarant does not know that more
vessels have arrived or set out than the five of which he has spoken.
Being asked if they expect any ships, how many there are, when they
are to come, how many came out in a fleet from Olanda, and at what
time they set sail--this declarant replied that he was certain,
now that the commerce here had been begun and this fort established,
that vessels would come. He does not know the number, but the said
factor will have an account thereof. When this man who is making his
confession set sail, there set out from Olanda and Jelanda twelve
ships. They were divided after the following manner: Two of them
separated from the others at the Cape of Buena Esperanza [_i.e._, Good
Hope], at the island of Sant Lorenço, and two others at Masanvique
[_i.e._, Mozambique]; three remained in Ambueno, to go to Banda to
be laden with pepper; and the five others came to these islands. It
may be two years since they left Olanda and Jelanda. This declarant
does not know what course they followed, more than as a common sailor
who went on board to get his livelihood.
Being asked of what he knows of affairs in Terrenate, and of the
state in which they are, and of the fort and defenses there--he
answered that the artillery was not inside the fort, but in a house
intended for the sole purpose of protecting the artillery against
the water. The height of the wall is four estados, as he thinks. This
declarant thinks that the city where the fort is contains as many as
two thousand men of war, armed with arquebuses, muskets, campilans,
cuirasses, and helmets. This is his answer and it is the truth, under
the penalty imposed upon him who testifies falsely; and he has signed
this with his name. [Signature is lacking]