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archive access 1.04.02, inventory number 1053, page 423

On 16 May 1612, a letter was written from someone aboard a ship near Banda. The writer referred to a previous letter sent with ships to Banda and wanted to update his superior about recent events. On 30 April, after a long period of silence, the ship Amsterdam arrived at anchor in Banda. There they learned with great sadness about the following problems:

• Governor Nicolaes Prins had died
• Over 30 soldiers had died since the previous departure
• Many people were still sick and weak in Coeye
• The watches (guard duties) became a heavy burden on the healthy soldiers
• There were few people available to fill empty positions
• Lieutenant Christoffel Voeth had suffered from fever for a long time

This was very distressing because they had brought few or no supplies to help and strengthen the people there, who desperately needed support. The ship Amsterdam was planning to leave as quickly as possible because it needed a new main mast and other necessary repairs. This was understandable given the ship's size and cost, but it meant the fort would be without ships, yachts, and sloops for a long time. There was concern that the people of Banda would start a war again, because they were no longer afraid now that the late governor was gone. Several Javanese junks had arrived at Pulowan, Contor, and Waijer, with some Portuguese or mestizos aboard. These would take away as much mace and nutmeg as they wanted. When people from the fort told the people of Banda not to allow this, they answered they were free people and could let anyone come to their land who wished to do so. They were bolder because they saw that due to lack of resources, the Dutch had to tolerate this. The people of Puloway had not come to the fort until that day and had not brought any nutmeg or mace for sale. This was not surprising since when they sailed past with the Leeuw, they had seen 8 junks pulled up on dry land in various places, which could easily carry away their goods. The writer believed the ship Banda had made a great mistake by not stopping at the Banda Islands, even though it had stayed in Amboina for about 5 weeks without doing anything there. The writer could not understand the reasons for this. The ship Banda had meat, bacon, oil, vinegar, wine, cheese, barber supplies and medicines, cotton cloth, and hats on board that were meant for Banda but were left in Amboina to be transported later. This seemed absurd, especially because the Council member Mr. Doensen had come from Banda to Amboina and had been aboard the ship Banda. He must have known about the condition of the castle and the sickness among the people, as well as the poor health of the governor and lieutenant. He should have handled the matter differently according to his duty. The writer assumed Doensen knew how highly the masters valued Banda, since they emphasized it strongly in all their writings, letters, and instructions. The writer did not want to complain too much about this but hoped his superior would understand he was being sincere and acting from an honest heart for the Company's greatest profit and the common welfare of the fatherland. The writer and his crew tried their best to make up for previous mistakes. Since the recovering sick people in the fort constantly desired meat, bacon, cheese, and wine (which suited the Dutch nature and was also good medicine), and since they learned the ship Amsterdam could spare these items, they transferred supplies to the fort:

• 1 barrel of Spanish wine
• 1 barrel of oil
• 1 barrel of vinegar
• 3 barrels of meat
• 3 barrels of bacon
• 30 good Dutch cheeses