Lands of True and Certain Bounty: The Geographical Theories and Colonization Strategies of Jean Pierre Purry

Lands of True and Certain Bounty: The Geographical Theories and Colonization Strategies of Jean Pierre Purry Arlin C. Migliazzo

Associated University Presses

Lands of True and Certain Bounty

.......................... 8784$$

$$FM

10-25-01 14:14:18

PS

This page intentionally left blank

Lands of True and Certain Bounty The Geographical Theories and Colonization Strategies of Jean Pierre Purry

Edited and Annotated with Introductions to the Texts

by Arlin C. Migliazzo Translations from the French by Pierrette C. Christianne-Lovrien and ’BioDun J. Ogundayo

Selinsgrove: Susquehanna University Press London: Associated University Presses

.......................... 8784$$

$$FM

10-25-01 14:14:19

PS

䉷 2002 by Rosemont Publishing & Printing Corp. All rights reserved. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by the copyright owner, provided that a base fee of $10.00, plus eight cents per page, per copy is paid directly to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, Massachusetts 01923. [1-57591-054-3/02 $10.00 Ⳮ 8¢ pp, pc.] Associated University Presses 440 Forsgate Drive Cranbury, NJ 08512 Associated University Presses 16 Barter Street London WC1A 2AH, England Associated University Presses P.O. Box 338, Port Credit Mississauga, Ontario Canada L5G 4L8 The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1984. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Purry, Jean Pierre, fl. 1718–1731. Lands of true and certain bounty : the geographical theories and colonization strategies of Jean Pierre Purry / edited and annotated with introductions to the texts by Arlin C. Migliazzo ; translations from the French by Pierrette C. Christianne-Lovrien and ’BioDun J. Ogundayo. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 1-57591-054-3 (alk. paper) 1. South Carolina—History—Colonial period, ca. 1600–1775. 2. Land settlement—South Carolina—History—18th century. 3. South Africa— Colonization. 4. Land settlement—South Africa—History—18th century. 5. South Australia—Colonization. 6. Land settlement—South Australia— History—18th century. 7. Purry, Jean Pierre, fl. 1718–1731—Views on colonization. 8. Purry, Jean Pierre, fl. 1718–1731—Views on climate. 9. Businessmen—Switzerland—Biography. 10. Nederlandsche OostIndische Compagnie—History—18th century. I. Migliazzo, Arlin C., 1951– II. Title. F272.P86 2002 975.7⬘02—dc21 2001034144 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

.......................... 8784$$

$$FM

10-25-01 14:14:19

PS

To those who recognize the limits of the possible and wonder still at what lies beyond . . .

.......................... 8784$$

$$FM

10-25-01 14:14:20

PS

This page intentionally left blank

Contents Acknowledgments

9

1. Introduction: Jean Pierre Purry—A Life Lived Beyond the Horizon 2. Memorial on the Country of Kaffraria and the Terre de Nuyts 3. Second Memorial on the Country of Kaffraria and the Terre de Nuyts 4. Memorial to the Duke of Newcastle Upon the Present Condition of Carolina 5. A Brief Description of the Current State of Carolina

117 131

Notes Bibliography Index

164 189 193

7

.......................... 8784$$

CNTS

10-25-01 14:14:27

PS

13 45 83

This page intentionally left blank

Acknowledgments I HAVE INCURRED NUMEROUS PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEBTS over the course of the many years spent pursuing this project. I know that my wife, daughter, and son have lived with Jean Pierre Purry and his exploits for nearly as long as I have. So thank you Judi, Sara, and Nathan for putting up with my stories and for tolerating my descent into the basement ‘‘catacombs’’ to write. I wish also to express my gratitude to supportive colleagues and friends who have encouraged my work in numerous ways. My former colleagues at Whitworth College, Professor Emerita Pierrette C. Christianne-Lovrien and Professor ’BioDun J. Ogundayo, rendered Purry’s sometimes unfathomable French into imminently workable English. My editorial work was made much easier by their meticulous translations. I am also deeply grateful to Dr. C. C. Macknight of the Australian National University, Tasmania for his willingness to share his recent research on Purry’s interest in South Australia as an employee of the Dutch East India Company (1713–18). His painstaking study in Australian repositories and at the archives of the Dutch East India Company in The Netherlands deepened my own understanding of Purry and kept me from egregious errors in some of the reference notes. Professor Macknight also provided me with important bibliographic information regarding the availability of various versions of Purry’s essays in Australian archives. Reference librarians at Gonzaga University, Whitworth College, and the University of Washington were most helpful in tracking down appropriate gazetteers and encyclopedic sources to facilitate identification of the more obscure geographical sites and persons to which Purry refers. Particularly helpful in this regard were Dr. Hans Bynagle, Ms. Gail Fielding, Ms. Nancy Bunker, and Dr. Robert K. Lacerte. Mr. Paul Grubbs was especially helpful in locating the most enigmatic of the geographical references. Ms. Ellen Cordes and Mr. Al Mueller of The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, Mr. Jay Satterfield, Department of Special Collections, University of Chicago Library, 9

.......................... 8784$$

$ACK

10-25-01 14:14:31

PS

10

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

and Mr. Richard J. Ring, Reference Librarian, John Carter Brown Library provided me access to rare editions of various of Purry’s writings in three different languages. I am grateful to a host of individuals and institutions for granting me permission to reproduce both previously published text and period maps. Mr. Eric Emerson, Editor of the South Carolina Historical Magazine allowed me to include in chapter one sections of my October 1991 article ‘‘A Tarnished Legacy Revisited: Jean Pierre Purry and the Settlement of the Southern Frontier, 1718–1736.’’ The James Ford Bell Library at the University of Minnesota, the National Library of Australia, the South Carolina Historical Society, and the South Carolina Department of Archives and History graciously provided me access to important maps that accentuate the global scope of Purry’s geographical theories and colonial ambitions. Ms. Carol Urness, Curator and Professor, James Ford Bell Library, Ms. Maura O’Connor, Map Curator, National Library of Australia, Mr. Eric Emerson and the staff at the South Carolina Historical Society, and Mr. Charles H. Lesser, Accessions Archivist, South Carolina Department of Archives and History were of special assistance in the selection and production of appropriately detailed map illustrations. I wish also to thank Ms. Judi Taylor, Ms. Judi Puckett, Ms. Terry Mitchell, and Ms. Anna Kenney for their invaluable aid in moving this project from draft, handwritten translation to presentable manuscript. I extend my special thanks to Ms. Barbara Brodrick for her part in preparing a crucial revision of the entire manuscript and to Ms. Judy Dehle and Ms. Joni Appling for their gracious assistance with the computer technologies utilized for this study. Without the guidance of the editorial staff at Associated University Presses, especially Managing Editor Ms. Christine A. Retz and Production Editor Ms. Danielle Burnham, I would have been overwhelmed by the myriad details involved in the process of preparing this manuscript for publication. Finally, a January term course release granted by the Whitworth College administration in 1994 greatly expedited my editorial work and a summer research fellowship from the Weyerhaeuser Center for Christian Faith and Learning at Whitworth College in 1999 provided me the opportunity to complete the volume before you now.

.......................... 8784$$

$ACK

10-25-01 14:14:31

PS

Lands of True and Certain Bounty

.......................... 8784$$

HFTL

10-25-01 14:14:34

PS

This page intentionally left blank

1 Introduction: Jean Pierre Purry—A Life Lived Beyond the Horizon MOST STUDENTS OF SOUTH CAROLINA COLONIAL HISTORY RECALL Jean Pierre Purry as the founder and would-be feudal lord of the frontier township that bore his name. If they are students of that era’s historiography, they also must be aware of the rather negative assessment made of his contribution to New World settlement by writers on the subject. As a young historian studying Purrysburg Township in the early 1980s, I experienced firsthand prevalent attitudes of disdain and disregard among fellow scholars for Purry’s unrelenting drive to convince leading authorities in three different worldwide empires of the truth of his scientific theories and the utility of his colonizing strategies. To this day, few are fully cognizant of the complex international events and bureaucratic decisions beyond his control, which sullied his reputation as an adventurous, if somewhat misguided, progenitor of numerous custom-designed settlement plans and as the guiding force behind the creation of Purrysburg Township. Rather than dissect the complicated series of circumstances that swirled around Purry’s colonial designs, American scholars and laypersons alike have often blamed him for causing mayhem and chaos on both sides of the Atlantic and so relegated him to the netherworld of early eighteenth-century charlatans and opportunists. Undoubtedly, the peripatetic civil servant, wine merchant, trading company official, geographical theorist, and colonial enthusiast had his share of personal and theoretical failings. But Purry’s obvious shortcomings must be separated from official duplicity and ineptitude, which led to the vast majority of problems faced by those Europeans drawn to his settlement plans in the 1720s and 1730s.1 For it is only in our ability to see Purry in the context of his times, and without the half truths that distort his legacy, that his significant contributions to New World colonization can be most accurately assessed. It is with the goal of restoring some 13

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:05

PS

14

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

balance to the historical ledger that this first complete annotated edition of Jean Pierre Purry’s publically disseminated geographical writings has been prepared.

I Born in 1675, Jean Pierre Purry was a native of the Frenchˆtel.2 He married in his twentieth speaking Swiss canton of Neucha year and subsequently fathered four children: two sons, Charles (1699–1754) and David (1709–1786), and two daughters whose names are unknown. During his early professional life he served in a variety of civil and military posts as tax collector of Boudry ˆ tel, mayor of Lignie` res in northeastern in east central Neucha ˆtel, colonel of the infantry, and captain in service to Great Neucha Britain. He also participated in the wine industry and achieved merchant status in that enterprise. These pursuits identified young Purry as a member of the emerging early modern European upper bourgeoisie, but he held neither title nor estate—the possession of which still set apart the feudal aristocracy from upstart bourgeois pretenders to gentleman status. His wine business apparently met with undisclosed reverses, for in May 1713 he sailed aboard the Prins Eugenius to Batavia (Jakarta) under contract as Corporal with the Chamber of Amsterdam for the East Indies, better known as the Dutch East India Company. The party with which he traveled made brief re-outfitting stops at the Cape Verde Islands and at the Company’s small Cape Colony settlement in South Africa before reaching its destination in February 1714. While under contract with the Company, Purry seems to have ventured to a cluster of islands just off the south-central coast of Australia near the Eyre Peninsula. These islands, part of the Terre de Nuyts named after a member of the Dutch Indian Council on board the Gulden Zeepaard who first saw them in 1627 (Pieter Nuyts), made a lasting impression on Purry and seem to have stimulated his thinking concerning a linkage between successful colonization and meteorology.3 Shortly thereafter, perhaps in 1716 or early 1717, he began to theorize about the linkage between sunlight, climate, and soil productivity. Well past forty years of age by the spring of 1717, Purry decided to formalize his thinking on the causal interrelationship between these topics, which resulted in an empirically based theory of climatology.4 Predicated upon his own travels and the best geographical knowledge of the day, Purry formulated what he believed to be a

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:05

PS

1: INTRODUCTION: JEAN PIERRE PURRY

15

scientifically verifiable theory that could determine where colonies could be most successfully planted worldwide. Drawn from his direct observation of living conditions around the world, Purry argued that there existed ideal or optimal climates for human ecology. He defined such climates in terms of agricultural productivity and amount of sunlight as well as precipitation and temperature. According to his research there were a total of twenty-four climate zones on the earth from North to South Pole with twelve in each hemisphere. The prevailing conditions in the fifth of these zones in both hemispheres made it most conducive to sustained bounty. This best of all possible climates, what Purry termed the fifth climate zone, existed at or near the thirty-third degree of latitude. From his computations he believed that the climate at that latitude would yield a rich agricultural bonanza of products without much labor. Seeing an opportunity to achieve a level of notoriety and success which had eluded him in feudal Europe, Purry decided to offer his theory and supporting evidence to stimulate colonization of the Terre de Nuyts and South Africa by the Dutch East India Company. Since these areas were located geographically at or near the optimum climate of the earth, they could not help but bring certain bounty to the Company, and hopefully to its indomitable employee.5 Purry put his scientific theory and his personal ambitions in Australia and South Africa to the test by approaching Christophel van Swol, resident Governor-General of the Dutch East India Company’s operation in Batavia, with his findings in 1717. Purry prepared a manuscript for van Swol’s consideration and addressed it directly to him although it also seems to have circulated to some extent in Batavia. His expressed purpose in doing so was to aid in the extension of profits and influence of the Company. Purry, of course, was not purely altruistic. In his desire to look out for the interests of the Company, he hoped for some reward for his efforts. Unfortunately the Governor-General was unmoved by the elaborate scientific proofs and historical arguments of the treatise and remained patently unimpressed.6 The author offered to reply to van Swol’s objections in writing; however, he refused even to discuss Purry’s proposals with the governing board of the Company. Van Swol granted him permission to approach Company authorities in Europe with his ideas if he so desired, but the scorn and ridicule Purry endured as his proposals became known to a wider audience in Batavia did not bode well for his future with the Company. At this point Jean Pierre’s quest for land and title might have ended had he been less resolute or

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:05

PS

16

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

van Swol more patient. But Purry’s adamant refusal to accept van Swol’s rejection of his proposal and the Governor-General’s stolid opposition to it led to the former’s rather hasty departure from the East Indies. It is difficult to ascertain exactly what triggered the ensuing chain of events, but we do know that Purry fell out of favor rather quickly in Batavia and lost his position with the Company. His continued advocacy for a plan already rejected by the highest Company officials in Batavia seems to have resulted in his achieving the status of persona non grata in the East Indies. Whether Governor-General van Swol severed his affiliation with the Company or he suffered some kind of financial setback perpetrated by nature or the governing authorities or whether he merely decided to take van Swol’s suggestion to argue his case at the ‘‘home office’’ is unknown. Most likely, since Purry would not take no for an answer and became such a nuisance to von Swol that the latter decided to terminate the relationship between Purry and the Dutch East India Company. Whatever the reason, Purry found his circumstances in Batavia untenable and determined to travel to Holland in order to present his ideas to van Swol’s superiors. A sympathetic Company official secured him a position as bookkeeper aboard the Hogermeer, which sailed for Texel on 11 December 1717 arriving there on 17 July 1718 after a six-week stop in Cape Town, South Africa. Almost immediately upon his subsequent arrival in Amsterdam, Purry published a revision of the ideas he had presented to van Swol. An introductory preface dated 25 July 1718 explained his rationale for approaching the Directors of the Company with propositions that had already been dismissed by one of their lieutenants in the field. Realizing also that the Directors had received van Swol’s enumerated objections to the colonization plan described in the now published essay, Purry set to work crafting a second to answer these concerns. Purry addressed this second pamphlet, dated 1 September 1718, directly to ‘‘The Deputies to the Assembly of the Seventeen Who Represent the General Company of the Dutch East Indies.‘‘7 This treatise was Purry’s attempt to nullify van Swol’s decision by taking his case directly to those who had ultimate authority over Company decisions. Its more strident tone and acidic references to van Swol’s leadership give the reader some sense of the betrayal Purry must have felt at his curt dismissal by the Governor-General. This time Purry’s efforts succeeded in getting the Company’s attention and on 3 October 1718 the Directors found his propos-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:06

PS

1: INTRODUCTION: JEAN PIERRE PURRY

17

als of sufficient merit to refer the matter to the Amsterdam Chamber of the Company. The Chamber interviewed Purry and reported back to the Directors. The Directors received the Chamber’s favorable report and on 11 March 1719 decided to try to verify Purry’s theoretical conclusions. The Directors left it to the Amsterdam Chamber to see to the arrangements and to provide ships for the venture. After nearly two years of sustained effort Purry was within sight of at least partially realizing his vision when on 17 April 1719 the Amsterdam Chamber met—and decided to do nothing. Thus defeated in his negotiations with Dutch officials, the indefatigable Swiss lost neither his resolve nor his brass, although a less confident man would have given up after two such devastating rejections. Purry, however, seemed all the more convinced of his cause for the grief it brought him. Spurned by the Dutch East India Company, he turned next to France by custom-tailoring a colonial plan for the French empire. Unfortunately for Purry, while in France preparing his proposal, the speculative Mississippi Bubble scheme burst, which siphoned off profits he had earned from his Batavian plantations. But his economic problems only accelerated his colonial ambitions. The plan of settlement he proposed to French royal authorities was fashioned upon the feudal model already in use throughout the French empire, no doubt providing material benefits to the Swiss entrepreneur as well as to the international mercantile realm of the French monarchy. The appropriate officials referred his proposal to the Royal Acade´mie des Sciences, but it never received official sanction. Purry, however, must have been highly respected by French officials and especially well thought of by French commercial interests as he became a Director-General of the Compagnie Des Indes en France.8 No less deterred by this third rebuff than he had been by the first or the second, Purry soon contacted Horace Walpole, the English ambassador at Paris. He presented Walpole with a three and one half page proposal written in French and addressed to the King reprising his theory and settlement proposals now finetuned for an imperial British audience. In this initial petition to English authorities Purry proposed to plant a colony of Swiss immigrants in South Carolina provided that 1) the King grant him four square leagues (approximately twelve square miles) of land, 2) he raise the men of his colony into a Swiss military regiment for which he would receive the commission as colonel and the right to nominate his officers, 3) he be appointed judge of the col-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:06

PS

18

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

ony, and 4) the immigrants would be transported to the colony by the King from one of the English ports to the site of the projected colony at no expense either to Purry or to the colonists.9 Walpole listened intently to Purry’s colonizing plans and found enough merit in his proposal to forward it to London. By letter from Whitehall dated 5 June 1724, the King via his Secretary of State, the Duke of Newcastle, requested the Lords Commissioners for Trade look into the feasibility and legality of Purry’s proposal. Particular attention was to be paid to ‘‘how far it may consist with His Majesty’s Service and the publick good.’’10 The Board of Trade took up the matter on 9 June and ordered Mr. Shelton, Secretary to the Lords Proprietors of South Carolina, to appear before them on 11 June to discuss the settlement proposal. Shelton asked for and received from the Board an extract of Purry’s memorial so that he might better consult with the Lords Proprietors regarding its provisions. In the meantime, Purry followed up the brief petition first delivered to Horace Walpole in Paris with an extended discussion of the applicability of his theory of climates and productivity to a region of primary interest to the British Empire—the southern frontier of their southernmost colony in North America. He completed the French manuscript on 18 July 1724 and had it published in London.11 Five days later Shelton reported back to the Board of Trade that although the Lords Proprietors usually sold land for twenty pounds per thousand acres with quit rent payments of a penny an acre, they would be willing to alter these arrangements to encourage settlement of South Carolina. They proposed to the Board that they would offer the land if the grantees would agree to pay two cents per acre quit rent after three years.12 This published pamphlet, coupled with Purry’s earlier petition to Walpole, clearly illustrates both the continuing strength of his scientific convictions and his desire to gather all political, civil, and military authority to himself in South Carolina as befitting the rank of a feudal lord. His would be the responsibility of adjudicating internal conflicts and repelling external enemies. He would demand allegiance from his colonists but he would play the benevolent lord watching over and nurturing his community. Perhaps it was this vision of a closely knit village community thriving on the edge of the Carolina wilderness that gave the British pause to contemplate Purry’s ambitious proposition. For all was not well in South Carolina in the 1720s, nor had it been since the devastating Yamassee War of 1715.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:06

PS

1: INTRODUCTION: JEAN PIERRE PURRY

19

II The young colony of South Carolina passed through a tumultuous adolescence during the decade and one half from 1715 to 1730. These volatile years were laced with Indian warfare, foreign intrigues, and the eventual overthrow of the Proprietary government owing to its slipshod handling of colonial affairs.13 Throughout this period South Carolinians relied progressively more on profitable indigo, rice, and naval stores production. The concomitant rise in the black slave population in the colony bred fear and distrust among white planters and merchants. By 1729 white settlement constituted only one third of the total population of thirty thousand. The dangerous racial imbalance, coupled with a burgeoning and agriculturally expansive plantation system, triggered crucial alterations in English policy toward South Carolina.14 Prior to the Yamassee Indian War of 1715, the Lords Proprietors had encouraged settlement in Carolina primarily out of mercantilist necessity. Defense of the colony against Indian and foreign attack was definitely an issue, but the larger concern of English self-sufficiency and private profit overshadowed the strategic importance of colonial defense. Immigration policies favored those ´emigre´s who, like the French Protestants, possessed skills necessary for the advancement of the English mercantilist system. But starting with the Church Acts of 1704 and 1706 and culminating in the Yamassee War and its aftermath, policies that excluded or sidestepped colonial defense were called into question.15 In the wake of the war’s devastation, Sir Robert Montgomery of Skelmorly, aided by two associates, came forward with a plan in 1717 to establish a frontier colony across the Savannah River modeled on medieval precedent. The proposed Margravate of Azila provided Montgomery with feudal privileges and served simultaneously as a buffer colony for the protection of established populations to the north and east. As Margrave, Montgomery would preside as governor over the several fortified towns surrounding his palace. An upper class of proprietors and gentry would be supported by a more substantial population of servants whose labor would produce raisins, olives, wines, and other exotic staples prized by British mercantilists. Both the Lords Proprietors and the Board of Trade looked favorably upon Montgomery’s plan and the former granted him land between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers as the site of the Margravate. Unfortunately for

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:07

PS

20

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

Montgomery and his partners, however, the Proprietors’ stake in Carolina became increasingly tenuous. In 1720 the Board of Trade refused to approve the plan until Proprietary interest in the region ended. Although the Board’s action ultimately doomed Montgomery’s venture, the fact that it received initial sanction demonstrates the heightened emphasis upon colonial security. On the other hand, a continued ambivalence regarding the highest priority for the colony—profit or security—is evident as Azila advocates made little effort to emphasize the strategic importance of the colony as a buffer against foreign aggression. It does appear that the Lords Proprietors viewed the Margravate as an opportunity to meet both commercial and military objectives, but their days of administering Carolina were numbered.16 The Revolution of 1719, which marked the beginning of the end of the Proprietary government, set in motion a process that reoriented English and colonial settlement strategy in South Carolina.17 After years of uncertainty, a royal policy emerged in 1730, which concentrated on colonial defense, but which also continued to make allowances for skilled white immigrants whose labors would contribute to colonial economic diversification and English self-sufficiency while reducing the colony’s reliance on slave labor. For over a decade prior to 1730, English authorities considered various proposals to secure the southern frontier from enemy attack. Before the outbreak of war with the Yamassee, the colonial government had reserved the land between the Combahee and Savannah Rivers for them and their allies. After their defeat in 1716, the South Carolina Commons House of Assembly and the Proprietors planned to redistribute confiscated Yamassee land to new settlers. The Commons House passed legislation granting three to four hundred acres to immigrants from Ireland, Great Britain, or from the northern colonies. Prospective settlers had to be resident on the land for ten months of every twelve and pay a yearly quit rent, but the purchase price of three pounds could be deferred for four years to attract poorer immigrants. The colony paid special bounties as inducements to import white Protestant servants. Black slaves were expressly forbidden. The public dissemination of these laws in England drew five hundred prospective Irish Protestant ´emigre´s. But ostensibly because of a dispute between the Proprietors and the Commons House over land allotments for the settlers, the Proprietors altered their settlement strategy in 1718. Instead of parceling out small tracts to many, they decided to create large feudal-style baronies—sixteen

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:07

PS

1: INTRODUCTION: JEAN PIERRE PURRY

21

in all—of twelve thousand acres each. Three years later the Proprietors quashed a second plan of settlement. Perhaps frustrated by Proprietary neglect, John Barnwell, a Beaufort planter and veteran of numerous Indian battles, proposed a strategy for the defense of South Carolina’s exposed frontiers in 1720. This original plan borrowed heavily from Virginia and New England defensive schemes and paid homage to the French method of empire building that had proved so successful in the New World. On a trip to London in 1720 Barnwell suggested that a line of fortifications be erected on the frontier to secure English territory against attack. The lands surrounding the forts were to be reserved for the use of officers, troops, and other prospective settlers who might take up residence near the garrisons free of quit rent payments. Barnwell believed that this policy, though involving substantial initial outlays of capital, would best protect the Carolina frontier from enemy invasion. He held also that the forts would guarantee the maintenance of friendly and lucrative trade relations with the Indians. His plan received critical acclaim from many British officials and was endorsed almost immediately by the influential Board of Trade. The Lords Proprietors, however, who had lost their power to govern Carolina but not their land claims in the colony, balked at the tremendous effort and capital it would take to institute Barnwell’s proposal. Over the ensuing nine years, French movement in the Carolina backcountry continued to threaten the British position, but the Proprietors steadfastly refused to allocate funds to implement the fortifications system. When the land claims of the Proprietors were finally extinguished in 1728 and royal authority encompassed all facets of life in South Carolina, the colony desperately needed a coherent blueprint for frontier defense.18 During the troubled 1720s South Carolinians themselves had further recognized the need for a cordon sanitaire on their southern flank. In the early years of the decade, the Commons House of Assembly, presumably drawing upon Barnwell’s scheme, proposed what would eventually become the township plan of settlement. But because of the problems faced by the colony over the course of the decade no concrete action could be taken.19 By 1729 the entrepreneur Joshua Gee offered a similar plan for colonial defense. Engaged in the West Indian trade, Gee in 1718 had been one of the promoters of a project for settling soldiers in Nova Scotia to raise hemp and produce naval stores.20 In his widely read tract, The Trade and Navigation of Great Britain Considered, Gee reaffirmed the economic potential of South Carolina, but

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:07

PS

22

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

feared that it was ‘‘liable to be overrun by the French, Spaniards, and Indians for want of sufficient protection.’’ Gee proposed a line of defensive fortifications and a more liberal land policy, which would enable more immigrants to settle in frontier areas to secure the western flank of the colony. He noted that the piedmont was a country ‘‘large enough to canton out into distinct lots’’ for settlement and that ‘‘all the inhabitants we shall be capable of sending’’ would constitute a further defensive perimeter. Gee suggested that land be granted to immigrants free of quit rent payments for a number of years. This granted piedmont land, now more attractive to prospective settlers, would be populated and therefore defended from enemy attack. Immigrants would make economic contributions to the colony while simultaneously securing the colonial frontier.21

III It was then into the midst of this precipitous state of affairs that Purry injected his extended memorial of 18 July 1724 addressed to the Duke of Newcastle.22 This pamphlet laid down in specific terms Purry’s reasons for seeking a plantation in South Carolina—most especially because of its proximity to the thirtythird degree of latitude. He demonstrated how other geographers had failed to discover the truth of his theory. In so doing he ‘‘proved’’ his contention that Carolina was capable of producing abundant wealth from agriculture and from silk manufacture citing the adverse French experience in the far Canadian north and by the riches he found in his own travels at or near the fifth climate zone.23 The following year Purry and several of his Swiss associates pressed the advantage by appearing before royal officials in London. Purry requested that the Lords Commissioners of Trade transport six hundred Swiss immigrants to South Carolina as per his initial proposal to Ambassador Walpole. Both the Duke of Newcastle and the Board of Trade consented favorably to Purry’s planned settlement, especially since the immigrants could contribute to the economic vitality of province while providing necessary guard duty along the frontier. Purry’s petition for forty-eight thousand acres of land did not strike them as excessive. And the prospect of white settlers on the frontier producing needed materials such as silk for the economy of the Empire would aid in giving England a favorable balance of payments with regard to her international trading partners. The Proprietors,

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:07

PS

1: INTRODUCTION: JEAN PIERRE PURRY

23

however, who still held title to South Carolina lands, balked at the cost of transporting such a large group to a colony in which they had progressively fewer rights. Consequently, in the late spring of 1725 the Proprietors reworked Purry’s original proposal to suit their needs. They agreed to grant him a barony of twelve thousand acres in South Carolina on or near the Savannah River on the condition that he transport three hundred immigrants to the province at his own expense within one year of the date of the patent. The Proprietors promised him an additional barony of twelve thousand acres when he had built a settlement twelve hundred strong at the site. By mid-June Purry seems to have acceded to these new conditions as he understood them and agreed to conduct twelve hundred immigrants to South Carolina. For its part, the Board of Trade appears to have concurred with the new arrangement. The triumphant Purry then departed for Switzerland to secure recruits for the adventure.24 ˆtel, Purry founded a company (Purry On his return to Neucha et Cie) with the help of his Swiss financial friends to oversee the recruiting and transportation of the ´e migre´ s. He also procured the services of Jean Vat(t) [also John Watt] of Biel, canton Bern, as an immigration agent whose function it was to assist Purry in his future communications with English authorities.25 Because of the social and economic dislocations rending the fabric of Swiss society in the opening decades of the eighteenth century, Purry and Vat found no lack of applicants ready to leave the cantons for South Carolina. It should be noted that Swiss cantons had ceased to welcome religious dissenters and vexed municipal magistrates desired to rid themselves of as many unwanted refugees as possible so that exploding relief roles might be cut back. Seen in this light Purry’s solicitation for adventurous souls to join him in South Carolina actually dovetailed nicely with the desires of Swiss officials—as long as only refugees and not Swiss citizens left the state.26 From all over Switzerland prospective immigrants flocked to ˆtel, which served as the rendezvous for departure to the Neucha New World with Purry. Vat memorialized the Duke of Newcastle concerning ‘‘the six hundred Swiss designing to settle in South Carolina.’’27 Like those who preceded them and those who would follow, many of these tentative Carolinians were in desperate straits and perceived the English province as their golden opportunity for a fresh start. M. Vernett, one of Purry’s financial associates, raised at least one hundred would-be colonists in Geneva alone. Popular interest continued to mount and the enterprise

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:07

PS

24

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

appeared headed for imminent success. Immigrants gathered at ˆ tel in September 1726 and remained there for nearly a Neucha month while final preparations for their departure were arranged. Then, inexplicably at this late date, the Proprietors reneged on the agreement of June 1725 with Purry and sought redress on key provisions. They renounced their pledge to aid in the financial burden of transporting some of the immigrants. (Purry had contracted to transport three hundred settlers at his expense but as we have noted more than three hundred awaited departure). The Proprietors also backed down on the twelve thousand acre barony promised to Purry. They opted now to place the land in a trust held by Stephen Godin and Jacob Satur, their agents in South Carolina. The land would not be conferred to him until it could be verified that he had transported two hundred immigrants at his own expense to the colony. While this latter alteration would have actually saved Purry from having to underwrite the passage of the additional one hundred persons had it arrived earlier, the news came too late for now Purry (and ˆtel) were forced to contend with hundreds of anxious ´emiNeucha ˆtel, Purry’s gre´s. When word of this new codecil reached Neucha financial partners, fearing the worst was yet to come, immediately withdrew their support. Vernett disappeared leaving those ˆtel. Purry of his contingent milling around the streets of Neucha found himself alone and constrained to answer questions that had no satisfactory answers. In the face of insurmountable problems and a progressively more restive mob Purry fled on the evening of 30 October ‘‘to avoid the fury of the People, who having spent their money, wander up and down the Streets not knowing where to find a Dinner nor a bed to lie down upon at night.’’ It was left to the hapless municipal authorities to mediate the impact of the debacle on hundreds of disgruntled and hungry eximmigrants. Vilified by both immigrants and officials alike as the wretched author of a cruel hoax, Purry became associated with charges of fraud and deceit, which shredded his reputation in Europe and hounded him to the grave.28 On 31 October 1726 Vat wrote to English authorities (presumably from a safe place) about the shameful turn of events precipitated by the Proprietors’ disregard for the original agreement reached with Purry. He recounted the miserable condition of the now deserted immigrants and could not imagine ‘‘what will be the Issue of this which will make much noise in the World.’’ Vat firmly believed that more than six hundred persons would have gone to South Carolina if funds had been available because ‘‘so

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:08

PS

1: INTRODUCTION: JEAN PIERRE PURRY

25

many People offered themselves on the sight of the Vessel prepared.’’ The immigration agent could barely contain his frustration with the Lords Proprietors arguing that their management ‘‘hath been the Principal Cause of the Miscarrying of the Undertaking by the Alteration of their Pattent and refusing to fulfill the Agreement for the Transportation of 600 Persons from England to Carolina.’’ Vat concluded his letter asking to be remembered to Dr. Bray among others ‘‘and all our friends,’’ saddened that the current situation ‘‘quite overturns the design of our good ˆtel unfriend Mounr. Pury.’’29 Fortunately, authorities in Neucha dertook to provide for the homeless as best they could but the Proprietor-instigated demise of Purry’s planned settlement bred seething contempt for the rising frenzy of ‘‘emigration fever’’ affecting more and more Swiss inhabitants.30 South Carolina scholar Arthur Henry Hirsch has speculated that the failure of Purry’s enterprise might have been assured by South Carolina Governor Francis Nicholson. His distinctly antiCalvinist predilections had surfaced in the Anglican-Dissenter struggles over the issues of Commons House representation and paper money in the early 1720s and may have played some role in the reversal of Proprietary policy toward the Calvinist Purry and his like-minded ´emigre´s.31 Collaboration for Hirsch’s claim might be construed from an enigmatic passage in a letter written by Nicholson on 23 July 1726, fully two months before the debaˆtel. The letter appears to have been written from cle in Neucha London and includes information about unnamed policies of the Lords Proprietors. Regarding Purry’s venture Nicholson wrote, . . . , by Mr. Peter John Purry’s Papers you will see what Contrivances there are about the Swiss And I conceive that the Assembly ought to take that matter into their Serious Consideration and Enquire of Mr. Vernod the Minister whether he received the Letter mentioned in the paper and what he has done upon it, at present I find they are at a Stand in that affair, . . .32

The content of the papers to which Nicholson refers is unknown as is that of the letter apparently sent to the Rev. Vernod (also Varnod). But his extremely unusual inversion of Purry’s Anglicized given and middle names and his use of the potentially pejorative term ‘‘contrivances’’ in connection with arrangement for the Swiss could hint at Nicholson’s disposition toward Purry and his plans. His notation that ‘‘they are at a Stand in that affair’’ might signal Nicholson’s awareness in July that the Proprietors

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:08

PS

26

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

were on the verge of altering their agreement with Purry or had already done so. Perhaps it is for that reason that Vat implored an English official to present his letter of 31 October to ‘‘General Nicholson’’ and why Nicholson in late November 1726 sent some unidentified papers to President Middleton of the South Carolina Assembly informing him of the present state of the ‘‘Neufchatelus.’’33 While none of these incidents indicate Nicholson’s direct involvement in the ill-starred affair, taken together they do raise `-vis Governor Nicholson’s interest in the colsome questions vis-a onization of his province. ˆtel in the Out of the entire party that had assembled at Neucha early fall of 1726, only twenty-four—undoubtedly the most wealthy of the group—secured passage to the colony, and this on their own initiative and at their own expense. Among the twentyfour who arrived in Charles Town in December 1726 were members of the Zubly and Desaussure families. Both families were destined to receive land in the township eventually planted by Purry on the South Carolina frontier. But for their immediate succor and in what probably remained a futile effort, Vat petitioned the English government and Proprietors on behalf of the twenty-four men, women, and children to reimburse them for the cost of their passage and to aid them in the hardships which they would invariably encounter during their initial period of adjustment in the New World.34

IV Even the unwarranted collapse of his first attempt to settle Swiss Protestants in the New World under English auspices—his fourth attempt at colonial entrepreneurship with three different empires—did not diminish either Purry’s passionate convictions or his personal desires. Ironically, the disintegration of his initial South Carolina settlement plan may have actually helped create the conditions for his later success by directing royal attention again to the exposed southern flank of English settlement in North America. Perhaps because of the fiasco of 1726 the Proprietors lost even more of their credibility resulting in the liquidation of all their claims in South Carolina by 1728. As royally appointed officials grasped the reins of power falling from the hands of the Proprietors, they also turned their attention to the plight of the frontier.35 At this turn of events Purry saw an opportunity to resurrect his earlier proposal to settle European ´e migre´ s in Caro-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:08

PS

1: INTRODUCTION: JEAN PIERRE PURRY

27

lina. It finally seemed that Purry’s relentless advocacy for his climatological theory and plans for colonizing prime lands in the New World would bear certain fruit for nearly contemporaneous with the reintroduction of the Swiss visionary’s settlement design to royal authorities was the adoption by the same authorities of the township plan to protect the hinterlands of South Carolina by encouraging foreign emigration. Robert Johnson, South Carolina’s second royal governor, quickly realized the necessity of securing the frontier and moved toward implementing a comprehensive policy for colonial defense. In the same year that Gee’s pamphlet was published, Johnson noted that ‘‘nothing is so much wanted in Carolina as white inhabitants’’ to make the colony safe from any potential enemies—foreign, Native American, or black. The governor believed the best strategy to insure the security of the colony lay in enticing poor, foreign Protestants by providing special inducements such as limitations on quit rents. These immigrants would then take up small landholdings in frontier regions of the province.36 Three times in early 1730 Johnson contacted the Board of Trade concerning his ideas for encouraging emigration to the colony.37 Partially due to his efforts, the Board became convinced of the urgency of revising colonial settlement policies. In a communique´ to the Privy Council in 1732 the Board stated that . . . An accession of New Inhabitants in ye Plantations cannot fail to increase the Trade and Commerce of this Kingdom, whilst It creates an Augmentation of His Majesty’s Revenues in his Quit Rents. . . . As It is Our Frontier to ye Spanish and French Settlements, and is surrounded by a great number of Indian Nations, the well peopling of this Province Seems to be a very necessary Measure for the Defense and Security of all Our Plantations on the Continent of America.38

This document vividly indicates the reordered priorities of English immigration strategy after 1730. Henceforth immigration incentives would emphasize the necessity of population growth for defensive purposes above economically discerned mercantilist reasons. European immigrants who had been courted prior to 1730, primarily for the contributions they could make to the South Carolina economy, were to be recruited after 1730 primarily to augment the white population and to defend the colony from prospective enemies. From this vantage point, subsequent provincial and English laws and bounties concerning immigration and economic development may be perceived essentially as

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:08

PS

28

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

inducements to fortify the frontier while simultaneously encouraging the expansion of the colonial economy. The provisions of many of these laws committed South Carolinians to near total subsidization of white immigrants and gave greater support to those newcomers settling in the frontier areas.39 Bounties on such commercial endeavors as wine, hemp, and silk existed as much to draw those skilled in their cultivation to South Carolina as they did to encourage economic diversification. Instead of expanding the plantation system so heavily dependent upon the importation of increasing numbers of black slaves, less affluent Protestant immigrants would aid in the diversification of the provincial economy on smaller plots of land ringing the lowcountry with a band of white small farmers and craftspeople. Their expertise in industries protected by British policy held out the promise of economic gain, and the promise of gain accelerated immigration thus assuring a larger white population and more effective defense against foreign and domestic enemies.40 Joyce Chaplin’s recent analysis of what would become the township plan advances an even more comprehensive vision on the settlement strategy: . . . people who settled in the townships . . . fulfilled several expectations drawn from mercantilism and the moral tradition. They produced commodities Britain would otherwise have to buy from foreigners and were (supposedly) better able to resist military threat. Without slaves and plantation-sized tracts, settlers worked more for a common benefit than for individual gain and could not display the laziness and luxury common to people free from labor.41

Johnson’s blueprint for immigration, called his township plan or ‘‘scheme,’’ as amended by the Board of Trade and launched as royal law in 1730, stipulated that eleven townships in remote and therefore underdefended locations would be laid out: two on the Altamaha River, two on the Savannah River, one at the head of the Pon Pon River, two on the Santee River, and one each on the Wateree, Black, Pee Dee, and Waccamaw Rivers. River systems were logical sites for the townships because of their strategic importance as defensible transportation and communication links with Charles Town. Each township consisted of a square, twenty thousand acre tract with 250 to 300 acres reserved for a formal town, which would be divided into two hundred lots. Each lot was to be no more than one-quarter acre in size. In addition to the town core, another fifty acres were reserved for a schoolhouse, churches, craft industries, and other civic amenities. Authorities

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:09

PS

1: INTRODUCTION: JEAN PIERRE PURRY

29

provided the settlers of each township ‘‘a right of Common and Herbage’’ on all lands ‘‘as shall not be taken up by particular Grants made to said inhabitants’’ and set aside ‘‘a quantity of land not exceeding 300 acres contiguous to the said town . . . for a Common in perpetuity, to each of the said Towns, free from Quit Rent.’’ Remaining acreage in the township was to be carved into two hundred parcels for distribution to town residents. Only those living in the town were to be allowed land in the outlying areas, which also included a six square mile buffer zone erected between the frontier townships and the nearest legal land grants of non-township settlers.42 Each member of a resident family was allowed fifty acres of land. Residents could accumulate more land at any time provided the family or individual could bring the additional land under cultivation. Such land grants were free of quit rent payments (set at no less than four shillings proclamation money per one hundred acres) for a period of ten years, after which the settlers would be liable for the yearly quit rent payment to colonial officers.43 The first settlers of each township received grants closest to the town proper. The plan did not limit township grants only to foreign immigrants, but extended the right of ownership to His Majesty’s subjects as well—the only condition being that grantees live in the township and cultivate the granted land within a certain period of time or forfeit the grant. In an effort to offset the black majority in the province, ‘‘family’’ members included white servants. Consequently, each servant meant an additional fifty acres of land to the household. Once their terms of service expired, servants could receive fifty acres in their own right as an inducement to keep them in South Carolina and so continue to augment the white minority population. Persons already possessing title to land elsewhere in the province could not receive any more land in the township unless they settled there within one year’s time. No one was to be allowed more than one lot in the township, nor could anyone’s granted land front on any river by more than one quarter its depth. Johnson’s plan also stipulated that each township with its six mile extended boundary should be established into a separate parish. When any of the parishes so constituted attained a population of one hundred heads of household, it would be entitled to send two representatives to the Commons House of Assembly—foreigners and free born subjects sharing equal voting rights.44 At this point the township parish was also to be conferred all the rights of existing parishes therefore placing it on an equitable

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:09

PS

30

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

footing with the other parishes in the province. Theoretically this status would allow the frontier parishes to enter the mainstream of colonial political and economic life while maintaining the defensive chain of settlements ringing the prosperous lowcountry. The Board of Trade empowered Governor Johnson to earmark colonial funds for the surveys of the townships and for the purchase of tools, provisions, and other incidentals for any poor Protestants who might wish to settle in any of the townships. The South Carolina Assembly fully supported the plan of settlement and made overtures to undertake the financial task of providing European ´e migre´s with the means to sustain themselves until they could clear land and harvest crops. The Assembly imposed a further duty on imported slaves and set aside five thousand pounds current money of South Carolina for the laying out and surveying of the townships and for the needs of the prospective settlers. To those immigrants from commercial centers, this subsidy, christened the township or settlement fund, was particularly important because of their initial unfamiliarity with rural life, much less life on the southern frontier. By 1731, then, the township plan, sites for the proposed settlements, and mechanisms for enticing Europeans to emigrate to South Carolina were in place. The colony eagerly awaited the floodtide of whites who would essentially serve as frontier sentinels for the defense of lowcountry merchants, planters, and financiers.

V As Governor Johnson and other royal authorities reassessed and reworked Barnwell’s strategy, Purry occupied himself by cultivating the well-placed friends he had made in the wake of the 1726 debacle hoping their advocacy might persuade the right people to underwrite his Carolina designs. Among his most valued and valuable friendships were those he sustained with the notable group of philanthropic and reform-minded clergymen and secular leaders in the circle of Dr. Thomas Bray, which included General James Oglethorpe. Instrumental in the future founding of Georgia, these ‘‘Associates of Dr. Bray’’ as they were called looked with favor upon Purry’s feudal vision. On at least one ocˆtel to speak becasion the Associates invited the native of Neucha fore them. He must have been quite persuasive for they subscribed over two hundred pounds sterling to assist him in his colonial quest. After Dr. Bray’s death the Associates donated part

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:09

PS

1: INTRODUCTION: JEAN PIERRE PURRY

31

of his library to Purry. Utilizing these and other contacts the adventurer continued to pressure royal leaders to endorse his plan for settlement.45 Purry’s aspirations quickened with the ultimate demise of the Proprietors. Now rid of the feudal lords of Carolina who had so bitterly used him, Purry dashed off a new settlement proposal to the royal administration of the colony even as Johnson’s township plan worked its way toward approval. He first memorialized the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations through his son Charles on 24 March 1730 reacquainting them with the specifics of the events and agreements of 1725 and 1726. At the end of the short petition, Purry expressed his continued interest in planting a colony of Swiss immigrants in South Carolina. The Board of Trade heard the report the following day and resolved to consider Purry’s colonial ambitions ‘‘at another opportunity.’’46 But for the next three months the Board did nothing. By mid summer it appears that Purry was cognizant of Johnson’s township plan and strategized accordingly. In July he decided to take matters into his own hands and approached the authorities with a more specific proposition. A petition written in French and dated 9 July 1730 resurrected some of his proposals from the previous decade. In it Purry agreed to transport a colony of six hundred Swiss Protestants within six years to South Carolina with the proviso that he be granted twelve thousand acres gratis and that no quit rent payments would be required of the ´emigre´s for some years after their arrival. Leaving nothing to chance this time, Purry briefed Governor Johnson on his new plan. Less than two weeks after Jean Pierre’s petition arrived, a letter from Johnson appealed to the Lords Commissioners on his behalf. In his letter of 20 July 1730, the Governor noted the ‘‘great Expence and trouble’’ Purry had already faced trying to settle Swiss in South Carolina. He also appealed to the fact that ‘‘as nothing is so much wanted as White Inhabitants for the Security and improvement of that Frontier Colony,’’ Purry’s proposal was well worth their consideration. Johnson then specifically suggested that Purry’s immigrants be settled together in one of the new townships on the Savannah River ‘‘Near the Palachuccola Fort or any other part (upon that River) where Conveniency can be found at the Discretion of the Governor and Council.’’ Johnson concluded by requesting that the Crown give ‘‘an immediate Conditional Instruction to the Governor for the time being’’ so that arrangements could proceed. On proof that Purry had met his responsibilities as stipulated by the proposal, the Governor would grant

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:09

PS

32

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

him his twelve thousand acre barony for which Purry would pay a token five shilling annual quit rent.47 With Johnson’s endorsement and its not coincidental similarity to the governor’s township scheme for populating the South Carolina frontier, Purry’s proposal seemed assured of success. The Lords Commissioners appeared equally enthusiastic for they read Johnson’s letter on 22 July and the next day ‘‘represented to His Majesty that during His Royal Father’s reign Mr. Jean Pierre Purry was recommended by His Majesty’s Ministers at Paris as a person well qualified to make a settlement of Swiss Protestants in South Carolina.’’48 In early September Board members ordered a draft of instructions prepared for Governor Johnson informing him that Purry’s proposal had been accepted with only minor conditions such as the required oath of allegiance being added. After reviewing these instructions, however, the Board ‘‘thought proper not to grant any Land in Carolina, without a Reservation of Qt. Rents to His Majesty.’’ As a result, revised instructions to Johnson dated 30 November 1731 that stipulated the conditions under which Purry’s colony was to proceed contained a problematic modification from Johnson’s recommendation. By these instructions it was understood that Purry would ‘‘settle Six Hundred Swiss Protestants in Carolina, including Women and Children at their own Expence, within the space of Six Years to commence from Christmas next.’’ The immigrants ‘‘of competent age’’ were to take the usual oath of allegiance to the Crown upon their arrival and all were to receive rights equal to the rest of His Majesty’s subjects in the province. After the oath of allegiance had been administered, Governor Johnson was to ‘‘grant them Lands and Settle them in such Place and in such manner as you shall Judge most conducive to the Interest and Security of said Province.’’ Purry was not to receive his land until one or more customs officials could certify that he fulfilled this agreement. Ominously, however, the instructions amended Purry’s proposal requiring him to pay quit rent on his twelve thousand acre grant beginning ten years after he received the land.49 Perhaps buoyed by the support of Governor Johnson and the apparent enthusiasm of British officials, Purry looked optimistically toward the future in the late summer of 1730. So confident was he that his plan would be accepted as he proposed it, that he decided to visit South Carolina for the first time in order to survey a proper tract for his township settlement. He traveled to the colony in 1731 arriving in Charles Town with fellow emigration enthusiasts James Richard of Geneva and Abraham Meuron and

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:09

PS

1: INTRODUCTION: JEAN PIERRE PURRY

33

Henry Reymond of St. Sulpy (also St. Sulpice) in May.50 So desirous of courting Purry now were colonial officials that the provincial legislature provided him and his party traveling and provisioning expenses of 150 pounds South Carolina current money for the trip to the Savannah River to locate a suitable habitation. Captain Rowland Evans, whose militia unit of the Carolina Rangers patrolled from Fort Palachuccolas southward along the Savannah River, led Purry and his party to the southern frontier accompanied by the Rev. Francis Varnod. With help from Evans, Purry selected the Great Yamassee Bluff as the site for the settlement and marked a tree in what was to be the center of town. Upon returning to Charles Town, he brokered a pact with the South Carolina General Assembly, which granted him six hundred pounds sterling for every one hundred men he persuaded to reside in his township. In addition, provincial authorities granted him an additional four hundred pounds and provisions for the well-being of three hundred persons for one year provided the settlers were Protestants of good reputation. An additional unspecified sum was to be allocated for the purchase of necessary tools and implements for their use.51 Before returning to Switzerland, Purry authored two related documents in Charles Town in September 1731. The shorter of the two enumerated the expectations for prospective settlers desirous of emigrating to what was to be called Purrysburg Township.52 The longer pamphlet has been his most widely circulated and most vilified tract.53 It is an excellent example of eighteenth century promotional literature. The treatise made extensive use of his theory of optimal climates and its publication in Charles Town, just as the first immigrants to Purrysburg were set to arrive the following year, served as much to encourage South Carolinians as it did to draw Swiss families to his colonial experiment. As the pamphlet initially appeared publically in both French and English versions within a few months of one another, it easily achieved both goals in due course.54 On Purry’s return to Switzerland, his two September 1731 documents appear to have been printed in newspapers first and then published in 1732 with related explanations and supporting inˆtel under the complete formation as a bound volume in Neucha title Description abre´ge´e de l’e´tat pre´sent de la Caroline Meridionale, nouvelle edition, avec des eclaircissemens, les actes des con` ce suject a ` l’auteur, tant pour luy que pour ceux cessions faites a qui voudront prendre parti avec luy. Et enfin une instruction qui contient les conditions, sous lesquelles on pourra l’accompagner.55

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:10

PS

34

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

As is evident from the title, this ‘‘new edition’’ was tailored specifically for prospective emigrants as it included information not in the English language version published in South Carolina in the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1732.56 It was the publication of the Description abre´ge´e de l’e´tat pre´sent de la Caroline Meridionale . . . and its dissemination throughout Switzerland that set off what distraught Swiss officials derisively labeled the ‘‘Rabies Carolinae.’’ Almost instantaneously 170 Swiss residents made application to leave Switzerland for Purrysburg in spite of the widely known demise of Purry’s earlier attempt to found a colony in South Carolina. Swiss magistrates took every precaution to stop native Swiss from joining the emigration tide, but even legal restrictions failed to stem the flow of fleeing citizens.57 At this point General James Oglethorpe, soon to be a Trustee of Georgia and cognizant of the imminent success of Purry’s project, opened negotiations with Jean Pierre and by a secret agreement bought one-quarter interest in the colonial venture in December 1731. The two also reached an accord on the transfer of twenty thousand acres of Oglethorpe’s land in South Carolina to Purry for the latter’s pledge to transport religious refugees from Salzburg to Savannah at some time in the future.58 Purry and his associates had no trouble raising emigrants for transport to South Carolina, but financing their passage became a major impediment when Purry discovered how the Lords Commissioners had changed his original proposal of July 1730. Remember that after Johnson’s letter to the Board of Trade on his behalf and the initial draft instructions to the governor, Purry mistakenly believed that the Board would approve his proposal as written. His overconfidence led him to depart for South Carolina in 1731 before the Lords Commissioners had solidified their consent to the colonial plan. Purry began to raise recruits for his township on the assumption that he would be granted twelve thousand acres free of quit rent. He secured the financial backing of ‘‘several Gentlemen in London’’ based on this false assumption. However, once they discovered that Purry would have to pay quit rent on the land they refused to advance him the funds necessary to finance the passage of the Swiss to Purrysburg. Undaunted by this setback, Purry decided to depart for Switzerland and proceed with his colonial plans sometime before early March 1731/32, leaving his agent Jean Vat to iron out the difficulties. Vat directed a petition for redress directly to the Lord President of the Privy Council dated 7 March 1731/32. In it he asked the King to increase Purry’s land grant to ‘‘48,000 acres subject to Quit

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:10

PS

1: INTRODUCTION: JEAN PIERRE PURRY

35

Rents in Lieu of the 12,000 acres clear of Quit Rents.’’ Perhaps summoning the specter of a repeat of the chaos of 1726, Vat raised the fear that the whole enterprise would be ‘‘rendered abortive unless His Majesty shall be graciously pleased to grant him’’ this request. The clever agent noted Jean Pierre ‘‘thinks he is more justified in this proposal since the Grant of 12,000 acres clear of Quit Rents was in lieu of 48,000 acres formerly granted him by the Lords Proprietors for that purpose and without that quantity of Land he hath no hope of raising a sum of Money sufficient to carry out this undertaking.’’ This request did not seem an unreasonable one to the petitioners for Purry demonstrated that the cost to his estate of transporting six hundred Swiss Protestants to the province would be nearly twenty-four hundred pounds sterling.59 Officials apparently conceded the point and by ‘‘Additional Instructions’’ for Governor Johnson dated 12 March 1732 stated that ‘‘We do grant to the said Purry and his Heirs in consideration of his trouble labor and expence Twelve thousand acres of Land in that province free from Quit Rent.’’ But confusion remained for the document ended by reaffirming that the land was ‘‘subject to the Quit Rent reserved by Your Instructions after the expiration of the first ten years from the date of His Grant.’’60 To resolve the matter the Board of Trade summoned Vat to appear before the Lords Commissioners on 25 April 1732. They asked Vat if Purry planned to settle his six hundred immigrants on the forty-eight thousand acres he had requested. He assured them that that was not the case and that Purry desired to use the land as security. He ‘‘intended to borrow the Money that was necessary to defray the charge of transporting the said Swiss—that he could not raise a sufficient sum upon a less quantity of Land.’’ Two days later the Lords Commissioners took up issue again and instructed that a draft investigative report be prepared.61 The scrupulous investigation involving a committee of five took nearly a month. The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council received their eight-page report dated 26 May 1732 detailing the history of the government’s dealings with Purry from 1724 to the present. The authors of the report argued that Purry’s projected colony would bring a large number of new white inhabitants to a colony badly in need of settlers to protect it from foreign and domestic enemies, which was a long-standing concern of the Board of Trade. They wrote that ‘‘In all probability one great Reason why South Carolina has not hitherto been peopled in the same proportion with other parts of His Majesty’s Dominions in

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:10

PS

36

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

America, has been that a considerable number of People have never before made an offer of Settling together in one place.’’ Jean Pierre’s township settlement could provide South Carolina with exactly what British and provincial officials so much desired. They believed that Purry would eventually sell some of the land to other settlers thereby further augmenting the white population of the southern frontier and increasing the commerce of the colony. The report concluded by recommending that the fortyeight thousand acres be granted to Purry free of quit rent for ten years as long as he fulfilled his pledge to people the township with six hundred Protestants.62 On 6 June 1732 the Committee of the Privy Council directed the Board of Trade to prepare a draft of instructions to Governor Johnson for a grant of forty-eight thousand acres to Purry for the settlement of Swiss families in South Carolina. The Lords Commissioners agreed and it was so ordered on 15 June. The ‘‘Additional Instructions’’ were drawn up the following day and Johnson received them in July. By them he was to grant the land to Purry with the stipulation that he settle six hundred Swiss Protestant men, women, and children in the colony within six years from Christmas 1731. The forty-eight thousand acre grant was to be laid out in the ‘‘buffer zone’’ immediately surrounding the township and would not be granted to Purry until customs officials could verify all six hundred Swiss Protestants had arrived.63 Even before the arrival of the first group of Swiss ´emigre´s, colonial leaders made provision for their sustenance as agreed. In early October the Provincial Council ordered three months of provisions for each settler as well as transportation to the township. A few days later six cannon from Port Royal and other tools and necessities were ordered to Purrysburg. Each person over twelve years of age was entitled to eight bushels of corn and peas, three hundredweight of beef, fiftyweight of pork, two hundredweight of rice, one bushel of salt, one axe, one broad hoe, and one narrow hoe. One cow, one calf, and one young sow were appropriated for every five persons and also some shot and powder. Succeeding transports of Swiss for the township were also to be aided with provisions set aside by the colony for their use.64 After nearly fifteen years of relentless effort Jean Pierre Purry stood on the very threshold of realizing his colonial dream during the summer of 1732. To this point in his life Purry had attained status as a minor public officer, a military officer, a wealthy merchant, an agent of well-established trading companies, a world traveler, a geographical theorist, and in some circles as an un-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:10

PS

1: INTRODUCTION: JEAN PIERRE PURRY

37

scrupulous opportunist. But as the aging gadfly approached his fifty-seventh year, the one prize that had eluded him throughout his life, the one vocation that defined success and achievement for all societies of the ancien re´gime enticed him once again across the Atlantic. For he was now to take his place as the baronial lord of hundreds of immigrants he would transport to his feudal community—Purrysburg Township, South Carolina. Vested with civil and military authority from Carolinian officials desperate to populate their vulnerable frontiers as insurance against foreign and domestic enemies, Purry stood ready to lead his people like an early modern Moses to a new promised land of true and certain bounty. He and the colonists who contracted to come with him anticipated the challenge of forging new relationships into a village community, but unfortunately neither the land, the leader, nor the colonists could insure a future, which resembled either their ideals or their European past. By the fall of 1732 the tireless Swiss scientific theorist and colonial entrepreneur brought the first of hundreds of ´emigre´s to settle with him on the South Carolina frontier, but Jean Pierre spent the rest of his life in a vain attempt to compel colonial officials to fulfill their contractual obligations to him and to the settlers of his township.65 Their failure to honor their agreements in large part led to numerous charges of betrayal, fraud, and misrepresentation against him by disillusioned and justifiably irate colonists. Purry’s death at his South Carolina home in 1736 freed him from the debilitating wrangling with imperial authorities. He was also spared the heartbreak of presiding over his township as its inhabitants struggled to survive in the rugged and often unforgiving South Carolina wilderness during the desolate 1730s and 1740s. But he also missed the opportunity to commend those who remained at Purrysburg into the 1760s and 1770s to carve out lives of prosperity and vitality. Even before his death, however, the culmination of the colonial strategy, which had consumed the last twenty years of his life, brought him more ridicule than reward. His amazing success was labeled a failure and he a charlatan. His reputation has suffered ever since.

VI It is not the purpose of this present project to rehabilitate either Purry’s character or his legacy.66 It is rather to demonstrate, through the first annotated edition in any language of all of his

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:11

PS

38

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

published work, the extent of his meticulous scientific research in both primary and secondary sources, his singularity of purpose, and the consistency of his colonial strategies. While Purry could never be convicted of penning lucid prose or tightly organized paragraphs, the documents that comprise his corpus will demonstrate that he has been wrongfully accused of deliberately promulgating ideas he knew to be false and of misleading potential ´emigre´s to further his own career. As we have seen, Jean Pierre was not above promoting himself, but it is patently misleading to accuse Purry of intentional duplicity or hucksterism after studying his essays chronologically. What strikes the reader two and one half centuries after their original publication is the progressive and cumulative nature of his published works as well as their ‘‘fit’’ as constituent parts of a larger whole. For example, Purry, like his contemporaries, erred egregiously in his theoretical explanations. His unique scientific contribution that connected climates, the sun’s light, heat, and soil fertility to specific latitudes was later proven wrong. But it should be noted that in erring so boldly, he merely added his own hypothesis to a long tradition rooted deeply in the history of western science. From the ancient Greeks and the Latin cosmographer Macrobius to the Venerable Bede, Albertus Magnus, Roger Bacon, and Cardinal Pierre d’Ailly, Archbishop of Cambrai, the linkage of climate patterns to latitude remained constant.67 Purry’s own travels to the East Indies, South Africa, and South Carolina provided the empirical evidence, which gave concrete support to his theoretical notions. His detailed study of the writings of highly respected scholars and the official records of noted explorers and adventurers buttressed his arguments by providing important details of regions beyond his own personal travels that further vindicated his ideas. It is also obvious to the careful reader of these essays that Purry believed implicitly in his theoretical assumptions regarding geography, climatology, and agricultural science. His dogged determination to plant a colony of settlers proceeded from these assumptions and not from a desire to make a fortune at the expense of naı¨ve prospective ´emigre´s. Purry’s abiding trust in his own conclusions also meant that he would not commit himself to any colonial enterprise hatched by bureaucrats or royalty which did not conform to his theoretical formula for success. His hope for personal fortune was inextricably bound to the well-being of those who would join him in building a new colony in the ‘‘right’’ place. If they failed, he failed. In his two essays to officials of the Dutch East India Company,

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:11

PS

1: INTRODUCTION: JEAN PIERRE PURRY

39

Purry based his entire argument on the theoretical assumption that Dutch settlements in either South Africa or South Australia would bring great commercial benefits to the Company. He hoped for financial gain from pointing Company leaders to this obvious fact and was willing to lead the initial colonizing party to prove his point as well as to make his fortune. The success of this colony, a foregone conclusion to Purry, would enrich him as it brought new sources of wealth to the Company. His pamphlet addressed to the Duke of Newcastle, when studied in conjunction with his unpublished proposals for settling emigrants in South Carolina first presented to Walpole, casts his colonial strategies in a less commercial and more feudal framework, but his theoretical assumptions remained constant. South Carolina, South Africa, and South Australia all existed in what Purry termed the optimal climate—the fifth climate zone. His essay to the Duke and proposals to Walpole merely exchanged the primary notion of commercial gain for the more English pattern of settlement colonies. This English pattern relied to a great extent upon the transference of feudal land relationships to the New World. While it was apparent by the 1720s that there were serious impediments to the wholesale importation of the European feudal system to North American colonies, it still had not been discarded. In this English context, Purry fancied himself a feudal lord complete with fief, a military command, and a village full of grateful landholders. But as in its European counterpart, the mutual set of obligations and responsibilities which bound feudal lord to subject as much as the other way around also meant that Lord Purry had to see to the protection and general contentment of those who looked to him as their leader or he lost his right to their patronage. In this recasting of his colonial ambitions, Purry again linked his success directly to the welfare of those who chose to follow him—this time to a feudal barony in South Carolina.68 That his scientific theories generated his colonial aspirations is further illustrated by the recognition that Purry sounds many of the same themes in each of his major essays. For example, even in his first two essays to the Dutch East India Company when he is most concerned about colonial opportunities in South Africa and South Australia, he notes that the southeastern portion of North America would yield tremendous benefits to whoever might colonize that region because of its location in the fifth climate zone. In this context, his essay of 1724 to the Duke of Newcastle and the 1731 description of South Carolina merely build on

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:11

PS

40

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

these earlier conclusions with more specific details and plans for colonization of the region since the Dutch East India Company had rejected his plans for South Africa and South Australia. Purry’s continuity of purpose is further highlighted in the essays addressed to the Company and to British officials and potential colonists. In attempting to persuade the Company of the truth of his geographical theories Purry specifically names a number of products that could be profitable to the Company should it see fit to undertake commercial colonization of South Africa or South Australia. Among those given a prominent place in his essays are wine and silk. These same industries figure significantly in the colonial plans Purry shared with the Duke of Newcastle and show up again in his description of Carolina.69 In addition, his proposition to the Duke to settle poor European Protestants in South Carolina was presaged by a similar suggestion to the Dutch East India Company in his second treatise. He also emphasizes settlement colonies populated with families rather than single males in both his second memorial to the Dutch East India Company and his petition to the Duke of Newcastle. Finally, Purry suggests to both the Company and the British government that an appropriate method of securing prospective colonists would be to publish the merits of the proposed colony in a widely circulated tract—which is exactly how he secured hundreds of settlers for Purrysburg Township.70 One cannot read Purry’s corpus of work chronologically and fail to note the constancy with which he pursued his colonial vision and the deeply held theoretical convictions that motivated him. In retrospect his theories may seem misguided and simplistic from the vantage point of the contemporary reader, but Purry was not the first scientific thinker proved wrong by subsequent experience. What is perhaps more significant is the recognition that Jean Pierre Purry spent one third of his life bringing to fulfillment a vision grounded in empirical study and articulated consistently to audiences around the world in three of the great empires of the eighteenth century. Even while he still hoped that the Dutch East India Company would act upon his suggestions, he noted in his second memorial to the Company that if it did not move ahead with colonization plans in South Africa or South Australia, France or England would. And when the Dutch failed to capitalize on Purry’s plan, he approached both those empires with the same theoretical notions.71 Perhaps the most convincing evidence of Purry’s unswerving commitment to his colonial vision proceeds from the fact that he made his home in Purrysburg

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:11

PS

1: INTRODUCTION: JEAN PIERRE PURRY

41

with those he brought to the township—and died there with many of them in 1736.

VII It seems an appropriate moment for an annotated English edition of Purry’s published work to appear. There have been previous printings of his essays, although they have never all appeared together and were never chronologically arranged. Most are extremely rare and exist in formats, which are quite inaccessible except to the most determined investigator.72 In nearly every case when one or another of his writings has been translated or published, the editor merely presented Purry’s text and notes without annotations or explanations. The present edition has rectified this oversight by contextualizing the geographical information and by providing appropriate explanatory notes and pertinent biographical data of individuals upon whose authority Purry relied for his research and conclusions. Current scholarly inquiry regarding Purry’s legacy to the colonization of the New World spans both the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans and appears to be building. The recent bicentennial celebration of the British colonization of Australia may have played a role in the current surge of interest in the part Purry played (albeit a minor one) in the charting of that continent’s destiny.73 The burgeoning field of social history in the 1970s led the present editor to center his research on the township that bore Purry’s name on the South Carolina frontier. In the process, he discovered a lively interest in Purry’s exploits among professional historians, genealogists, and lay observers of the colonial American experience alike. One evidence of that interest was an international conference held in Charleston in May 1997 to commemorate the tricentennial of the 1697 Huguenot Naturalization Act in South Carolina. As the Calvinist leader of a settlement comprised to a large extent of French-speaking Calvinists, the person and work of Jean Pierre Purry had a legitimate place on the agenda of that auspicious gathering. The following year, after more than a decade of trans-Atlantic exchanges between descendants of the Purry family and families that settled in the township he founded, the Purysburg Preservation Foundation received incorporation by the State of South Carolina as a nonprofit organization. The Foundation is committed to raising the awareness of the historical importance of Purrysburg Township

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:11

PS

42

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

to the evolution of the American southeast. In light of these developments, it seems most appropriate to offer the following edition of Purry’s entire published corpus. In addition to the obvious task of tracking down obscure references and inserting appropriate notations, the most perplexing part of a project of this nature proceeds from the presentation style chosen for the documents. The translations from the original French of Purry’s first two memorials and sections of some of his other essays made this an especially acute issue. An editor may choose to adhere religiously to a strict word for word translation of the text or to take certain liberties with the translation to render it more readable without losing its original meaning. After struggling with Purry’s convoluted eighteenth-century writing style, the present editor chose the latter approach. This decision entailed the breaking up of some of the longest sentences, altering paragraph structure, and the utilization of appropriate diacritical marks to provide the greatest degree of clarity. I have informed the reader when important textual additions were not part of the original manuscripts. Also provided are paraphrases or looser translations of the most difficult-to-render passages in endnotes. At the same time, I thought it best to leave Purry’s original citations in the format he used with additional comment and referents as needed.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:12

PS

.......................... 8784$$

$CH1

10-25-01 14:15:14

PS

This page intentionally left blank

2 Memorial on the Country of Kaffraria and the Terre de Nuyts

In regard to the usefulness that the Dutch East India Company could derive from them for its commerce

Amsterdam, Pierre Humbert 1718

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:19

PS

46

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION

JEAN PIERRE PURRY HAD BEEN IN BATAVIA A RELATIVELY SHORT TIME when he first began to think through the possibility of a causal connection between climate, soil fertility, and sunlight. We have already noted that geographers had long associated certain degrees of latitude with their own peculiar temperature gradients. Purry’s great scientific contribution, ultimately mistaken though it was, proceeded from his conviction that earlier hypotheses regarding climate, heat, and amount of sunlight were erroneous. These mistaken notions probably caused prior theorists to miss completely the true connection between these phenomena and in all likelihood contributed to a way of understanding what we today call climatology that made it impossible for them to uncover the interlinked relationship between sunlight, heat, climate, and soil fertility. Because Purry had traveled so extensively, by the time he arrived at the Dutch East India Company’s Batavian station, the disjunction between his own personal observations and the prevailing scientific wisdom of the era became too obvious for him to deny. While the Me´moire sur le pais des Cafres . . . is Purry’s first published treatise on climatology and colonization, it is not his first formal writing on the subject. He had earlier written to one of the Company’s leading officials (Mr. Director Boddens) with regard to the great potential of the southern Africa region called Kaffraria. The dates and exact content of his correspondence with Boddens are unknown, but it is certainly within the realm of possibility that it was in the context of this relationship that his theories first began to take more specific definition. By the time that he approached Christophel van Swol with his ideas, they had been refined and expanded to include the portion of southern Australia called the Terre de Nuyts. The text that Purry presented to van Swol included much of what he later published in this Me´moire, but that initial unpublished manuscript appears not to have survived. From Purry’s comments in his preface to the Me´moire we can surmise that the manuscript text Purry prepared for van Swol’s consideration was quite a bit longer and more detailed than the account finally published as the Me´moire in Amsterdam in 1718. We also know that a portion of what he included in the Me´moire was new to the Me´moire and was intended to answer possible objections to his arguments in the manuscript text read by van Swol. Most likely, the objections he

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:19

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

47

expected from the Amsterdam officials of the Company were the same ones he received from the Governor-General in 1717 in the East Indies. Purry downplays the obviously volatile relationship he and van Swol had shared in Batavia after the latter dismissed Jean Pierre’s ideas and suggestions. The introductory preface to the top leadership of the Dutch East India Company in Amsterdam would have the reader believe that as soon as he realized the full implication of his climatological theory (that both southern Africa and southern Australia could bring tremendous benefit to the Company) Purry departed Batavia immediately so that he could inform European officials directly of his discovery. He only decided to see van Swol to let him know why he was leaving the colony so abruptly. From Purry’s perspective, his hasty departure had nothing to do with van Swol’s negative assessment of his plans. It was because of his desire to inform the Amsterdam Directors of the Company of his profound discoveries that he cut short his sojourn in the East Indies. The Swiss theorist realizes that he must quickly establish his credibility and so begins the Me´moire by leading with his strengths. He immediately demonstrates his sophisticated understanding of current scientific thought on the climates of the earth. Then he introduces a number of authorities to prove that the conventional wisdom is wrong. It is worth noting that Purry’s first examples of fallacious thinking on climates come from French writers. While it is true that the authors he cites were well-respected scholars of the time, it was perhaps more than coincidental that they all also just happened to be citizens of one of the great commercial and political rivals of the Dutch during the early modern period. And they were all wrong. At this juncture Purry sets forth his theory of climates centering his discourse on the optimal conditions evident at the fifth zone in either hemisphere compared to all the others. He offers various ingenious explanations for the superiority of this zone by drawing upon his extensive geographical knowledge. In this section of the Me´moire he utilizes his own expertise both to promote the veracity of his theory and to blunt possible objections to it from his readers. It is in the final third of the Me´moire that we find Purry proceeding from theoretical to more practical concerns while exuding the ethnocentrism so characteristic of Europeans of his era. Once the reliability of his scientific theory is firmly established through the examples he provides, Purry poses the natural question to his

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:19

PS

48

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

reader: ‘‘If these lands are certain to give such bounty, would it not be a logical strategy for the Company to move as quickly as possible to populate them and so bring greater profits to itself ?’’ He finesses his argument by answering all possible reasons why Company officials might reply that such a strategy is not possible. With this superb maneuver, coupled with a contrite attitude about his own subordinate status in the Company pecking order, Purry has effectively cut the props out from under anyone who might have agreed with any of the preceding points he has made, but was not ready to commit Company resources to colonize either southern Africa or southern Australia. The only significant faux pas he commits in this entire treatise is his rather brazen request to be remunerated for his efforts. From van Swol’s point of view, however, that request may have only been the final straw.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:20

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

49

PREFACE TO MY LORDS The Deputies of the Assembly of the Seventeen, representing the General Company of the Dutch East Indies. MY LORDS, The true attachment that I have always felt for your interests for the more than five years that I have been serving you already, made me notice the first time I was in Africa, that by lack of culture and inhabitants the country of Kaffraria was still but a desert and that it produced only a few things in relationship to the wealth that could be extracted from it if that country was farmed as it could be.1 I took the liberty to write about it to Mr. Director Boddens2 because he honored me with his good will. But since his death, I noticed that a portion of the land of New Holland, named the Terre de Nuyts,3 would be even more productive than that of Kaffraria, not only to produce there the wine and the wheat needed by your East Indies, but mostly for the strengthening of the commerce that you have established there. Consequently, I left immediately for the Low Countries. I resolved to come before you, My Lords, to inform you of the commercial potential of the above-mentioned regions myself. At the same time, I believed that it would be unwise if, before leaving our Indonesian colony, I did not make the Gentlemen of the Council of the High Regency of Batavia4 aware of my plans. That is why I initially presented the memorial of the so-called country of Kaffraria and of the so-called Terre de Nuyts to His Excellency, Governor-General van Swol.5 I have the honor to present you with an excerpt of that memorial in my mother tongue and with a few minor changes. You have in this memorial, My Lords, the only reason that I came back from the Indies much earlier than planned. At your discretion, I will be pleased to communicate to you the other things that I still have to say on this subject. I do this as much to reply to the objections already raised in Batavia by His Excellency the Governor-General as to reply to the few others, which could still be raised here. At least I will have the consolation, My Lords, to have offered it to you as a public profession of the deep respect in which I hold you. My Lords in Amsterdam, this 25th day of July 1718 Your very humble and very obedient servant. Jean Pierre Purry

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:20

PS

50

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

MEMORIAL on the Country of Kaffraria and the Terre de Nuyts Presented to His Excellency Lord Christophel van Swol, Governor-General of the Dutch East India Company Sir, Without doubt, it would be of a considerable profit for the Company if it could save the immense amounts that it spends every year for foreign wines as well as for fruits, oils, and wheat that it brings to this country. If the Company could produce, on its own lands, all the variety of necessary products it needs, it would not have to purchase them elsewhere and could spare itself great expense. With this in mind, Sir, our illustrious Company could very easily secure a considerable advantage by procuring property either in the country of Kaffraria or in the Terre de Nuyts. For as I am going to take the liberty to show to your Excellency, either one of these countries can produce better wines than any of those imported here and that it is a needless expense to go look for them elsewhere. Mindful of this goal, Sir, I will attempt primarily to show you these two things: First, I will explain which of the world’s climates is the most conducive to soil fertility and therefore to the production of good crops. In addition, I will disclose in which degree of latitude one should look for the most temperate regions and the most suitable to produce good wines. Second, I will demonstrate that Kaffraria, as well as the Terre de Nuyts is located in that climate. At the same time, I will attempt also to answer the different objections that could be brought up to me on this topic. After having accomplished these tasks, it will be very easy for your Excellency to determine the truth of my proposition. Climates occur in a space of land lying between two circles parallel to the equator and so distant one from the other that there is a difference of half an hour in the length of their longest day.6 Now since at the equator the days are always equal to the nights (that is to say they are both of twelve hours duration) and that at the polar circles the longest summer day is twenty-four hours long, it follows that the distance between the equator and the polar circles will include the twelve hours of difference on the longest summer days (which are equivalent to 24 half hours). As the

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:21

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

51

duration of each climate is half an hour, it follows also that there must be twenty-four climates, which begin at the equator and end at the polar circles from the south as well as from the north without distinction. Sir, this is the manner in which all modern geographers divide the world in order to be able to distinguish very exactly the different situation that every country must have in relationship to another. But this knowledge alone would not be sufficient evidence to support my plan. For it is not simply a question of knowing the number of climates. The main point is in knowing in which degree of the globe to look for the most fertile regions. I have not seen other authors say anything on this matter up to now. They do tell us that this country is in a cold or temperate region and that another one is in an arid or hot country, but they never decide in which degree of latitude the best countries must be found. It seems to me that the younger Mr. Sanson,7 in the description he gave of the world, insinuates that the degree of fertility we are looking for is located in the middle of the temperate zone. Here is how he expresses it speaking of France: ‘‘France,’’ he says, ‘‘is the most beautiful region, the most attractive and the most powerful kingdom in Europe. It is located at about forty-five degrees of (north) latitude, which is the middle of the temperate zone; all other parts of Europe being under or above this parallel (are) hotter or colder . . .’’8 Dare I say that it seems obvious to me that Mr. Sanson is mistaken in regards to two issues here. Firstly, it is certain that Provence and Languedoc produce the best fruits of that kingdom and that those crops of more southern countries like Spain or the Kingdom of Naples far surpass them in goodness. Thus it is not because it is located in the forty-fifth degree of north latitude that it (France) has the advantage of being fertile. Secondly, I say that it is a very bad proof that France is the most beautiful region and the most glorious kingdom when one notes that all other parts of Europe are above or below this parallel. For if this were so, it would be necessary for all other parts of Europe to be equal since there are none with other regions above or below this parallel and which are consistently neither warmer nor colder. Is this not, sir, an obvious contradiction? Mr. More´ri reports about the same thing in his Dictionnaire historique.9 ‘‘France,’’ says he, ‘‘is contained in the temperate zone for all other parts of Europe above or below this parallel are either warmer or colder and it is in the middle of the most fertile part of Europe. It extends from about the forty-second degree of

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:21

PS

52

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

(north) latitude to the fifty-first degree . . .’’10 The fault of this argument is not very difficult to prove for if it were true that France is in the middle of the most fertile part of Europe, it would be necessary to agree that all regions of this country would be good. Instead it is certain that in the fifty-first degree it is already a very nasty country and in such a bad climate vines would not grow or if they did the fruit would be called sour grapes rather than wine. Even the ancients would not believe that one could live in countries confined in that degree of latitude. Here is the manner in which Mr. Baudrand11 also speaks of France: ‘‘These advantages that France has received from nature, coupled with the care with which the inhabitants farm it, make it one of the most fertile and most delightful countries of Europe; possibly, all considered, no equal could be found.’’12 But I maintain that this reasoning is not justified and that it is well known that the southern provinces of Italy have infinitely more worth than those of France, at least as to the fertility of the climate and to the goodness of the crops. We also have noticed in the public news that when Louis XIV, last King of France, was struck by the unfortunate illness of which he died, the doctors, at a loss as to how to fortify his stomach, ordered him to drink Alicante wine. It was not, however, because there are not very good wines in France, but it is undeniable that those of Spain have more quality and that they are worth much more because Alicante is in the sixth climate and the best provinces of France are only in the seventh. It is true as well that France does not produce the best fruits nor the best wines of Europe and that all climates of the earth differ in goodness only in proportion to their respective distance from a certain point. Thus it is, My Lord (if you will allow me to say so), that all historians and all geographers are misled on the nature of climates. If they sometimes speak to us of the degree of heat and cold that each country must have in relationship to another they always build their reasoning on the false principle that the countries which are located in the center of the torrid zone are the hottest and that all other regions differ in heat only according to their relative proximity to this center. Here is how Baudrand expresses this in regard to China: ‘‘This great State,’’ says he, has been as favored by nature as any other state known to us. Its position makes it appear as though the Northern Provinces must not be very cold since they are not closer to the North than the Southern

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:21

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

53

Provinces of France. As well, it does not appear as though the Southern Provinces of China are exposed to heat too violent, being at 19 or 20 degrees from the Line. . . .13

Now, this reasoning does not have a better base than the preceding ones. For far from the heat diminishing in proportion as we go away from the line, on the contrary, there is nothing so true that it is from the line that it always keeps increasing to and even above the twentieth degree. ´ x,14 although one of the most modern auMonsieur de Mervilleu thors of this science and who has gathered everything said by the best known geographers before him, has nevertheless been making the same error as they in this regard. Speaking of the Sunda ` la Ge´ographie universelle, Islands15 in his first rate Introduction a he says ‘‘the air is temperate enough there to be in the middle of the torrid zone. . . .’’16 Instead, one should say that the air is temperate enough on the Sunda Islands because they are in the middle of the torrid zone. However, it is so true, My Lord, that it is difficult to be able to admit an error about something we have presupposed for several thousand years. As for me, My Lord, I feel that in order to find the best countries on the earth, one must look for them in the center of the fifth climate at the thirty-third degree of latitude. For although it is certain that it is uniquely the sun which gives life to wines, nevertheless, neither the hottest nor the coldest countries are appropriate not only for vineyards but for all sorts of good crops and it is only temperate regions which can be appropriate for them. Now since the longer summer days are 24 hours at sixty-six degrees, thirty-one minutes, it follows that taking half of these two extremes from one to sixty-six (leaving us at the thirty-third latitude line, as I said) is where the degree of fertility and of temperature of the air exists that we are seeking. Experience justifies the truth of what I have just established. For I feel sure that if one is in the least acquainted with the world, one will deduct without hesitation that the regions of the Barbary Coast, Syria, Chaldea, Persia, Mongolia,17 China, with the islands of Crete, Cyprus, and Japan, confined in the fifth climate between the thirtieth and the thirty-sixth degree of latitude are the best countries of our ancient continent.18 And that the countries of all these regions which are the closest to the thirtythird degree greatly surpass the fertility of the others. It can be noticed thus in the land of Canaan, of which Galilee was one of the best provinces.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:22

PS

54

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

I may be told on this matter that the examples that I give have no relevance to the question since all these countries are confined in a northern climate whereas our Cape of Good Hope as well as the Terre de Nuyts are in the south.19 Therefore there is a great difference between them. I want to answer this first of all. The territory of our Cape is the most southern part of the entire ancient continent and at the same time the only country of that continent which is confined in the fifth climate on the southern side (of the equator).20 It is thus impossible to name another one on that side. Following this reasoning, I state that except for South America, New Zealand, and our Kaffraria, there is in the Antarctic (Southern) Hemisphere only the Terre de Nuyts, with its islands (in which I include those of Leeuwin and Edelsland), which is confined in the fifth climate between the thirtieth and the thirtysixth degree of latitude. I add after this, that no geographer has ever made a single difference between the southern and northern climates notwithstanding that astronomers find in their calculations that the sun is more than a million leagues closer to earth by the eccentricity of its orbit, when it is in its perigee when traveling through the Tropic of Capricorn than when it is in its apogee while in the Tropic of Cancer. That is to say that at the beginning of winter for the northern people, the sun is more than a million leagues closer to earth than it is in the beginning of summer. But you can reply, even if it is so, there are other winds blowing there and that could contribute to something. I reply again, that if the winds contribute to the diversity of climates, we can no longer attribute it to the virtue of the sun. And since the winds in the torrid zone are totally other than the winds in the cold zone, we could say as well that it is not the sun which causes this great variety which exists from one to the other, but that it is the winds. And that would still be ridiculous. This truth can be confirmed by examples drawn from the New World. For if we examine Virginia, Carolina, Florida, New Mexico and California which have a part of their lands confined in the fifth northern climate, we will find that all these vast regions can be paralleled with the most excellent countries, although most of them are uncultivated because they are inhabited by people as ignorant and about as uncivilized as those of our Kaffraria. The same is true in South America. The Spanish, who own Chile whose capital city of Santiago is confined between the thirty-third and thirty-fourth degree of latitude, say that they do

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:22

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

55

not believe that there is a better country under the heavens nor any country more fertile than that one. They say that among other things that there are sheep so fat they can walk entire days with a weight of sixty pounds on their backs. Paraguay, which is east of Chile is similarly a country which abounds in all the things that are necessary for life. This is particularly true of some of its provinces, such as those of Uruguay, La Plata, Tucuman, and so on, which are found in the fifth climate. But will you say again, although we have deceived ourselves about the fertility of climates and have ignored up to now the degrees of heat and cold that each country must have in relationship to another, it would not be sufficient for the fifth climate to be the best since all countries in it do not yield the same kinds of crops. For example, the torrid zone yields precious gems with gold and silver mines in abundance, as well as nutmegs, cloves, pepper, cinnamon, and other spices that are transported to all the points of the earth as something very precious. Can we say that climates which possess so many riches are not good countries? My answer about this is that if such were the case, we would have to say as well that Greenland which yields sharks is a good country because of the prodigious quantity of fats and oils extracted from them since these products are so necessary to different kinds of manufactures. Or that Russia, Siberia, and other northern places are also good countries because they yield these beautiful bear skins, sables, and other precious furs which bring in so much money. In order to understand this well it would be necessary to define what is a good country. In my opinion, a good country is one which abounds not only in milk and honey, but generally in all kinds of things capable of flattering sensual pleasures and of making us live delightfully. It is a land of plenty and of good cheer which is fertile and which yields easily, inexpensively, and without much work all that is necessary to life. This is what a good country is in a few words and according to my small ideas. Now if we compare this portrait with the one that could be made of the torrid zone, it is certain that we will find that they have few relationships with each other. It will be easy for each one to see it on the condition that we are willing to make these two observations. The first one is that the torrid zone yields neither bread nor wine, notwithstanding that these are the foods most essential for the sustenance of our bodies. Or, if some does grow there, it can only be in the vicinity of the tropics. The second is that in all the torrid zone, it is in its center that the most

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:22

PS

56

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

wretched countries are confined and that all the other regions surrounding it are only fertile in proportion to their proximity to that center up to the thirty-third degree of latitude. In fact, the first climate comprising a space of land from the equator to eight degrees and thirty-four minutes, does not yield bread nor wine. I can even confirm through the experience that I have had for the thirty-eight months that I have been here, that fruits and gardening are not worth anything compared to the gardening and the good crops of Europe, notwithstanding that we already are at more than six degrees from the line.21 All the game that we have here is ordinarily very lean during the entire year and has no taste. The butcher’s meat is the same. Cabbage and asparagus smell only of water—a little like those which would have grown under a tree in a good climate, or behind some high wall without having seen the sun for the entire year. As for artichokes and cauliflower, there are not any, and even if some grew as well as some other things it would serve no purpose to bring it up here. You are without doubt, going to ask me why is this? Personally, I think that it is because it is not hot enough. But you will add, is it conceivable that a country which is in the middle of the torrid zone and upon which the sun darts forth its rays perpendicularly every six months is not hot enough? I reply that it is not as difficult to conceive as it first appears on the condition that we are willing to make these three or four considerations. The first one is that the nights are very long there—twelve hours during the entire year. The second is that all the revolutions of the heavens take place there rectangular with the horizon and therefore the twilight of the evening and of the morning only lasts one hour and twelve minutes. The third is that the long absence of the sun and the quantity of the vapors that it raises by the strength of its rays make the nights humid and cold. The fourth is that the air being very heavy, so great are the vapors and exhalations and so strongly cooled by the length of the nights, the heat of the sun is felt only very late after it ascends in the horizon. We could add many other considerations to this that today’s philosophy has discovered on these matters, but the issue of the earth’s rotation is of particular note. The earth is constantly turning on its own axis. But the air at and near the largest circumference of the earth (at and near the equator) cannot match

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:23

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

57

the speed of the earth’s rotation. The atmospheric resistance caused by the difference in the speed of the earth’s movement and the speed of the air’s movement at the equator creates whirlwinds. These atmospheric whirlwinds in turn create a little eastern wind which cools off the region constantly. Those who travel under the line are usually aware of this phenomenon.22 I believe this is the reason that it is not hot enough in those countries. The heat never lasts very long. So therefore nothing can grow to perfect maturity and all is wretched there because of the coolness of the nights. I can maintain besides, that the heat ˆtel, Switzerland, of summer indisposed me much more in Neucha my homeland than it does here. This is why all the crops are very unhealthy in this first climate. For this reason many newcomers are affected sadly if they do not eat them cautiously. It is the same in many large cities of Europe where fruits that are not ripe enough cause a variety of illnesses which create horrible havoc among the poorer people. On the other hand, is there any thing healthier at any given time, or anything more natural than a good fruit when it is well ripened and from a good climate? The second climate which extends from eight degrees, thirtyfour minutes to sixteen degrees, forty-three minutes, is already better, although it yields neither bread nor wine. I said it is better because: 1) there the nights are shorter; 2) the twilight of evening and morning is longer; 3) the nights are not as cold; 4) the earth’s tilt is more oblique so the heat of the sun is felt much sooner when rising in this second climate than in the first. This effect can be noticed on Ceylon, in the country of Malabar, Coromandel, Siam and other regions enclosed by this climate.23 They are far better than the islands of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, and others which are confined in the first. But, will you say, if the first and the second climates do not produce bread, at least they yield rice which is just as good and nourishing as bread. I reply here that in fact these two climates yield rice abundantly and that it is the usual food of the people of the country, but I do not agree that it is as good or as fine as bread. Besides, rice does not grow well everywhere. Only swamps and low soils are appropriate for it. The majority of our Molucca Islands24 does not yield any at all and its inhabitants only eat the bread that they knead from the bean of a certain tree so that our soldiers are so pale and so undone that when they return from there they look more dead than alive. My Lord, I submit myself to the judgement of Your Excellency to know if we can say, all of the above notwith-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:23

PS

58

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

standing, that these two climates yield our best spices and that they are good countries? The third climate, which extends to twenty-four degrees and ten minutes, is also better than either of the other two for the same reasons as alleged above. It is this climate that begins to yield an abundance of bread and a few low quality wines. It is from here that is extracted the majority of the wheat that is brought here as well from Bengal and from Surat.25 But the fourth climate (in which the Canary Islands are located) which extends to thirty degrees and forty-six minutes, yields everywhere good bread, good wine, and all kinds of good fruits. And when we come into the fifth in which is located the Cape of Good Hope as well as the Terre de Nuyts and all the best countries in the world, it is then that we find all that is best and most delightful for the sustenance of our bodies. We have here, My Lord, thousands of trustworthy witnesses who traveled in all these climates and who could tell you about it truthfully. I want to feel sure that if Your Excellency takes the trouble to consult them on it, there will not be a single one who will not agree that the heat is stronger at Malabar or on the island of Ceylon than it is here, that these countries are more fertile than ours because they are in the second climate whereas we are in the first, that heat and fertility are even stronger in Bengal and in Surat, because they are in the third climate and Malabar is only in the second, that the heat of summer and the fertility of the lands likewise increase from Surat to Delhi, capital city of the Great Mogul Empire26 because Surat is at the twenty-first and Delhi at the thirtieth degree of latitude, that the heat of summer is much stronger in Gameron27 than in Surat because Gameron is in the fourth climate and Surat only in the third, that starting in Gameron the heat of summer and the fertility of lands always increase as we approach Isfahan, capital city of the Persian kingdom, because Gameron is at the twenty-sixth degree of latitude and Isfahan is at the thirty-second. All of this is so constant that no one can doubt it. The regions which are found in the fifth climate, thus being the best, those which are in the sixth are therefore already lesser and henceforth consecutively, so that when we come to the twentyfourth climate in which a part of Lapland, of Russia, and of Siberia are confined, the country is already so arid and of a such great sterility that not only neither bread nor wine grows there but not even a single tree. Only a few wretched bushes grow. If on the contrary, we begin at the polar circle going toward the equator,

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:23

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

59

we will find first of all some trees and a few bad fruits, after that some wheat, then some bad wines, then some mediocre wines, and finally the best wines and the best crops. The pattern continues until we arrive in the center of the fifth climate. It is true that this climate does have a few wretched places such as our Kaffraria Mountains which yield nothing at all. But besides the fact that in these mountains are confined some rich valleys which can be compared favorably with the best countries of the earth, that does not prevent this climate from being the best of all. The Sinai Peninsula28 confined in this climate and in which the people of Israel traveled for forty years, is still such a wretched country that this people found no food there—not even water— except for what God provided by the dazzling performance of His almighty power. But beside the fact that this part of Arabia comprised the country of the Moabites, of the Amalekites, of the Midianites, and of the Idumeans which were all very rich countries—that does not prove that this climate was not still the best of all. There was also in the land of Canaan on the road to Jerusalem a very dry and sterile valley named the Meuriers Valley that the Israelites, suffering from thirst and a variety of other inconveniences were forced to pass through each time they went to serve God for solemn holidays. Should this make this country of Canaan a wretched country because it contained this desert? Therefore, all the countries of the earth are only good according to their relationship to the sun. If not, it would be necessary that the sun not contribute at all to the diversity of climates and that it could be maintained that all the climates of the earth were equal. This clearly would be an absurdity of which no man of common sense would be capable. I admit that if there were not any sun then all the climates of the earth would be equal and that it would not matter whether we were in Norway or in Japan. But nothing is more true than it is the ecliptic which is in the middle of the zodiac which marks the yearly course of the sun as the precise route it follows in its regular motion from which it never deviates on any side.29 There is not a single man in the temperate zone, unless he is totally stupid, who does not notice the changes between seasons, the diversity between days and nights, hot and cold, and so many other things that the obliquity of the sphere causes in the world.30 I say it is necessary that one climate be the best of all and that all others be good or bad in proportion to the distance separating them. Now as soon as it will be shown to

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:24

PS

60

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

me that the best countries on earth are not confined in that climate I accept condemnation and I am ready to recognize that I have been wrong. In order to verify even better this truth, let us suppose please, My Lord, that a person wants to experience and see it with his own eyes. In order to do so he undertakes a trip by sea, leaving from Europe and going around all the ancient continent. Your Excellency will be able to see if it is true as I say that all the places located in the center of the fifth climate are in fact the best countries on earth. Let us see where he would go. First of all he would land in Tyre, Syria, which is very close to the thirty-third degree of latitude. It is a city which is very famous, not only for its antiquity and its ancient magnificence, but moreover for having held the sea under its domination for a long time.31 The fortunes of Alexander the Great which used to run with the swiftness of a torrent, found in front of this place an embankment which forced him to stop for a siege which lasted for a time of seven or eight months. But the main thing which I beg Your Excellency to notice here is that it was the best country, the most fertile, and the most delightful of all the land of Canaan. This good country was distributed to the tribe of Asher as had been prophesied by Jacob the Patriarch in the last comments he had with his children. He said to them ‘‘Asher’s food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies.’’32 This is also sustained in the predicted ruin of the King of Tyre because of his presumptions and his pride for living in a pleasant and fertile place as if it had been the Garden of Eden. God said to him through the lips of the prophet Ezekiel, ‘‘You have been in Eden, the garden of God.’’33 He would then land in Tunis one of the most important cities in Africa, or then in Sale,34 both of them on the Barbary Coast and very close to the thirty-third degree of latitude. Now, it is certain that the Barbary Coast is one of the most fertile countries in the world at least at this degree of latitude and that all sorts of good fruits can be found there and that they are even more beautiful and better than all those which grow in France. He then would land in our Kaffraria where our Cape of Good Hope is located and where one could find if he so desired, just as well as anywhere else, all the things most delightful and most necessary to life, because the regions of that country are located around the thirty-third degree of latitude and are only presently inhabited by uncivilized people. He then would land in China, in the city of Nanking, located close to the thirty-third degree, whose province by this name is

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:24

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

61

the most beautiful, the wealthiest, and whose inhabitants are the most civilized of the whole kingdom. The kings of China have always chosen their residence to be in Nanking with the only exception that for some time they have been in Peking. This does not prevent Nanking from being still the most beautiful and greatest of the whole kingdom. The contacts that we have with that country tell us also that the province of Honan which is to the east of Nanking and therefore in the fifth climate, yields as well the best and the most excellent crops in the world—those which we know in Europe as well as many others.35 And they are in such large quantity that they are given for nearly nothing. However, these are the only places of the whole ancient continent where it is possible to land at that degree. But, will you say, since Syria, the Barbary Coast, and China yield all kinds of good fruits such as pomegranates, oranges, lemons, olives, figs, and the like, and that there are not any of those on our Cape, it is a sign that the southern lands are of another climate type. I reply on this topic that if such were the case these fruits would not be found either in Chile. But they are there in great abundance and that for all of that concern, the lands of that country are not less southern than those of our Cape. In truth we do not know in what manner these kinds of fruits have been transported to China. But we know well that after the Roman conquests of Africa, Greece, Asia Minor, and Syria, they brought to Italy some kinds of most of the fruits which are in Europe. Luculle36 is the first one who, after the Mithridate War,37 sent for these beautiful cherries from Cappadocia, which were so welcomed in Italy. All neighboring countries became so anxious to get some that in less than one hundred years they were commonly known along the Rhine, in England, and in all the other countries which were part of their Empire. Apricots came from Ipiros,38 peaches were brought back from Persia. The first lemons came from Madhya Pradesh39 and pomegranates were brought back from Carthage. The most delicious pears and figs came from Alexandria and Greece. Their best plums came from Armenia, Syria, and particularly from Damascus. Thus is the way, My Lord, by which fruits came to Rome for nearly a century from countries newly conquered. The interest that the generals or the consuls had for agriculture gave this pleasure and this service to their motherland. Now all the rest of Europe enjoys them. Your Excellency can easily gather that if our inhabitants of the Cape were more hardworking than they are, or

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:25

PS

62

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

if their taste was as refined as the Romans’ was, we would surely find there a larger variety of fruits than we do. When Mr. le Chevalier Temple40 tells us of Damascus in his essay on ‘‘Jardin d’Epicure,’’ he truly agrees that it is the country in the world which yields the best fruits, but he adds that it is no less a matter of the climate in which Damascus is located than it is a matter of the ground which is excellent there. But I maintain that it would have been much more true if he had said that this is caused rather because of the benevolence of the climate than by the excellence of the land, for Damascus is very close to the thirty-third degree of latitude. I admit readily that decent ground, or a well-cultivated vineyard will yield better fruits and better wines than other terrain not as good nor as well-tilled. However, this does not obviate the fact that the degree of heat that this country will have received from the sun thanks to its good location, is always the main cause of the good quality of its fruits or its wines.41 If it is not our fifth climate which yields some of the best kinds, I would like someone to tell me where this climate can be found and have this opinion be supported by some proof, good or bad. If it is true, will you say, that all the best regions of the world are thus within this degree, we should go there directly to be sure to find the most fertile countries on the earth. I reply that this is very certain and that unquestionably we will find either on the ancient continent or in the New World as in New Holland also, the best countries on the earth with the exception, nevertheless, of a few small places that could be found there such as swampy places, mountains, and deserts with dry and arid ground in which good fruits could not possibly grow. But, will you reply, if such is the case, why do we not go there? I reply once again, My Lord, that it is a science still little known and upon which little attention has ever been focused. Up to now we still do not have, as I have already stated, a single author to teach us which is the best of climates. They do tell us roughly that such country is hot or cold, but this is not sufficient. I would like all these things to be pointed out directly and to be told positively that here is the degree of the sphere in which the most fertile country must be, or the coldest, or the hottest, about as I would do on a thermometer with the degrees of heat or of cold. I would also like to be shown in this manner the fertility that each region must have in relationship to another. Therefore, I do not ask what a country is (if it is fertile or not),42 but I want to know what it must be according to its proximity to the sun. Now, it is

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:25

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

63

always our sciences which are in question and it would be desirable if someone more enlightened than I be charitable enough to be willing to communicate his knowledge to us. I can imagine, My Lord, hearing someone saying about this that one has to have a very vain mind to believe that he is doing more than anyone else and that if what I propose had been feasible it would have been done a long time ago. Upon this I reply that in fact a man such as I must not have the presumption to believe that he possesses more intelligence than all others, but this does not prevent me from feeling compelled to do my duty by saying all that I know about the means which could contribute something to benefit my Masters. The most enlightened and those with most knowledge do not know everything and those with less knowledge or the least enlightened also know something. Now it can easily happen that what those least enlightened know is among the things unknown by those with the most knowledge. Such is for example, the service that a poor Swiss rendered to an entire fleet that High Powers had sent to the southern seas in order to attempt the conquest of Peru, by mentioning a kind of herb which cured them all of the illness of scurvy. The fleet would otherwise have perished miserably. This is how the historian speaks of it: . . . the 26 of the month of June 1624, beside the fact that scurvy was spread generally within the entire fleet, so many who had traveled south were ill, so that there were not enough in good health to man the ship’s boats; yet there was no hope to find in Callao neither grassland nor other refreshments (supplies, provisions) or remedies, although we were forced to stay there again because of the Maurice and of the Hope which could have fallen into the enemy’s hands, if we had given them up. Thus, everything was going badly, and we would surely have lost a lot of people in a short time, if God had not allowed for a Swiss who was ill with scurvy, to go to the top of the highest mountain in Lima, where no one would have suspected that there was some foliage. He found there certain kinds of herbs that he knew and from which he received much relief, having eaten some. As soon as the Vice Admiral knew what had happened to the Swiss and knew about the virtue of these herbs, he sent for as much as all the crew could eat and they accommodated them with oil and vinegar as a salad, as well as a broth. These refreshments produced a wonderful result: the ill got well rather promptly and we continued to eat those herbs while we were in Callao. . . .43

When the Spanish were discovering America they did not inquire whether a country was fertile or not. They were only look-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:25

PS

64

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

ing for gold or silver mines and as soon as they did not find any they gave it up. The Portuguese were doing about the same thing in the East Indies, looking only for merchandise which would market itself and on which they could earn a lot. In different times and places the ships of our Company also discovered this large expanse of southern land which is believed to be neither less large nor less populated than America and to which they gave the name of New Holland which is still its name today. But it does not seem as though they ever stopped there very much since today we still only know the coasts of this vast country. Another necessary consideration is that while looking for the countries which are in the optimum degree of fertility and of air temperature, supposing that this science were known and that we did not find there the treasures we had hoped, we would be sure, at least, to be in a place which must be one of the best countries on earth. For example, even if Chile did not yield the great number of gold and silver mines which have been found there, is it not still without them (at least that part of Chile found in the fifth climate)44 one of the best countries in the world? Who knows what New Holland holds and if that country does not contain perhaps a larger number of gold and silver mines than Chile, Peru, or Mexico? Why is it that all this coast named the Terre de Nuyts, consisting of five to six hundred leagues and all enclosed in the fifth climate could not be compared with the Barbary Coast, Chile, and all the best countries from the ancient as well as the new continent? Why would we suppose all the countries of the earth contained in this climate to be good and this one not be worth anything? In truth, My Lord, it would be most startling that the Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, and Dutch largely spent immense sums in search of a northern passage to China, although uselessly, and did nothing nor risked nothing to discover a land which is so favorably located and whose conquest would be so easy and in which we could feel sure to meet at least one of the best countries in the world. It will be said perhaps, that it is because storms are too violent and too frequent there and that these southern seas are not navigable without many risks and troubles. I reply, My Lord, that I do not know if such is the case. But I can assure Your Excellency, that while coming here we left from the Cape of Good Hope toward the end of November and we went up to approximately forty degrees after which we headed directly for the islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam, which are not far from

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:26

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

65

New Holland. From there we left toward the Sunda Islands and arrived there on the second of February without having met a single storm worth mentioning all along the way. In this way we left the Cape toward the end of spring and were in those seas until the middle of summer. I think that when we travel there in the winter the weather is not good and that there are storms just as elsewhere, even during the most beautiful season. But it is the same in the Spanish and the northern seas. Most of the vessels from Europe return to their ports as soon as winter arrives and leave them only when winter has passed. Thus, there are risks everywhere and we must manage according to the times and places where we happen to be. Therefore, this alleged obstacle is not reason enough. Let us suppose still that Mr. le Chevalier Temple’s comments, whom I have already mentioned, are true. He says in his Oeuvres meˆle´es that he had heard in Holland that because of certain political reasons the East India Company had forbidden them to attempt new discoveries of cultivatable territory under threat of penalty.45 It does not follow that other nations could not go there as well as they, and thus that reason is not more satisfactory than the preceding one. But here is something else, My Lord, which might please you more and which will without doubt surprise Your Excellency even more than did all the rest. Of all the ancient continent, only our country of Kaffraria is found in the best climate zone on the southern side and therefore the place where the necessary supplies for the ship’s crew who travel to and from the Indies can be found. During the more than one hundred and fifty years that we have traveled to the East Indies, no one has wanted to remain at our Cape to establish a colony. If we went there sometime it was only under constraint such as because of a storm or other. Why is it contrarily, that all the ships going to or coming back from the Indies go there first of all to get refreshed? Why is it that it is so important to navigation today and that it was not so then? Has the nature of its terrain changed or was it not then the same as it is today? No, My Lord, it is not that. But I will tell you openly: It is because we have never known in which degree of the globe the best countries must be located and that what has been realized subsequently comes uniquely from diverse experiments made. Here are a few proofs of this point. This Cape was discovered by the Portuguese in the year 1498. Our vessels only began to come to the Indies in the year 1595. In the year 1601 General G. Spilberg came with his small fleet of

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:26

PS

66

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

three ships to the port of our Cape where he had tents erected for the sick.46 But in order to prevent the uncivilized natives from annoying or attacking them, this General had two swivel guns brought down from the ships and placed in front of the tents and sent a large number of soldiers to keep guard there every evening. We can easily gather from this little story that Europeans had not yet at that time settled on our Cape. The crews of another fleet commanded by Admiral Wybrandt van Warwyk were returning from the Indies in 1604 being struck with illnesses (mostly bloody flux, of which several died miserably). The Admiral decided to put into port at the first land possible. In this pitiful state they landed near the Cape of Good Hope where luckily they found all the needed provisions to resist fatigue for the rest of the trip by swapping with the natives.47 In the year 1608 Admiral Verhoeven had received secret orders to pass the line with his fleet in the swiftest possible way in order to attempt to pass by the Cape of Good Hope.48 In case they deviated they were to wait for each other in the Bay of Verhaguen or the one of St. Augustin which is under the Tropic of Capricorn.49 From this information we can gather again that our Cape was not a place where one used to go to refresh oneself if one could do otherwise. Another fleet led by Pierre van den Broeck which was returning from the Indies in the year 1630 anchored at the port of our Cape, but had taken aboard only water and very few other supplies. They frightened the natives who then fled to the mountains.50 So although the Dutch had already been trading for thirty-five years in the Indies and although the Company had an extreme need for a secure place to retreat on the way where they could refresh the crews of our ships, our Cape was nevertheless inhabited only by a few natives as I just showed. Now if the science of knowledge on the fertility of climates had not been ignored then would it be conceivable that the Portuguese Vasquez de Gama, who first discovered our Cape, would not have said first of all, if he had known it: ‘‘Here is a country which must be in the best of climates that there be on earth and in which we must settle as it is the only region and the most appropriate to refresh the crews of our ships which will travel from now on to the Indies?’’ Would he not have said, ‘‘Let’s look for a land which will suit us best either to plant vines or olive trees or to sow wheat in order to bring some men to cultivate it later on. Let’s make it be the cellar and the attic which we will need’’? In-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:26

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

67

stead, at least according to appearances, neither he nor those who followed him ever thought of it.51 This will be even more clear to you, My Lord, upon the condition that you will be willing to pay attention to these three factors: first, what sort of illnesses one is most affected by at sea; second, what causes this illness; and third, what kinds of remedies are most appropriate to heal it. In the first place, I maintain that the most common one which attacks seamen is scurvy. It is an illness which does not happen all at once. One feels it little by little because of pains in the arms and legs, red or bluish spots, swelling, blackness and odor of the gums, looseness and loss of teeth, tiredness, headaches, weakness, and a variety of other symptoms which affect all parts of the body. Ships sometimes perish during these long sea trips, not being able to maneuver when the crews are violently struck by this illness. In the second place, I think that this illness comes not only from the sour and salty particles we breathe, but especially from old foods such as biscuits filled with vermin, from extremely salty or spoiled meats, from stokfish and other foods of the same type, from the often stinking and infected water that we are forced to drink, and by the lack of cleanliness which habitually exists on ships. So it follows that nothing is more essential on these kinds of trips than to be able to refresh the foods often. In the third place, I think that many believe that this illness can only be cured after making landfall. This is why sailors usually call it land sickness. But it surely would appear that this cure comes rather because these ill people find good and fresh food upon landing. Others imagine that there is no better remedy than orange and lemon juices and that one cannot heal without them. But it is very difficult to believe that it is possible to get better with a thing that is more likely to make a person ill than to cure him. Generally there are hardly any fruits with as much acidity as oranges and lemons—most of them which grow in the torrid zone and near the equator. And it is an established fact that the acidity of fruits gives a fever. Finally, I have the same feeling as those who believe that there is no better remedy than good bread, good wine, good water, good meat, and good vegetables as I have experienced personally. This is certainly the true antidote to this illness, as long as it is used soberly.52 Here then is the illness, its causes, and its remedies. Let us add to that that the Portuguese were in possession of the islands of Cape Verde, St. Thomas, Prince, Ascension,53 and others which

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:27

PS

68

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

were commonly known as the inns of the sea. Almost always our fleets had to fight when we went there to obtain some supplies. But what was most troublesome is that our people were sometimes forced to withdraw, and thus to make the rest of the trip getting nothing but attacks. Or if they went to the islands of St. Helena and to some others which were not yet inhabited, they sometimes found nothing at all there. And God knows in what a state a few of our vessels were in when they finally approached the Sunda Islands. After that My Lord, is it conceivable that the company would have scorned the settling of our Cape had it known its value as it does today? Another very distressing thing that used to happen is that our ships often failed to find the islands where they intended to go for supplies. Then they seldom knew what to do. I will only give the example of one fleet of eleven vessels led by Admiral Jaques l’ Ermite which had planned to put into port on Ambon Island.54 I am going to relate this story word for word: The Vice Admiral embarked on the Yacht, accompanied by two launches in order to look for a good port on the little island of Rolles, which is close to the southwest point of St. Thomas, and to see if there would be fruits for the refreshment of the crews, among which scurvy was still spreading. On the twenty-third the Vice Admiral reported to the Admiral to let him know that there were very few oranges on Rolles because the season was too advanced, that there was seven, six, five and four fathoms and a half of depth, rock bottom and bad anchorage. The Admiral seeing that it was not appropriate to put into port on this island, and that besides the wind was contrary for proceeding to Annabon, ordered the pastor to make an outstanding sermon to ask God for health for those who were ill, to maintain it for those who were well, and a happy success for the trip, since it had not pleased him to bless the care that the officers had taken to reach a port of call. On the twenty-ninth we saw the island of Annabon which remained to the west quarter of southwest at ten leagues. It was a remarkable thing that during all the time we were attempting to go to that island, with our tremendous efforts to this end, we were unable to succeed and we had even lost all hope of doing so. But when we no longer were thinking about it, when we had given up, and when we thought we had found a totally different course, we discovered it, and we understood without doubt that it was a special design of God’s Providence, who wanted to deliver the fleet from the hardships which had threatened it for lack of supplies.55

Therefore, it is very certain, My Lord, that not much attention has ever been given to the diversity of climates and that the sci-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:27

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

69

ence on the fertility that each country must have in relationship to another has been little known to us up to now. The Terre de Nuyts, on the coasts of the fifth part of the world and which could be justly called the Southern Indies is an undeniable proof of it. For, if we were convinced as we should be, that it is one of the best countries on earth, there is no doubt that Europeans would have established some colonies there preferring it to so many other places in America where they have established themselves beyond the fiftieth degree of latitude. Consequently, how could we say that that country is not worth anything since it is unknown and since man has never been there as all the most up-to-date geographers admit? But, let us suppose that we were in that country before and that while there only barely clothed and uncivilized men and poor and uncultivated land were found. Would this be proof that that country is not good? Should we rather not attribute this poverty and wretchedness to the laziness or the ignorance of its people than to anything else? Indeed, I think that there are in that country as elsewhere some marshes, deserts or mountains which are not good. But this is never the case over the entire area. This coast, beginning at Edelsland to the islands of St. Pierre and of St. Franc¸ois, extends for five to six hundred leagues (and it would be more than twelve hundred if we pushed it to New Zealand) and is all confined in the best of climates.56 Moreover, all that we have heard about it is positive. It certainly appears as though some excellent regions could be found there and the only trouble would consist in choosing those which would be best suited to the settling of a good colony and to the diverse advantages which could be drawn from it. This land would be under the ownership of our Company because it is in our neighborhood. It is only one third as far as from here to our Cape. It would be much better for us to have it be our cellar and our attic than to have them elsewhere. If there are insurmountable obstacles to this I admit I have not seen any. All that I have been able to learn about it is that there is little hope that treasures may be found in this vast land and that some have experienced the ferocity of its people. This is why these coasts have not been settled and why no attempt has been made to discover those presumed to be in southern Africa and America. But beside the fact that for me all of this is incredible, these reasons are not good ones. For if some of those who attempted to discover the country died of hunger there as some reports testify, and if some others were devoured by the natives it is their own fault

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:27

PS

70

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

since they conducted their exploration without prudence, without escort, or supplies. The country is neither worse nor more evil for that and this should not dissuade us. Even if we could extract from Kaffraria bread, wine, fruits, and the oils which come from Europe, because of its proximity, the Terre de Nuyts would still be favorable to us. For if the time came when these products would not be available at one place, we could then hope that they would be available from another place. Besides that and without adding the many other things that the country can yield (of which we still have no knowledge), we could at least be sure that it is one of the regions of the world most appropriate for nurturing silkworms. With a little work, that is by planting entire forests of white mulberry as was done in Persia and China, the Company could in a few years, have its ships loaded with silks yielded from its own trees if it so wanted. In other words, having the best countries in the world means nothing if we do not know how or do not want to farm them. It would be imitating the behavior of an ill-natured householder who would prefer going to his neighbors for money at all hours of the day or for a hundred things that he could find in his own possession, if he knew how or wanted to look for them. However, I am fully aware, My Lord, that the needed expenses to send people there, to equip ships, to build a fort, to maintain a good garrison—all these things and several others that we could add to the list do demand much care and money. The Spanish, Portuguese, other European nations, and even our Company found this out as they created settlements in all newly conquered or discovered countries. But no great and beneficial undertaking can be accomplished without many obstacles, especially when there are people of influence and authority such as can be found in Europe who have interest in this sort of project not being attempted. It would be necessary to write a large volume if one wanted answers to all the objections that could be stated regarding this matter. To avoid lengths I will only say that the silks alone would reimburse largely all expenses made on condition that this undertaking be well-governed. Even if the Company only demanded of the people of the colony one fifth of the wine, wheat, oil and fruits, as the right of the monarch as the proprietor of the country, it would extract from it all the quantity that it needs without any cost to buy it. The main difficulty that I could find here, My Lord, would be to find people who understand rural economy well. For generally this is a science still much ignored everywhere, but more particu-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:28

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

71

larly in the Indies than elsewhere. I even saw in Holland that they had planted white mulberry trees at great expense all around the town of Leyden with the plan to nurture silkworms. But soon they realized that this plan was worthless and that it was as ridiculous as when the English had wanted to plant vines on their soil because neither of these countries is in a climate appropriate to these sorts of things. When the Spanish discovered America, they found an excellent country in most of its regions. But they found that a frightening depravity had extinguished the laws of humanity and of decency and that it had led the Americans to the ferocity of cannibalism and to the most monstrous indecency, thus making this people so savage, so ignorant, and so lazy that they had no interest in farming their land. Up to now this science is not much better known in Asia or in Africa. For even the Chinese who are said to be one of the most refined and enlightened nations ignore it even in its simplest and easiest aspects. Father le Comte assures us in his new Description de la Chine,57 that the country yields very beautiful and good olives, but that the Chinese do not make oil from them either because they do not know how to do it or they do not need it. He also notices that except for pomegranates and muscat grapes, the fruits of China are not as good as those of Europe in spite of the fact that they are mostly the same. He says this is so because the Chinese do not know how to graft the trees as we do, a practice which makes the fruits incomparably better than they would be otherwise. They still do not know what agriculture is in the Terre de Nuyts, nor do any of the other countries which are our neighbors in the East Indies. Each is satisfied with the fruits that the earth yields naturally without worrying about anything else. For beside the fact that the Indians go nearly without clothes, as long as they have some rice cooked in water with a little dry fish, they have always lived well. Their kings and their emperors whose bliss consists in having a large number of wives around them to serve them, do not eat nor dress better than their subjects. Even the King of Bantam, one of the most powerful of our neighbors, has only a large number of his female followers for his guard when he leaves his castle.58 One of them walks in front of him with a stick in her hand and another one behind him with a bandolier59 and a gun shouting that everyone must make room for the King. It is easy to imagine the rest from this. But, My Lord, here is the greatest source of misery and ignorance among these poor people:

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:28

PS

72

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

They are all governed in such a despotic manner that all the land belongs to the ruler. No subject has the right to say that one inch of soil belongs to him. This produces a lack of industry among them and therefore they prefer a life of laziness to working for others. It is the same in the Great Mogul Empire. Although one of the greatest states of Asia, all the lands belong to the emperor by right according to the accounts given by Monsieur Bernier,60 so that the domain of the emperor extends as far as the limits of his empire. This is why the people there are very poor and extremely ignorant although their country is one of the best to be found. The wise and virtuous Joseph in former times in the kingdom of Egypt,61 had a behavior that was quite opposite to that of these stupid Indians. Having secured for the Pharaoh all the money, cattle, lands, and even the Egyptian people, he foresaw that his master the Pharaoh would not benefit from keeping them. This is why he gave the lands back to them so they could plow them and he gave them also some seeds to sow under the condition, however, that they would give one fifth of the gain to Pharaoh. ‘‘And when the time of harvest comes,’’ he said to them, ‘‘you will give the fifth to Pharaoh. And the four parts will be yours to sow the fields and for your own food, and for those who are in your house, and for the food of your little children.’’62 The Company has not followed the Indian approach either on our island of Batavia. For instead of keeping the lands it possessed there, it sold the majority of them to the individuals of the colony. But I am convinced that if it had followed the example of the Patriarch and had given the lands for nothing in order to plant them with rice, sugar, indigo, or other things that the country can yield under the same conditions, and that at the time of harvest one fifth would be given to the Company, it would benefit far more than it actually does. But will you say, we must resolve this difficulty which consists mainly in finding some good European farmers who understand well rural economy and who would be willing to come and settle in our southern lands. Although I already said that this difficulty seems to me to be one of the main problems, I reply, however, that we would not fail to find farmers if we took the trouble to look for them properly. We would at least be sure that most of those who work for the Company would thrive as long as leave was given to them when the term of commitment would be fulfilled. For it is not odd that many people would not want to end their days on our island of

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:28

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

73

Java because it is confined in a climate whose regions are not worth anything compared to those confined in the thirty-third degree of latitude. But it would be most astonishing if they did not want to stay in the Terre de Nuyts, since there is no country in all of Europe which is better, nor is there one close to it. But even if it were not possible to find some farmers, the land could in this case be farmed by slaves. The Romans did not do it any other way. Besides, in this country we are served only by slaves of one or the other sex. We hardly have any other workers as they labor in all sorts of professions, such as tailors, shoemakers, locksmiths, carpenters, masons, or others. Oboe players, violinists and musicians of other instruments used here for weddings and for other joyous festivities, are only slaves as well. Why then could we not get them used to cultivating vines, pruning trees, or other labors having to do with farming if we taught them? This science is not more difficult than the ones I indicated above and only through practice does one arrive at the knowledge of them all. All the skills of a rope-dancer or of a juggler which overwhelm the imagination of the spectators who do not understand anything about it, are nothing else but the fruits of habit and of continuous practice. Consequently, I do not see why slaves could not learn the science of agriculture. But, will you say, our sense of justice and equity do not allow us to settle in the Terre de Nuyts to the detriment of those who have been there from father to son for, perhaps, a few thousand years. We cannot banish these people who have not harmed us in any way from their country. On this I reply that there would be no injustice. Firstly, the land only truly belongs to God and we are only life-tenants. It is about the same as the father of the family who offers food to his children or to his servants. He does not assign a specific portion to each one, but what each one takes honestly is his although he previously had no more rights to it than the others did and although he was not given permission to take such and such a piece. ‘‘The Earth will not be sold entirely: for the Earth is Mine; God said to the Jewish people, and you are alien and itinerant in my home.’’63 All men having thus all the same rights naturally over the goods of the world by virtue of the Creator who only gave them this common right so they could make use of it, it is inconceivable that simple possession, though of several thousand years duration, could be valid on behalf of some to the detriment of others without the approval of these others. That is to say, without

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:29

PS

74

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

some understanding reached between them on this matter and as long as each one only takes what he needs, he does not infringe upon the rights of others who can in turn assert in one way or another the rights of the first occupant. In the second place, I maintain that uncivilized and simple people like a lazy life above all and that the more simple and crude people are, the less likely they are to like to work. A life of abundance and delights demands much more care and pain. Let us add to that that the countries inhabited by this kind of uncivilized and lazy people are not very populated. Therefore, everything leads us to believe that far from causing harm to the people of the Terre de Nuyts or having to banish them from their home, on the contrary, the settling of a good European colony would bring all sorts of goods and advantages to them. These advantages would come as much through a civilized life as through the arts and the sciences that would be taught to them on the condition that it be done with gentleness and that they be looked upon as poor creatures who, although crude and very ignorant are members of the same human society we are. For the Spanish as well as the Portuguese did not treat Indians or Americans in any other ways as if they had been beasts. By a maxim totally opposed to the one I just advanced, they became a topic of horror to all these nations because of their cruelty and their barbarity. Here is, My Lord, the manner in which, in my opinion, we could obtain the riches of New Holland or of the Southern Indies without harming its people or being unjust toward them. Such goods, which never bring about remorse and that we can acquire without damaging in the least the quality of life of honest men and of Christians, are truly worthy of our illustrious Company and in accordance to the goal it has always proposed ever since it made the decision to send ships to the Indies. However, it is not my intention, My Lord, to be an advice-giver nor do I want to pretend that my opinions must prevail over those of everyone else. I know only too well that one can make mistakes, that we all are short-sighted, and that we often see only one side of an issue and are devoid of the ability to see possible commonalities. There is no one as far as I can see, who is exempt from this fault. We see only in part; we know only in part. Therefore, we must not be astonished if from our imperfect views we derive untrue deductions as I have often had the personal experience of doing myself. But there are nevertheless, certain issues that are so clear and so tangible that no matter how great an effort our imagination might make it is impossible to doubt them.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:29

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

75

One could not doubt, for instance, that it is the sun which gives us light and that it is the intensity of its heat which gives life to all of nature. One could not doubt that there are hot countries and cold countries confined in good or bad climates. One could not doubt either that all climates differ slightly among themselves since they all vary from the equator to the polar circles of half an hour on the longest days of summer, and that for this reason, it is necessary that there be one which has to be the best of all. Consequently, if I said that it was the fifth that was the best I am ready to admit to the contrary as soon as I will be shown that I made a mistake. For it is not possible, My Lord, when one reflects upon the behavior of Europeans as to their researches in far away lands, that they ever knew anything about the location of the best climate. The French mostly, who flatter themselves to be richer than other nations in the knowledge of the science of cosmography,64 went to settle in the northern provinces of Canada which is one of the least countries in all of America since all the commerce done by the French with the Canadians consists in skins of wild beasts that they swap for bread, beans, prunes, and other things of this nature that the French give them. Could one say that it is a good country? Nevertheless, it is in that country, My Lord, that the French have settled most of their colonies and if they have a few others in the southern part of Canada which they have named New France, they are so far away from the sea that it is nearly impossible to maintain commerce with them. Why not go settle in Florida and mainly around the Mississippi River which is worth infinitely more, which is very close, which is in the best of climates, and which is nearly still uninhabited at the present time? When they came to the East Indies they went to settle on the island of Madagascar which is almost totally confined in the torrid zone. They built a fort there, which they called Fort Dauphin. They have given it up since after having seen that that country was not worth anything. What can we think of this behavior? They went then to settle in the kingdom of Siam which is again one of the poor countries of the torrid zone. They gave it up also after having made so much noise about it. If they did not want to go to the best place in the country of Kaffraria which is not yet presently occupied at fifty or one hundred leagues from our Cape and very close to the thirty-third degree of latitude, why not go look for a settlement in the best regions of China or Japan?65 There they would without a doubt have found the riches that they

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:29

PS

76

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

desired. To say that China and Japan are empires too rich and too powerful to dare attack them is, I feel, to veil the issue. It would then be necessary to say that the Spanish would not have dared attack Chile, Peru, Mexico, and other American kingdoms. But experience shows us that one must not reason in this manner. Besides, I do not believe that there is in the world a people more cowardly than the Chinese nor is there hardly anyone more stupid and ignorant as the Japanese as I could specifically demonstrate if this topic was my concern. Moreover, it would not be possible to believe that our Company settled at the Cape of Good Hope for the single reason that it is confined in the best of climates. Rather, it is because after an experience of thirty or forty years we saw that the country was fertile, that all it yielded was excellent, that the bay was good, and that this port would be very convenient to refresh the crews of the ships who come to the Indies or return to Europe. It is for all these reasons that the decision was reached to settle a colony there which still exists today. For, if the Gentlemen Directors of the Company had been convinced that it is in this climate that the most fertile countries on earth could be found, it is probable that they would not have failed to settle some other colonies, either toward the Cape of St. Lucy or at the mouth of the Infantis River, one to the east and the other to the west of our Cape, and both of them quite close of the thirty-third degree of latitude. One of the most common maxims that a good steward must always observe is never to invest his money nor to go settle on a poor land. For acquiring poor lands does not enrich one. I am convinced that the Company would have even more profit if it gave up the majority of the lands it possesses in the torrid zone, as it has already done with a few, rather than to keep them. Whereas in order to enrich the persons who are interested in its commerce, it can never have too many of those lands which yield abundantly and without much work all that can be used for the vanity, the sensual pleasures, and the luxury of this life. I fully know, My Lord, that the Company is not seeking to acquire nor to farm more land and that the rural economy has never succeeded in the Indies. But to cut costs and to avoid useless expenses or otherwise is the most sure and clear profit of trade. Therefore, I believe it is a waste of money to go look for so many things so far away and at such high price when they can be had for nothing in one’s own country. Besides, far from weakening the commerce of the Company, the settlement that I propose in Kaffraria or in the Terre de Nuyts would, on the contrary, only

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:29

PS

2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

77

strengthen and augment it on the condition that these countries be populated according to needs. But will you say, it is perhaps very bold to speak so and to dare to criticize what the Gentlemen Directors do or what they do not do. I will reply, My Lord, in the first place that the Gentlemen Directors of the Company being at such enormous distance from the East Indies as they are and not being able to see those countries for themselves nor the mistakes made nor what could be done there, therefore only know what they are being told about them. Far from taking offense at the respectful advice given to them especially when it can be profitable, they must, on the contrary, receive the information of each employee as a witness of his fidelity and his sincere attachment to the welfare of the Company. To which I wish to add for the same reason and without fear of doing wrong, the exhortation that St. Paul made a long time ago to the Thessalonians: ‘‘Experience all things,’’ said he, ‘‘keep what is good.’’66 I say, My Lord, in the second place, that it is not my intention to criticize what the Gentlemen Directors do or do not do. God forbid that I would have such a thought! I know too well the respect due to them and I am fully aware that people of my station must not attempt to reform the world. But I still believe that knowing something that could benefit my Masters, I would be wrong if I did not mention it and if I did not add to what others have said about it what my natural and acquired insights have told me. This is, My Lord, the only goal I had in writing this Memorial which I take the liberty to submit to Your Excellency. And for which I beg you humbly to give me my leave so that I may depart this year with the first fleet to go and inform my Masters, the Gentlemen Directors, of all these things in person. It would make me very happy if, by attempting to fulfill a part of my duties, I could contribute, however little it may be, to the public welfare and to the glory of our illustrious Company! But I would be happier yet if Your Excellency, approving this meager testimony of my zeal, would grant me the honor of your benevolence for my services.67 I dare tell you that I am repeating my wishes to Heaven for the welfare of your High Lordship and the prosperity of his government. I am, My Lord, Your Excellency, In Batavia the 20th of May 1717 The very humble and very obedient servant, Jean Pierre Purry

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:30

PS

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:32

PS

Map 1—Detail of Carel Allard’s 1696 map of Africa (Novissima et perfectissima Africae descriptio). Caffaria [Kaffraria] is located near the coast of southeastern Africa. Reproduced by permission from the John Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:38

PS

Map 2—Emanuel Bowen’s 1744 map of Australia (A Complete Map of the Southern Continent) based on M. Thevenot’s map of 1663. The notation on the Nullarbor Plain near the head of the Great Australian Bight reads ‘‘Land of Peter Nuyts Discovered 16 Jan’y 1627. NB. This is the Country seated according to Coll: Purry in the best Climate, in the World.’’ Reproduced by permission of the National Library of Australia.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:15:51

PS

´duite des terres Map 3—Jacques Bellin’s 1753 map of Australia (Carte re australes. Paris: Chez Didot). Bellin’s map is one of a relative few in the eighteenth century dedicated exclusively to charting the southern continent. Accurate cartographic knowledge of Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand was still quite limited at mid-century, but a more detailed rendering of the coastline of the Terre de Nuits [Terre de Nuyts] is evident though Bellin notes that his depiction of it is conjectural. Reproduced by permission of the National Library of Australia.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH2

10-25-01 14:16:01

PS

This page intentionally left blank

3 Second Memorial on the Country of Kaffraria and the Terre de Nuyts

To be used as clarification of the proposals made in the first, to be used by the East India Company.

Amsterdam, Pierre Humbert 1718

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:03

PS

84

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION

THE JEAN PIERRE PURRY WE MEET IN THE PAGES OF THE SECOND Me´moire is discouraged and even bitter, but every bit as certain of his convictions as he was in Batavia. He is neither broken nor bowed. The passion he harnesses to convey his sentiments in this pamphlet reveals a fiery prophet of colonization still fully committed to his scientific theory of climates even though, like the Old Testament seers, he has paid dearly for his beliefs. By his own admission, Jean Pierre became an object of scorn and derision in Batavia after his decision to approach Governor-General van Swol. He lost his position with the Dutch East India Company as well as a considerable sum of money in his vain attempt to persuade van Swol and his lieutenants of the positive commercial impact of his ideas upon the fortunes of the Company. It was only through the good offices of one of his few Company supporters in the East Indies, Counselor Faas, that he was able to return to Europe without incurring further debt as Faas secured him a bookkeeping position aboard the Hogermeer. Yet amazingly, Purry remains loyal to the Company that terminated its relationship with him. And, even more incredible, he commits himself to convincing van Swol’s superiors that their East Indian leadership made a grave mistake in its negative reaction to his proposal. No sooner had he arrived in Amsterdam in midsummer 1718 than he excerpted parts from the manuscript he prepared for van Swol’s consideration in Batavia the previous year, added a preface to the European leadership of the Company, and had it published. Fully cognizant of the fact that the same fleet with which he sailed aboard the Hogermeer also brought to Amsterdam van Swol’s detailed report on the ‘‘Purry Affair’’ of 1717, the Swiss prophet of settlement knew he had to take pen in hand one more time to meet especially the objections in the report he thought might resonate most distinctly with the European leadership of the Company. His Second Me´moire is the result. Unlike his initial Me´moire, in this tract Purry spends very little time articulating his theory of optimal climates. He merely assumes its veracity because no one has come forth with evidence to the contrary. Instead, most of the Second Me´moire attends to three more practical matters that proceed logically from Jean Pierre’s unshakable faith in his theory. First, he concentrates on what he believes to be the Company’s central priority—the profit

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:03

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

85

motive. He begins with suggestions to the Amsterdam leadership as to how to trim its considerable expenses. Partial payment in kind using agricultural commodities of all sorts that could easily be produced in Kaffraria and the Terre de Nuyts would cut costs by substituting Company-raised produce for the current practice of supplementing cash salary payments with imported cloth from Bengal. Since Purry is attempting to increase Company profits with this initial proposal, he can be reasonably assured that the Deputies will be favorably disposed toward him at this point. Purry’s strategy here is to use this suggestion as bait to lure the European authorities away from van Swol’s assessment of his colonial plans. But if Purry’s suggestion is taken seriously, the Company will have to change its agricultural policies in two significant ways. Practices that inhibit the amount of agricultural produce accruing to the Company from employees will have to be altered. Among other ways to accomplish this goal, Purry argues that an ongoing tithe on yearly production should be implemented by the Company. In addition, the cultivation of desirable agricultural staples must be supported by the transfer of seeds, vines, and saplings to appropriate fertile land in the Company’s domain. This plan then leads Purry directly to the necessity of colonizing Kaffraria to a much greater extent. And, of course, he has a strategy to entice significant numbers of appropriate immigrants to the region! Once he has demonstrated the viability of Kaffraria to serve as a ‘‘bank’’ for the Company’s payment in kind agricultural program designed to increase profits, Purry easily turns attention to the other territory in the same climate zone that could further maximize Company profits—the Terre de Nuyts. The introduction of this largely unexplored part of New Holland into the text, allows Purry both to allude to his climatological theory and to broach the second major concern of the Second Me´moire. For if the Terre de Nuyts is to provide further agricultural bounty for the Company, it must be explored—but not at a great expense to the Company. His detailed proposal for just such an expedition constitutes much of the middle section of the Second Me´moire and includes the necessity of choosing an officer (Jean Pierre himself ?) fully able to keep control of the members of the rather large party. Finally the intrepid Swiss theorist turns to one of van Swol’s primary concerns beyond the issue of expense, which he assumes will also be of prime importance to the European leadership. The Governor-General in Batavia expressed to Purry the sentiment

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:04

PS

86

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

that the Company already had too many lands and did not need any more as its interest remained commerce, not settlement. Jean Pierre addresses this issue by appealing to Dutch imperial pride, Company prerogatives, and to the spirit of Christian charity toward disenfranchised Europeans and native populations alike. He also mounts a formidable challenge to the dominant Company outlook by arguing that it is impossible to separate commercial activity and the cultivation of fertile lands. He even offers an inspired and eminently practical solution to the costs of sending ships to the Terre de Nuyts on a regular basis should the area be colonized. While the same convictions and similar tightly reasoned presentation of key points recall Purry’s first Me´moire, the tone of the Second Me´moire does not. His obvious rancor at the treatment he received in Batavia spills over into this sometimes bitter, sometimes self-serving treatise. Although he lays out his ideas with impeccable logic and with due deference to the Deputies in Europe, Purry is not nearly as respectful to van Swol and other Company officials overseas. He makes several pointed comments throughout the pamphlet regarding their varying levels of ineptitude. The most biting remarks, however, he reserves for van Swol, the architect of his demise in the East Indies. And in what appears a sophomoric attempt to gain the sympathy of the Deputies, Purry aligns his fate as a wounded visionary with that of a kindred spirit from a bygone age—Christopher Columbus. What Jean Pierre lacked in tact he made up for with a confidence that never seemed to fail him. Unfortunately, it may have also undone him in the eyes of the Dutch East India Company.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:04

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

87

TO MY LORDS The Deputies to the Assembly of the Seventeen Who Represent the General Company of the Dutch East Indies MY LORDS, My proposal concerning the possibility of establishing new colonies either in the country of Kaffraria or in the Terre de Nuyts has been rejected by Mr. Governor-General Christophel van Swol and the Gentlemen of the Council of the High Regency of Batavia not only as a bad undertaking from which they foresee no possible profit derived by the Company, but which should on the contrary bring about considerable and sure expenses. (These are exactly the very words of the answer given to me verbally by His Excellency and the same expressions which I believe those Gentlemen used in the letter which they sent to you by way of this fleet.)1 However, I do not falter, My Lords, and wish to persist in the same feelings I have in respect to this matter guessing that these Gentlemen will probably have not examined it with all the time and care that a matter of such importance should deserve. The zeal with which I view the interests of the Company is the only motivation pushing me to speak. For, although I presently no longer have the honor to be employed in your service, I dare to assure you nevertheless My Lords, that I am still attached with my heart and affection.2 This is why I very humbly beg you to be willing like fair judges to consider carefully the pros and cons and take into consideration the matters I am going to take the liberty to tell you. I will show you in a more specific manner the great advantages you could derive from Kaffraria and from the Terre de Nuyts, as well as the hardships and the losses which could take place if they unfortunately became neglected. I hope that after having examined them seriously you will arrive at the exact opposite conclusion from the one reached by the Gentlemen of the Council of the High Regency. I mean by this the recognition on one side of profits and considerable wealth, and on the other very few or no expenses at all in order to acquire them. In my opinion it would be impossible to render a more important service to the Company than to point out some expedients which could decrease, at least in large portion, the immense expenditures it is forced to face either for the maintenance of people employed by the Regency, in the Church, or in the Magistracy or for the salaries of so many writers of all characters and conditions,3 but mostly for such a large number of soldiers and sailors

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:05

PS

88

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

who are in its service. This expense is always certain and predictable. But profits have decreased and are subject to a variety of risks and dangers. Under these circumstances only extreme luck could maintain Company profits. We must admit that this hardship is important and the remedy not easy to find. However, without attempting to stand out or pretending to know more than others, nevertheless I dare to persist in saying that settling the colonies that I proposed either in Kaffraria or in the Terre de Nuyts is a sure and infallible means to reach this goal. I shall not repeat, My Lords, all that I have had the honor to tell you on this matter. I shall only bring up a detail which to me seems needed in order to justify this truth. I shall beg you to notice this in the first place, that a minister who has one hundred florins in wages or in pension per month should only get about twenty in cash and all the rest would be paid to him in wine, oil, and wheat yielded from Kaffraria or the Terre de Nuyts. These products would be just as useful as money because after all he always needs to purchase them elsewhere for his family as well as for himself. If by chance he had too much he could then resell some of the goods on condition that they had not been received by him at too high a cost and that they were of good quality. For I will take the liberty to tell you in passing, that I do not think that there is a single place in all of Europe where wine and beer are as poor in quality as that of the East India Company. I can prove this whenever it will please you. What I just told you in regard to the ministers whose number is quite large in your Indies I also say about the counselors of the Regency and about all other officers from the navy, the militia, the police, and from the magistracy. I say as much for the merchants, bookkeepers, soldiers, sailors, and so on—generally all those who serve the Company. For if their wages are already paid half in cash and the other half in merchandise or in cloth from Bengal or some other place, why in any case could they not be paid as well in articles of food? That is to say why should they not be paid in wine, oil, and wheat which they could sell even more easily than the cloth that is now given to them? This would seem even more advantageous to the Company since it would not need to have as much ready cash to disburse in the Indies or in Europe if all the people I have mentioned could be constrained to receive these articles of food as payment for their wages as it is the practice in several places. You will tell me, perhaps, that I deceive myself in this first assumption and that far from being able to extract all these prod-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:05

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

89

ucts from the countries I propose (our Cape of Good Hope being about in the middle of Kaffraria and yielding only very few things),4 it could happen that the Terre de Nuyts would turn out to be even less fruitful. On this I will reply that it has not been apparent in all the dealings with Kaffraria that the Company ever made any attempts to derive large profits or advantages from it. In the first place, this results from regulations set forth by the Assembly of the Seventeen Gentlemen regarding people who wished to go settle in the said country and to whom nothing more was asked but to reimburse the advances made by the Company of wheat, wine, or other things. ‘‘We’ll give,’’ said the Gentlemen Directors, ‘‘to the one who will apply himself to plow as much land as he will be able to cultivate and, in case of need, all the necessary tools will be given to him and even seeds, as long as he will reimburse the Company for the advances which will have been made to him in wheat, wine, or other things.’’5 Therefore all the profits from cultivation remained in the hands of the individuals and the Company did not benefit from it since it only regained its advances. Let us add to this that most of those who governed the colony, instead of helping the individual settlers in all their needs, would on the contrary, only think of cheating them, and of amassing wealth at their expense. And you will see, My Lords, that here is already one reason why you get so little from such a good country. In the second place, there are almost no kinds of good fruits in all the territory of the Cape because none was ever brought there. The pippin apple, which is one of the best and one kind which yields the most is hardly found anywhere. It is about the same thing for the best winter and summer pears. Neither white heart cherries, nor damas, nor perdrigons,6 nor clingstone peaches, nor any kinds of all these good fruits can be seen there. There is not one single kind of black grapes in all the vineyards and most of the white grapes as well as other kinds of fruits have a bad, wild taste because of faulty cultivation. I saw in the mountains a large number of very beautiful wild olive trees that the country yields naturally. But be it by ignorance or by laziness, the residents do not graft them nor do they transplant them, saying that they are not accustomed to doing it. White mulberry trees to feed silkworms would thrive marvelously there if there were some and tobacco as well. There is a type of sheep whose wool is very fine and could be spun to help the poor if someone would do it. There is such disorder in that country. There is not even one established market day either to sell or buy what is needed by the people from

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:06

PS

90

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

the ships. So when the farmers go to the Cape to sell chickens, fruits, vegetables, or other supplies, they must go from house to house to offer their produce and it is great luck when they meet those who need them the most. If there was a day and a place fixed for this purpose everyone could meet there. Finally, this good country which should be tilled like a garden, is so neglected that we can say that it lacks almost everything although the Company could introduce everything there so easily that the expenses for that would not even be worth talking about. With regard to fruits, the Company would just need to bring layers7 and vine stocks of all best types of grapes by the ships, which bring to Holland some new wines from France toward the end of the month of December. This would only need to be done during three or four successive years. Similarly the Company could send all sorts of good fruit trees in small boxes filled with soil, but mostly those most resistant to the wind. It would only have to put all these on the ships of the Christmas fleet, which leaves in early January and arrives ordinarily in April or May at the Cape of Good Hope. This would be the most appropriate season to plant all kinds of trees since it is fall in that country. If only there was someone who understood these kinds of things and who could be appointed to the direction of this undertaking. In the third place, the territory of the Cape is not inhabited nor cultivated in the good regions as it should be. When I say the territory of the Cape I always suppose that our interests are not limited by the dwelling places of the uncivilized people living in the region and that the Company can expand its boundaries in all directions as far as it judges pertinent. I do not deny, however, that this settlement has had a good enough start that could be continued since farmers can be found there who yield each year forty or fifty barrels of wine from their vineyards which bring them around one hundred florins per barrel—sometimes more, sometimes less. These farmers have in some places advanced inland a bit even though sickness has ruined their livestock for the past five or six years, up to two thousand sheep, two or three hundred oxen, with horses and cows in proportion.8 How many good villages are there in Europe whose farmers own all together as much livestock as a single farmer of your Cape? And yet these people were poor and had absolutely nothing except the lands they were given to clear when they went there to settle in the year 1687. But what is most remarkable is that the soil of the Cape, however rich it may be, is perhaps one of the most arid of all Kaffraria, at least of that part which is confined in the fifth

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:06

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

91

climate. The fertility of its regions always increases in proportion to its proximity to the land of Natal according to the reports of several people who have traveled there.9 So much so that this land of Natal must necessarily be the best region of all Kaffraria as much because it is irrigated by the Infantis River as because there are almost no mountains there and because it is located in the proximity of the thirty-third degree of latitude. In the fourth place, even if the Company was satisfied with the Cape of Good Hope, in order to refresh the crews of its ships going to or coming back from the Indies, and if it did not want to cover the expenses needed to settle a colony in Natal, taking into account that it is the best region, not only in Kaffraria but even in all of southern Africa, it seems that nevertheless, it should do it for political reasons and for fear that some other nation might come to settle there. For I still suppose that if some other Europeans attempted to do it before the Company, the Company would not stand for it since these people would own the best of the country, as it only occupies the least, and that if declaring a war was necessary in order to oppose it, of which possible outcomes could be doubtful, the Company would perhaps encounter more expenses than settling there would cost. Fifthly and finally, I do not know the specific reasons of the Company for not sending more people to the Cape and for not wanting to demand any tithe of those who went there,10 but I believe that the very same thing that I vaguely remember having read in a history about Malacca could have happened in this regard—that sailors had been enlisted in Holland on the expressed condition that they would only serve at sea and that having arrived at this place in state of siege, they first refused to obey when they were made to serve on land. They said that they would serve without question as long as they were at sea, but not otherwise since they enlisted on this condition. Afterwards the authorities were obliged to pacify them with a lot of good words and to increase their wages in order to obtain from them the needed services. Upon which the historian called attention to the fact that this happened only because the Gentlemen Directors had made the mistake to have attached this condition that the sailors would not have even thought about when they enlisted if the Gentlemen Directors had not themselves proposed it as the experience has since shown.11 It is true that a tithe was demanded for grains a short while after the farmers of the Cape had cleared the lands and that they have had to pay one crown for each barrel of wine. But these peo-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:07

PS

92

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

ple began to complain like the sailors I just mentioned and still complain each day, although one could find millions of souls who would be thrilled to be able to go there today, on condition that they give up a fifth of the profit of the lands that they will farm. But, will you reply, no one would have wanted to go settle in that country, if from the beginning the fifth portion of the profit of their land had been demanded of them. I answer that this would not have prevented people from going there anyway. If each one had been allowed to go there since then and if the employees of the Company had been allowed to stay there instead of seven or eight hundred farmers who are there (from whom almost nothing can be extracted by the Company),12 there would already be according to what I just proposed, more than one hundred thousand people there at present, with the reservation, nevertheless, that the colony would have expanded to Natal. After having paid the fifth to the Company they would have been allowed to use or sell the four other parts as they thought appropriate. Why would we not wish for example, that all these French and Vaudois13 families who settled there at that time had come on such just and reasonable conditions? Or rather has there ever been a well-ruled country in the world whose lands yielded almost nothing to the ruler with the exception of the lands of the Company? How could princes live? How could they pay the people of the Church and of the Magistracy? How could they maintain the army for defense or attack? In one word, how could they survive without it? The Jewish people whose own legislator was God, according to His ordinances, was supposed to pay regularly the tithes for each year,14 as many fruits from the land as animals to feed the Levites, as well as the first fruits, offerings, sanctified things, without counting the extraordinary tithes they still paid for other specific uses.15 Would we dare say without being blasphemous, that these conditions were too hard? Or that Joseph was an extorter because he demanded the fifth from the Egyptians? In fact, I am willing to believe that those who are wealthy or comfortable in Europe would not bother to go there. But I cannot conceive that people who live in poverty and who have absolutely nothing would not want to settle on such fair conditions in one of the best countries in the world. For saying that men cannot so easily decide to leave their acquaintances, their friends, their parents, is only nonsense and myth in our minds. Rather, let us agree that it is only the countries where there is good living and comfort that they miss. All these poor French people who were forced to

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:07

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

93

leave for God’s cause, for icy climates where they almost die from cold and hunger are an obvious proof of it.16 For when they speak of their country, of the good taste of their melons, of the smell of their partridges, and of so many other things which make life delightful, we see that their hearts cry each time they think of it and they only speak of it with a sigh. It was just the same with the Israelites. For although God declared Himself their protector and had taken them away from the miserable servitude in which they lived under Pharaoh they never stopped missing the onions, the leeks, and the pots full of meat that they had in that country. ‘‘We recall,’’ they said, ‘‘the fish we used to eat without any cost to us in Egypt, the cucumbers, the pompons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic. Why did we not die by the hand of the Eternal in Egypt when we were sitting in front of our pots full of meat, wherein we were eating our bellyful of bread!’’17 Consequently, it is very sure, My Lords, that we could find more people than needed to farm Kaffraria and that the Company could obtain in this manner, all the wine, the oil, and the wheat which it would need without having the slightest expense to buy any of those products. Now I wonder if we cannot say that it is obvious unless we are blind that the settling of such a colony would be useful to the Company? I admit that all of Kaffraria, confined in the fifth climate, contains scarcely more than two hundred leagues formed like a peninsula of which the largest part of its terrain is only sand or rocks which yield nothing and that generally the plain regions are worth a lot more than mountainous ones, although these mountains contain some very rich valleys. This is why I said that settling in the Terre de Nuyts would be even more beneficial to you. Not only because it could be used as the attic and the cellar of your Indies because of its proximity, but mostly because of silks and tobacco, without mentioning an infinity of other things which could be extracted which are not yet known.18 In fact, My Lords, it would not be possible to show me any country in the world, with the exception of the Barbary Coast with such an extensive length of coasts and all located approximately in the thirty-third degree of latitude as are those of the Terre de Nuyts. This comes from the fact that they extend from east to west whereas those of Asia, Africa, and America which are located in that degree nearly all extend from north to south. Therefore, it is only those of the Barbary Coast which are the closest to it and which are located nearly like those of the Terre

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:08

PS

94

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

de Nuyts. But beside this advantage that the Terre de Nuyts has above all other countries of the world, the Nuytians still have the sun by its eccentricity, one million leagues closer during their summer than the Barbary inhabitants do in theirs.19 We can be sure that your Kaffraria which is in the same southern parallel as the Terre de Nuyts would be infinitely better if it was not so profusely covered with the high mountains that can be see there. All these mountains increase the strength of the winds through their resistance to the air when it is violently rough and they spread constantly in the plains a very fresh air from the middle region which significantly decreases either the quality or the quantity of good fruits which is easy to understand.20 Such a country cannot miss being rich, if not in one region at least in another, providing that it be inhabited and that it be farmed properly because it can yield almost everything in abundance and without much work. It ordinarily attracts commerce and money from its neighbors by selling to them the excess of its yields. It is there, My Lords, that we could make plans worthy of your illustrious Company with unthinkable joy, be it for wheat, wine, olives, tobacco, or be it especially for silkworms. For if some believe without any foundation, that neither bay nor river can be found in that country and that there is only sand, marshes, or rocks, you will have to allow me to believe in turn, all the contrary on this matter as long as such suppositions can be allowed. Consequently, the first thing to be done, according to me, would be to send five or six hundred men—all good soldiers and well-chosen—to land there and explore the country. I admit that it could be done with fewer men and that Christopher Columbus did not have that many when he discovered America. But beside the fact that we are not in the same position as was Christopher Columbus and that it would be risking too much to make a useless trip if we took fewer men, we could be making a mistake if we imagined with certainty that the people of the Terre de Nuyts are without courage as are the Indians or if we believed them to be without common sense and not reasonable as we are. Why would we think, for instance, that they do not have fortified towns and that if we have only discovered the use for gunpowder two or three hundred years ago, these people could not have as well unearthed other war machines even more terrible than our bombs and our cannons? None of this is impossible, although in truth it does not appear to be so. But I simply mean that men being what they are sometimes imagine when they know something, that others do not know anything and that presumptions

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:09

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

95

often are some of the most dangerous outcomes of ignorance and pride. I want to add that as there already was before the Flood21 in a few places of the world people of extraordinary strength and grandeur (and since the Flood as well),22 there were still some in the land of Canaan who were named the children of Hanak who were so much so, that upon seeing their terrible stature the Jewish people perceived themselves as grasshoppers compared to them.23 Why would we want to think that there could not be people in the Terre de Nuyts who would be not only in size but even in spirit and in knowledge of such prodigious grandeur that no one would ever have seen or heard of them in any other country of the earth? This proposition will not seem ridiculous if we reflect upon the fact that power, civility, and barbarity follow each other in a country as well as knowledge and ignorance, wealth and poverty. In the period when Chaldea and Egypt possessed knowledge and good manners, ignorance was ruling in Greece and Italy as it has been ruling for a long time in Egypt and in Syria. But has there ever been a people more educated or better mannered than the Greeks were in the past or hardly more uncivilized or ignorant than they are at the present? So that after the fall of the Roman Empire which was the last of these great monarchies, the sciences were crushed by the fall and almost buried under the ruins. So much so that they were very little used all over Europe for several centuries and there was almost no one except for those in the legal professions who knew how to read or write. Let us conclude from all of this that we must not fear the people of the Terre de Nuyts nor disregard them too much, especially since we do not yet know what they do and therefore we should have, it seems to me, five or six hundred men go and find out about them. In the second place, good and ample instruction should be given to them24 bearing in mind the exhortation that Moses gave to the twelve men he sent to spy on the country of Canaan on the order of God. ‘‘Go up there,’’ he said to them, ‘‘and you will see the people who live there. See if they are strong or weak, if they are in small or large number and what the country where they live is like, namely if it is rich or poor, if there are trees or not. And be brave, and take some fruit of the country.’’25 3.26 They should be sent with the ships of the Easter fleet which ordinarily leave in the month of May so that they may arrive at the Cape of Good Hope toward the end of the month of September which, in that country, is the beginning of spring. From there

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:10

PS

96

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

they would go on their way toward the coasts of the Terre de Nuyts. 4. They should stop in all the places of the Terre de Nuyts where large rivers and good ports for ships could be seen and from there two or three hundred of the most vigorous and healthy men would penetrate at least fifteen or twenty leagues into the country and come back only after having observed all that would be necessary to know. 5. While going from beach to beach at least all the way to the islands of St. Pierre and St. Franc¸ois, they should notice as much as possible the location of rivers, their course and their number, the quality of the climate, the nature of the inhabitants, and generally all other singularities which could be of some use to the Company. 6. They should also travel along this coast during the months of January, February, March, and April negotiating with all these nations, if there are some, in a manner as gentle and honest as possible, either with exchanges or otherwise and coming to violent ways only as a last resort. 7. They should withdraw in the month of May to the location they would have found as the most appropriate, as much for settling a colony as for spending the winter and remain there during the months of May, June, July, August, and September so that during these four or five months when the fleet remained there, a little fort would be built in case it would appear that this country would be advantageous to the commerce of the Company, and that a garrison of at least two hundred men be left behind to learn a little of the language and the mode of life of the people. 8. The officer left behind to command these people should not only be an honest man capable of keeping order among them, but he should mostly remember that the thirty men left behind on the island of Cuba by Christopher Columbus on the first voyage he made to America were strangled by the people of the region only because the Spanish were touching their wives. Indians are able to suffer everything except that. 9. Finally, this little fleet should depart from there around the end of the month of September and should take its course in the direction of the Sunda Islands, to report to the Council of the High Regency of Batavia about everything that took place to fulfill its mission and then to return in the month of December with other ships which leave during that period for Europe. My Lords, here is the approximate expenses that this settlement would cost: Namely two hundred men left there in case the

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:10

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

97

country had been found good and the lateness of four or five ships which would have taken twenty-six or twenty-seven months to go and come back from the Indies instead of eighteen or twenty months as they usually do. As for all the other expenses which would be incurred from that point on to pay the garrison, the ministers, the writers, and generally all those serving the Company, it is the country itself which would pay all these things by the fertility of its land. If not, the country would not be worth anything and would not merit any attention. Therefore, it would necessarily be one of two things. Either this country is good or it is not. First of all if we found it to be good and we saw it as advantageous to the Company, as it appears to be, we could then have an account written about it and publish a manifesto saying that the Gentlemen Directors have the intention to send people there so that from the large number of people responding, we could choose those who would be best suited to the advancement of the colony. But we should not choose those who go to the Indies with the single goal of becoming wealthy by whatever means necessary and then come back a few years later as fat lords at the expense of the Company. Rather we should select those who would be determined to stay and settle there. You will find some of this last type, My Lords, from all countries and all conditions who will come and offer themselves—more than your ships could handle—some to cultivate vineyards and olives, others to cultivate trees, meadows, fields, others to nourish silkworms, plant tobacco or other things, and each one following his own insight and knowledge. How many families and good merchants do you have, even in your state, who have fallen into poverty either because of losses, bankruptcies, or some other accident, and who would be delighted to be able to go not only to one of the best countries in the world, but mostly would love to find a place in which they would be concealed from the shame and scorn which commonly follow misfortune? How many people are there whose parents and friends would happily give something to help them, each in proportion to his ability, provided that they would not have the displeasure to see them in such a sad state and have them go so far that they would never be seen again? For in this manner they would all have a way to buy slaves in order to form a good settlement, to farm their land, and to live there happily while praising and blessing God and trying to make their children useful to the Company. One could, after that, take those among them whose life and

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:11

PS

98

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

morals would be most steady in order to train judges and police, therefore avoiding the necessity of sending some from Europe for this purpose and the need of incurring expenses for the Company. But if on the contrary, the country did not turn out to be good and all the advantages thought to be possible were proven unattainable, one could simply leave without having spent much and it would be a finished matter about which we would no longer think. At least we could not reproach ourselves for not having tried and we would no longer be in this constant fear that some other nation might go settle there first since those lands are in our neighborhood, and for this reason, within your propriety. But will you say, whether this Terre de Nuyts be good or bad it is useless to pursue it since the Company has already too many lands and since it is only looking to trade in them. I admit that this is an objection which has often been made to me. Mr. General van Swol has even honored me by telling me in a private audience that in truth, neither the science of agriculture nor that of cosmography27 had been subjects he had studied in his youth and that since then he had been interested in other matters which led him to the post he presently holds.28 But this did not prevent him from being convinced that my project would not be better received in Holland than it had been in the Indies and that all my actions would only be lost pains for me because I was proposing things to the Company which were directly opposed to its maxims, to its views, and its designs. I could agree myself with him if I were paying attention to the fact that it already had too many lands and henceforth would not want more and that it only attempted to trade. Truthfully, I was hardly satisfied by this answer. And when I offered to reply to his objections in writing, His Excellency answered that it was not necessary since all this was fruitless. But if I still had something to propose about it I could do so once I arrived in Europe. This is what I am going to attempt to do now in a few words. I shall begin my first remark by asking a question upon which my entire system is founded. Is it not agreed that it is around the thirty-third degree of latitude that all the best countries of the earth are located? If the answer is yes, it follows that the Terre de Nuyts can be one of the best countries in the world. If the answer is no (and it has to be proven),29 then I will admit that I am wrong and that all my reasoning is false. But it is not enough to deny it. It has to be proven. And I dare defy all men on this without disregard for anyone. To explain myself better I will even say that no one could show me one single bad land located in this de-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:12

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

99

gree of latitude or one which could not be paralleled with the best countries from the new continent, provided that it be farmed well and that this not be done on rocks, marshes, or dry and arid sand on which good fruits could not grow. For when Mr. GovernorGeneral told me that the Company had already too many lands and that it did not want more, if only he had added ‘‘bad ones,’’ I would then have been of the same opinion as he since in fact, the Company does not own any which is appropriate to growing food if the Cape of Good Hope is excluded from this. But beside the fact that this Cape is only a headland of rocks stretching into the sea contained in the fifth climate, and that the valleys that these rocks enclose are not important enough to take up a vast undertaking however rich they may be, we only need to glance at a globe of the earth or a geographic map of these regions to see that effectively, our Kaffraria is so little that it cannot be compared with the large Terre de Nuyts neither by the position of its coasts nor by the extent of its land. My second remark is that this state does not own lands in America or in the rest of the world (with the exception of the Cape of Good Hope), contained within a good climate and that apparently our fathers themselves used to say in the past as a few are still doing today, that they already had too much land and that they did not want any more. But nevertheless, it is hard for me to imagine not being glad to own Virginia or Brazil, Peru or Mexico if it were possible, that it would not be agreed with me that the wealth of such countries or of any other of similar nature would not accommodate itself well to the spending currently done in Holland—mainly in times like these when its commerce is so upset everywhere and so many people no longer know which way to turn. My third remark is that ownership of lands is not incompatible with commerce according to my judgment. On the contrary, it is the ownership of these very lands which strengthens and fortifies commerce when they bring in a good profit. We cannot say for example, that the islands of Amboyne, Banda, or Ceylon are detrimental to the Company,30 nor that the Cape of Good Hope is an obstacle to its commerce with the Indies since that commerce would be reduced to nothing if it did not own those lands. Now I am asking again if settling a good Dutch colony in the Terre de Nuyts and the Company extracting with certainty the wealth I demonstrated—as much wool, silk, and tobacco, as wine, oil, and wheat, all possibly yielded in this country without being forced to buy some (for it is not a very great science to know how to pur-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:12

PS

100

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

chase these things for money)—is just good use of judgment rather than maintaining that one cannot see any usefulness nor any profit to the Company coming from it but on the contrary very certain and considerable expenses? The great wrong for all of this comes only from mistaken priorities and because Mr. van Swol does almost everything by himself. He acquaints himself with almost everything, even with the slightest matters that one would not dare name, so much so that it is nearly impossible for him to have given to the examination of my proposal all the time and attention that a matter of such importance deserves. This is the way Moses used to rule the Jewish people at the time when Jethro, his father-in-law went to see him in the desert. He alone took care of church, police, and judicial matters as if he had had nothing else to do. It is why Jethro said to him, What you are doing is not good. You are going to default for certain, you, and even this people which is with you. For this is too heavy for you and you will not be able to do this all alone. But choose among all the people some virtuous ones, God fearing, true men, hating dishonest gains and establish them upon the people as chiefs over thousands, chiefs over hundreds, chiefs over fifties, and chiefs over tens. And may they judge the people at all times. But may they bring all important matters to you and may they judge all small ones. Hence, you will be lightened of your burden, and they will carry it with you.31

Taking all these reasons into account, let us suppose that the decision of Mr. General van Swol is followed and that some powerful European nation as are the French or the English came to discover that country (as will happen without a doubt)32 and that they found there metals, minerals of all kinds, precious stones, and maybe more wealth than exists in any other part of the world. Would it be possible that we would be satisfied with the name of New Holland as these southern Indian regions have the honor to be called but gave up all the rest to foreigners? Or rather (please, My Lords, bear that I say this), would it not be a shame for the Company, since all these treasures are in its neighborhood, if it never wanted to swerve two steps from its path to go and grasp them as goods that belong to it as much or more as to any other? For God in his wisdom having wanted that all men in the world live within a society and love each other as being born from a same Father and a same family so much so that the poor needs

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:13

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

101

the rich as the rich in turn needs the poor, and that each region yields some particular thing that another one does not produce. So that by His liberal hand all could give reciprocal gifts to each other in order to maintain a solid friendship among themselves. It is not comprehensible that it is only the people of the Terre de Nuyts who would be the ones with nothing. Nor is it possible to understand the reasons given by the Council of the Regency of Batavia, which maintains that that country could be of no usefulness to the Company. In my opinion, it is a fair guess to suppose that the French or the English (once aware of the climate where the best countries must be) will not say, ‘‘We have in fact enough lands located around the thirty-third degree of latitude, we do not want more, and we are only looking for trade,’’ because we must admit in praise of the English particularly (except nevertheless for the respect due to all other nations of Europe),33 that there is no other people in the whole universe as quick, as active, or as enterprising as they are, when it is a matter not only of extending or adding to their commerce, but mostly of going and getting used to a good country. These types of lands are a little too rare in the world to ignore them so, especially those of which it can be said as could be done of the Terre de Nuyts, that if gold, silver, precious stones, mines, and all these other things that men search for with so much passion are not found there, we are at least sure that it is one of the best regions on the earth for silks and all sorts of good foods and that the goodness of its climate will never change as long as the sun and the earth will exist. I even dare to maintain boldly that if either of these two nations, either French or English, held that country it would naturally be impossible for the Company to keep its settlement in the Indies if misfortune wanted Holland to be at war with either one: 1. Because their settlement in this fifth part of the world would be so close to you, you would hardly have any ships entering or leaving the Strait of the Sunda Islands that they would not attempt to attack. 2. Because they would own a very good and very fertile country, whereas those that you have in the Indies are very dry and very bad. 3. Because they would populate their country with a large multitude of Europeans and that you could not do the same in yours if it is not in Africa which is far from there. 4. Because the goodness of the country would allow them to find the wherewithal to have war with you without any cost to

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:13

PS

102

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

them, whereas you must send every year for trunks full of ducats in order to pay and feed your people. 5. Because this place would be convenient enough, for the English as well as for the French, with regard to the trade they already have on the coasts of Coromandel, Bengal, and China. 6. Because when the monsoon is suitable they could easily start from there to go to the Island of Timor and pass through the Molucca Islands in order to go to China or Japan without being forced to pass by the Strait of the Sunda Islands. 7. Because finally, and this is why I beg you to give me your attention, they would have the capacity to raise the Indians against you when they wanted it and they would surely practice toward you through alliances, the same maxim you practiced against the Portuguese when you were at war with them and you undertook settling your trade in the Indies.34 My Lords, through your own experience you already know much better than anyone else, the unfaithfulness of all these emperors and little Indian kings. We can admit it is a people without honor which only keeps good faith with a treaty when it is forced into it through strength or fear of punishment and who very certainly, would not hesitate to join anyone who would make profitable proposals to banish you from their home if they could. Besides, your bourgeoisie in Batavia has already been shouting so loudly in the past three or four years that it is to be feared that they might be your most dangerous enemies if you were attacked. The Batavian colonists will obviously die of hunger or poverty if you bar them from all forms of commerce since the country can neither feed them nor help them to exist otherwise. Would you not be continuously alarmed if this were to happen?—sometimes to your ships and sometimes to your coasts of Malabar or Coromandel or to your islands of Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, Celebes, Timor, Amboyne, Banda, and several others.35 Unceasingly you would have to send reinforcements to your troops once here and once there. My God! How sad to think of all these hardships and how easy it would be to remedy them by taking for yourselves the good Terre de Nuyts not only to warn your enemies, but mainly to make it into the cellar and the attic which would be so necessary in your Indies and in which you would always find nurserymen and fellow countrymen who would serve you faithfully when needed. Once again, would it be possible if much attention was paid to all of this to maintain, as it is done, that it cannot be seen that such a country could possibly be useful or profitable to the

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:14

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

103

Company, that it would only bring, on the contrary, very considerable and sure expenses? Yes, will you say, it has to be so since Mr. Governor-General and the Gentlemen of the Council of the High Regency of Batavia find it so. However, I dare maintain the contrary for the interests of the Company. All these Gentlemen without offending them, will never change my feeling on this matter unless it be done with valid proofs or with very good reasons. For I can believe without being too presumptuous, that an individual, even if mediocre, can sometimes be very sure to understand certain matters better than do assemblies of scientists without thinking of himself as infallible and without imagining himself to have more erudition than those who are members of these assemblies. But to let you see with one word that the decision of the Gentlemen of the Council of the High Regency of Batavia on this matter is not defensible I beg you only, My Lords, to reflect upon the single question that I take the freedom to propose to you. Thus I ask, how can we say that the Terre de Nuyts would be useless and without advantages to the Company since we do not know it and since no man has ever been there? I would like to be given recognition with an answer to this point. How could it have been said that America could be of no usefulness nor profit to all the powers of Europe before that world was discovered and before we knew what could be found there? Would we dare maintain that the Terre de Nuyts is not located in the most favorable climate and that it is not one of the best countries that can be imagined without having any proof to the contrary? I know very well that New Holland has been penetrated in several places, mainly around Java, Timor, and the Molucca Islands and that nothing was found that deserved the attention of a gentleman of good taste. But I shall repeat my question. Is it not true that these countries are located in bad climates and that they are only appropriate to the feeding of monkeys or Indians? Is it not true that New Holland in which the Terre de Nuyts is located, is at least as spacious as all of Europe and that a man who would have only seen Russia or Norway would be strongly mistaken to imagine that Spain or Italy are not worth more and that there are no better manners nor more honesty in Paris than among the Laplanders? Why be determining then, if one has only seen the least countries of New Holland, that no difference be made between them and the good Terre de Nuyts which must be the best part of it? I wish I would be given the favor of an answer on this.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:15

PS

104

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

Then they shout about the very considerable (as they are called) and certain expenses that would be necessary for this, as if the Company was going to be ruined in case it would undertake to explore it. In truth, when well-examined, this concern is nothing else than a fly trying to be turned into an elephant or nearly like a man who would rather let his house rot than to go to the expense of a few hundred tiles which would close the gutters of the roof. It is so because a portion of the Terre de Nuyts is in the same parallel as the Cape of Good Hope and under a similar meridian as the island of Java and several of your ships going from the Cape to Batavia even see a good portion of this southern land as being on their way. Thus you see, My Lords, wanting to justify what I had the honor to tell you above, that those four or five ships destined for the Terre de Nuyts would leave from Holland in the month of May without being sent there on purpose and that they would even go anyway close to the area of the Terre de Nuyts, and that the five or six hundred soldiers who would be there would also be needed in the garrisons of your strongholds in the Indies.36 The eight or nine months that they would remain traveling along the coasts of the Terre de Nuyts to examine the country would not prevent their being in Batavia in time to assume their charges, nor would it detain their leaving with the other ships of the fleet which would sail for Europe. Besides, your ships remain ordinarily five or six weeks at the Cape in order to freshen up and I have often seen them three or four months in the port of Batavia waiting for the departure of the fleet without ever having heard that these kinds of delays are looked upon as very troublesome expenses for the Company—so much so that if the time that these four or five ships would have taken to go spy upon the Terre de Nuyts was not counted more exactly, I am certain, My Lords, that you would find with me that the cost would be nearly nothing to you in relationship to the immense profits that you could extract from it. Nevertheless, I do not criticize the fears of entering inappropriately into new expenditures nor the cares given to cut out those which are useless or superfluous. On the contrary, I praise them and respect them since the goals of my entire argument are only to manage and to show you the means to get there which are in my knowledge. But I firmly believe that the General acts directly against your designs when he will have added a few hundred thousand francs to the profits of the commerce of the Company when he had done it by diminishing the wages and the number of

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:16

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

105

his servants or something else of the same nature without looking at the unfortunate consequences which could come out of it. In doing so he imagines to have done wonders with badly planned savings and to deserve the honors of triumph when he will have lost everything and turned everything around. If after that, you object that there are perils and dangers to go discovering countries that are not known and that the loss of the ships would be a misfortune which would strongly upset the commerce of the Company, I answer that if one always reasoned so and only looked at the bad side of things, nothing would ever be undertaken. The Indies would still be unknown to you and each one would live a wretched and lazy life, which would be linked more to that of a brutish beast than that of a reasonable creature. But I am very convinced that one can almost believe in advance in the success of a valid undertaking when it is not contrary to natural rights and Heaven never holds back its blessings on designs founded upon charity toward others as upon the love of God. I mention charity toward others because you would not be doing anything in doing this that would be directly opposed to equity or justice. On the contrary, you would have the opportunity, without harming anyone, to assist a large number of your poor brethren who are overcome by misery and afflictions. I also mention the love of God because it would be a way to contribute something to the rise of His Kingdom and you would then have the glory and the distinction not only to own one of the most beautiful and best countries in the universe, but mainly to have been one of the first to have carried the torch of the Gospel among a large number of poor people who do not yet have the honor of knowing His Divine Name. The reply to this might be that it would be necessary to go to many expenses to settle some colonies and to build strongholds even if the country was more excellent than I say; that a country which is not farmed does not yield at first the wherewithal to compensate the first expenses made; and that moreover, the financial capacity of the Company is not sufficient to allow the undertaking of so many things at once or the expansion of its commerce from its present state. I answer in respect to all the costs necessary in the beginning that the Company could find if it so wanted, easy expedients, which would compensate it sufficiently for all these expenses and here is how. You would only have to establish in all your settlements, My Lords, some offices for the dispatch of letters as well

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:16

PS

106

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

as for all kinds of merchandise that people have transported from one place to another on the ships of the Company. This business alone would already yield more than five hundred thousand crowns each year counting only roughly and at the present rate. And if that did not suffice you would simply need to supply some chests as a third party, which would still yield almost as much to you.37 In the first place, you would need to tax a simple letter or a letter of one page a half crown for postage and the packages in proportion. Half of the tax would be paid in the office that would have been established and the other half would be paid by those to whom these letters or packages would be addressed. In my opinion this would not be costly for countries that are so far away. Although this may not please everyone, it could not miss being practical and pleasant for those expecting letters or who would wish to have them come by sure means since they would only have to contact the office established for this and that generally there is hardly any money spent with more pleasure than that given for the posting of letters, especially when they come from so far away. Therefore, this tax which would not be of great concern to an individual and which is only an issue for people who have an important business be it in money or in merchandise and for whom the expense would be small in relationship to the commerce they do, could only be advantageous for the Company considering the prodigious quantity of letters and packages involved. In the second place, it would be a very big business which would be as pleasant as practical for individuals and which would yield more profit than imagined if individuals could freely send merchandise on the Company’s ships by paying the freight as is done on other merchant ships. In truth, it is not that this commerce is not being done with some expenses,38 as long as satisfying the financial authorities, the Islamic merchants, and Dutch spice traders is kept in mind. But there is a difference. That difference is that the Company would have the freight from the merchandise, whereas it does not get anything out of it and that things are done, although with a little more spending (neither more nor less) by individuals.39 I agree that if only the ships of the Company alone were going to the Indies, and that only the Company regulated the price of merchandise arriving from all these oriental countries as it does with cinnamon or nutmeg, then it would have had in some ways more reasons to prevent anyone else from doing the same thing it does. But since most European powers presently send their ships to the Indies and since they sometimes

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:16

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

107

even supply their merchandise be it tea, muslin, linen, or other things at a lower price because they navigate less expensively than we do, and since their ships make almost two trips to the Indies while those of the Company make only one, it is not understandable why the Company opposes so strongly that those who serve it attempt to negotiate on this matter, nor why it prefers having the financial authorities and all these other Indian leeches share the profit with them rather than benefiting itself. I shall say in the third place that the business of supplying the chests as a third party would yield just under five hundred thousand crowns every year without taking any business away from the Company nor forcing it to any great expenses for that. The Company would only have to practice what individuals do in that regard whose customs and manners are well enough known to you, sparing me the necessity to explain it at length. I beg you only to notice that at least one tenth of sailors or soldiers takes some chests in as a third party and that very certainly these people would prefer to take them for the Company than for other people under the same conditions because their chests would have much better care on the ships. A few years ago the Company gave to the officers as well as to the soldiers and sailors at least twenty-five hundred of them. These chests filled with tea and porcelain, cost about one hundred crowns each and ordinarily they earn twice that after deducting the interest of the money and all expenses encountered regarding this matter—so much so that these twenty-five hundred chests would still yield the sum of five hundred thousand crowns in profit without having demanded much bookkeeping or bother. Consequently, without a doubt you could earn, or rather you are losing every year at least two or three million in a very evident manner on these two or three items only. If the people who have taken a stand to prevent the transport of foreign merchandise on your ships, some of them having unfortunately sunk because they were overloaded could realize the expenses incurred in regard to this and it is of some usefulness, so much the better! Allow me to say, My Lords, that then I would be agreeing with you. But since a long experience has shown that all of these things do not help at all and that your ships on the contrary, are much more filled with personal merchandise than they would be otherwise, it seems to me that it would be preferable to use the least dangerous way, but still the one which would be the least laborious and from which the most profit could be extracted. Be-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:17

PS

108

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

sides, everyone is complaining and shouting whereas in this manner everyone would be satisfied. What! will you reply, if the Company thus allowed commerce for individuals and it did like France and England who give away passports as long as they are wanted against a certain payment, what would become of its commerce? It could not survive. I agree and I admit as I already said that if it were only the Company which sold merchandise from the Indies, it would be far more profitable than it is. But since things are otherwise, instead of a ship of the Company sailing to the Indies there are presently two or three from other nations without counting those from Sweden, from His Majesty the King of Prussia, or from Moscow which will probably be going there soon, as well as those of the emperor which are already on their way there,40 I want to ask in turn if it would not be far more profitable for the state if those who serve the Company earned something rather than be in poverty as they are? And finally, would it not be much more profitable for the state and for the Company that among so many European ships which sail to the Indies, those of the Dutch nation alone had at least, always, and everywhere the greatest number of them? But if it is thought that the financial backing of the Company is not sufficient to sustain new undertakings or that it is not interested in expanding its commerce farther nor in looking for expedients for that purpose, we must not find what is done in Batavia strange (nor must we be surprised), if so many other less squeamish people who send such a large number of ships to the Indies form schemes whose consequences will be perhaps more harsh than is believed. For in truth, although the reception given to those of the new Ostend Company while I was there was not good when they came to ask for supplies and to seek a welcome, I was never able to figure out why they would get disgusted of their undertaking for so little (cause) nor why these people came from so far to be rebuffed so easily.41 Let us suppose that more probably they came to the Indies in order to trade and that they decided to go establish their commerce in China or in Japan. Willy nilly they took temporary ownership of the island of Formosa owned by the Chinese, which would not be very difficult as long as they be attacked courageously as would be done with the most chicken-hearted and cowardly nations under the heavens and that other means to this end be used. The Company would have nothing to say about it, it seems to me, unless it wanted to declare war since it is something which is none of its business as it tacitally renounced all claims

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:18

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

109

which it could have had on this island because, as Mr. Christophel van Swol said, ‘‘that it already had too many lands and did not want any more and that it was looking only for trade.’’ The island of Formosa being taken, all the commerce done by the Chinese in Batavia would first be stopped and what the Company does in Japan already being so little would soon become less important. But what would be most advantageous for these newcomers is that this island would be, for different reasons, the best situated and the most convenient place in all of the Indies to make it not only into a settlement or the general store of all merchandise, but mainly for the possibilities of commerce that could be had between Europe, China, and Japan. Just think now, what would become in this case of our Molucca Islands, especially if as I have already shown, this budding Company (or one of some other nation)42 was established in the good Terre de Nuyts. Someone will tell me, without doubt, that I reason like a foolish person by daring propose that a few hundred men could overthrow the richest and most powerful empires of Asia such as those of China and Japan. And that I want to maintain that a handful of people could give them the law that easily since the Company itself which owned this island of Formosa for several years was unable to defend it against the invasion of the Chinese not withstanding that it was sustained by good troops, good strongholds, and good garrisons. In answer to this, I agree that in fact the Company owned this island for a very long time and that the Chinese took it away in the year 1662. But I do not agree that it was supported by good troops, good strongholds, nor good garrisons. It is necessary to know that all the accounts that we have are contrary to the truth. For here is how things happened. The Chinese not being able to accept for several reasons that a foreign nation had settled so close to their land decided, under a variety of pretexts, to go attack it and to chase the foreigners from there if possible. The great difficulty consisted of the manner in which this terrible project would be carried out. Several years went by without resolving this matter. Meanwhile, preparations were taking place and nothing else was being discussed in all of China, so much so that the governor of Formosa had all the needed time to write about it to Batavia and to solicit the help of men and other things which it greatly needed. But as the Lords of the High Regency of Batavia were at that time attempting to develop thrift, and apparently did not see either that the Company could extract any usefulness nor profit from this island, but on the contrary very

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:19

PS

110

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

sure and considerable expenses, and had they sent the help the Governor was asking for it would have shown that they did not pay much attention to all these remonstrances and they were satisfied in responding that it was fear that made him speak thusly.43 Finally, the famous Coxinga44 went to sea at the head of all the valiant champions and besieged our island of Formosa with a fleet of several hundred ships equipped for war which carried nearly twenty-five thousand men for landing—all disciplined people who had opposed the Tartars a long time—without counting several thousand other Chinese who lived on the island and who facilitated the landing. However, the Governor held firmly for nine months until he saw himself being abandoned on all sides. He lost his courage and surrendered. But it is certain, humanly speaking, that if he had been a great-hearted man, such as he should have been on such an occasion and if he had preferred to perish with his few people than to surrender as he did, he would very certainly have chased all this Chinese riffraff and you would presently still be owners of the island of Formosa. I could justify all this with good proof and this would be the time to do it. But since this matter would take me too far afield and since it is not my topic either, I will say for the present that the capture of Formosa was for the Chinese the bravest, most glorious, and most brilliant action they had accomplished in perhaps more than two hundred years. After this, I do not find it odd to be treated like a foolish person and to be insulted. It is the common fate of all those who propose things that could give them a position in the world other than that of being hated. David felt it as soon as he had shown the desire to fight against Goliath to free the people of Israel.45 Joseph had an even sadder experience when he had told his brothers about his dream.46 As well, when I came out with my Me´moire in Batavia, I first attracted public hatred and in the mind of most people I passed for a man with a wounded brain. (Although by God’s grace there was nothing else for which to reproach me.) I had to learn patience. But as I had prepared myself for it and since all along I had only expected as a reward for my work all sorts of scorn and bad treatment, I was not surprised to see all these things happening nor that I received no thank you or recognition for my proposition. But, some will say, what are you complaining about? Were you not made bookkeeper on a ship? What more did you want? They could not give you anything else.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:19

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

111

It is true, My Lords, that four or five months after the Me´moire was released, having been constrained still to present a request to the Regency in order to obtain permission to come and inform you myself of the things I had to communicate to you and of which I had informed them, I begged the Gentlemen of the High Regency to have the willingness to give me the position of bookkeeper on a ship. My leave was granted to me then after having requested it several times, but the expenses I was asking were found too considerable for a man like me. They were refused to me.47 And as there were still at the time when the fleet was to leave five positions of bookkeeper available and since they were to take five soldiers who could read and write to fill them, Mr. Counselor Faas who honored me with his favors, requested one of them for me, which he obtained on the ship Hogermeer.48 When the Mr. General Director sent for me to put me in charge of this position, although on the least ship of the entire fleet, he positively told me that it was on the recommendation of Mr. Counselor Faas who had a strong interest in me. Consequently, it was not due to any consideration of the services that I had attempted to give to the Company that this employment was given to me. For unfortunately for me, Mr. van Swol had found my proposal too useless and of too little advantage to make me deserving of some small portion of his good graces or of the least gratitude on the side of my employers. I can nevertheless assure you, My Lords, that it is not in order to have you feel sorry for me that I mention all of that, notwithstanding that the so-called Mr. van Swol caused me to lose more than a thousand crowns since I was not able to settle my business as was needed.49 It is not either that I pretend to get more out of it than the only satisfaction that an honest man must feel when he has done his duty. But it is uniquely to show you how men are made and how different their ideas are one from the other in all the countries of the world. About the same thing happened to Christopher Columbus when he planned to go discover the East Indies.50 The Republic of Genoa which was his home, was the first one to which he made his proposal. It first resisted it and then refused to participate in it. He then offered his services to the kings of Portugal, Spain, and England who dismissed him one after the other like a man who was deranged. He went back a second time to the king of Portugal who then assembled all the geographers, astronomers, and other people in his kingdom the most capable of judging these sorts of matters. They declared unanimously that the proposal of

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:20

PS

112

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

Columbus was that of a visionary and of a man who was looking for regions in the lunar circle.51 After so much work, scorn, and bad treatment, which would have discouraged any other but Columbus, he nevertheless took a second chance and went himself to see the king of Spain who accepted it finally and agreed with him on the conditions. But as the king did not have any money at the time because of the wars he had been forced to support and since this affair would still have remained in the background for this reason, Louis Perez de St. Ange advanced seventeen thousand ducats for arming a few vessels in which Columbus, setting off to sea, showed a short time later how much the majority of men is short-sighted on a variety of things and how they tend to judge rashly. I will even say without fearing to make a mistake that there are few great events due to the prudence of men. It is the course of circumstances which brings about great actions. We can show in vain to all the princes of the world that the Terre de Nuyts must hold treasures that are unknown and that it is located in the most favorable climate and that it must be the best country on the earth. Memorial upon memorial can be given on this. All these things will serve nothing. They will always be treated as ridiculous, imaginary, and senseless if they do not have the good luck to meet a generous patron who sustains them and defends them, not only with his purse like Louis Perez de St. Ange, but especially like another king of Castille, with his credit and his authority.52 I am nevertheless convinced that if the discovery of the magnet or the use of the compass had been done in those circles where the arts and the sciences were also researched, we would have wealth and immense profits and the practices derived from them would prove much more noble and useful for human society than they presently do. The lands of New Holland, of Jesso53 with their islands, and so many other regions of one and the other hemisphere, which must be the best countries in the world, would not be unknown to us as they are when considering that the earth is so small.54 But I greatly fear, My Lords, if this new Ostend Company or company of some other nation went to settle in the East Indies of which the Terre de Nuyts must be the best portion, that you would be as displeased as Emmanuel, King of Portugal felt chagrined by the scorn shown at the proposals of Columbus when he saw that the latter had discovered the lands of the west55 under the flag of the king of Castille. For these are mistakes very diffi-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:20

PS

3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA

113

cult to rectify and the opportunity to acquire the best countries in the world will perhaps never be found again as easily. Well! someone else will say, if it is true that the coasts of the Terre de Nuyts extend five to six hundred leagues in the best of climates and not knowing yet just how far they extend, it will always be soon enough to send people there when we will have learned that the country is fertile and that some European nation will have settled there since its size will suffice for this nation and for us, and in this manner the Company would have neither the risks nor the expense to have been the first to have discovered it.56 1. I admit that in fact nearly the same thing happened to the Spanish once they had discovered the fourth part of the world. There were few princes in Europe who did not believe they had the right to share the ownership of it and who did not arm some ships to take over some portion of these spacious countries. The king of Portugal was even one of the first to envy this conquest and the most eager to fight over it. But without examining if all these princes are right or not, the Spanish who had been the first, were also those who had the cream if I may say so, and who always had the best shares of all. 2. Even if the expanse of the Terre de Nuyts is from five to six hundred leagues in the best of climates and the country is equally good everywhere, the European nation that would seize it would not allow our Company to settle there as the French would not allow it presently in Canada, the English in Virginia, or the Portuguese in Brazil unless it be done by means of arms. And then it would be a declared war that would have to be waged. Now whether this war would be just or unjust, I will let those decide who are more enlightened than I on these matters. But, will you reply, if the coasts of the Terre de Nuyts go toward New Zealand which would be around ten to twelve hundred leagues of expanse, there would be some for all and then it would not be necessary to have wars. Again I reply to this, My Lords, that in my opinion they would not allow it more than the Spanish would allow it in Chile, Peru, or old Mexico whose coasts extend over more than two thousand leagues. As Mr. General Christophel van Swol refused them water for which they wanted to pay and since he had them chased from the port of Batavia where they had been forced to put into port at a time when they lived in peace and friendship with you, they would not miss an opportunity to reciprocate and would tell you, withdraw from our coasts or we will treat you as enemies.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:20

PS

114

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

Instead, you could avoid, it seems to me, an infinity of hardships, of expenses, and sadness which these kinds of wars usually bring with them by acquiring yourselves the territory of this good country first. That would give you a title of ownership, which would be accepted all over the world. Here are, My Lords, the last remarks that I had planned to add to the Me´moire that I took the liberty to hand to you because they are yours and I wrote them while eating your bread. It is not therefore the duty of gratitude which makes me offer them to you, but uniquely the motivation of good faith, of honor, and restitution since they belong to you and you will be able to put them to good use and you will be able to benefit from them. If after this, My Lords, you find that I advanced something in a manner too obscure or too blunt without good basis, I declare that I will stay here for about two weeks and longer if you wish it in order to satisfy your questions and to clarify certain things which could depend on me. All I have to add now, My Lords, is my wishes for your health and to beg you to believe that no one could have more faithfulness and more eagerness for your interests than I do. My Lords, In Amsterdam the 1st of September 1718 Your very humble and very obedient servant, Jean Pierre Purry

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:21

PS

.......................... 8784$$

$CH3

10-25-01 14:16:26

PS

This page intentionally left blank

4 MEMORIAL

Presented to His Grace My Lord the Duke of Newcastle, Chamberlain of his Majesty King George and Secretary of State

Upon the present condition of Carolina, and the means of its amelioration

by Jean Pierre Purry ˆtel, Switzerland. of Neucha Printed at London by G. Bowyer, and to be found at Paul Vaillant’s in the Strand 1724

.......................... 8784$$

$CH4

10-25-01 14:16:07

PS

118

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION

BETTER THAN HALF A DECADE PASSED BETWEEN JEAN PIERRE’S FINAL rebuff by the Dutch East India Company in April 1719 and the ` Sa Gr. My Lord the Duc de publication of his Me´moire Presente´ a Newcastle . . . in July 1724. During those five years, Purry traveled at least twice to France and once to Switzerland in a vain effort to secure French support for a reworked settlement plan specially tailored for a French audience and to complement that empire’s colonial precedent. The royal ministers to whom he first presented his proposal for colonization referred it on to the Royal Acade´mie des Sciences for an assessment of its merits. Even the Journal des Sc¸avans took note of his proposition and fairly represented it to the public. Unfortunately for the relentless Swiss adventurer, the Mississippi Bubble had recently burst causing economic hardship for Purry and his prospective imperial benefactors. In addition, the Acade´mie reported back through Mr. Fontenelle that ‘‘they could not pass a Judgment on a Country which they had never seen, and that therefore it would not be advisable to make expensive Settlements in Places they were unacquainted with.’’1 Still undeterred after this third setback, Purry in short order contacted the English Ambassador in Paris, Horace Walpole, and passed to him a short petition regarding his desire to assist England in the colonization of South Carolina in exchange for certain concessions from the Crown. Walpole found sufficient merit in the plan to send it on to London for further review. It appears that Purry subsequently crossed the Channel and approached English authorities in London. His colonial strategy, retooled now to address specifically the needs of the British Empire in North America, received a rather distinguished, albeit a qualified reception. The Duke of Newcastle first received the proposal while walking the grounds of Kensington Palace with the King in 1721. Shortly thereafter Jean Pierre’s plan was called to the attention of Sir Isaac Newton who, while urging exploration of the territories before settlement began, generally agreed with Purry’s theory and settlement proposition. It would be another three years, however, before conditions on the southeastern frontier of British settlement in North America impelled imperial authorities to consider more seriously Purry’s settlement proposal. Encouraged by renewed official enthusiasm, Purry found a publisher for a manuscript supporting his proposition in July

.......................... 8784$$

$CH4

10-25-01 14:16:07

PS

4: MEMORIAL TO THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE

119

` Sa Gr. My Lord Duc de Newcastle 1724. The Me´moire Presente´ a . . . draws on the climatological theory propounded by Purry in his previous two tracts, but the specifics of settlement differ from them because of the imperial priorities and colonial needs of his new audience. The Me´moire demonstrates his belief in the rich possibilities of planting a settlement of Protestant European ´emigre´s in South Carolina. Purry also outlines explicit reasons for such a settlement. He begins with a thorough discussion of his theory of optimal climates for an uninformed English clientele. Simultaneously, he weaves through the narrative the failures of both Holland and France to capitalize on the truth of his scientific discovery. Ever the skilled diplomat, Purry plays to English imperial and mercantile pride by casting subtle, but sharp aspersions on the Dutch and French while using his theory to transfer his interests to South Carolina—a region of particular interest to royal authorities. Since the southernmost of the colonies in British North America exists in the optimal climate zone, Purry is convinced that its agricultural bounty is certain. He makes it clear that the authorities have only to give him the opportunity and he will help the region realize its full potential. And his calculated aside highlighting the potential French threat to British interests in the Mississippi Valley sets up his case for a frontier settlement plan. He concludes this shortest of all his published works by assuring royal leadership that immigrants from all over Europe would easily quit their homelands for a chance to live in such a land of plenty, but that the Swiss would make particularly willing emigrants for a variety of reasons.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH4

10-25-01 14:16:08

PS

120

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

MY LORD: Although the English, who possess Carolina, are fully persuaded that it constitutes one of the richest countries in the ˆtel, Switzerland, formerly Diworld, Jean Pierre Purry of Neucha rector General in the service of the India Company in France, seriously doubts whether they have properly investigated the true cause of its fertility and the methods by which it may be developed to the greatest possible extent. This is the reason why he takes the liberty of memorializing you, my Lord, in the following concise and graphic manner. I. The boundless wealth which might be obtained from Carolina not only on account of the extent of its immense territory and the remarkable fertility of its soil, but also by reason of its situation, excellent in many respects. II. The facility with which this country could be peopled with good inhabitants from various nations including Switzerland, France, Germany, and other countries, all professing the Protestant religion. III. Finally, there is perhaps, nothing more important to the state, more worthy of public attention, or more likely to enhance the general wealth of England, than the consummation of an enterprise such as this. In proof of this, it is only necessary for us to observe, in the first place, that it is quite impossible for us to reflect upon the system of our globe and its natural productions, varying with climates and seasons, without admitting that it is the sun alone which animates all things and causes them to be fruitful, since they languish and die or acquire vitality just as this heavenly body withdraws itself from or approaches the earth. For as all the countries of the world which are not located on the same parallel possess degrees of heat differing the one from the other to a greater or less extent and as from the equator to the poles there is no degree which corresponds exactly with another, it necessarily follows that there must be one which is the best of all. Behold a fixed principle which none can doubt. Now once this principle, upon which our whole system depends, is well established, it will be very easy to ascertain which one of these degrees of heat and of the temperature of the air is best adapted to bring forth the most abundant harvests without much labor or expense as well as everything essential to life. When we consider the fact that the longest days of summer are twelve hours on the equator, and twenty-four hours on the polar circles, and take the mean of these two extremes, that is to say

.......................... 8784$$

$CH4

10-25-01 14:16:09

PS

4: MEMORIAL TO THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE

121

counting from the first degree to the half of 661/2 degrees, which is 331/4 degrees, we will find that the best countries of the world ought to be on or about the thirty-third degree of latitude. This is moreover verified by experience and all the countries of our globe, such as the Barbary Coast, Syria, Egypt, Persia, Mongolia, China, Japan, and generally speaking, all others, are rich and productive only in proportion to their proximity to this degree. (Unless, indeed, they should here and there be found of sandy, marshy, or rocky character or of no value where fruit-bearing plants cannot come to perfection.)2 We must note this carefully. In accordance with this principle it follows necessarily that Carolina and New Mexico north of the equator, and Chile and Rio de la Plata3 south of the equator are regarded as a whole, the best countries in America because they are situated on or about the thirty-third degree of latitude. This conclusion cannot be questioned. Even if we had never heard Spain described, we would never weary in asserting that Andalusia must be the best of her provinces because it approaches nearest to the thirty-third degree. Provence and Languedoc must be superior to all the other provinces of France because they are the most southern. For the same reason Sicily and the kingdom of Naples ought to be more fertile than the rest of Italy. Thus we might also distinguish between the other countries of the world, known and unknown. In truth, it is only necessary to affirm that it is the sun which causes differences in countries and climates. Jean Pierre Purry, the undersigned, dares to maintain without presumption that he believes himself to have been the first who located the best climate at the thirty-third degree of latitude and he will persist in this opinion until he finds some one who will convince him that he is mistaken in his calculations. While waiting, he requests persons learned on such subjects to name to him a single country in that degree (always supposing that the soil is neither sandy, nor marshy, nor rocky), which does not constitute one of the most fertile regions in the world. He also ventures to assert, without desiring to give offense to anyone, that historians and geographers have all attributed the change to nature and to a diversity of climate. When they speak to us of the degrees of heat and cold which characterize each country when compared with others, they always base their opinions upon that false principle, knowing that countries which are situated in the center of the torrid zone are the warmest, and that the others differ in heat in proportion as they are nearer to or farther removed from this center.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH4

10-25-01 14:16:09

PS

122

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

The same error is observable when we note the conduct of Europeans in the explorations, which they have conducted up to the present time in remote countries. Assuredly they did not know where the best climate was to be found. The French, for example, who pride themselves (for what substantial reason I am at a loss to say) upon having outstripped all other peoples in the knowledge of cosmography,4 have been established for more than a century in the more northern regions of Canada. They resemble a man who, having a selection of many choice dishes on a table amply furnished and spread before his eyes, should decide, in the exercise of a ridiculous and ill-advised prudence, to choose that which was least attractive. For it is certain that Canada now is, and because of its situation, always will remain one of the poorest countries in America. The English have been established in Carolina only since about the year 1664 and when before that time they had advanced their settlements as far as Virginia, they found indeed that the country was good. But it does not appear that they then realized, as perchance they do not now comprehend, the reason why. In like manner, the Dutch, did not establish themselves at the Cape of Good Hope until they had sailed for fifty or sixty years in the East Indies. But what is most remarkable in this connection is that the Cape of Good Hope with the exception of the Natal region, which is still occupied only by savages, was the sole place where one could form a desirable settlement for the Great Indies—one which would serve not only as a storehouse and granary, but also ˆ t and place for refitting ships. Notwithas an excellent entrepo standing all these advantages, neither the Spanish, nor the Portuguese, nor the English, nor any other peoples desired to form a settlement there until more than one hundred and fifty years had elapsed after the discovery of such an attractive country. Today however, well recognizing the utility, if not the absolute necessity of this settlement, the Dutch declare they do not know how they can from this time forward dispense with it. In all good faith it should be admitted that such mistakes were caused either by a want of knowledge of the nature of climates or by false ideas entertained on this subject. So true is this that when they chanced upon a good country one would be justified in asserting that they did so blindly since they followed routes directly contrary to their plans. This is very evident from the testimony of Dampier himself,5 one of the most famous explorers of his day. We will see what he thought of the southern lands and New Holland.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH4

10-25-01 14:16:10

PS

4: MEMORIAL TO THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE

123

‘‘For,’’ he says, if I had been asked why, the first time I came on this side, I did not traverse it towards the South, and why I did not endeavor to extend my voyage to the East of New Holland and of New Guinea, I would have answered that I was unwilling to lose more time than was absolutely necessary in the higher latitudes, being fully persuaded that the countries on that side were not so worthy of exploration as the regions nearest to the Equator and more directly under the influence of the Sun.6

Now nothing can be more false than such a statement. Because, of all New Holland no part can be better than that which lies on the southern side and which is called the Terre de Nuyts—the rest being always poorer as it approaches the line.7 Or to make use of proper terms, it stretches out under the more direct influence of the sun. Let us apply this principle to Carolina and the adjacent countries from the North Atlantic Ocean even to the South Atlantic. It certainly embraces without exception the best parts of North America, extending on this same parallel of the thirty-third degree of latitude not less than from five to six hundred leagues. This degree is the most excellent for heat and for temperature, causing a fertility of soil and contributing to the happiness of all who there inhabit, no matter from what quarter of the world they may have come. All other regions are less desirable in proportion to their remoteness from this degree. In proceeding it is proper to remark that Carolina, situated in the degree named, has very few mountains. It is a land of plains, of hills, and of gentle slopes. The soil is for the most part very rich, requiring only good cultivation at the hands of man. It abounds in game, deer and wild bulls and is watered by numerous beautiful rivers teeming everywhere with excellent fishes. Within the boundaries of Carolina, which are narrowest from east to west, lie all that vast extent of country which once bore the name of Florida, but which for some time has been called Louisiana by the French and which the English could more appropriately name Georgia or Georgine in conformity to the two charters granted to the Proprietors in 1664 and 1666 during the reign of Charles II. The propriety of this latter appellation could be easily demonstrated.8 It is true that the French have possession of the mouth of the Mississippi River, but with the exception of the land adjacent to

.......................... 8784$$

$CH4

10-25-01 14:16:10

PS

124

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

the mouth of this river and for a distance of some sixty or eighty leagues into the country the region is very poor. If they should intend to prevent the English from descending the river and entering the Gulf of Mexico by that route, the English in turn, by virtue of the right of original occupancy, having securely established themselves on that same river in the vicinity of the thirtythird degree of latitude, would not permit the French to ascend higher. It would not be less ridiculous for the French to imagine (and a more chimerical pretension I cannot divine), that all the country belonged to them, than it would be for the Dutch idly to claim all lands situated along the Rhine or the Meuse, upon the pretext that they were the owners of the territory surrounding the mouths of those rivers. But let us consider the case under the worst possible circumstances. Let us suppose for a moment that the French should be strong enough to prevent the English from descending the river. In that event they could then transport their silks, furs, indigo, and, generally speaking, all their most valuable products upon mules and horses and in conveyances to their licensed ports, as is the common practice in Persia, in Arabia, and in different countries in the East. Whereas, if the French possess only the lower part of the country which is worth nothing and are not able to ascend the river and carry on their commerce with the Spaniards of New Mexico and with the natives, the mouth of this river would no longer prove of any utility to them unless indeed, to furnish a spot wherein to bury immense sums as surely as if they had thrown them into the sea. Such truly has been the case either through ignorance or otherwise for nearly twenty-five years—in fact, ever since they have been occupying that locality. However, to obviate all difficulties and relieve the English of all apprehensions they can have on this score, it is manifestly their duty to people the country and advance year by year and little by little towards the river in order not only to defend themselves, but also if circumstances rendered it necessary, to attack their enemies. This action becomes all the more important because the wealth and fertility of a country can be developed only by the cultivation of the soil and by the great increase of its population. The English possess the means of colonizing it far superior to the French by reason of their greater number of vessels and the proximity to Carolina which exempts them from passing through the dangerous strait of Bahama and facilitates their return to Europe. Add to all this the ease with which they may, without depopulating England, secure colonies of good Protestants who will

.......................... 8784$$

$CH4

10-25-01 14:16:11

PS

4: MEMORIAL TO THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE

125

prove neither vagabonds nor idlers (as is the case with most of those whom the French send to their falsely claimed Louisiana), but rather excellent laborers, the sons of peasants, the majority of them married, each possessing a suitable calling, and specially skilled in the cultivation of the soil. Therefore we conclude that the country being well peopled as it would be in a very short time, one would find himself entirely safe and free from all apprehension on the score above alluded to.9 Never perhaps, have circumstances been more favorable than at the present time for enlisting excellent colonists in Switzerland. How many families are today in debt in that country through the misfortunes of the times and stagnation of trade! How many young men are there who do not know what to do or upon what matter to bestow their attention and who have no means of support save the profession of arms! How many are there who refrain from marriage for fear of bringing more unhappy souls into the world, of whom there are already too many! This state of affairs arises from the fact that the population of Switzerland is too dense considering the sterility of its soil, that peace has obtained in Europe for the past twelve or thirteen years, that there is no longer any demand for cattle, and that the peasant can no more find a market for his horses. It is not well that Switzerland should be as thickly populated as it is. Nearly eighteen hundred years ago the inhabitants of this nation en masse, formed the resolution to burn their dwellings and go in search of another country where they hoped to find more pleasant and spacious habitations than those which they possessed among their barren mountains. Moreover, of late years, a pestilence having ravaged some countries in the north and a report having been circulated in Switzerland that lands would be given to all who would go there although the soil was poor, people flocked there from all quarters. But these deluded persons, when they arrived in those parts, finding nothing equal to what they had been led to expect and knowing not in what direction to look for assistance, were constrained to return in confusion to their own homes. It happens every day (very much after the fashion of bees when they find themselves overcrowded in their hives) that many young people leave Protestant Switzerland who have so to speak, no resource other than to go into service in France, Spain, Italy, Savoy, and other Roman Catholic communities in their neighborhood where most of them change their religion in order to maintain themselves and ameliorate their condition. Thus we see the

.......................... 8784$$

$CH4

10-25-01 14:16:11

PS

126

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

poor Calvinists of the Palatinate going to Hungary although there they are at the mercy of the Turks or of the Jesuits because they do not know where else to go. Likewise many Protestants remain in France enduring tyranny and persecution, influenced much less by a just horror of the idolatry which they there behold and frequently have the misfortune to commit, than by the helping hand which in drawing them into such a dangerous snare, at the same time offers a sure and honest retreat where they may, by cultivating their own lands, guard themselves against poverty and dispense with the charity of their brethren.10 So much may be said without in any manner excusing them. In order to attract them here, it would only be necessary to distribute circulars in all directions assuring them of a truth that there is no region in France, in Spain, in Italy, or truly in the whole of Europe, which equals Carolina in attractiveness, that just as much land as they can possibly cultivate will be given to such as desire to establish themselves here—especially to those who are suffering persecution because of their religion, that all will be furnished with free passage across the sea in the King’s ships, and, finally, that His Britannic Majesty will extend to them all the charitable aid which they could hope from his royal bounty in order that they may enjoy happy lives and form prosperous settlements in this country. It is proper to observe that by virtue of a natural inclination characteristic of all reasonable beings—namely the love of liberty—most of the Swiss soldiers when their terms of enlistment shall have expired, will resign and joyfully embrace this opportunity to place themselves at ease. They will do this for two important reasons. The first (which is negative)11 is so that they may in good time, liberate themselves from the evil pursuit of war, a calling ill-suited to the tastes of all who desire to lead the lives of honest Christians. The second (which I call positive) is so that they may secure for themselves the sweet and virtuous companionship born of marriage. For it is certain that there are scarcely any Swiss soldiers who would not marry if their captains would grant them the liberty of doing so. There is no man in the world, however stupid he may be, who does not long at least during his old age, for a home which will shelter him from the horrors of poverty and misery. Once the public is fully persuaded of the fertility of Carolina, what joy will fill the hearts of the poor and with what eagerness will they hasten there when they are well assured that they will go to end their days in one of the most delightful countries in the

.......................... 8784$$

$CH4

10-25-01 14:16:12

PS

4: MEMORIAL TO THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE

127

universe! We may safely assert that many French refugees and many from Switzerland, from Wu ¨ rttemberg, from the Palatinate, from Holland, from Saxony, and from other Protestant countries—more indeed than the King’s ships could carry—would present themselves. All of them would prove faithful subjects of Great Britain and cost absolutely nothing except the expense of transportation. But this expense is so insignificant a charge upon the general government that it need not be considered when compared with the fruits, oils, wax, cotton, tobacco, indigo, cocoa, leather, furs, wood for building and other purposes, resin, tar, hemp, wool, silk, brandy, and excellent wines, wheat, rice and other products useful as medicines and dyestuffs which will surely be realized, and which will demand nothing in exchange save the goods proceeding from the factories of Great Britain.12 In truth there is cause for concern at the indifference if not contempt, which is evident even among the most enlightened nations of Europe towards individuals who are informed above their fellows and who could, by their superior knowledge and fortified by large experience, contribute to the re-establishment of the shattered fortunes at least of certain states.13 At the same time we see a people barbarous and fierce, whose territory is for more than half of the year covered with snow, interested in agriculture, commerce, and navigation, cherishing the arts and sciences, and searching with all imaginable eagerness for such as can prove serviceable to them in these departments. Witness the recent declaration of the Tsar published only a few days ago in favor of strangers who might desire to establish themselves at St. Petersburg or in other commercial cities of his dominion. Her Majesty, the Empress of Russia, promises to defray the expenses of their journey, to have houses built for them, to exempt them from taxes for a period of twenty years, to furnish them with the means requisite for carrying on their trades, to extend free religious toleration, and to pay one hundred rubles per annum to the pastor of each colony in case it is unable of its own means to support him. In view of this, can it be possible that England will look with an indifferent eye upon the new forces the French are today collecting in order that they may go and take possession of the best portion of the fertile country of Carolina—that which lies between the Mississippi River and the original concession? (For it is quite true that they have actually equipped four half-galleys to transport by that river as many colonists as they can secure.) Can it be possible that the English, for their part, are willing to do

.......................... 8784$$

$CH4

10-25-01 14:16:13

PS

128

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

nothing, to undertake nothing, and will not bestir themselves in an effort to prevent this, especially during a period of peace when the roads are open on every hand by which peoples may be assembled and when the King’s vessels are unemployed? England should at least make Carolina the storehouse and granary for the islands of Jamaica, Barbados, and St. Christopher which produce neither bread nor wine. Remember that without wronging anyone she can reduce it now into a possession and make of it a country which, when populated and cultivated properly, may be ranked with the most extensive and richest domains in the universe. But here is the principal article upon which I beg you, My Lord, to bestow your particular attention: It is SILK. There is no article of merchandise which furnishes support for so many people, in which so much money is invested, or which commands more general consumption throughout the world. Provence and Languedoc produce some little of an excellent quality, but they are not situated in a degree of heat to yield a great deal or the most desirable sort. Italy, Spain, and Sicily succeed much better for the reason I have indicated. But Carolina will undoubtedly far surpass all the countries I have just named because it is located precisely in the degree of heat and temperature, which best befits the nature of the silkworm. In about thirty years, more or less, if certain sure and infallible methods for the cultivation of this article are put into general use (which the writer offers to indicate at any time and place),14 Great Britain will in that event be able to produce on her own lands a quantity of silk sufficient to supply the needs not only of her own subjects, but also if she found it necessary, of the rest of Europe. This is the reason why the writer is persuaded that there is perhaps nothing in the world more advantageous to the state, nothing having a greater tendency to enhance the wealth of Great Britain in general and of the English in particular, than the consummation of such a project. Consequently it is most worthy of attention. Should the fine opportunity presented today unfortunately be allowed to escape, we are very apprehensive that it will never occur again. I am, with very profound respect, My Lord, by your permission, Your very humble, and very obedient servant, Jean Pierre Purry. At London, the 18th of July 1724.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH4

10-25-01 14:16:14

PS

Map 4—Detail from Map of South Carolina and Part of Georgia (1757) showing ‘‘Purisburg’’ and its environs. The highlighted sections of the map show the extent of British settlement on the southern frontier at mid-century. Easier transportation routes and the relative proximity of Purrysburg to Savannah and New Ebenezer, Georgia and its distance from Charleston and Beaufort, South Carolina meant that the township’s early social and economic orientation tilted more west and south than east and north. Reproduced by permission from the Collections of the South Carolina Historical Society.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH4

10-25-01 14:16:37

PS

.......................... 8784$$

$CH4

10-25-01 14:16:40

PS

5 A Brief Description of the Current State of South Carolina, New Edition,

with Clarifications, and Acts of concession on this subject to the author and for all who desire to join him.

And finally, Instructions on necessary conditions to be met by those accompanying him to South Carolina ˆtel Neucha ˆtel; & at the On sale at Master Jacob Boyve’s, Neucha Master Scribe’s, St. Sulpy.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:23

PS

132

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION

JEAN PIERRE PURRY SPENT BETTER THAN FIVE YEARS IN NEGOTIAtions with various British bureaucrats over his proposed colony in South Carolina between 1721 and 1726. But thanks to the machinations of the Lords Proprietors of the province, he again tasted the bitter gall of failure on the very cusp of success. After a decade of continuous endeavor, the expenditure of untold reserves from his own estate, and countless hours in deliberations with officials at the highest levels of authority in three of the most powerful European empires of his time, all Purry had to show for his Herculean efforts were empty promises, disappointed erstwhile colonists, and the mounting enmity of Swiss leaders. Still, and in spite of it all, Purry pressed on. The complete assumption of royal control over South Carolina by 1728 provided Purry the opportunity to introduce his proposal once again. But this time his plans fit perfectly with the desire of Governor Robert Johnson to protect the underdefended South Carolina frontier from enemies both foreign and domestic. By 1730 Johnson had laid the foundation for the township plan of settlement and openly supported Purry in his desire to bring Swiss immigrants to the province. Encouraged by Johnson’s unqualified backing, Purry debarked for South Carolina in 1731 with three associates to reconnoiter the southern frontier in order to select an appropriate site for his long-planned colony. South Carolina officials assisted Jean Pierre and his colleagues at every turn and helped them choose the site of the settlement along the Savannah River just at the edge of the tidewater region. Specific details of the transportation and material support of Purry’s immigrants as well as concessions to be granted to him were worked out with the colonial legislature upon the party’s return to Charles Town in the late summer of 1731. Just prior to departing for Switzerland to enlist settlers for his colony, Purry with the approval of his three compatriots and to the delight of provincial officials, completed two related documents in Charles Town on 23 September 1731. The shorter of the two sets forth qualifications for prospective ´emigre´s to the settlement to be called Purrysburg Township in his honor. Purry’s vision for the new community is clear from this brief text. It will be composed of both ‘‘persons who go to settle on their own Account’’ and servants. Servants must be skilled in at least one profession (agriculture, carpentry, viniculture are specifically

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:23

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

133

mentioned) or good laborers. They must not be completely destitute. Servants will have a three-year contract to fulfill but must be paid a fair wage. They have the right to hold the ‘‘Fruits of their Labour’’ as security for the wages which will be paid at the end of each year and have the right to ask for an advance on wages to purchase clothing and other ‘‘Necessaries.’’ When overcome by sickness they shall be cared for without charge but will be liable to make up the time lost to their masters. Finally ‘‘Victuals and Lodgings from the Day of their Imbarkation . . . and their Passage by Sea’’ will not be charged to them. The only directive addressed to non-servants regards the fact that they must have ‘‘at least 50 Crowns each . . .’’1 It is in this document that Purry demonstrates specifically the division of labor, class distinctions, and the concept of mutuality which were to motivate life in the township. The longer document, ‘‘Description abre´ge´e de l’e´tat pre´sent de la Caroline Meridionale . . . ,’’ has been his most well known and also his most denigrated work.2 This excellent example of promotional tract literature of the age exalted the superior merits of South Carolina to any other place in the world. It makes extensive use of his theory of optimal climates and, one must believe since it was published in Charles Town just as the first immigrants to Purrysburg were set to arrive the following year, served as much to encourage South Carolinians as it did to draw Swiss families to his colonial experiment. In it he again reaffirms the need for skilled artisans in the colony and the tremendous material progress possible for those in South Carolina. After enumerating the vast wealth of goods and livestock produced by the colony, Purry spends the better part of three pages explaining the dangers of living in Carolina. He meets each of the problems directly (climate, sickness, mosquitoes, rattlesnakes) and while dismissing the issue of ill health a bit too blithely from our more pathogenically sophisticated vantage point, Purry’s explanations and ‘‘remedies’’ were no different than some of the best medical minds of his day. In short, nearly every topic he addresses in the pamphlet has a much stronger measure of truth to it than has been previously assumed.3 From the kinds of crops he mentions and the increasing wealth of the colonists to his examination of disease and death Purry remains candid throughout. His account reflects his personal experience and those of his comrades during the midsummer of 1731. Purry charges the death and disease many had experienced in Carolina came not so much from the climate as from the reaction of the inhabitants to it in

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:24

PS

134

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

terms of their habits of eating and drinking. He was not alone in his evaluation of the problem.4 It also must be remembered that Purry had served in the tropics for a number of years prior to his initial visit to South Carolina and may have been somewhat acclimatized to the humid mesothermal climate of the province. Finally, Purry and his friends visited the future site of Purrysburg during the hottest, most uncomfortable months of the year. Their fifteen-day sojourn in the wilderness of South Carolina probably during late July and August 1731 does not seem to have adversely affected their health. They were not even accosted by rattlesnakes as they traversed the high grasses and overgrown bluffs. If their journey had been fraught with grave sickness and an overtly hostile environment they would have no reason to continue to pursue settlement plans. Who would desire to live in such an inhospitable place even if the land was free? Remember that Purry had also been impressed with South Africa and South Australia, which lay also in the fifth climate zone. His theory of optimal climates coupled with his own reconnaissance offered convincing proof of the bounty of South Carolina—even if he had yet to experience that bounty firsthand. The blame for what exaggeration of the economic data is evident must be laid at the doorstep of colonial officials who had access to that information—and the ability to stretch or twist the truth if it meant the difference between new white settlers or none.5 Shortly after Purry returned to Switzerland, probably sometime during the early to mid winter of 1731–32 his two September 1731 documents were printed in local newspapers, perhaps as extended advertisements. By the spring of 1732, due to the feverish response of those who had read the newspaper accounts, Jean Pierre decided to elaborate upon his Description. He published the subsequent expanded pamphlet as Description abre´ge´e de l’e´tat pre´sent de la Caroline Meridionale, nouvelle edition, avec ` ce suject a ` des eclaircissemens, les actes des concessions faites a l’auteur, tant pour luy que pour ceux qui voudront prendre parti avec luy. Et enfin une instruction qui contient les conditions, sous lesquelles on pourra l’accompagner. This ‘‘nouvelle edition’’ (‘‘new edition’’) contained significant information necessary for prospective emigrants to make an informed decision about whether to accompany Purry to South Carolina. After the Description proper, which remained essentially unchanged from the September 1731 version, Purry added an entirely new section of ‘‘Eclaircissemens’’ (‘‘Clarifications’’) designed to answer questions apparently raised by curious, but cautious potential emi-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:25

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

135

grants. He also included the text of an act passed 20 August 1731 by the South Carolina General Assembly regarding the arrangements for him and his colonists, a proclamation about Purrysburg from Governor Johnson dated 1 September 1731 and an affidavit attesting to the veracity of the arrangements dated 14 September 1731. The inclusion of these documents legitimizes Purry’s undertaking as ‘‘officially’’ sanctioned by the governing authorities in South Carolina. He then includes the same qualifications noted earlier for those desirous of going with him to South Carolina, but he adds a coda identifying the date of departure for the next trip to Purrysburg and listing necessities for the journey.6 In a subsequent printing, to lend even greater credibility to his colonizing efforts, Purry concluded the nouvelle edition with three attestations as to the good progress of the earliest township inhabitants and to his own exemplary character. He also appended an advertisement for his next departure to Purrysburg. Jean Pierre was fifty-seven when he conducted the first of his colonists to Purrysburg Township in the late fall of 1732. Hundreds of other ´emigre´s followed over the next four years and succeeded in populating the exposed southern frontier of British settlement in North America, but at substantial cost physically and materially. The confidence of his convictions, which drove Purry forward through so many obstacles over so many years remained with him to his death at Purrysburg in 1736.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:25

PS

136

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

A Brief Description of the Current State of South Carolina, New Edition, . . . [While we wait for anybody to give the public a full description of the beautiful and vast country of Carolina, we hereby state that the King of Great Britain, having acquired the territory about three years ago from the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, has spared no efforts to make agriculture, commerce, and navigation flourish in it.].7 His Majesty immediately nominated Col. Johnson, a worthy gentleman, to be governor, who at his departure for Carolina, received diverse orders and instructions, but in particular was directed instantly to mark out properly situated places for building eleven towns, namely: two on the Altamaha River, two on the Savannah River, one at the head of the Pon Pon River, two at the Santee River, one at the Wateree River, one at the Black River, one at the Waccamaw River, and one at the Pee Dee River. The district of each of these towns is to contain twenty thousand acres of land formed into a square bordering on the river and divided into shares of fifty acres for each man, woman, or child of one family. This allotment may be augmented as the planters shall be in a condition to cultivate a larger quantity of ground. Every one of them shall have an equal share of the better and worse lands and also the same right on the river.8 Each town shall be formed into a parish, the extent of which shall be about six miles around the town on the same side of the river. As soon as a parish shall contain one hundred heads of households, the parish may send two of its members to the Assembly of the Province and enjoy the same privilege as the other parishes of the province. The ground of each town shall be speedily marked out and shall belong in common to all the inhabitants until it shall be distributed in particular shares to each of them. There are to be three hundred acres of land near the town, which shall be common forever without being charged with rent. No person shall take possession of any land within six miles of each town by virtue of any former grant.9 The rent shall be four shillings per year for every one hundred acres except that for the first ten years the lands shall be entirely free. All those that shall settle in the said towns shall enjoy the same advantages. His Majesty further grants to every European servant whether

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:26

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

137

man or woman, fifty acres of land free of all rents for ten years, which shall be distributed to them after having served their master for the time agreed on. In consequence of these instructions Mr. Purry was permitted to go and choose land proper to build the town of Purrysburg upon the borders of the Savannah River. Having found it such as he wished, the government made him a grant for it under the Great Seal of the Province dated the 1st of September 1731 and at the same time published throughout the whole country a prohibition to all sorts of persons to go and settle on the said land, which is already called the Swiss Quarter. In order to facilitate the execution of this undertaking in the best manner the Assembly granted to the said Mr. Purry four hundred pounds sterling and provisions sufficient for the maintenance of three hundred persons for one year provided they be all persons of good repute and Swiss Protestants and that they come to Carolina within the space of two years. The Savannah River is one of the finest in all Carolina. The water is good and stocked with excellent fish. It is about the size of the Rhine River and there are two forts already built upon it. One of them called Palachuccolas is one hundred miles from the mouth of the Savannah. The other called Savannah Town is about three hundred miles from its mouth. Although there is not usually above twenty men to garrison the first fort and about forty at the other, the Indians have never dared to attack them. The town of Purrysburg will be situated thirty miles from the sea and about seven miles from the highest tide. The land about it is a most delightful plain and the greatest part very good soil, especially for pasturage.10 The rest is proper enough for some crop production. It was formerly called the great Yamassee Port and is esteemed by the inhabitants of the province as the best place in all Carolina, although it has never yet been possessed but by the Indians who were driven from there by the English several years ago and have never dared to return. All sorts of trees and plants will grow as well there as can be wished, particularly vines,11 wheat, barley, oats, peas, hemp, flax, cotton, tobacco, indigo, olives, orange and lemon trees, and also white mulberry trees for the feeding of silkworms. [All these will thrive in the soil of the territory. It is but a very fertile land for rich pasture, and very proper for rearing an endless variety of animals.]12 The lands will not be difficult to clear because there is neither stones nor brambles, but only great trees, which do not grow very thick. With this state of affairs more land may be cleared there in

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:26

PS

138

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

one week than could be done in Switzerland in a month. The custom of the country is that after having cut down these great trees they leave the stumps for four or five years to rot. Afterwards, they easily root them up to manure the land. It is very certain that Carolina is in general an excellent country. It is true that the ground is sandy, but then it is a sand impregnated with salt and niter so that it brings forth in great abundance as does similar soil in diverse parts of Europe.13 But what is more particular to Carolina is that there are a great number of plantations that have been continually cultivated for nearly sixty years and which yet still produce great plenty without ever being fertilized by the least dung for they never lay any on their land. The planter only turns up the surface of the soil and all that he plants and sows in it quickly grows and matures. Those who have the least knowledge of agriculture will be obliged to admit that if the lands in Europe were not constantly manured, their strength would be so exhausted that after a while they would no longer be fruitful. But a man who shall have a little land in Carolina and who is not willing to work above two or three hours a day may very easily live there [because the country is very good; at least there will never be poor folk or beggars].14 Another consideration deserving our notice is the progress of the first colonies, their sudden advancement, the riches of the present inhabitants, the great number of public expenses for which they provide, the great trade which they carry on at present, and lastly their misfortunes and losses (which are entirely repaired). So that these matters might be better comprehended, we shall only make the following observations: 1) that there were no people in Carolina until about sixty years ago for the English did not begin to send any there until the year 1670; 2) that they had at first very fatal beginnings, being afflicted with sicknesses and even the plague which daily diminished the number of the people; 3) that cruel, destructive divisions sprung up among them; 4) that they had a very bad government under the Lords Proprietors, being almost without order, justice, or discipline;15 5) that at a certain time the pirates interrupted their trade and navigation; 6) that they have often had great droughts; 7) that a terrible fire consumed almost all Charles Town; 8) that they have spent a great deal of money on fortifications, public edifices, churches, and the like; 9) that they have often sustained long wars with the French, Spaniards, and particularly the Indians, who once united altogether to destroy the whole province; 10) that notwithstanding all these misfortunes, the people of Caro-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:27

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

139

lina, except those who give themselves up to debauchery are all rich, either in slaves, furniture, clothes, plate, jewels, or other merchandise, but especially in cattle. This prosperity shows the goodness of the country they inhabit. Most of those who first went there were very poor and miserable folk, [possessing nothing upon their arrival in Carolina. Several of those who today are wealthy and notable arrived there only as servants and lackeys. But there are those who indulged in debauchery, in their passions and appetites, who have not lived well and, as a consequence, are not rich. These individuals prove nothing other than the great prosperity of others who profited from the bounty of the land they inhabited].16 The trade of Carolina is now so considerable that of late years upwards of two hundred ships have sailed from there annually laden with products demonstrating the growth of the country. Besides these merchant vessels, the inhabitants of Carolina commonly have three ships of war, which they use to insure the security of the commerce. Last winter they had constantly five, the least of which had more than one hundred men on board. It appears by the customhouse entries from March 1730 to March 1731 that two hundred seven ships sailed within that time from Charles Town, most of them for England. These ships carried among other goods: 41,957 barrels of rice at about five hundred pounds per barrel, 10,754 barrels of pitch, 2,063 of tar, and 1,159 of turpentine; three hundred casks of deerskins, containing eight or nine hundred skins each and a vast quantity of Indian corn, peas, beans, and such; beef, pork, and other salted meat; beams, planks, and timber for building, mostly cedar, cypress, sassafras, oak, walnut, and pine. They carry on a great trade with the Indians from whom they get these great quantities of deerskins and those of other wild beasts in exchange for which they give them only lead, powder, coarse cloth, vermilion, ironware, and some other goods. They have a very considerable profit on this trade. The great number of slaves makes another part of the riches of this province. There are more than forty thousand Negroes, which are worth generally one hundred crowns each. There are between five and six hundred houses in Charles Town, most of which are very costly. There are also five handsome churches: one for those of the Church of England, one for the Presbyterians, one for the Anabaptists, one for the Quakers, and one for the French.17 If you travel into the country you will see stately buildings, noble castles, and an infinite number of all

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:27

PS

140

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

sorts of cattle. If it be asked what has produced all this? the answer is, it is only the rich land of Carolina. By all indications the prosperity of this province will still increase and with the blessing of heaven, in a few years it will be the most flourishing of all America. Not only because the King has much at heart the improvement of this new country, but because people go there from all parts. His Majesty has lately sent there seventy-four pieces of heavy cannon with powder, ball, and such and Governor Johnson is setting out from Charles Town to mark out the land to build two good forts: one at Port Royal and the other upon the Altamaha River. (Between them is the Savannah River.) The people of the Palatinate, those of New York, New England, and other parts, sell all that they have to come to Carolina. Their coming has raised the price of lands within fifty miles around Charles Town to four hundred percent in four or five year’s time. [And that is why a plantation worth two hundred pounds is today worth seven to eight hundred. It follows therefore that, in a few years],18 it will cost as much around Purrysburg. However, it is a certain truth that the same quantity of land at Charles Town which might have been bought for a crown about forty years ago cannot at this time be bought for two hundred pounds sterling nor even for three hundred pounds in those places which are well situated for trade. The good dispositions, which are making daily for a regular administration of justice, cannot fail to bring the country into reputation and drawing there still greater numbers of people.19 Artificers are so scarce at present, that all sorts of work is very dear.20 Tailors, shoemakers, smiths, and the like would be particularly acceptable there. A skillful carpenter is not ashamed to demand thirty shillings per day besides his food. The common wages of a workman is twenty shillings per day provided he speaks English, without which he cannot be understood and consequently not so useful as others. When a workman receives but ten shillings per day he thinks he labors for almost nothing, though he has his expenses besides. (But this is Carolina money.)21 Most of their shoes are brought from England and generally sell for forty shillings per pair. The cost does not reflect a scarcity of cheap leather (an ox’s hide being sold for thirty shillings). They also have the means to tan leather for they make very good lime with oyster shells. And the bark of oak trees is so plentiful that it costs nothing except the trouble of gathering it; but there is a

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:27

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

141

dearth of good tanners and an insufficient number of shoemakers. I might say the same of leather dressers since they send more than two hundred thousand undressed deerskins every year to England. Yet Carolina produces ocher22 naturally and good fish oil may be had from New York or New England very cheaply. So these types of animal skins can be worked in the country, if there are enough people in this profession—especially if they are good tanners, because leather can be used for breeches. Breeches made from these animal skins are very appropriate clothing as they keep the body warm in winter and cool in summer.23 There is not a single potter in all the province and no earthenware plates or dishes but what come from Europe,24 and they are easily broken. A fine glassworks will do perfectly well, not only for Carolina, but also for all the other colonies in America.25 [This is because the only glass, be it for windows or for other usage, comes from England.]26 There is a kind of sand and earth, which would be very proper for these purposes. Wood and fern are also in abundance. So all they need is the workmen to make use of them. The woods are full of wild vines bearing five or six sorts of grapes naturally. But for want of vine dressers and such, scarcely any wine is drunk there but what comes from Madeira. These wines are cheap indeed for a bottle of excellent wine cost but two shillings Carolina money last winter to those who bought by the hogshead. There is something so singular in these wines of Madeira that we cannot go without mentioning it. It is that heat preserves them and cold spoils them. As in Europe they are obliged here to put their wine in cool cellars, but the Madeira wines on the contrary, must be put into the warmest places. If they begin to be sour they are exposed to the greatest heat of the sun to be recovered. So that to keep them good you are to do what you would do in other parts to make vinegar. This seems to be the greatest paradox in the world, but nothing is more certain. And strange as it may seem, Col. Bleek caused a vault to be made over his oven purposely to keep his wine in all the year. The cattle of Carolina are very fat in summer, but as lean in winter,27 because they can find very little to eat and there is hardly shelter in this miserable season to protect them from the freezing rain, frost, and snow which last sometimes three or four days.28 Only cattle destined to be butchered are fed, but badly with potatoes, straw, and grain. The animals always sleep in the open field, because as anyone can attest, there is not a single sta-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:28

PS

142

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

ble in all the country—neither for bulls or cows. When one reminds the planters that their livestock would do better and give double profit if they built stables to house them during the winter they exclaim: ‘‘Ha! Ha! Yes, we need stables, but we have too many other things on our minds to worry about them!’’ The last winter being very severe, about ten thousand horned cattle died of hunger and cold. Notwithstanding this, the people will not change their conduct because they do not understand the manner of ordering cattle, nor even do they know how to mow the grass in order to make it into hay of which they might have great plenty for fodder. Their ignorance in this respect is very great which is the reason that butter is always dear, being sold last winter at seven shillings, sixpence per pound. In January and February last it was sold at Charles Town for twelve shillings per pound. In a word, nothing would be easier than for persons who understand country affairs to grow rich in a little time. There is so great a number of cattle that a certain planter last spring had two hundred calves marked which he let run in the woods with other cattle. Nobody looks after them or takes any other care but to bring them together in the evening to lie in a park near the house. At certain times they kill a great many to send the salted meat to several other colonies where there is little pasturage— particularly to the islands of the Antilles and in general to all those of the torrid zone. The best kind of horses in the world are so plentiful that you seldom see anybody travel on foot except Negroes and they often on horseback. When a tailor, a shoemaker, or any other tradesman is obliged to go but three miles from his house, it would be very extraordinary to see him travel on foot. There is likewise in this country a prodigious number of swine, which multiply infinitely. They are kept at very little expense because they find acorns almost all the year around of which there are five or six sorts. There are also nuts, walnuts, chestnuts, herbs, roots, and such in the woods so that if you give them ever so little at home they become fat. After that you may salt and send great quantities of them to the islands of Barbados, St. Christopher, Jamaica, and so on which produce very good returns either in money or trade goods. Of all animals in that country none are a less expense than sheep for they subsist only on what they find in the fields yet are always in good health and bring forth their lambs regularly.29 There is a particular sort whose wool is not inferior to the finest Spanish wool.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:28

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

143

Flax and cotton thrive admirably and hemp grows from thirteen to fourteen feet high, but since few people know how to care for it there is scarcely any cultivated. Besides, they need manure which is very necessary for that purpose because few plants weaken land so much as hemp does. However, this is one of the products, which would produce the most profit because Parliament has allowed so much per ton upon all hemp, which comes from the English plantations in America so that in time of war they will have no need for hemp from Russia and Poland. In addition to this encouragement which is to last for thirty more years, there is an exemption from some other duties on imported hemp which, joined together, makes an advantage of about forty percent over that of hemp from other places. Rice and Indian corn produce at least a hundredfold and would do much better if the land were better cultivated. The ease of procuring such a plenty of grain is the reason that the planters have or may have at all times a courtyard filled with cocks, hens, turkeys, geese, ducks, and the like as well as a good pigeon house also without incurring any expense. There is great plenty of game of all sorts but especially wild turkeys, some of which weigh thirty pounds. Those who love fowling may easily take them. With this Indian corn they make pretty good bread for it is much finer and better than in Switzerland or in any other part of Europe where it is commonly called turkey corn. [However, the major commodity from which]30 one can certainly enrich himself and make a fortune without much labor or expense, is to plant sufficient quantities of white mulberry trees for the feeding of silkworms. There is perhaps no country in all the world where these trees grow any better nor where the silk is finer than in Carolina. They grow so much in so short a time that we dare scarce mention it. Captain Scott has one at the back of his house at Port Royal not more than seven or eight years old. Its trunk is more than five feet in circumference. It would be difficult to believe this if it was not confirmed by other four or five year old mulberry trees at Port Royal, Westmesaa, Goosecreek, and other plantations. Their trunks are nearly a foot in diameter. But since all the planters apply themselves chiefly to the production of rice, pitch, and tar, there is very little use made of them. However, those who have been in Provence and Languedoc know that the strippings of a mulberry tree (that is, the summer leaves) are commonly sold for a crown, and sometimes two, although the silk of those two provinces is but very indifferent. From this it may be easily conjectured what riches Carolina would produce if

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:29

PS

144

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

this affair was well managed. All other trees grow there in the same proportion and much faster than in Europe, but particularly the peach tree. By the third year it is commonly loaded with fruit and is a great tree the fourth year. Some perhaps will object that this country is feverish and unhealthy and all the advantages, which might be found in other respects would not make amends for the loss of health. Besides this you are plagued there with several sorts of insects and especially with great rattlesnakes so that you are in danger of your life every moment. To this we answer that if people are sick there it is generally an effect of their bad conduct and not knowing how to regulate themselves suitably to the country where they live. For it is very certain that those who observe precautions have as good health there as they would in other places. But to better understand this affair you must know that the uncultivated lands of Carolina as well as the other adjacent provinces which extend much further than Canada are wholly covered with large pine trees very cold in their nature. When the vapors which these trees have attracted and retained come to be dispersed by a northerly wind you feel a cold almost as sharp as in Europe so that in one day you may find a considerable change of air. This then, together with the debauches made by punch, strong Madeira wines, and the eating of unripe fruits, is the real source of the sicknesses there.31 For when sensual persons who do not have the power to deny themselves anything find that a hot day is succeeded by a great coolness towards evening, they expose themselves to it with great pleasure without troubling themselves with the consequence. When this pleasure is succeeded by rheumatisms, fevers, or other distempers, they never fail of pouring out curses on the country rather than own their carelessness or excess. And it is very common for those newly arrived to say when they have got an illness that it is a tribute they must pay to the climate. But such as take care to keep their breasts always warm, to shun the great transpirations of the air, to cover themselves well in the night, especially in summer, and in other respects live regularly, will certainly enjoy as good health there as in any other part of the world.32 There are few insects in Carolina that can reasonably be complained of except a sort of gnat, which they call mosquitoes and there is scarcely any of these except in low grounds or near the rivers. But if a house is troubled with them it is easily remedied by opening the windows about sunset and shutting them again a little before the close of the twilight. The mosquitoes never fail to

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:29

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

145

quit the house about that time. For better security they make fine gauze-work about their beds, which keeps them off. There are people in Europe, especially in England, that tremble only at the name of a rattlesnake imagining that the country of Carolina is so full of them that there is no going into the woods without mortal danger. But this is an error as ill-grounded as most of the other reports spread abroad to the disadvantage of this New World. At least it is certain that this serpent is very seldom seen, and if they are met do very little harm unless they are provoked to defend themselves. Besides, they never fail of giving you notice of their approach by their rattles, which may be heard at a considerable distance. It is also said that the venom of this serpent is deadly and kills [in two minutes]33 if an antidote is not applied immediately to the bite. But these remedies are well known by everybody in the country; [even though, truth be told, there has never been an occasion to use them].34 When Mr. Purry went with his small company to choose out a spot of land on the Savannah River, the people told them before their departure from Charles Town that they had great reason to fear these rattlesnakes (the country being full of them),35 and that they ought to keep a good guard against them. However, they did not so much as see one of those serpents nor of any other sort for the fifteen days that they traveled about in the woods though it was in the middle of summer at a time when all serpents are out of their holes. It is very seldom that any person is bitten by these snakes or by any other kinds, which are much more common.36 It would be very difficult to find so much as one person in all Carolina that has ever had this misfortune. There are also some crocodiles in the rivers, but the people fear them no more than if they were so many fishes since it was never known that they have hurt any person whatsoever. Those that may have any desire to go and settle there may further take notice of three or four observations: First, that South Carolina is not only situated in the same degree of heat, fertility, and temperature of air, which is about thirty-three degrees latitude as the Barbary Coast, the island of Crete, Syria, Persia, Mongolistan,37 China, and in general all the best countries worldwide, but it is also the only country of all those the English possess that is situated in that degree. There is all the reason in the world to believe that if there be now an opportunity to have lands there for nothing, this advantage will not continue long. At least it is very certain that those who shall come first will have the best choice of land and also the closest

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:29

PS

146

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

proximity to the sea and rivers, much better than those that shall come afterwards.38 Secondly, that by means of the wool, cotton, flax, and hemp, it will be easy to procure all linen necessary and also good and beautiful material for clothing without being forced to purchase them at a very dear rate from the shops as most of the planters are at present. And what is still a very important consideration, there will be no danger of wanting provisions in a country so plentiful unless some accidents happen which cannot be foreseen by human prudence. I can say that hailstorms do not harm the inhabitants nor their property since there has never been one, nor have I ever heard that there was any that could despoil the richness of the land.39 Thirdly, that of all the neighboring provinces possessed by the English on the continent of North America from twenty-nine to forty-nine degrees of latitude, Carolina is not only the largest and most productive of human necessities, but also the most southward and nearest to Jamaica, Barbados, and all the islands of the Antilles which have need for salted provisions, bread, wine, fruits, roots, and several other things. We need not hesitate a moment to prefer it to all the other colonies on the north side.40 And besides the great advantages, which may accrue to the inhabitants by the fertility of the land and the temperate nature of the climate, the situation there for trade will always draw ships into its ports which will find there all that the other most distant provinces can provide and at a reasonable price and in good condition. Merchant ships will hardly go so far while anything is to be had in Carolina. Fourth and lastly, and what is of the greatest importance of all is that there is an entire liberty of conscience and commerce for all that go there without paying anything for it. Justice is duly administered to all and everybody can say that what he possesses lawfully belongs to him in full propriety. There are no tenths, imposts, tailles, nor capitation taxes nor any of those burdens, which render so many other people unhappy.41 In a word, you have all the laws, liberties, and privileges there, which are enjoyed in England. It is the lower house that has the disposal of the money of the province and that votes the taxes necessary for the public service with the approbation of the upper house and of His Majesty represented by the governor. When one of the two houses would have an act passed on any subject whatsoever, after having examined and debated all its clauses, it is copied and sent to the other house for its concurrence. But this act, or rather pro-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:30

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

147

jected act, is only called a bill at that time. That is to say properly, it is a proposed act. Now if this bill is passed by the other house, it is carried to the governor who may either approve or reject it. It is not until the moment the governor gives his consent to it that it takes the form of a law and has all the force of law. For if either of the houses or governor rejects the said bill, it dies. Therefore nothing better proves that the Constitution of the Government of Carolina as well as that of England, is founded on the union between the king and the people since they make only one and the same body, of which His Majesty is always the head. From the preceding it may be concluded and boldly affirmed that the English are the most free and happy people at this time in the whole world. We whose names are hereunto subscribed, do attest, that all which is contained in this account of South Carolina, is the real truth, having been eyewitnesses of most of the particulars mentioned above. Done at Charles Town, the 23rd of September, 1731. ˆtel Jean Pierre Purry, of Neucha Jaques Richard, of Geneva Abraham Meuron, of St. Sulpy, in ˆtel the county of Neucha Henry Reymond, of St. Sulpy42

PUBLIC NOTICE The aforementioned Master Purry having come back from South Carolina, and desirous of returning there in a short while, hereby reminds those who have the urge to accompany him on his voyage, can contact him at Saint Sulpy on condition that they have good testimonials of their Pastors. Made this first day of February 1732, the year of our Lord.43

CLARIFICATIONS Of the Preceding Description44 Since the first edition of my Description of South Carolina, several persons have asked questions of me, and made diverse objections, whether by word of mouth or by the written word on this

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:31

PS

148

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

matter. I am obliged to respond to all by drawing up a new edition of this treatise. I can even infer from this selfsame Description what I have to say in this regard. However, I have not judged it proper to change anything therein because, among other reasons, those who had appended their mark with me in Carolina are not present. I must honor their signatures and do not dare replace their names. I have therefore taken it upon myself to attach separately, on behalf of only two of us here present, these ‘‘Clarifications’’ pertaining to the remarks and questions, which have been put to me. Before going any further, I immediately beseech my readers to be mindful of these two facts: One, I have never claimed to give a full and perfect description of Carolina. What I offered was only a very abridged version of it as the title indicates.45 Right from the beginning I indicated also that this was only an essay of sorts, pending an extended description of the country of Carolina. My description was only meant to give a general idea of the place—an end that I believe I have sufficiently achieved. And it is in the same spirit that I take my pen in hand to recommence our description. Thus, I have been unable to say everything. A lot more needs to be said about Carolina. Whosoever wants to know more can turn to other books, particularly to More´ri’s Encyclopedia, Basel Edition, which today is very easy to consult. One other matter that needs to be remembered and to which the greatest attention needs to be paid is that I have solemnly intended to say nothing but the truth, with the utmost fidelity, to say the whole truth, both in that which is contrary and favorable to me. This is the great rule behind my conduct. If therefore it seems I have been silent or heard about certain difficult matters, which could redound to my advantage, it is only because I inviolably hold dear to the purest truth. For example, it will be surprising to hear me talk about the plague, crocodiles, rattlesnakes, etc. which could frighten and discourage those who wish to come to Carolina with me. However, my perfect sincerity prevents me from hiding or disguising anything in order to demonstrate that I do not intend to surprise anyone whatsoever. Apart from the observations I make on this subject, it is sufficient enough to dissipate the excessive and unfounded terror that could be conceived and to satisfy any reasonable person who does not become bedazzled by frivolous claims and by vainglory. The same reason has compelled me in the attestation at the end of my treatise to use a rather feeble expression, to state that

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:32

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

149

which I saw with my very eyes, most of what I talk about.46 It is very clear that I could not have seen everything during the year that my colleagues and I lived in Carolina.47 Good faith forbids me to state otherwise. It is true that I should have added what I myself had not seen, but which others of good faith had seen. And this is what I assert presently with complete assurance. In more than one place in the Description, it is stated that one year’s provisions will be supplied for those who will go to settle in Carolina. But what will they need during the second year since the first year’s provisions will be insufficient for tilling and planting after they run out?48 In order to understand the great ease that settlers will have right from the first year of procuring provisions in Carolina, several things need to be explained. First, the terrain will not be difficult to till because you need to fell only big trees, part of which will be used to build houses, while the rest can be burned on the spot. Second, you only need to pull out the grass into little piles to which wood can be added in order to burn the roots of weeds. Third, you will only need to till the land lightly and plant therein anything you want and, with God’s grace, three months later you will reap an abundant harvest. Finally, this manner of tilling and burning the field is common knowledge, especially in Switzerland and is known to almost everybody. As a result, nothing prevents us from getting sufficient provisions from the land without waiting for the following year’s harvest. Moreover, Carolinian grain yields at least a hundredfold. Another question which more than one person has asked of us is, How can one make lime, since there is no limestone in Carolina? The treatise makes it known that this can be done with oyster shells. We also insist and wonder if enough lime could be got from these shells; if one could find enough shells by the seashore to produce the lime necessary to build a whole town; if there are no stones inland, since bricks are used in place of stones, if there were, around Purrysburg, earth that is good enough to make bricks, good enough to establish very abundant brickyards? As for wood, it is certain that there will be no lack thereof in a country whose forests are almost inexhaustible. To all the foregoing we can answer, that it is not only in Carolina that lime is produced from oyster shells, but also at the southern coasts of Africa and diverse other places. Moreover, there actually are enough oyster shells in Carolina, not only to build a whole town, but even several, if that were necessary. And what makes it obvious that there are sufficient quantities for this

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:32

PS

150

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

purpose is the number of buildings built each year in Charles Town, as well as in all the rest of the province. And notwithstanding the great usage of these shells, we have not noticed any rise in their price. There are also in many places, under three or four feet of earth in the big quarries, huge quantities of a greyish stone, from which lime can be made. Nevertheless, as it will not be as fine and as white as the lime from oyster shells, none of it will be used. It needs to be said that there are already at Charles Town some houses built of this stone, which has this peculiarity: When it is cut from the quarries, of which there are several in Carolina, it cuts almost as easily as cheese. But when it is left in the open, exposed to the sun for a year or two, it becomes hard as rock. It will however be better to build brick houses, because in almost all of Carolina, there can be found, after digging one or two feet, clay that is proper for brick making. Besides, there are a number of houses of two or three floors, almost all of which are built of planks, inside and outside, but in such a proper and embellished manner that all of it almost looks like carpentry work. Between these planks, there is a high wall to keep the house cool in summer and resistant to rain, wind, and frost in winter.49 Here again are some difficulties that we have in building a town from the ground up, for we assemble all the construction guidelines first so that we can decide upon the best approach. It is said, in order to build a town one needs huge quantities of planks, wood beams, and other lumber. It is also known that beams and other pieces of scaffolding will have to be built by hand. But if the planks are to be handmade it will entail great toil and infinite expense. If, however the terrain of Purrysburg is a plain, one would build there without using water wheels. It would not take too long a time before there would be enough openings in the forest to use windmills.50 In the vicinity of Purrysburg a vigorous man can easily chop all the wood in one acre of land so that in a very short while, if only there were a group of some hundred men, a more than sufficient area to construct as many windmills as possible could be cleared. But if planks are first needed, they will have to be cut manually as it is done presently in all of Carolina, and even in all England. If one reflects on the fact that in Flanders, in Holland, and generally in all flat countries, there is no machinery to saw planks, beams and the like, it would not be surprising if things were the same in Carolina. But, as there are around Amsterdam more than two hundred windmills serving no other purpose than woodcutting, nothing prevents one from doing the same in Carolina. And

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:33

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

151

even when that is hardly possible, hand cutting will not entail huge expense as most people imagine because two Negroes will cut in one day wood that is a hundred feet long and a foot thick. This is their ordinary task. Or better still, those who are incapable of bearing this cost could build houses made of shingles which will not cost them much and which will also provide adequate housing. As for land, we are asked, If a man has a wife and four children, will he have three hundred acres for himself and his family or only fifty for all of them? The King’s Proclamation, the summary of which we will provide below, is very clear on the matter. It states that each district of eleven townships to be built shall contain twenty thousand acres and shall be divided into lots of fifty acres for each man, woman, or child in a family. We vow that there need not be further explications of this because the word each must be applied to the women and children, as well as to men. And if the King had meant otherwise, he will not have failed to say so, be it a man with a wife and children, be it a man without any, he will not be given but fifty acres for the whole family.51 Another question which is asked of us is, Will the paper money used in Carolina in place of silver be accepted for quit rent payments on the land and how does it compare with other currency?52 We respond, that this paper money established in Carolina is accepted in all sorts of countries as if it were crowns or guineas of England. Moreover, paper is preferred to silver. The only difference, as had already been explained in the Description, is that the English shilling is worth seven shillings in Carolina, which equals ˆtel in Switzerland. seven batz of Neucha It is asked if the four hundred pounds sterling and the provision given to Master Purry are for him only, or if they are meant for transport by sea and the care of new planters and if these will be payable to the said Master Purry for their transport and care? All these questions shall be perfectly cleared up by the instructions and the acts affixed to the end of this pamphlet. It will be seen that these four hundred pounds sterling that the province is to pay Master Purry will serve to indemnify him for the expenses and costs of his voyage. Those who will go to Carolina on their own account shall pay their transport and nourishment on board the vessel, but not those who are going only as domestic servants. No one, whoever they may be, will be charged for victuals for a year after their arrival in Carolina. One might also want to know are there peaceful relations with

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:33

PS

152

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

the Indians? We can positively assure everyone on that score. The province has never enjoyed a more profound peace, never been in a better union with those people than in present times. Besides, Indians are no longer feared because we are much stronger than them. The forts that have already been built there and those that will be built, protect against their incursions. And to push them farther down to the bottom of the earth, these forts are built at great enough distances.53 Can vineyards thrive in the sandy plains? It is commonly believed in other descriptions, that neither wheat nor the indigo plant thrives there. The same thing is said about olive trees. While the soil of Carolina is sandy, one must not imagine that it is all sand. But it is soil mixed with sand, just like the land in many such places. It is a matter of fact and experience that grapes, wheat, indigo, olive trees and the like grow there perfectly. In stating the contrary one will only do injury to the truth. Objections have also been made to us that a hundred trunks of tools and provisions will be needed at the colony. Who will provision the people who have nothing? If they have to work for less than nothing and then have to borrow at ten percent and buy dearly from merchants, how will they find any relief from their poverty? It is already an error to think that a hundred trunks of tools will be needed to equip people for the work that is to be done. This is because if a man has, at the beginning, two or three hatchets and axes with a couple of spades and shovels to mix the earth, he would not need anything else. Besides, work tools of all kinds can easily be found in a great number of stores in London, be they for carpentry, woodworking, or for any other profession—and these at cheaper prices than one can find in Switzerland. What’s more, there are, without exaggeration, more than fifty shops in Charles Town itself where newly arrived immigrants can buy all the tools necessary at reasonable enough prices. This is supposing, as we are, that these are not men who are completely destitute, because such men would not be accepted for the colony. If this country of Carolina is so good, as some say, it is not punishment to be transported there. Yet the English, who think the same way about Carolina, send criminals there. This appears confusing, but one needs to understand the true state of affairs regarding this matter.54 It is very true that every year England sends a great number of criminals to the American colonies in order to chastise them for their bad living. But Carolina does not receive very many of them. Most criminals of both sexes are sent

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:34

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

153

to New England, New York, Barbados, Jamaica, or other places. Ship captains sell the services of these wretched folk for a certain number of years according to the severity of their crimes, during which time they earn nothing and are treated no better than slaves. This is why it is punishment for them to be transported to America. Since cotton, without a doubt, does so well growing naturally in Carolina, one might say, it is surprising that none is exported from there at all. It would be less costly than that exported from the East Indies. In order to put an end to this belief, we only need to remark that it would be wrong to suppose that cotton grows naturally in Carolina. It must be cultivated, which until now has not been adequately done. There are other things that can be derived from Carolina that are more precious than cotton, and which cannot entirely be neglected. They are indigo, silk, hemp, wine grapes, and so on. The inhabitants of the country, whether from sloth or by lack of enlightenment, are so used to cultivating rice, that they do almost nothing else. They only need to change their ways and we are sure that they will have all these crops in abundance, entering into the commercial production of them at great profit.55 It is claimed that it is impossible for silkworms to thrive in a country where all four seasons of the year are experienced in one day unless they are kept indoors. It has also been said that one needs have hatcheries or one might not be able to keep these worms for years. It is also claimed that all that is needed for the silk to be completely destroyed is for a silkworm to nibble some leaf that is not well dried and hot during harvest. In this matter, experience is the best teacher as it comports so well with reason. There presently are lots of silkworms in Carolina. Therefore they must be able to thrive. It is true that those that raise and feed them generally keep them in hatcheries. In addition, buying easily and in a short while hatcheries with shingles, oak or pine tops, the new inhabitants will have all the time needed to build others because it will take at least three to five years for white mulberry trees to grow. And during this time they will have the leisure of building all sorts of hatcheries. Neither in this article nor in several others has it been our intention to insinuate that all kinds of advantages can be reaped immediately upon arrival in Carolina. Some waiting and patience will be needed. How is it that, many people say, if there are many cattle in Carolina as we are made to believe, butter is sold over there at about twelve shillings a pound? This dear price is for them so incom-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:34

PS

154

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

prehensible that our description is regarded as suspect. We did not expect to have a difficulty made of this peculiarity, which we ourselves have reported as a paradox of sorts and as proof of other facts no less astonishing that are matched by examples even in England. The citizens of Carolina do not make long-term plans. They leave their livestock in the open fields all year and have no stables. However, in order to erase the concern and suspicion arising from this point, we shall add to what we already stated. First, the planters have only envisaged the profit to be made from livestock growth and from salted meat whose production is assured. This is why the calves are left to suckle for as long as possible and why only little butter is produced. In the second place, the herding of milking cows demands the use of more men who are clean or who can be employed for this task than there presently are in Carolina. But above all, the winter of 1730 to 1731 was the harshest in memory. It surprised everyone. The dearness of butter during this winter was very extraordinary. It was even more surprising that in a country without stables, people were able to get butter at any price, no matter how exorbitant the price. The cattle had a hard time surviving. Indeed a large number died. On the reasons that we have alleged about some maladies afflicting some people in Carolina, we are asked, Is this country not too hot for Europeans—particularly the Swiss, and are there dietary or any other precautions one could take against the disagreeable maladies of the country? People also want to know if young people have better resistance than older people. This question is a bit striking to us and does not fit well with the previous one. It would be as wrong to say that Carolina is too hot for Europeans, in particular for the Swiss, as it is to maintain that Syria (in ancient times called the Land of Canaan) would not have been convenient for them. In a similar manner it is certainly and precisely the case that a country is neither too hot or too cold and that it has a range of temperatures to accommodate all manner of persons.56 This is why there are in Carolina numerous men and women of advanced age as well as numerous families. But it is hard to judge if young folk are more resistant than aged persons because both of these have died just as they would in Europe or elsewhere. Finally, we are asked to explain, if the new planters are exempt, at least for a while, from payment of duties and taxes levied on Negroes, spirits, and merchandise in already established areas, will those going to Carolina at their own expense and therefore

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:35

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

155

receiving nothing from the province also be charged the same taxes and duties as those that will have been transported freely? To the foregoing we respond that the new planters are ordinarily exempt from duties and taxes on Negroes for a certain number of years. But that will not be the case with merchandise. No one is getting free transport to Carolina except those going as domestic servants. For those going there at their own expense, they will be charged no less than other inhabitants. To prevent any suspicion of disadvantage, we are obliged to declare herewith very sincerely that those going to Carolina at their own expense are absolutely free to remain there or return after only a few days or at any other time they desire. They are not compelled to go or to stay. It is up to them to do as they please. But we judge that those who go as domestic servants must fulfill the terms of their engagement and it will not be fair to let them return beforehand. As soon as they have fulfilled their obligation, they will be as free as the others. Another general prejudice of people is this: If one must work in Carolina, one could as well work here in Switzerland. Incredible! Does one expect to be transported there only to live in utter idleness and laziness? We will be very displeased to have with us on the voyage people of such shameful character. The only major difference between this country and Carolina is this: There is too much work here and too little advancement in life. Over there in Carolina, with little effort and pain, one gains incomparably more. First, you will have a handsome expanse of land that can yield abundant crops. Above all, those of genius and ability can expect different sorts of commerce to flourish in our colony, which, sustained by the Grace of God Almighty, can lead them to considerable fortune. It is again necessary for us to give notice that in Charles Town there are already more than two hundred shops or stores for all types of merchandise possible. Credit is available to everyone (up to a one year term) provided one is of good reputation and recognized as honest. To all the foregoing we attest again, in good faith, as being the whole truth. Drawn up at St. Sulpy, the first day of March, 1732, the year of Our Lord. Jean Pierre Purry Henry Reymond of St. Sulpy.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:36

PS

156

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

ACTS57 Mentioned in Preceding Papers And Translated from the English58 ACT ONE South Carolina In the General Assembly held in Charles Town on the 20th day of January, of the fourth year of the reign of Our Sovereign George the Second, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith and so on, in the year of Our Lord seventeen hundred and thirty and continued henceforth by diverse prorogations and adjournments until the 20th day of August, seventeen hundred and thirty-one, in the year of Our Lord. EXTRACT OF AN ACT to apply the sum of one hundred and four thousand, seven hundred and seventy-five pounds, one shilling, and three plots of land for the payment of public debts. Furthermore, a bill passed by the above-mentioned authority, for the sum of fifteen thousand pounds per annum, the balance of thirteen thousand five hundred pounds per annum, to be levied hereafter by virtue of the act entitled ‘‘Act granted to His Majesty for tax and duty on negroes, liquors & other effects and merchandise, for the public usage of this province’’ is to be applied and enforced for the period of seven years, commencing the twentyfifth day of March of the previous year, to the costs of surveying and measuring the territories of towns and to pay for the passage and purchase of tools, provisions, and other things necessary for all poor Protestants desirous of settling in the said province. The sum of two thousand eight hundred pounds, at current rates equivalent to four hundred pounds sterling, shall be paid to Jean Pierre Purry, when he shall have brought a hundred men— Protestant, capable, free and competent into the province of Carolina. He shall also be paid such sums as shall be necessary for their subsistence and for that of their families not exceeding a total of three hundred persons, for the period of one entire year, counting from the day of their arrival. He shall supply them with tools and utensils. The balance of the stated five thousand pounds

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:36

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

157

per annum, for the stated period of seven years, shall be applied and employed for uses heretofore mentioned. Ratified, the 20th day of August, 1731. South Carolina This is to certify that the above is a bona fide copy, of the original act, at the Office of the Provincial Secretary. Inspected by us on the 14th day of September, 1731. Charles Hart, Secretary. Henry Hargrave, Council Clerk. [N.B] This Act and the two following are joined together in the Original.

ACT TWO South Carolina By His Excellency Robert Johnson, Esquire and Commander in Chief of the province of South Carolina, possession of His Majesty, the King of Great Britain. Proclamation By virtue of Article Forty-Three of the ‘‘Royal Order and Instructions’’ I received from His Majesty, I am enjoined and have full authority to mark and separate the different territories for towns in this province on the River Altamaha, on the River Savannah, and other places, for the advantage and utility of those that shall come to settle there. By virtue of Article Forty-Five of the aforementioned ‘‘Instructions’’ and by the authority of the previous Lords Proprietors, I have orders to mark the said territories with due diligence and to prevent all persons from claiming land in South Carolina within six miles of the stated town lands. And Colonel Jean Pierre Purry, having undertaken to bring a hundred Protestant families for the purpose of establishing them in this province by my orders and those of His Majesty, has inspected, marked and separated a certain expanse of twenty thousand acres at the Great Yamassee Bluff on the Savannah River of

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:37

PS

158

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

six miles square on the banks of the said river. His intentions and designs are to mark in the mentioned land a town and its territory and to name it Purrysburg for the settlement of the mentioned Protestants. I have judged it proper to publish the present proclamation, expressly forbidding all His Majesty’s subjects and all others from taking any quantity of land in the space of six miles around the territory hereby marked by Colonel Purry. This advertisement is given to prevent anyone from claiming ignorance of the foregoing, the transgression of which shall be at their own risk and peril. Given under our authority and the Great Seal of this province on the 1st day of September, 1731, in the fifth year of the reign of His Majesty. By the Order of His Excellency, Charles Hart, Secretary.

GOD SAVE THE KING South Carolina By His Excellency Robert Johnson, Esquire, Captain General and Commander in Chief of the province of South Carolina, possession of His Majesty, the King of Great Britain. To all who shall receive the present. Greetings. Be it noted by the present testimonials that Charles Hart, Esquire and presently Secretary and citizen of His Majesty’s province of South Carolina, and Henry Hargrave, Gentleman and Honorable Clerk of His Majesty’s Council in the aforementioned province have all faith and credit given to all their attestations and to the writings herewith attached as being bona fide copies from their respective offices. Signed in good faith by our hand and stamped with the Great Seal of this province of His Majesty on the 14th day of September, 1731, in the fifth year of the reign of His Majesty. Signed: Robert Johnson With the Great Seal hanging at the bottom of this document.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:37

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

159

GUIDELINES for Those Who Intend to Accompany the Undersigned Jean Pierre Purry to Carolina.59 There are only two methods, namely, one for persons to go as servants, the other to settle on their own account. 1. Those who are desirous to go as servants must be carpenters, vine planters, farmers, or good laborers. 2. They must not be very poor, but in a condition to carry with them what is sufficient to support their common necessity. 3. They must have at least three or four good shirts and a suit of clothes each. 4. They are each to have one hundred livres yearly for their ˆ tel in wages, which make fifty crowns of the money of Neucha Switzerland, but their wages are not to commence until the day of their arrival in Carolina. 5. Expert carpenters shall have suitable encouragement. 6. The time of their contract shall be three years, commencing from the day of their arrival in that country. 7. Some of the wages coming to them shall be paid by Swiss in England until they embark for Carolina. 8. Their wages shall be paid to them regularly at the end of every year. As security on their wages they shall have the fruits of their labor and generally all that can be procured for them whether movable or immovable property. 9. Food and lodgings from the day of their embarkation shall not be charged to their account, nor their passage by sea. 10. They shall have what money they want advanced during the term of their service as part of their wages to buy linen, clothes, and all other necessities. 11. If they happen to fall sick they shall be lodged and nourished without charge, but their wages shall not go on during their illness or during whatever condition, which hinders them from working. 12. After their recovery they shall serve the time they had lost during their sickness. 13. What goes to pay physicians or surgeons shall be charged to their account.60 14. The time of their departure from Switzerland for England shall be fixed at the beginning of the month of June next. There will be ships ready for them to embark towards the end of the following July in order to get them to Carolina as soon as possi-

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:38

PS

160

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

ble. For those who want to go settle in Carolina at their own expense, each must have at least one hundred and fifty Swiss pounds because the passage and food will already cost them sixty to seventy-five pounds. The rest of the money will be used to cover the journey’s costs and also to procure for them diverse things, which will be absolutely necessary. However, if some of them do not have this sum, I shall lend them part of what they lack, providing that these people be amenable to my enterprise. They can also be assured that the subsistence needed in their first year in Carolina will never be charged to them. Finally, as I shall be obliged to pay fees in England in order to have vessels ready for the embarkation of the group at the end of July, it will be necessary that those who will accompany me, whether as domestic servants or on their own account, have as ˆtel, forty pounds to indemnify me for the exguarantee in Neucha penses I will have paid to the captains of the vessels. This money will be held as security should they change their minds by reason of infirmity or the opposition of their parents or for any other reason and are unable to go to Carolina with me or if the embarkation in England is unsuccessful. Jean Pierre Purry

LETTER FROM CAROLINA61 To His Eminence, The Bishop of Basel and Porentru, Prince of the Holy Empire, and So On At the Porentru Castle. My Lord Spiritual and Temporal, Regarding Your Eminence’s request when I had the honor to take leave of you at Porentru Castle that I expeditiously send to you a brief description of Carolina as well as the manner in which I arrived there and was received, I hereby take the liberty, My Lord, to assure you in all truth and without exaggeration that one could say of this country exactly what the Queen of Sheba said of King Solomon.62 I had already received a very good report of that country, but I find it much better to reiterate all that has been said about it and to assure Your Eminence that it is indeed a country flowing with milk and honey. The forests are filled with bees that produce

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:39

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

161

abundant honey. In addition, almost everywhere can be found plenty of excellent fodder so that it is not necessary to store hay in the stables for the livestock in the winter because the animals have enough in the woods and in the fields for the whole year. The city of Purrysburg, which we have begun to build with some one hundred sixty persons who comprise our colony on the Savannah River, is one of the best districts of Carolina. In times past it was called the Great Yamassee and used to be occupied by Indians, whom the English chased out. This means that we now live in profound peace. The river has very clean water and is filled with excellent species of fish. Most of the crops and fruits, which have been planted, are thriving marvelously—barley, flax, Indian corn (otherwise called Turkish corn), potatoes, peas, beans, and other edible vegetables—have perfectly thrived. We have no doubt that wheat and hemp, when cultivated in the appropriate season, shall also do very well. We have also built a fort of large tree trunks with four bastions and six cannons for our defense against all who dare to attack us. We have already been very well received upon our arrival in Charles Town, which is the capital of the country. The citizens accorded us all courtesies and hospitality. The Governor even invited some of us to dine with him and I was one of the guests. For about three weeks we were lodged, fed, and treated for any illness. We were also given provisions and all sorts of refreshments. Finally, My Lord, while I am doing very well in this country with my small family, I dare assure you, My Graceful Prince, that one thing that will give me great pleasure is to have the good fortune of seeing Your Eminence one more time before I die. I will always remember with gratitude and respect, Your Eminence’s goodwill in keeping my position open in case I am constrained to return to Switzerland. In this respect, I am obliged to pray continually to God Almighty for the protection of your sacred person and to remain all my life your most obedient servant. My Lord and Master, Your Eminence, Your very humble and obedient servant, and always your faithful subject, Jean Baptiste Bourguin, Clerk of Sonceboz

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:39

PS

162

LANDS OF TRUE AND CERTAIN BOUNTY

From Purrysburg Granville County, South Carolina. 20 August, Old Style 1733

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM CHARLES TOWN, SOUTH CAROLINA October 5th 1733. Colonel Purry swears that nothing in this extract is untruthful. The Swiss who came to settle in this country on the banks of the Savannah River are marvelous people. They presently number some two hundred persons—men, women, and children. When they arrived they built a fort with four bastions, a moat all around it, and six cannons and named it Fort George. This fort is well regarded by all who have seen it as one of the best and most beautiful forts in Carolina. Master Oglethorpe, Commander in Chief of Georgia, who saw it not long ago, was no less satisfied with the honest and civil manner in which he was received by the new settlers. The city of Purrysburg, which they have been building, has straight and wide roads and is the most charming that one can imagine. The water from the river is clean and sweet and filled with several sorts of excellent fishes. The terrain, which is clay, produces very abundantly all crops raised—wheat, peas, beans, potatoes, and others. Garden vegetables thrive better there than in any spot in Europe. Colonel Jean Pierre Purry, who has always governed the populace, embarks very soon on a ship named The Pearl, commanded by Captain Dickenson on a voyage to Switzerland, hoping to bring back to Carolina next year four or five hundred persons with him. There is every reason to believe that with the progress of Georgia, which is in the same region, this country of Carolina will become one of the richest and most flourishing provinces of America by means of commerce in silks. His Excellency, Robert Johnson, our Governor, has just made four gentlemen officers in the Purrysburg regiment. They are Masters DeJean and Holzendorf, captains, with Masters De Laffitte and De Monclar, lieutenants. They have received their warrants of the Great Seal of the province and have taken their oaths and so on. . . .

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:40

PS

5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA

163

CERTIFICATE Of the Inhabitants of Purrysburg The original of this Certificate is in the hands of Colonel Purry. We the undersigned citizens of Purrysburg in South Carolina, assembled today as a community, attest in good faith that everything in the Description published last year in Switzerland by Colonel Jean Pierre Purry, our Colonel, Esquire, and Justice of the Peace of this city, conforms to the utmost truth. No person has, up until now, said anything to the contrary. We attest that we have not only been given more than we were promised, but also our dear and honorable Colonel Purry has served both as our Father and Protector on all sorts of occasions. We hereby declare the foregoing in full control of our minds. Purrysburg, 5th August 1733. Jaques Richard Pierre Laffitte Andre´ De Monclar Guillaume Bulot Pierre Dallez Daniel Brabant Jean Baptiste Bourquin Jean Rodolph Netteman Wallier Cuillat Pierre Mallier D. Ecollier Anthoine Theremin Pierre Loys Recordon Franc¸ois Bueche Adam Cuillat Benjamin Henrioud Franc¸ois Gabriel Ravot Jean Pierre Degallier Jean Henry Jeanneret

David Gautie Henry Girardin Joseph Girardin Abram Pacotton David Sausy Louys Kehl Derbald Kueffer Yorg Migersdorff Andre´s Winkler Niclaus Cronemberger Nicolas Riguar Jean Pierre Jeanneret Abraham Jeanneret Jean Rodolph Grand David Giroud Abram Marthe Abraham Meuron Jacob Henry Meuron Henry-Franc¸ois Bourquin

The aforementioned Colonel Purry, having returned once more from Carolina and having the intent of going back there in a short while, makes it known to all who desire to accompany him on his ˆ tel, provoyage that they can find him every Friday at Neucha vided they have sufficient testimonials from their pastors.

.......................... 8784$$

$CH5

10-25-01 14:16:41

PS

Notes CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. I pursued this line of argument in ‘‘A Tarnished Legacy Revisited: Jean Pierre Purry and the Settlement of the Southern Frontier, 1718–1736,’’ The South Carolina Historical Magazine 92 (October 1991): 232–52 and in my unpublished Ph.D. dissertation ’’Ethnic Diversity on the Southern Frontier: A Social History of Purrysburgh Township, South Carolina, 1732–1792,‘‘ (Ph.D. diss., Washington State University, 1982). Earlier versions of some of the sections of this introduction appeared first in these works. 2. The biographical sketch of Purry that follows is taken from Arlin C. Migliazzo, ‘‘Ethnic Diversity,’’ 45–58, and from my more recent research on Purry and Purrysburg that has not yet been published. Most of the information on Purry’s dealings with the Dutch East India Company (1713–19) is found in C. C. Macknight’s scholarly papers, ‘‘Research Notes on J. P. Purry’’ (unpublished paper, Department of History, Faculty of Arts, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, 13 July 1993), 3–4 and ‘‘Neither Useful Nor Profitable: Early Eighteenth Century Ideas About Australia and Its Inhabitants,’’ typescript of a lecture given at the National Library of Australia, 22 September 1993, 5–7. 3. Dr. Chatelain, ‘‘Purrysbourg,’’ Muse´e Neuchatelois, new series 7 (May/ June 1920): 89; Edward Heawood, A History of Geographical Discovery in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (London: Cambridge University Press, 1912; reprint New York: Octagon Books, 1965), 80–81; Louise Jones Dubose, ‘‘Palmetto Landmarks: Purrysbourg’’ (transcript of radio broadcast for 21 November 1948, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina), 1; Kenneth Coleman, Colonial Georgia: A History (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1976), 9; Verner W. Crane, The Southern Frontier, 1670–1732 (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1929; first Ann Arbor paper edition, 1956), 283–84. 4. Purry’s career in Batavia remains somewhat mysterious. According to Dr. C. C. Macknight’s research, although Purry traveled to the East Indies in a military capacity, he does not appear on the Company muster roles. Company payment records for his services contain numerous gaps and inconsistencies. He has also been referred to as ‘‘Reader in the French Language’’ in Company correspondence, but no official record of his holding that salaried position exists. Professor Macknight suggests that perhaps Purry held the post for the small French Calvinist congregation at Batavia and was paid privately by the congregants. Reference has also been made to Purry’s agricultural activities while stationed in the East Indies, but little is known about them. See Macknight, ‘‘Research Notes,’’ 3–4 and ‘‘Neither Useful Nor Profitable,’’ 5–7. 5. H. Roy Merrens, ‘‘The Physical Environment of Early America: Images

164

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:39

PS

165

NOTES

and Imagemakers in Colonial South Carolina,’’ Geographical Review 59 (October 1969): 536–37; C. P. Summerall, ‘‘Address of General C. P. Summerall at the Dedication of the Huguenot Cross at Purrysburg, South Carolina, May 4, 1941,’’ Transactions of the Huguenot Society of South Carolina 46 (1941): 38; Crane, Southern Frontier, 284; Coleman, Colonial Georgia, 9. 6. Upon his return to Europe, a revision of this extensively researched ` l’utilite´ essay, Me´moire sur le pais des Cafres et la terre de Nuyts par raport a que la Compagnie des Indes Orientales en pourroit retirer pour son commerce (Amsterdam: Pierre Humbert, 1718), would become his first published tract. For general background on Purry’s attempts to found a colony based on his theory of climates see Albert B. Saye, ‘‘The Genesis of Georgia: Merchants as Well as Ministers,’’ Georgia Historical Quarterly 24 (September 1940): 194–95, hereafter cited GHQ; idem, ‘‘The Genesis of Georgia Reviewed,’’ GHQ 50 (June 1966): 154–55; Milton Ready, ‘‘The Georgia Concept: An Eighteenth Century Experiment in Colonization,’’ GHQ 55 (Summer 1971): 161; Roger A. Martin, ‘‘John J. Zubly Comes to America,’’ GHQ 61 (Summer 1977): 125–29; Kenneth Coleman, ‘‘The Southern Frontier: Georgia’s Founding and the Expansion of South Carolina,’’ GHQ 56 (Summer 1972): 166–67. 7. Jean Pierre Purry, Second me´moire sur le pais des Cafres et la terre de Nuyts servant d’e´claircissement aux propositions faites dans le premier, pour l’utilite´ de la Compagnie des Indes Orientales (Amsterdam: Pierre Humbert, 1718). 8. Great Britain, Public Records Office, ‘‘Transcripts of Records Relating to South Carolina, 1685–1790,’’ hereafter cited as BPRO, South Carolina Department of Archives and History, hereafter cited as SCDAH 11:128; Jean Pierre Purry, Memorial Presented to His Grace My Lord the Duke of Newcastle Chamberlain of His Majesty King George, &c., and Secretary of State: Upon the Present Condition of Carolina and the Means of Its Amelioration, trans. Charles C. Jones, Jr. (Augusta, Ga.: privately printed for the translator by J. H. Estill, 1880), 9; Crane, Southern Frontier, 284. 9. BPRO 11:128–31; Collections of the South Carolina Historical Society, 5 vols. (Charleston: South Carolina Historical Society, 1857–97), 1:272–73, 2:160, hereafter cited as CSCHS; Crane, Southern Frontier, 84; Coleman, Colonial Georgia, 9. 10. BPRO 11:127–31, quotation from 127. ` Sa Gr. My Lord Duc de Newcastle, Chambellan de S. 11. Me´moire Presente´ a ´ tat: sur l’e´tat pre´sent de la Caroline & M. le Roi, George, & c. & Secretaire d’E sur le moyens de l’ame´liorer (London: G. Bowyer, 1724). 12. BPRO 11:13–14. 13. ‘‘Complaints Against the Lords Proprietors of Carolina,’’ in W. Keith Kavenagh, ed., Foundations of Colonial America: A Documentary History, vol. 3 (New York: Chelsea House, 1973), 1796–1801; Charles Christopher Crittenden, ‘‘The Surrender of the Charter of Carolina,’’ in Ernest M. Lander, Jr. and Robert K. Ackerman, eds., Perspectives in South Carolina History: The First Three Hundred Years (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1973), 35–42; M. Eugene Sirmans, Colonial South Carolina: A Political History, 1663–1763 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1966), 103–63. For a concise account of the destructive Yamassee conflict see Chapman J. Milling, Red Carolinians (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1940), 135–64. 14. Robert L. Meriwether, The Expansion of South Carolina, 1729–1765 (Kingsport, Tenn.: Southern Publishers, Inc., 1940), 6; Lewis Cecil Gray, His-

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:40

PS

166

NOTES

tory of Agriculture in the Southern United States to 1860, vol. 1 (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1933), 120; Clarence L. Ver Steeg, ‘‘Slaves, Slavery, and the Genesis of the Plantation System in South Carolina: An Evolving Social-Economic Mosaic,’’ pp. 103–32 in Clarence L. Ver Steeg, Origins of a Southern Mosaic: Studies of Early Carolina and Georgia (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1975), 117, 120, 131. Carl Bridenbaugh estimated that in 1730 there were twelve thousand whites in South Carolina, which comprised one quarter of the total population. In the three lowcountry precincts of the colony there were fifty-three black slaves for every three whites. See Carl Bridenbaugh, Myths and Realities: Societies of the Colonial South (New York: Atheneum, 1963), 61. 15. Kavenagh, Foundations of Colonial America, 1796–1801; Meriwether, Expansion of South Carolina, 17. 16. Kaylene Hughes, ‘‘Populating the Back Country: The Demographic and Social Characteristics of the Colonial South Carolina Frontier, 1730–1760’’ (Ph.D. diss., The Florida State University, 1985), vii–viii. 17. Sirmans, Colonial South Carolina, 129–63. 18. Details for this paragraph and the one previous came from Hughes, ‘‘Populating the Back Country,’’ ix–x; Crane, Southern Frontier, 219–20, 229, 231, 234; Meriwether, Expansion of South Carolina, 17–18, 20. A brief sketch of Barnwell’s life appeared in the anonymous article ‘‘Barnwell of South Carolina,’’ South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine 2 (January 1901): 47–50. 19. Crane, Southern Frontier, 282. 20. Crane, Southern Frontier, 315. 21. Joshua Gee, The Trade and Navigation of Great Britain Considered (London, 1729), quoted in Crane, Southern Frontier, 315. 22. There has been only one English translation of the French language original of this treatise. More than 150 years after the publication of the French version, Charles C. Jones, Jr. secured one of the few remaining copies of the text and translated it into English. He had 250 copies of his translation printed privately for distribution. Subsequent citations of this document will be from the Jones text, copy 220 with minor alterations from the original French text for the sake of clarity. See note 8 above for the complete citation of the Jones translation. 23. Purry, Memorial to the Duke of Newcastle, 12–15. In this pamphlet Purry used the name ‘‘Georgia’’ to delineate crown lands south of the Savannah River, thereby becoming the first person to suggest the name. This was probably another incidence of Purry’s attempt at subtle diplomacy. By naming these lands after King George II, he may have hoped for special consideration for his own fiefdom in South Carolina. He has been called the entrepreneurial father of Georgia, as his settlement plan set the stage for its colonization. See Saye, ‘‘Merchants as Well as Ministers,’’ 195; Ready, ‘‘Georgia Concept,’’ 161. 24. CSCHS 1:196–97, 286, 2:166; BPRO 11:282; Crane, Southern Frontier, 285–86. There appears to be some discrepancy between what the Lords Proprietors offered and what Purry thought he accepted. By a letter dated 9 July 1725 to the Duke of Newcastle, Purry’s agent Jean Vat noted that the Proprietors contracted to grant Purry twenty-four thousand acres of land for bringing six hundred Swiss to South Carolina. Four years after their arrival the immigrants were to pay yearly fees amounting to three hundred pounds sterling. The letter also reiterated that the Proprietors agreed to pay passage for the immigrants from England to Charles Town. Finally, Vat wanted some assurance that recent

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:40

PS

167

NOTES

South Carolina legislation promising provisions, arms, and ammunition for the immigrants for nine months after their arrival would indeed be forthcoming. He had not yet received a response to a petition he presented to the Duke for the King in May of 1725 regarding support for the prospective colonists. Vat believed that such assurance of colonial support for the Swiss immigrants would calm the anxieties of those who might decide to leave Switzerland for the New World and redound to the benefit of the Empire. See BPRO 11:314–15. Comparing Vat’s letter to other extant sources creates a significant interpretive problem because of the substantial disparity between the accounts. The problem of which party would be liable for transportation costs might be partially explained by the fact that while Purry understood that the costs of transporting them would be met completely by the Lords Proprietors, they might have understood their obligation to be met by paying for the costs of transport between England and Charles Town. Purry would then be responsible for costs between Switzerland and England and again between Charles Town and their ultimate destination. The land awards and numbers of immigrants are more difficult issues to resolve. A possible explanation might proceed from the multiple levels of involvement by various parties. At least five different parties (the Lords Proprietors, the Lords Commissioners of Trade, Purry, his associates, and Vat) were involved in negotiations by summer 1725. When this fact is coupled with the observation that all the numbers in the sources—whether regarding land, money, or people—are multiples of three hundred, confusion could certainly have been possible. Finally, the wording used in the actual written documents, might have led to variant readings depending on the perspective of the reader. For example, although Purry was awarded only a twelve-thousand-acre barony for three hundred colonists according to one account, he might have reasoned logically that quadrupling the number of colonists to twelve hundred might lead to a quadrupling of land awarded to forty-eight thousand acres, which was his initial request. Similarly, since Vat’s letter notes that Purry had agreed to transport six hundred colonists for twenty-four thousand acres, he could have surmised that doubling the number of people to twelve hundred would double his land grant from the Proprietors. He may not have recognized that the Lords Proprietors no longer wanted him to have that much land no matter how many immigrants he settled in South Carolina, even though both the Duke of Newcastle and the Lords Commissioners of Trade had earlier assented to this sizable grant. It must be said that while any of these scenarios are plausible explanations, without further collaborating documentation, which does not appear to be available, they are ultimately based on creative conjecture. However, a later memorial to the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations dated 24 March 1730 and authored by Jean Pierre’s son Charles on Jean Pierre’s behalf makes mention of agreements dated 27 April 1725 and 1 May 1725 between the elder Purry and the Lords Proprietors that could resolve the most egregious of the inconsistencies noted above. The April agreement granted to John Vat twenty-four thousand acres in trust for Purry and ‘‘(in consideration of Three Pence Sterling per Annum, per Acre, as a Quit Rent to be paid Them [the Proprietors]) to defray the Charges of Transporting from England to South Carolina 600 persons.’’ The May agreement ‘‘further granted 12,000 acres more at One Penny per Annum per Acre, and 12,000 Acres more, in consideration of one pepper Corn for the whole 12,000 Acres, on Condition, that the said Purry should, at his own Charges, settle 600 Swiss persons, over and above the first 600.’’ See BPRO 14:77–78. I have been unable to locate either these

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:41

PS

168

NOTES

documents or clear reference to them in the extant records. But if Charles Purry has faithfully reproduced the facts, it renders the rather muddled series of events quite coherent. 25. George Fenwick Jones, ‘‘The Secret Diary of Pastor Johann Martin Boltzius,’’ GHQ 53 (March 1969): 78; CSCHS 3:291; Crane, Southern Frontier, 286. For the special functions of the immigration or land agent see Gilbert P. Voigt, ‘‘The German and German-Swiss Element in South Carolina, 1732–1752,’’ Bulletin of the University of South Carolina, no. 113 (September 1922): 18–19. Jones notes that Vat guided the second transport of Salzburg ´emigre´s to their new home across the Savannah River at Ebenezer in the mid-1730s. See Jones, ‘‘Secret Diary,’’ 78. 26. For a more complete explanation of the problems of Switzerland in the early eighteenth century see Migliazzo, ‘‘Ethnic Diversity,’’ 37–45. 27. CSCHS 3:291. 28. BPRO 12:153–54, 14:77–78; Leiding, ‘‘Purrysburg: A Swiss-French Settlement,’’ 28; Dubose, ‘‘Landmarks,’’ 2. The quotation is from BPRO 12:153–54. 29. CSCHS 1:241; Quotations are from BPRO 12:154. 30. G. Kurz, ‘‘Special Investigations by State Archivist (Berne) G. Kurz,’’ in Albert B. Faust, Lists of Swiss Emigrants in the Eighteenth Century to the American Colonies, 2 vols. (Washington, D. C.: National Genealogical Society, 1920), 2:18; CSCHS 1:241. 31. Arthur Henry Hirsch, ‘‘Some Phases of the Huguenot-Angelican Rivalries in South Carolina Before 1730,’’ Presbyterian Church Department of History Journal 13 (1928): 19–20; idem, Huguenots of Colonial South Carolina, 149. 32. BPRO 12:85. 33. CSCHS 1:241. 34. CSCHS 1:250; Leiding, ‘‘Purrysburg: A Swiss-French Settlement,’’ 28. 35. Crane, Southern Frontier, 287. 36. Hughes, ‘‘Populating the Back Country,’’ 4. The quotation is cited in Richard P. Sherman, Robert Johnson: Proprietary and Royal Governor of South Carolina (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1966), 108. 37. ‘‘A Proposal for Improving and the Better Settling of South Carolina,’’ received by the Board of Trade from Johnson 7 March 1730, BPRO 14:58–60; ‘‘Col. Johnson’s Proposal for Better Improving and Settling South Carolina,’’ received by the Board of Trade from Johnson 18 March 1730, and ‘‘Explanation of My Scheme,’’ received by the Board of Trade from Johnson 30 April 1730. The latter two sources are cited in Sherman, Robert Johnson 108–9. 38. Report of the Board of Trade to the Privy Council 26 May 1732, quoted in Sherman, Robert Johnson, 116. 39. J. H. Easterby and Ruth S. Green, eds., The Colonial Records of South Carolina: The Journal of the Commons House of Assembly, vols. 1736–50 (Columbia: Historical Commission of South Carolina, 1951–62), vol. 1736–39, 227, 268, 276, 282–83, 341, hereafter cited as JCHA; ‘‘An Act to Provide a Full Supply for Subsisting Poor Protestants,’’ in Kavenagh, Foundations of Colonial America, 2141–43; Meriwether, Expansion of South Carolina, 21. 40. South Carolina Gazette, 25 November 1732, hereafter cited as SCG; Joyce E. Chaplin, An Anxious Pursuit: Agricultural Innovation and Modernity in the Lower South, 1730–1815 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1993), 38, 158–59.

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:42

PS

169

NOTES

41. Chaplin, Anxious Pursuit, 39. 42. Much of the data for this paragraph and the two following was excerpted from ‘‘Instructions to Our Trusty and Well belov’d Robert Johnson . . . ,’’ BPRO 14:174–77; Thomas Cooper and David J. McCord, The Statutes at Large of South Carolina, 10 vols. (Columbia: A. S. Johnston, 1836–41), 1:430; Henry A. M. Smith, ‘‘Purrysburg,’’ South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine 10 (October 1909): 189–90; CSCHS 2:122–23, 177–78, 3:306; Sherman, Robert Johnson, 108–12; Meriwether, Expansion of South Carolina, 19–20; Gilbert P. Voigt, ‘‘The Germans and German-Swiss in South Carolina, 1732–1765: Their Contribution to the Province,’’ The Proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association 5 (1935): 17. The quotations are from BPRO 14:176. 43. Alan D. Watson’s article, ‘‘The Quitrent System in Royal South Carolina,’’ William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd series 33 (April 1976): 183–211 provides an overview of the policies and problems of the royal quit rent system after the land reform act of November 1731. 44. Katherine Hurt Richardson argues that the South Carolina township plan of settlement most closely resembled similar strategies of Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania (i.e., scattered settlement on farms in extensive townships with a nucleated village). British officials, however, specifically mentioned Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire as precedents for the plan. See Katherine Hurt Richardson, ‘‘ ‘As Easy to Build Towns As Draw Schemes . . . ,’ Colonial South Carolina Settlement Patterns: Towns on the Frontier,’’ (M.A. thesis, University of South Carolina, 1988), 22. See also BPRO 14:174. 45. Ready, ‘‘Georgia Concept,’’ 162; See also Saye, ‘‘Genesis of Georgia Reviewed,’’ 156–58; Coleman, ‘‘Georgia’s Founding,’’171; CSCHS 2:123, 182; Crane, Southern Frontier, 287. 46. BPRO 14:77–78. The quotation is from BPRO 14:5. 47. BPRO 14:112–13, 237–38. The quotations are from 237–38. 48. BPRO 15:103. 49. Quotations are from BPRO 15:62–64, 115. See also CSCHS 2:125, 127, 129, 182–83; Smith, ‘‘Purrysburg,’’ 189. The ‘‘Instructions’’ inaccurately refer to the ‘‘forty thousand acres’’ he was to have received from the Lords Proprietors. See BPRO 15:62. 50. A close reading of the available documents appears to point to a discrepancy in dating Purry’s first arrival in South Carolina. Most sources agree on 1731. Purry himself tells us the party arrived in May of that year. But in a petition by John Vat to the President of the Privy Council dated 7 March 1731/32, Vat says that Purry and his company arrived in 1730. This earlier date is most likely taken to mean 1730/31 because of a disparity between the calendars in use at the time. To arrive by May 1731 Purry’s party had to have left Europe sometime in the late winter—probably early March at the latest. In the Julian calendar used at this time, even the early days of March would have been reckoned as occurring in the previous year, in this case 1730. Collaborating evidence clearly points to 1731 as the correct year of their arrival in the Gregorian calendar adapted later by Great Britain. See BPRO 15:103, 16:350. 51. Some sources also mention a sizable land grant to Purry from King George II by a royal patent of 1 September 1731 located adjacent to the township site. See BPRO 15:116; Lawrence S. Rowland, Alexander Moore, and George C. Rogers, Jr., The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina, 1514– 1861 (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996), 119; Robert Mills, Statistics of South Carolina (Charleston: Hurlbut & Lloyd, 1826), 369; Dr. F.

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:42

PS

170

NOTES

Muench, ‘‘The Story of Purysburg,’’ The Charleston News and Courier (10 April 1898), 10; Smith, ‘‘Purrysburg,’’ 190–91; Leiding, ‘‘Purrysburg: A SwissFrench Settlement,’’ 29. 52. Jean Pierre Purry, ‘‘Instruction pour ceux qui auroient dessein d’accompagner le soussigne Jean Pierre Purry en Caroline,’’ translated as ‘‘Proposals by Mr. Peter Purry of Newfchatel . . . ,’’ and published in Gentleman’s Magazine (August, September, and October 1732). This translation was included in B. R. Carroll, ed., Historical Collections of South Carolina, 2 vols. (New York: Harper & Bros., 1836), 2:121–23 and in Peter Force, comp., Tracts and Other Papers Relating Principally to the Origin, Settlement and Progress of the Colonies . . . to the Year 1776, vol. 2 (Washington City: P. Force, 1838). Quotations are taken from the Carroll text. 53. Jean Pierre Purry, ‘‘Description abre´ge´e de l’e´tat pre´sent de la Caroline Meridionale . . . ,’’ translated as ‘‘A Description of the Province of South Carolina’’ and published in Gentleman’s Magazine (August, September, and October, 1732). This translation was included in Carroll, Historical Collections, 2:124–39 and Force, Tracts and Other Papers, vol. 2. 54. Although the ‘‘Description’’ and the ‘‘Instruction’’ were written together in Charles Town in September 1731 after Purry and his small party returned from the township site it is unknown whether the manuscript documents circulated at all at that early date and if so in what circles. It is logical to assume that South Carolina authorities (the Governor, Council, and Commons House) would have been aware of their existence and may have even seen the original manuscripts. They certainly did not exist in printed form at this time either in the original French or in English translation. (Circumstantial evidence makes it highly doubtful that Jean Pierre was fluent in English). The English publication of both in the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1732 served two functions. First, it signaled the implementation of Johnson’s township plan. Second, their publication served to assure the outnumbered white merchants and planters of the lowcountry that new immigrants were on the way. For a concise analysis of the influence of promotional literature in the southern colonies and Purry’s traditional role in the genre, see Hugh F. Lefler, ‘‘Promotional Literature of the Southern Colonies,’’ Journal of Southern History 33 (February 1967): 3–25. Hope Francis Kane’s Ph.D. dissertation ‘‘Colonial Promotion and Promotion Literature of Carolina, 1660–1700,’’ (Brown University, 1930) provides the best analysis of the promotional tract in the earlier period. 55. It is conceivable that Purry could have published an earlier version of this ˆtel as he refers to the numerous persons who had diverse pamphlet in Neucha questions and objections to ‘‘la pre´mie´re edition.’’ He may here be thinking of questions raised by South Carolinians during his visit in 1731. But this seems highly unlikely as his explanations have to do with questions more naturally asked by prospective emigrants than by those already in South Carolina. Yet it also seems improbable that he would have been able to write anything prior to the 23 September 1731 date because the township noted as Purrysburg by name in the document had not been named until his party’s return to Charles Town from the township site in the summer of 1731. Since he probably retained possession of his original manuscripts of the ‘‘Instruction’’ and ‘‘Description,’’ these texts were probably published in local newspapers immediately upon his return to Switzerland. This initial publication might have occurred as early as the end of December 1731 and led to such an outpouring of commentary from prospective settlers and suspicious Swiss officials alike in the ensuing weeks

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:43

PS

171

NOTES

that Purry then prepared this nouvelle edition by the 1 March 1732 date attached to the ‘‘Eclaircissemens’’ [Clarifications] section. I have been unable to locate any published copies of this elusive first edition in either French or English and have not found any unambiguous reference to a first edition besides the English version of 23 September 1731 and the internal evidence within the nouvelle edition of 1732. 56. See Jean Pierre Purry, Description abre´ge´e de l’e´tat pre´sent de la Caroline Meridionale, nouvelle edition, avec des eclaircissemens, les actes des concessions ` ce suject a ` l’auteur, tant pour luy que pour ceux qui voudront prendre faites a parti avec luy. Et enfin une instruction qui contient les conditions, sous lesquelles ˆtel: n. p., 1732). The only extant original of on pourra l’accompagner (Neucha the new edition in French that I have been able to locate includes letters of 20 August and 5 October 1733 attesting to the current condition of the Purrysburg settlement and a certificate dated 5 August 1733 from male inhabitants of the township verifying the truth of Purry’s description of South Carolina published the previous year. Internal evidence indicates that these letters were appended to Purry’s nouvelle edition of 1732 after the fact, probably to convince others to emigrate to Purrysburg on its founder’s subsequent trips to Switzerland for more recruits. 57. See also Kurz, ‘‘Investigations,’’ 17–18; Muench, ‘‘Story of Purysburg,’’ 10; Chatelain, ‘‘Purrysbourg,’’ 89; Dr. Adolph Gerber, ‘‘The Canton of Basel and the Conditions of its Inhabitants in the Country Districts,’’ 86–217 in Faust, Lists, 2:87–88; Faust, Lists, 1:iv-viii; idem, ‘‘Swiss Immigration,’’ 21–43. 58. Florence Janson Sherriff, ‘‘The Saltzburgers and Purrysburg,’’ The Proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association (1963): 15; Coleman, ‘‘Georgia’s Founding,’’ 171. Webb Garrison argues that Purry negotiated the secret contract with Oglethorpe to secure his influence and support for the Purrysburg venture. While Purry may have been somewhat fearful that this effort might also be destroyed at the last minute, as had been his earlier attempt, a much more likely interpretation and one that Garrison notes is that since Trustees could not own land in Georgia, Oglethorpe assured himself of a South Carolina estate with this arrangement. In fairness, it should also be noted that this agreement was illegal according to the provisions of the township plan. See Webb Garrison, Oglethorpe’s Folly: The Birth of Georgia (Lakemont, Ga.: Copple House Books, 1982), 44, 169. Oglethorpe may have provided some undisclosed service to Purry as Viscount Percival (another Georgia Trustee) seems to indicate but it probably had to do with issues other than actual negotiations with the government for the initial settlement of Purrysburg. See Diary of Viscount Percival, First Earl of Egmont, 3 vols. (London: H.M. Stationary Office, 1920–23), 1:286, as quoted in Garrison, Oglethorpe’s Folly, 229. 59. BPRO 15:103–5. It is instructive to note the ingenious strategy employed by Purry and Vat here. They conveniently fail to mention that the twelve thousand acres were only free of quit rent in Purry’s original proposal, not in the final plan of settlement certified by the Board of Trade. As we have previously observed, the figure of forty-eight thousand acres from the 1724–26 affair was also subject to much greater nuancing than is apparent in this petition. 60. BPRO 15:105–7. 61. BPRO 15:82–83. 62. BPRO 15:113–20. 63. BPRO 15:84, 121–26. The ‘‘Additional Instructions’’ wrongly report at one point in the document that the grant was for forty thousand acres—which

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:43

PS

172

NOTES

number appeared erroneously on at least one previous occasion. See BPRO 15:125. See also CSCHS 2:131; Smith, ‘‘Purrysburg,’’ 192. This may have been the point at which Oglethorpe intervened on Purry’s behalf. 64. Smith, ‘‘Purrysburg,’’ 194–95, 201–2; Voigt, ‘‘German Immigration,’’ 19. 65. Purry’s son Charles carried on the fight even after his father’s death. For an examination of the numerous instances of bureaucratic mismanagement and fraud see Migliazzo, ‘‘Ethnic Diversity,’’ 60–66. 66. I hope to have begun that process with my earlier cited article in the South Carolina Historical Magazine and my as yet unfinished monograph on Purrysburg Township tentatively titled ‘‘In the Company of Strangers: Community, Identity, and Social Adaptation in Purrysburg Township, South Carolina.’’ 67. Arthur Percival Newton, ‘‘Introduction: The Conception of the World in the Middle Ages,’’ 1–18 in Arthur Percival Newton, ed., Travel and Travellers in the Middle Ages (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1949), 5–6, 10–11, 13–14; Boies Penrose, Travel and Discovery in the Renaissance, 1420–1620 (New York: Atheneum, 1971), 5, 12. 68. For a more complete analysis of the feudal foundations to Purry’s colonizing strategies in South Carolina see Migliazzo, ‘‘Tarnished Legacy.’’ 69. Wines and silks were produced in South Carolina, but they were never as commercially viable as had been hoped. For a summary of the course of these ventures in the colony see Arlin C. Migliazzo, ‘‘British Mercantile Theory and French Huguenot Labor: The Wine and Silk Industries in Colonial South Carolina, 1680–1776,’’ unpublished paper, Washington State University, 29 January 1980. 70. It might also be noted that Purry’s strong defense of slave labor in the first memorial to the Dutch East India Company, his reaffirmation of the institution in the second, and his observation in the description of South Carolina that the slave labor force contributed to the riches of the province, provided the intellectual rationale for his personal acquisition of slaves once he settled in Purrysburg. 71. Purry further demonstrates his continuity of purpose later in the second memorial to the Dutch East India Company when he writes that Columbus had to approach several monarchs before finding a sponsor for his proposed voyage. This is exactly the course of action Purry took over the next thirteen years, pursuing French support before finding a receptive audience in Great Britain. 72. A Description of the Province of South Carolina . . . and the Proposals . . . are the most widely disseminated of all Purry’s corpus. The English translations not only appeared in the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1732 but, as noted earlier (see notes 52 and 53), in Carroll’s Historical Collections of South Carolina in 1836 and in Peter Force’s Tracts and Other Papers . . . in 1838. The only copy of the French language original extant in the United States is housed at Yale University. Only six American repositories (the New York Public Library, the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the Library Company of Philadelphia, Clements Library at the University of Michigan, and the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University) have copies of the French original of the Memorial to . . . the Duke of Newcastle. . . . The English translation of 1880 by Charles C. Jones, Jr. is available at close to two dozen locations in the United States. Purry’s two essays to officials of the Dutch East India Company, the most complex and seminal of his works, are also the most rare and difficult to access in either French or English. The original French version of the first memorial

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:44

PS

173

NOTES

was reduced to microfiche by the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales of Paris in 1974. Four American university libraries hold these microfiche copies (the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Princeton University, UCLA, and the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis). Copies of the only previous English translation of this memorial, printed in London for M. Cooper in 1744, are held only by the Library of Congress, the University of California at Berkeley, and the John Crerar Library Rare Book Collection at the University of Chicago. The second memorial has never appeared in English translation in North America and is extremely rare elsewhere, even in the original French version. The University of Minnesota in Minneapolis holds the only copy of the French original known to exist in the United States. It is bound with the French original of the first memorial. UCLA and Stanford University have made photocopies of this volume. Dr. C. C. Macknight of the Australian National University has brought to my attention two other English translations of Purry’s essays to the Dutch East India Company, or portions of them, extant in Australia. In his ‘‘Research Notes,’’ Professor Macknight mentions handwritten English translations from the French of both memorials done by Sir W[illiam] D[ixson] (1870–1952). The undated translations are housed in the Dixson Library of the State Library of New South Wales in a small notebook. Dr. Macknight also refers to the existence of partial translations of portions of the two memorials by Mr. Justice Buchanan sometime before 1917. The translated extracts of the memorials were published in Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, South Australian Branch, vol. 19 (1917–18), 102–8. Buchanan’s work was reprinted in George Mackaness, Some Proposals for Establishing Colonies in the South Seas (Australian Historical Monographs, original series, vol. 6, Sydney, 1943) and recently reprinted in the new series, vol. 9, Dubbo, 1976. Dixson’s translations of the two memorials, though apparently complete, have never been published. Buchanan’s translations, which have been published, are only selected extracts from the memorials. Although Dutch versions of both memorials to the Company were published, I have not been able to locate either of them in any American repository. 73. The traveling exhibition, ‘‘Changing Coastlines: Putting Australia on the World Map, 1493–1993,’’ sponsored by The National Library of Australia (November 1993-August 1994) is perhaps the most vivid example of the current level of interest in early EuroAustralian studies.

CHAPTER 2: MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA AND THE TERRE DE NUYTS Translated from the original French text by Professor Pierrette C. ChristianneLovrien, Associate Professor of French Emerita, Whitworth College. 1. Kaffraria is the English term for a portion of southern Africa claimed but not yet settled by the Dutch north of the Great Kei River and proceeding up the Indian Ocean coastline past present-day Transkei to the Natal region. The French term used by Purry here (le pais des cafres) literally means ‘‘the country of the Bantus.’’ The Bantus had begun their migration southward from western Africa about the time of Christ and had reached southern Africa with their

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:44

PS

174

NOTES

farming and ironworking technologies before the Dutch arrived in the seventeenth century. 2. The Dutch East India Company maintained a collective leadership to direct its business affairs. Boddens was one of many in the oligarchy. 3. Literally ‘‘Nuyts’ Land,’’ this region included a cluster of islands off the Eyre Peninsula of south-central Australia as well as the coastline ringing the Great Australian Bight. It bore the name of Pieter Nuyts, a member of the Dutch Indian Council, who visited the region and saw the islands in 1627 while sailing aboard the Gulden Zeepaard. At the time that Purry lived, Australia and its environs was known as New Holland. 4. The Dutch colonial administration on the island of Java was centered at Batavia, today called Jakarta. 5. Christophel van Swol was the top Company official in Batavia and the logical person for Purry, an employee of the Company, to approach initially with his colonization ideas. Purry uses a number of variant spellings of van Swol’s name in the original French version. 6. The author here is referring to the commonly held assumption in the eighteenth century that there were similar ‘‘climate zones’’ north and south of the equator. The parallel circles he speaks of here correspond to lines of latitude encircling the globe. 7. Purry here begins to introduce a number of authors, some more well known than others, to prove that none of them has been able to grasp the climatological truths that he has. I have chosen to maintain the citation forms Purry used in the original text as well as his rendering of the titles. In some cases when there is a discrepancy between Purry’s reference and the actual source he cites, I will provide a more complete title and description for the volume. Nicolas Sanson (1626–48) collaborated with his more renowned father Nicolas Sanson (1600–67) on some of the latter’s geographical research before perishing in the Insurrection of the Barricades (27 August 1648). The elder Sanson was perhaps the most prominent geographer of early modern France, credited as he was with being the creator of the discipline in that country. 8. See la Description de l’Univers par Mrs. Sanson pere & fils, 7, printed in Amsterdam, 1700. The parentheses are the editor’s and are included for clarity. 9. Louis More´ri (1643–80), though originally a student of theology at Lyon, turned to more secular studies early in his professional life. He committed most of his adult life to the preparation and publication of the multi-volume Dictionnaire historique. So respected was he as the author of this scholarly work that even as it went through successive editions well into the eighteenth century under different writers, his name remained as the original author. 10. See, le Dictionnaire historique de More´ri, vol. 3, 103, printed in Paris, 1712. There appears to have been a misprint in the original document, for the word dessous—meaning ‘‘under’’ or ‘‘below’’—appears twice in Purry’s quotation from More´ri’s work. Purry most assuredly meant to use the word dessus, meaning ‘‘over’’ or ‘‘above.’’ Most likely the printer inadvertently left out the ‘‘o.’’ The parentheses are again for clarity. 11. Michel-Antoine Baudrand (1633–1700), a native of Paris and an active churchman and diplomat, traveled widely and wrote extensively on world geography. 12. Dictionnaire ge´ographique de Baudrand, printed in 1701. This citation and the one following appear to be taken from Baudrand’s Dictionnaire ge´ographique universel, contenant une description exacte des ´etats, roy-

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:44

PS

175

NOTES

aumes, villes forteresses, montagnes . . . , printed posthumously in Amsterdam and Utrecht by Franc¸ois Halma and Guillaume van de Water, 1701. 13. Dictionnaire ge´ographique de Baudrand. For some reason, although usually careful of page citations in the remainder of this essay as well as in his other writings when quoting directly, Purry fails to provide page numbers for this particular source. Here and elsewhere in this edition, when Purry cites the same source more than once, I have opted for consistency in the endnotes rather than strict adherence to Purry’s exact citation forms. The ‘‘Line’’ referred to here is the equator. 14. David Franc¸ois de Merveilleu ´ x (d. 1712) was a Swiss engineer in service to Holland. 15. The Sunda (in French, Sonde) Islands comprise an archipelago including many of the islands of present day Indonesia such as Java and Sumatra. ˆtel, ` la Ge´ographie universelle, vol. 1 (Neucha 16. La parfaite Introduction a ` la ge´ographie universe1694), 321. The actual title of the study is Introduction a lle par une nouvelle methode, abre´ge´e & tre`s facile. . . . 17. Purry is not speaking here of the region known as Mongolia in the modern era. Rather he is referring to a region of south-central Asia lying roughly between present day Iran and Afghanistan known in thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as Mongolistan. 18. When Purry speaks of ‘‘our ancient continent,’’ he is referring to Eurasia and Africa. 19. It is difficult to discern why Jean Pierre suddenly decides to refer to Dutch interests in southern Africa here by noting the only significant Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. Perhaps the tactic is a subtle way of reminding Company officials how relatively close Dutch colonists are to the land of Kaffraria. It is, however, quite perplexing because he will now switch between the two terms, which might lead the reader to believe erroneously that the terms denote the same place. 20. The parentheses in this and the following paragraph are for clarity. They do not appear in the original text. 21. The ‘‘line’’ Purry refers to here is the equator. 22. To make Purry’s point comprehensible, I have taken rather extensive liberties with the translation from the French. Here Purry is explaining that since the earth rotates so quickly, the heavy atmosphere at the equator cannot keep up with its spinning. The speed differential between the earth and its atmosphere causes eddying wind currents to develop, which create the eastern wind he speaks of here. The effect he describes is much like the result observed if a ball is placed in water and spun. Here again Purry refers to the equator as the ‘‘line.’’ The parentheses are not found in the original text. 23. Malabar and Coromandel are, respectively, the names given to the southwest and southeast coastal regions of India. Thailand was until very recent times known as Siam and Sri Lanka as Ceylon. 24. The Molucca chain formed part of the Dutch East Indies and is today a province of Indonesia. The Moluccas were formerly called the Spice Islands. 25. Surat is a port city in the Gulf of Cambay north of Bombay at the mouth of the Tapti River. 26. The reference here is to the extensive Islamic Empire centered at Delhi known variously as the Mogol, Mughal, or Mogul Empire. The word ‘‘Empire’’ does not appear in the original but is inserted for clarity. 27. This city has also been called Gambra, Gambron, Gearon, Jaron, and

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:44

PS

176

NOTES

Gommon. It is located in southern Iran just north of the Strait of Hormuz. During the eighteenth century Gameron was said to produce the best dates in all of Iran. Gameron is today known by the Islamic name Bandar-e ‘Abba ¯s. 28. The term in the French original literally denotes ‘‘Stony Arabia’’ (Arabie Petre´e), which was a former name for the region today called the Sinai Peninsula. Purry exhibits here his rather extensive knowledge of the Bible, which will become more apparent as he advances his arguments. 29. The ecliptic is the sun’s apparent annual path or orbit among the stars as seen from the earth. 30. The obliquity Purry notes here refers to the tilting of the earth on its axis as it orbits the sun. The sun’s rays hit any given spot on the globe (except the equator) at greater or lesser angles from the perpendicular during different seasons of the year. 31. This is a particularly difficult passage to interpret. The city of Tyre was built on a rocky island about one half mile off the mainland and was a prosperous commercial center and ‘‘the ancient mother of colonies and mistress of the seas,’’ according to one commentator. The original French text would permit a rendering of this sentence that might indicate either the prosperity and power of the city (‘‘but moreover for having ruled the seas for a long time’’) or the successful fight the population waged against the constant pounding of the Mediterranean Sea by constructing the embankment mentioned in the next sentence that proved such a hindrance to Alexander the Great (‘‘but moreover for having held the sea back under its domination for a long time’’). See James Hastings, Dictionary of the Apostolic Church (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1918), 2:626–27. 32. Genesis 49:20. In the original, Purry used the more convincing term ‘‘delicacies’’ rather than the indeterminate ‘‘dainties’’ found in the King James and the Revised Standard Versions. 33. Ezekiel 28:13. 34. Sale is a port city in the Rabat region of Morocco just north of Casablanca. 35. Jean Pierre’s references here correspond to the cities of Nanjing and Beijing according to the accepted Pinyin rendering. Honan refers to modern day Henan Province, which is east of Nanjing. 36. Luculle (Lucius Licinius Lucullus) served under the Roman commander Sulla. He was an accomplished military strategist and architect of massive victories at sea and on land during the First (B.C. 89–84) and Third (B.C. 75–65) Mithridate Wars. 37. The Mithridate name is a Persian word derived from Mithras, the sun god, and the Indo-European root ‘‘da,’’ meaning ‘‘to give.’’ The name was used by many leaders of the Near East including six kings of Pontus, three kings of Parthia, two kings of Commagene, two kings of Bosphorus, and one king of Armenia. The mention of Lucullus indicates that Purry refers here to Mitridates VI of Pontus, who triggered three wars with the Romans between B.C. 89 and B.C. 65. with his expansionist policies in Asia Minor and along the eastern and northern shores of the Black Sea. 38. Ipiros is a region in northwest Greece bordering the Ionian Sea. 39. This north central Indian province is thought to be the region where the lemon originated. Purry’s text refers to the region as Madie. 40. Born in London, Sir Guillaume Temple (1628–98) began his international travels at the age of nineteen. A superb linguist and respected scholar, Temple became quite involved in the Irish Question after the restoration of Charles II.

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:45

PS

177

NOTES

He also served as a high level diplomat for the British government. The essay to which Purry refers here does not seem to have been published as a solitary piece. It is most likely included in his miscellaneous writings, which Purry later cites directly. See note 45. 41. This passage literally reads, ‘‘However, this does not prevent that the degree of heat that this country will have received from the sun thanks to its good location, from always being the main cause of the good quality of its fruit or its wines.’’ 42. The parentheses are inserted for clarity. They do not appear in the original text. 43. See Recueil des Voyages de la Companie, vol. 4 (Amsterdam, 1705), 729. Purry now turns to the official records of Company-sponsored expeditions to various parts of the world to bolster his arguments. Callao is a port on the Pacific Ocean in west-central Peru just north of Lima. The parentheses are inserted for clarity. They are not part of the original text. 44. The parentheses are not found in the original text. 45. See les oeuvres meˆle´es de Mr. le Chevalier Temple, vol. 1 (Utrecht, 1694), 65. 46. See le Recueil des Voyages de la Companie, vol. 2 (Amsterdam, 1704), 439. Spilberg and the following three commanders sailed under the auspices of the Dutch East India Company. 47. See le Recueil des Voyages de la Companie, vol. 2, 688. 48. ‘‘Line’’ refers to the equator. 49. See le Recueil des Voyages de la Companie, vol. 4, (Amsterdam, 1705), 10. These locations are in South Africa (Bay of Verhaguen) and on the island of Madagascar (Bay of Augustin). 50. See le Recueil des Voyages de la Companie, vol. 4, 471. 51. The words ‘‘cellar’’ and ‘‘attic’’ refer to the ability of southern Africa to be the provisioning and supply storehouse for the empire. 52. Nearly two more generations would pass before it was discovered that ingesting adequate amounts of citrus fruits such as oranges or cured vegetables such as sauerkraut prevented scurvy. 53. These islands are located in the south Atlantic Ocean. 54. Ambon (Annabon) Island is in the Molucca chain. L’Ermite sailed for the Dutch East India Company. 55. See le Recueil des Voyages de la Companie, vol. 4, 683–84. 56. The parentheses are inserted for clarity. They do not appear in the original text. 57. Father Louis Daniel Le Comte (1655–1729) served for many years as a Jesuit missionary to China. He wrote extensively on Chinese cultural and religious affairs. Purry’s comments most probably come from Le Comte’s Nouveaux me´moires sur l’e´tat present de la Chine. The first volume was published in Paris in 1696 with subsequent volumes appearing in 1697 and 1701. The study went through a number of editions. As with the references to Baudrand’s work earlier, Purry provides no specific page citation for this information taken from Le Comte’s memoirs. 58. Bantam is a region on the island of Java where Purry labored for the Dutch East India Company. 59. A bandolier is a type of shoulder strap, used here undoubtedly to carry the weapon more conveniently. 60. Voyages de Mr. Franc¸ois Bernier Docteur en Me´decine (Amsterdam, 1709).

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:45

PS

178

NOTES

Franc¸ois Bernier (1620–88) published studies of both history and philosophy in addition to the memoirs of his extensive travels in Asia in the mid-seventeenth century. Purry here refers to his two-volume work, Voyages de Franc¸ois Bernier . . . Contenant la description des ´etats du Grand Mogol, de l’Hindoustan, du royaume de Kachemire . . . , published initially in Amsterdam in 1699. It also went through numerous editions. 61. Purry has now skipped to the example of the Jewish Patriarch, Joseph, of Old Testament fame. 62. Genesis 47:24. 63. Leviticus 25:23. 64. Cosmography is that branch of science that deals with the constitution of the entire natural order. 65. This is perhaps Purry’s most sustained jibe in the Me´moire at the leadership of the Dutch East India Company in Batavia for not pursuing his colonization plans. 66. I Thessalonians 5:21. 67. Purry ends his case rather audaciously, asking van Swol to grant him some reward for his efforts on behalf of the Company.

CHAPTER 3: SECOND MEMORIAL ON THE COUNTRY OF KAFFRARIA AND THE TERRE DE NUYTS Translated from the original French text by Professor Pierrette C. ChristianneLovrien, Professor of French Emerita, Whitworth College. 1. Spurned in his first attempt to convince East India Company officials in Batavia to sanction his colonization plans for either Kaffraria or the Terre de Nuyts, Purry has decided to journey to Holland to argue his case before the ‘‘home office’’ of the Dutch East India Company. The same fleet that carries him also carries the negative reply of the Company officials in Batavia regarding Purry’s colonization proposals outlined in his memorial of 1717. 2. It is unknown what financial reverses befell Purry during the time he maintained an affiliation with the Dutch East India Company (1713–18). Professor Kenneth Coleman indicates that he had been a Batavian planter. Dr. C. C. Macknight’s more recent research notes that he also appears to have held an official post with the Company as the ‘‘Reader in the French language.’’ On the one hand his crops may have failed. On the other hand, given the intensity of his first Me´moire and the rather biting tone of the Second Me´moire, the ‘‘reverses’’ could have been perpetuated by his own enthusiasm rather than one visited upon his agricultural pursuits by nature. Perhaps he had made such a pest of himself that the East India officials in Java decided to cut his association with the Company as a way to rid themselves of his insistent ways. See Kenneth Coleman, Colonial Georgia: A History (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1976), 9; personal letter, Dr. C. C. Macknight, Tasmania, Australia to Arlin Migliazzo, Spokane, Washington, 10 May 1993. 3. The ‘‘writers’’ Purry refers to here are the petty bureaucrats, bookkeepers, and secretaries employed by colonial administrations in the Dutch Empire. 4. The parentheses are inserted for clarity. They do not appear in the original text.

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:45

PS

179

NOTES

5. See l’Histoire abre´ge´e de l’Europe du mois de Decembre 1687, vol. 3, 695, agreed upon regulations. (This is Purry’s original citation). 6. Damas and perdrigons are two types of plums. 7. Many types of plants can reproduce themselves by a process known as ‘‘layering.’’ The process varies depending upon what kind of plant is involved. For vined berries this entails burying a new shoot in the ground six inches deep or so. These buried shoots will develop into new plants. See Carroll C. Calkins, ed., The Reader’s Digest Illustrated Guide to Gardening (Pleasantville, New York: The Reader’s Digest Association, 1978), 92–93, 513. 8. The construction of this sentence in the original French makes its meaning difficult to ascertain. Purry may mean that this many animals of each type died of the sickness or that these enumerated figures are the numbers of animals with which farmers have moved inland. 9. The Natal region of southern Africa fronts on the Indian Ocean. Modern day Durban lies in Natal. 10. The ‘‘tithe’’ Purry refers to here is an obligation assumed by those who are under the Company’s employ. In this paragraph the tithe is linked to service. In the following paragraphs it refers to a tax on production. 11. Purry here may be relating an incident from the imperial struggle over the Malay Peninsula. Malacca, a region on the southwestern coast of the peninsula, was conquered by the Portuguese in 1511. The Dutch attempted to wrest it unsuccessfully from them in 1606. With some help from local peoples, the Dutch ultimately conquered the region in 1641. The siege Purry mentions here probably refers to this later conflict. 12. The parentheses are inserted for clarity. They do not appear in the original text. 13. After the Vaud, a French-speaking canton of Switzerland. 14. Leviticus 27: 30–32. 15. Deuteronomy 14: 22, 27 and 26: 12; Numbers 18: 24. 16. Purry is speaking here of the exodus of Calvinists from France during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries because of religious persecution in their homeland. 17. Numbers 11: 5; Exodus 16: 3. 18. In this Second Me´moire, as in his first, Purry uses the expression ‘‘attic and cellar’’ to indicate the capability of his proposed colonies to become storehouses for the Dutch Empire. 19. ‘‘Eccentricity’’ here refers to the asymmetrical nature of the ecliptic of the sun. See notes 29 and 30 in the first Me´moire. 20. This may have been easy to understand, but it was totally wrong. He is searching for a logical way to explain the area’s lack of productivity even though it exists in his optimal climate zone. 21. Purry refers here to the Noahic flood of the Old Testament (Genesis 6–8). His note in the original text cited Genesis 6: 4. 22. The parentheses are inserted for clarity. They do not appear in the original text. 23. In the biblical account the ‘‘children of Hanak’’ were branch descendants of the Nephilim (Genesis 6: 4). Jewish scouts sent to reconnoiter the Promised Land (Palestine) after the flight from Egypt found the ‘‘sons of Anak’’ there. The fear engendered in the Jews after hearing the reports of these giants led to the forty-year wilderness wanderings of the people. Purry’s citation in the origi-

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:46

PS

180

NOTES

nal text is Numbers 13: 34, an obvious error. See Numbers 13: 33. Other mention of the giant race is found in Numbers 13: 22, 28, 32; Deuteronomy 9: 2; and Joshua 11: 20, 21. See Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan, eds., The Oxford Companion to the Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 556. 24. These are the soldiers that Purry proposes to send out as noted in the previous paragraph. 25. Numbers 13: 19–21. 26. For some inexplicable reason, Purry enumerates his recommendations from this point on with Arabic numerals. 27. Cosmography is the science that is concerned with the structure of the whole order of nature. 28. Purry here barely disguises his dislike for van Swol. Not only does he cast doubt on the Governor-General’s intellectual capabilities, he also refuses to address him by his full title. Referring to him only as ‘‘Mr. General van Swol’’ could very well be Purry’s subtle way of questioning his authority to make decisions in matters not related to the day-to-day routine of administration. This paragraph will not be the last time in this essay that Purry gives words to the animosity he harbored for the Governor-General upon van Swol’s negative response to his first Me´moire. 29. The parentheses are inserted for clarity. They do not appear in the original text. 30. Amboyne (or Amboine) Island and Banda Island are in the Molucca Island group. Ceylon is known today as Sri Lanka. 31. Exodus 18: 17–18, 21–22. 32. The parentheses are inserted for clarity. They do not appear in the original text. 33. The parentheses are inserted for clarity. They do not appear in the original text. 34. See note 11 above. 35. In this sentence Purry seems to be playing out the scenario of disgruntled colonists terrorizing the ships and possessions of the Company. Purry’s point is that if these frustrated colonists remain so, they may turn to piracy. 36. Here Purry is attempting to drive home his contention that exploration of South Australia would not entail any additional expense beyond the current practice of sending the regularly scheduled spring fleet to the Indies, since the Terre de Nuyts is so close to the Company’s normal route from the Cape of Good Hope to Batavia on the island of Java. 37. Purry suggests an ingenious method to offset the possible extra costs to the Dutch East India Company for its exploration and initial colonization of the Terre de Nuyts by allowing its ships to serve as mail and cargo carriers for Dutch and non-Dutch alike. 38. Perhaps Purry means here that some expenses are already being met by utilizing the ships of the Company to transport freight for others for a fee. 39. This difficult passage might more clearly read, ‘‘That difference is that the Company would have the freight charge from transporting the merchandise whereas it does not now get anything out of it and things are done, although with a little more expense, by private parties.’’ The parentheses are inserted for clarity. They do not appear in the original text. 40. The ‘‘emperor’’ of this passage is the Hapsburg sovereign of the central European Holy Roman Empire. 41. This trading company took its name from the port of the same name in

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:46

PS

181

NOTES

present-day Belgium. The words in parentheses are inserted for clarity. They are not in the original text. 42. The parentheses are inserted for clarity. They do not appear in the original text. 43. This long and convoluted sentence does not make logical sense for if company officials had sent help it would have demonstrated both the importance of the island and the seriousness with which they took the Governor’s request for assistance. The error in Purry’s logic here may be attributable to a typesetting problem or the author’s own fallacious reasoning. 44. Coxinga is the western name for Zheng Chenggong (1624–62), a noted pirate leader of Ming forces fighting against the Manchu conquerors of China. He is best known for establishing Chinese control over Formosa. 45. I Samuel 17: 28. 46. Genesis 37: 19–20. 47. The exact nature of the expenses to which Purry refers here is difficult to ascertain. There are a host of possibilities. He may have had the van Swol text of his Me´moire reproduced in the East Indies. He may be seeking remuneration for the hours he spent in research and writing that took him away from his commercial endeavors in Batavia. Purry may even have personally reconnoitered the Terre de Nuyts. While all of these are possibilities, because the records are silent, we ultimately have no way of knowing for sure what he claimed as legitimate expenses for his work on behalf of the Company’s interests. 48. Purry seems to have had at least one friend among the governing authorities in Batavia. On the other hand, perhaps Faas desired to expedite Purry’s departure to get rid of him. 49. There is no conclusive evidence to explain how or why Purry became so indebted. He may have used his own money to advance his colonizing plans. He may have been released from his post as the ‘‘Reader in the French language.’’ Or his plantation may have failed. One or more of these conditions must have contributed to his dire economic straits. In any event, it is obvious that the Governor-General did not care to any great extent about Purry’s circumstances and refused him any financial compensation for the first Me´moire. 50. See l’Academie des Sciences & des Arts, vol. 2 (Paris, 1682). This is Purry’s original citation. He provides no more specific reference. 51. This reference to the ‘‘lunar circle’’ is Purry’s quaint way of reminding the readers of this treatise that the authorities of Columbus’s day thought him rather muddle-headed also. 52. For obvious reasons Purry harkens back to the support that St. Ange and King Ferdinand gave to Columbus when others thought his project not worthy of consideration. 53. Jesso, which in the eighteenth century was also known as Jedso, Yedso, and Jessoland, appears to have been the European name for the island of Hokkaido ¯. Japan had exercised some authority over Hokkaido ¯ since the eleventh century, but the feudal Matsumae clan confined its interest to the southern side closest to the main Japanese island of Honshu ¯ . Even in the eighteenth century Hokkaido ¯ was inhabited chiefly by the Ainu, an aboriginal population. It was still largely unknown to Europeans during Purry’s lifetime. See John King Fairbank, Edwin O Reichauer, and Albert M. Craig, East Asia: The Modern Transformation (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965), 255. 54. Purry’s footnote in the original reads ‘‘I mean to say in relationship to the other planets.’’

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:46

PS

182

NOTES

55. Western Hemisphere. 56. Purry here meets the argument that there is room enough in the Terre de Nuyts for all interested parties.

CHAPTER 4: MEMORIAL TO THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE UPON THE PRESENT CONDITION OF CAROLINA The present edition is based on Charles C. Jones, Jr.’s privately published trans` Sa Gr. My Lord Duc lation from the original French of the Me´moire Presente´ a de Newcastle . . . (London: G. Bowyer, 1724) printed by J. H. Estill of Savannah, Georgia. The title page bears the location, Augusta, Georgia, and the date of release, 1880. Jones seems to have hand-numbered each of the 250 copies printed. Copy number 220 was used in the preparation of this edition, which includes minor word and punctuation changes as well as pertinent annotations. 1. [Peter Cooper], advertisement, in A Method for Determining the Best Climate of the Earth . . . , by John Peter Purry (London: privately printed, 1744), 4. 2. The parentheses are inserted for clarity. See chap. 2, n. 17 for an explanation of Purry’s inclusion of Mongolia. 3. Rio de la Plata was comprised of present-day Argentina and Uruguay. 4. Cosmography is that branch of science that deals with the constitution of the whole natural order. 5. Guillaume [William] Dampier (b. 1652) was a celebrated English explorer. He circumnavigated the globe on three different occasions and visited the west coast of Australia twice in 1688 and again in 1699. Dampier wrote prolifically of his travels and amassed a rather extensive fortune during his colorful life. I have left the citation below as Jones translated it from Purry’s original, although the particular title cannot be found in the bibliography of Dampier’s ` la Nouvellework. Most likely Purry’s quotation is from Dampier’s Voyage a Hollande. The first volume appeared in 1701 with others following in 1702 and 1705. 6. Dampier, Voyage to Terres Austral, vol. 5, 3. 7. In this context ‘‘the line’’ refers to the equator. 8. Purry has been credited with first proposing the name of Georgia for a royal colony in the American southeast. 9. Many of the basic principles of emigration policy Purry proposes here would be adopted within a decade by South Carolina Governor Robert Johnson as the township plan of settlement. 10. The Calvinist Purry is well aware of the antipathy of Protestant England for Roman Catholicism and so broadens his criticism of her imperial rivals, especially France, to include religious confession. 11. The parentheses in this paragraph are used for clarity. They do not appear in Jones’s translation. 12. Although Purry has been accused of painting an overly optimistic picture of the potential bounty of South Carolina, it should be noted that nearly all the products listed here except cocoa were indeed produced at one time or another by the colony. 13. This is perhaps Purry’s most contemptuous indictment of the Dutch and French for rejecting his climatological theory and colonization plans. 14. The parentheses are inserted for clarity.

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:46

PS

183

NOTES

CHAPTER 5: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT STATE OF CAROLINA 1. Purry, ‘‘Instruction,’’ translated as ‘‘Proposals,’’ in Carroll, Historical Collections, 2:121–23. Quotations are taken from the Carroll text. 2. Purry, ‘‘Description abre´ge´e . . .’’ translated as ‘‘A Description of the Province of South Carolina,’’ in Carroll, Historical Collections, 2:124–40. 3. Thomas Nairne’s A Letter from South Carolina, 2nd ed., (London: R. Smith, 1718) provides a helpful, nearly contemporaneous view. For an instructive comparative perspective notice the glowing description given by the Rev. Johann Martin Boltzius of the nearby Ebenezer, Georgia settlement after more than fifteen years and much death and privation in the area. See Klaus G. Loewald, Beverly Starika, and Paul S. Taylor, trans. and eds., ‘‘Johann Martin Boltzius Answers a Questionnaire on Carolina and Georgia, Part II,’’ William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd series, 15 (April 1958): 236–44. 4. See Samuel Urlsperger, Detailed Reports on the Salzburger Emigrants Who Settled in America . . . , vol. 5, trans. and ed. by George Fenwick Jones and Renate Wilson (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1980), 292–93. 5. Although the ‘‘Instruction’’ and the ‘‘Description’’ were written together in Charles Town in September 1731 after Purry and his small party returned from the township site, it is unknown whether the manuscript documents circulated at all at that early date and if so in what circles. It is logical to assume that South Carolina authorities (the Governor, Council, and Commons House) would have been aware of their existence and may have even seen the original manuscripts. They certainly did not exist in printed form at this time either in the original French or in English translation. (Circumstantial evidence makes it highly doubtful that Jean Pierre was fluent in English.) The English publication of both in Gentleman’s Magazine in 1732 served two functions. First, it signaled the implementation of Johnson’s township plan. Second, their publication served to assure the outnumbered white merchants and planters of the lowcountry that new immigrants were on the way. For a concise analysis of the influence of promotional literature in the southern colonies and Purry’s traditional role in the genre see Hugh F. Lefler, ‘‘Promotional Literature of the Southern Colonies,’’ Journal of Southern History 33 (February 1967): 3–25. Hope Francis Kane’s Ph.D. dissertation ‘‘Colonial Promotion and Promotion Literature of Carolina, 1660–1700,’’ (Brown University, 1930) provides the best analysis of the promotional tract in the earlier period. 6. See Jean Pierre Purry, Description abre´ge´e de l’e´tat pre´sent de la Caroline Meridionale, nouvelle edition, avec des eclaircissemens, les actes des concessions ` ce suject a ` l’auteur, tant pour luy que pour ceux qui voudront prendre faites a parti avec luy. Et enfin une instruction qui contient les conditions, sous lesquelles ˆtel: n. p., 1732). The only extant original of on pourra l’accompagner (Neucha the new edition in French, which I have been able to locate, includes letters of 20 August and 5 October 1733 attesting to the current condition of the Purrysburg settlement and a certificate dated 5 August 1733 from male inhabitants of the township verifying the truth of Purry’s description of South Carolina published the previous year. Internal evidence indicates that these letters were appended to Purry’s ‘‘nouvelle edition’’ of 1732 after the fact, probably to convince others to emigrate to Purrysburg on its founder’s return trips to Switzerland for more recruits.

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:46

PS

184

NOTES

7. In order to provide the most complete rendering of this treatise, this present edition draws upon the English text of ‘‘A Description of the Province of South Carolina . . . 1731,’’ reprinted from the Gentleman’s Magazine (August, September, and October 1732) and published in Carroll, Historical Collections, 2:124–40, as well as Purry’s French language nouvelle edition dating initially from winter 1732 with later reprintings. The English version of 1732 did not include the term ‘‘Brief,’’ even though both texts are nearly identical with regard to the Description proper. The inclusion of the term in the French language edition is significant as the ‘‘Eclaircissemens’’ (‘‘Clarifications’’) section of the nouvelle edition will demonstrate. Other discrepancies between the two texts of the Description will be noted in brackets. I am indebted to my colleague, Dr. ’BioDun J. Ogundayo, former Assistant Professor of Modern Languages at Whitworth College and member of the American Translators Association, for his excellent translation of the very rare French language text of the nouvelle edition. Purry added the opening phrase of this sentence for his European audience. It does not appear in the English language edition of 1732. 8. The ‘‘right on the river’’ refers to the right to use the river for transportation and communication. 9. This township plan of settlement created a six mile ‘‘buffer zone’’ around each township proper, which was to be free from other inhabitants. Meriwether’s The Expansion of South Carolina explains more fully the township plan and its consequences. 10. While Purry erred in his assessment of the extensive economic potential of the land that became Purrysburg Township, he was prophetic in his belief that it would support a healthy livestock industry. 11. Grapevines. 12. These sentences appear only in the French nouvelle edition. 13. Niter is another name for saltpeter and is a general term referring to the compounds potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate. Niter was perceived to be essential for optimum soil fertility as well as a central ingredient in the manufacture of gunpowder. 14. The bracketed section appears only in the French nouvelle edition. Purry’s overly optimistic assessment of the productive potential of the land was no doubt due to a variety of factors including his faith in his own theories as well as assurances by South Carolinians desperate for new white settlers and the obvious fertility of the tidewater lands already under cultivation. 15. Remember that these are the same Lords Proprietors who precipitated the de´ nouement of Purry’s attempt to colonize South Carolina in the mid1720s. 16. These sentences, which appear only in the French nouvelle edition except for the few words about wealth and notoriety, demonstrate Purry’s diplomatic touch. To include this rather tawdry characterization of the early Carolinians and their less than successful descendants would not sit too well with his benefactors, but could serve to stimulate Europeans to join his colonial venture because, of course, they would apply themselves more assiduously than the current destitute residents of the province. 17. Purry’s reference here is to the French Calvinists or Huguenots who had emigrated in substantial numbers to the South Carolina lowcountry and had built their own church in Charles Town. 18. This section appears only in the French nouvelle edition, perhaps to help attract potential immigrants with the prospect of rapid land value appreciation.

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:47

PS

185

NOTES

19. In other words, Carolinians are law-abiding folk. 20. Here Purry begins his pitch for the immigration of skilled craftspeople by noting the dire lack of this component in the current population of Carolina. 21. As in all cases where the colonies printed their own money, the provincial currency circulated at a considerable discount compared to sterling. The parentheses in this paragraph as well as the preceding and the subsequent paragraphs are for clarity. They do not appear in the original texts. 22. Ocher (oker in Carroll’s text), is a reddish or yellow low-grade iron ore used as a pigment. 23. Only the first sentence of this paragraph remains in the same position in both the English and French versions. The rest of the sentences bear an inverted sequence to each other from the English to the French text. 24. The English version reads ‘‘England.’’ 25. The English version includes ‘‘So that a pot-house and’’ at the beginning of this sentence. 26. This sentence appears only in the French nouvelle edition. 27. This section might more clearly read, ‘‘The cattle of Carolina are very fat in summer, but as lean in winter as they are fat in summer because. . . .’’ 28. It is curious to note that Purry includes the phrase ‘‘miserable (wretched) season’’ to describe South Carolina winters in the French version. It does not appear in the English text. This is another example of Purry’s integrity in the face of charges of misrepresenting the true conditions in his prospective colony. 29. The word ‘‘health’’ does not appear in Carroll’s text. The word used is ‘‘case,’’ which seems to be a typesetting error. The intended word might have been ‘‘care.’’ 30. This phrase does not appear in the English version. Purry here places particular emphasis upon the potential of sericulture, just as he had done in his ` Sa Gr. My Lord Duc de previous tracts—especially in his Me´moire Presente´ a Newcastle. . . . 31. Purry offers this rather ingenious explanation of the reported sickness of Carolina residents to demonstrate that personal failings rather than environmental conditions were largely responsible for the illnesses endemic to the region. This was a common belief of the era and had theological as well as socioeconomic origins. 32. Purry’s linkage of the seasoning process of new immigrants to factors either external to themselves (‘‘transpiration of the air’’), or to their failure to take proper precautions, or to their lack of self-control would make sense to the sober and disciplined Swiss Protestants he sought to populate Purrysburg. 33. The English version reads ‘‘in a short time.’’ 34. Purry could justifiably be accused of soft-peddling the threat of rattlesnakes to his would-be colonists as this phrase appears only in the French nouvelle edition. His subsequent testimony regarding his own trip to the Purrysburg site during the summer of 1731, however, would lend credence to this naı¨ve statement. He may be more justly castigated for ignorance than for deceit. 35. The parentheses are inserted for clarity. They do not appear in the original translation. 36. In this casual manner Purry is able to note the other poisonous snakes in the area without making much of the threat they pose. 37. Mongolistan is the name of a kingdom located in south-central Asia during the later medieval period (by Western reckoning). It existed in the borderlands between present day Iran and Afghanistan.

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:47

PS

186

NOTES

38. River access was a crucial factor as rivers were the main source of transportation and communication between frontier settlements and established centers of commerce such as Charles Town and Port Royal. 39. It is a mystery as to why Purry chose to select only hailstones as the chief act of God that might inhibit health and prosperity in Carolina and to insert this observation at this particular juncture in his essay. 40. ‘‘North side’’ refers to the northern latitudes. 41. These are all various forms of taxation used in European countries. 42. The English version of 1732 ends with these signature lines. The nouvelle edition of the Description proper ends with the following ‘‘Public Notice’’ (‘‘Avis Au Public’’) regarding Purry’s next embarkation to Purrysburg Township. The ‘‘Clarifications’’ and supporting documentation are really the ‘‘nouvelle’’ in the nouvelle edition, as the preceding Description, with the few minor aberrations as noted, had appeared previously. See the following note. 43. This 1 February 1732 date and the 1 March 1732 date of the ‘‘Clarifications’’ section are somewhat puzzling because other documents included in this nouvelle edition are dated as late as August of 1733. The explanation lies in the probable publication of an earlier French language version of the Description, perhaps as an extended advertisement in Swiss newspapers that included the 1 February 1732 ‘‘Public Notice,’’ soon after his arrival back in Switzerland following the trip to the Purrysburg site in the summer of 1731. The inclusion of the announcement regarding his second trip to Purrysburg (which would be his first with ´emigre´s) might have been an oversight either by Purry or his publishers when the type for the nouvelle edition was set. It is also plausible to believe that Purry had waited so long to begin this adventure that the nouvelle edition was rushed into print to meet the 1732 departure date. Whatever the case, the items seem to have been retained in later printings of the nouvelle edition to demonstrate that many emigrants had already entrusted Purry with their future and had departed for Purrysburg with him. The first group of immigrants to Purrysburg arrived in Charles Town in November 1732. 44. Translations from the original French of the ‘‘Clarifications’’and the remaining documents comprising the nouvelle edition of the Description are by Dr. ’BioDun J. Ogundayo. 45. Hence the crucial importance of the inclusion of the word ‘‘Brief’’ in the French language edition. 46. Purry believes that the attestation in the Description that he and his colleagues saw most of what he related in the tract is ‘‘feeble’’ because they could not in all honesty say that they had seen all of it. They had to rely for some of the information on the testimony of Carolinians. 47. With this sentence Jean Pierre contributes to the confusion over the timing of his first visit to South Carolina. His choice of words ‘‘during the year that my colleagues and I lived in Carolina’’ seems to imply that they spent a full year in the province. This, however, is impossible, since by his own admission he arrived in May 1731 and his documents of September 1731 were published in Neuˆtel no later than February of 1732. What Purry most likely means could be cha worded more precisely as ‘‘during 1731 when my colleagues and I lived in Carolina.’’ 48. Here Purry begins his listing of the specific questions and issues he will address in this section of the nouvelle edition. 49. Purry is describing the multiple-storied, single-room wide homes with enclosed porticos characteristic of Charles Town.

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:47

PS

187

NOTES

50. By addressing these concerns Purry prepares his prospective colonists for the possibility that they may not be able to utilize water-driven machinery for home construction because the land might be too level to generate sufficient power to turn a waterwheel. He will suggest alternative power sources that could be substituted. 51. This sentence obscures rather than illuminates the land question because of Purry’s juxtaposition of two different family sizes with only one apparent land allotment for both—fifty acres. Governor Johnson’s township plan clearly provided fifty acres for each family member (and servant) brought to Purrysburg. 52. Land granted to Purrysburg settlers was to be free of any rent payments for the first ten years as long as it was occupied and worked. After ten years, a nominal rental fee per acre was to be collected for the province. 53. Purry’s rather graphic metaphor highlights the diminished ability of Carolina native populations to threaten white colonists because of the proliferation of military garrisons. Yet it was partially because of the extended conflagration known as the Yamassee War with native peoples inhabiting South Carolina that the township plan received the sanction of both provincial and imperial British officials. 54. This is one of the most difficult passages to translate from the French. Literally the passage would read, ‘‘If this country of Carolina is so good, as some say, it is not punishment to be transported there. The same thought obtains about England, where one has to know what it all means.’’ Purry is trying to address the concern of some that Carolina is perceived as an English penal colony by explaining that the English also see it as a good place. He now, however, must clarify for his readers how England can view Carolina as a good place to live and simultaneously sentence criminals to live there. 55. South Carolinians cultivated rice so extensively not because they were lazy, but because of the incredible profits associated with its production. Purry was correct, however, regarding at least two of the other crops mentioned here. Both indigo and cotton became staples of the South Carolina economy at different times later in the eighteenth century. 56. This sentence is difficult to render into English. It literally reads, ‘‘Because it is certain that it is precisely in this situation that a country is neither too hot nor too cold, and that it is even of good temperature for all manner of persons.’’ Purry wants to indicate that humans live in all kinds of environments. His allusion to Canaan serves to undergird his reasoning here as his potential colonists would be aware both of the provision of God for His chosen people in Canaan and also that living conditions there were quite different than in Europe. Still, it was the Land of Promise, and God does not make mistakes about where his people could flourish either in ancient times or in the 1730s. 57. Now that Purry has presented his Description and answered the concerns its first European publication engendered, he moves to specific related documents that will convince potential colonists that he really does have the support of both British and provincial officials. 58. ‘‘The English original is in the hands of Mr. Purry.’’ This note is in the French text. 59. This set of guidelines, excluding number 14, was included with the English edition of the Description in 1732. It appears together with and just before the Description in Carroll, 2:121–23 as ‘‘Proposals of Mr. Peter Purry of Newfchatel, for the Encouragement of Such Swiss Protestants As Should Agree to

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:47

PS

188

NOTES

Accompany Him to Carolina, to Settle a New Colony.’’ I have relied heavily on Carroll’s text but Dr. Ogundayo’s translation of the French nouvelle edition has also been utilized, especially in determining the original title and in rendering guideline number 14 and the final three paragraphs, which have never before appeared in English translation. 60. In the English version of 1732 there is no fourteenth guideline. It ends with the following sentences, which are incorporated with some alterations as noted in the French nouvelle edition. ‘‘As to those who go to settle at their own expense: They must have at least fifty crowns each because their passage by sea and food will cost from twenty to twenty-five crowns. The rest of the money shall go to procure diverse things which will be absolutely necessary for the voyage.’’ 61. The final three documents in the nouvelle edition are included to demonstrate that the stories that may have filtered back from South Carolina to Switzerland from disgruntled ´e migre´ s do not represent the true nature of the province. The letter from Jean Baptiste Bourguin and the anonymous extract of a letter from Charles Town attest to the good progress being made by the residents of Purrysburg and the following certificate signed by the inhabitants of the township vouch for Purry’s integrity in representing his colony to the public. Amidst the terrific mortality rate among immigrants of all nationalities to the American Southeast, it is interesting to note that Bourguin lived to the ripe old age of ninety-three. The possibility also exists that he was a member of Roman Catholic faith—a direct violation of the immigration policies set forth in the township plan. His letter and an English translation of it appeared in the ‘‘Notes and Comments’’ section of The Catholic Historical Review 4, no. 4 (January 1919): 535–39. The undated original letter was part of the Bandelier Manuscript Collection at the time. 62. According to the biblical text, King Solomon’s fame had reached the court of the Queen of Sheba. The stories she had heard seemed unbelievable so she traveled to Jerusalem herself to confer with him. She quickly changed her mind and admitted that all she had heard about him and his kingdom was true. In fact, the reports she had heard did not tell half of his greatness. See I Kings 10: 1–13.

.......................... 8784$$

NOTE

10-25-01 14:14:48

PS

Bibliography ‘‘Barnwell of South Carolina.’’ South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine 2 (January 1901): 47–50. Bridenbaugh, Carl. Myths and Realities: Societies of the Colonial South. New York: Atheneum, 1963. Calkins, Carroll C., ed. The Reader’s Digest Illustrated Guide to Gardening. Pleasantville, N.Y.: The Reader’s Digest Association, 1978. Carroll, B. R., ed. Historical Collections of South Carolina, 2 vols. New York: Harper & Bros., 1836. Chaplin, Joyce E. An Anxious Pursuit: Agricultural Innovation and Modernity in the Lower South, 1730–1815. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993. Dr. Chatelain. ‘‘Purrysbourg.’’ Muse´e Neuchatelois, new series 7 (May/June 1920): 84–94, 119–25. Coleman, Kenneth. Colonial Georgia: A History. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1976. ———. ‘‘The Southern Frontier: Georgia’s Founding and the Expansion of South Carolina.’’ Georgia Historical Quarterly 56 (Summer 1972): 163–74. Collections of the South Carolina Historical Society, 5 vols. Charleston: South Carolina Historical Society, 1857–97. Cooper, Thomas and David J. McCord, eds. The Statutes at Large of South Carolina, 10 vols. Columbia: A. S. Johnston, 1836–41. Crane, Verner W. The Southern Frontier, 1670–1732. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1929; first Ann Arbor paper edition, 1956. Dubose, Louise Jones. ‘‘Palmetto Landmarks: Purrysbourg.’’ Transcript of radio broadcast for 21 November 1948, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina. Easterby, J. H. and Ruth S. Green, eds. The Colonial Records of South Carolina: The Journal of the Commons House of Assembly. vols. 1736–50. Columbia: Historical Commission of South Carolina, 1951–62. Fairbank, John King, Edwin O. Reichauer, and Albert M. Craig. East Asia: The Modern Transformation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965. Faust, Albert B. Lists of Swiss Emigrants in the Eighteenth Century to the American Colonies, 2 vols. Washington, D. C.: National Genealogical Society, 1920. Force, Peter, comp. Tracts and Other Papers Relating Principally to the Origins, Settlement and Progress of the Colonies . . . to the Year 1776, vol. 2. Washington City: P. Force, 1838.

189

.......................... 8784$$

BIBL

10-25-01 14:14:50

PS

190

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Garrison, Webb. Oglethorpe’s Folly: The Birth of Georgia. Lakemont, Ga.: Copple House Books, 1982. Gee, Joshua. The Trade and Navigation of Great Britain Considered. London, 1729. Gray, Lewis Cecil. History of Agriculture in the Southern United States to 1860, vol. 1. Washington, D. C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1933. Great Britain. Public Records Office. Transcripts of Records Relating to South Carolina, 1685–1790. South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina. Hastings, James. Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1918. Heawood, Edward. A History of Geographical Discovery in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. London: Cambridge University Press, 1912. Reprint, New York: Octagon Books, 1965. Hirsch, Arthur Henry. The Huguenots of Colonial South Carolina. Durham: Duke University Press, 1928. ———. ‘‘Some Phases of the Huguenot-Anglican Rivalries in South Carolina Before 1730.’’ Presbyterian Church Department of History Journal 13 (1928): 2–22. Hughes, Kaylene. ‘‘Populating the Back Country: The Demographic and Social Characteristics of the Colonial South Carolina Frontier, 1730–1760.’’ Ph.D. diss., The Florida State University, 1985. Jones, George Fenwick, ed. ‘‘The Secret Diary of Pastor Johann Martin Boltzius.’’ Georgia Historical Quarterly 53 (March 1969): 78–110. Kane, Hope Francis. ‘‘Colonial Promotion and Promotion Literature of Carolina, 1660–1700.’’ Ph.D. diss, Brown University, 1930. Kavenagh, W. Keith, ed. Foundations of Colonial America: A Documentary History, vol. 3. New York: Chelsea House, 1973. Lander, Ernest M., Jr. and Robert K. Ackerman, eds. Perspectives in South Carolina History: The First Three Hundred Years. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1973. Leiding, Harriet Dubose Kershaw. ‘‘Purrysburg: A Swiss-French Settlement of South Carolina, on the Savannah River.’’ Huguenot Society of South Carolina Transactions 39 (1934): 27–39. Lefler, Hugh F. ‘‘Promotional Literature of the Southern Colonies.’’ Journal of Southern History 33 (February 1967): 3–25. Loewald, Klaus G., Beverly Starika, and Paul S. Taylor, trans. and eds. ‘‘Johann Martin Boltzius Answers a Questionnaire on Carolina and Georgia, Part 2.’’ William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd series 15 (April 1958): 228–52. Mackaness, George. Some Proposals for Establishing Colonies in the South Seas. Sydney: Australian Historical Monographs, original series, vol. 6, 1943. Macknight, C. C. ‘‘Neither Useful Nor Profitable: Early Eighteenth Century Ideas About Australia and Its Inhabitants,’’ typescript of a lecture given at the National Library of Australia, 22 September 1993. ———. ‘‘Research Notes on J. P. Purry,’’ unpublished paper, Department of History, Faculty of Arts, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, 13 July 1993.

.......................... 8784$$

BIBL

10-25-01 14:14:50

PS

191

BIBLIOGRAPHY

———. Tasmania, Australia to Arlin C. Migliazzo, Spokane, Washington, personal letter, 10 May 1993. Martin, Roger A. ‘‘John J. Zubly Comes to America.’’ Georgia Historical Quarterly 61 (Summer 1977): 125–39. Meriwether, Robert L. The Expansion of South Carolina, 1729–1765. Kingsport, Tenn.: Southern Publishers, 1940. Merrens, H. Roy. ‘‘The Physical Environment of Early America: Images and Imagemakers in Colonial South Carolina.’’ Geographical Review 59 (October 1969): 530–56. Metzger, Bruce M. and Michael D. Coogan, eds. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Migliazzo, Arlin C. ‘‘A Tarnished Legacy Revisited: Jean Pierre Purry and the Settlement of the Southern Frontier, 1718–1736.’’ The South Carolina Historical Magazine 92 (October 1991): 232–52. ———. ‘‘British Mercantile Theory and French Huguenot Labor: The Wine and Silk Industries in Colonial South Carolina, 1680–1776.’’ unpublished paper, Department of History, Washington State University, 29 January 1980. ———. ‘‘Ethnic Diversity on the Southern Frontier: A Social History of Purrysburgh Township, South Carolina, 1732–1792.’’ Ph.D. diss., Washington State University, 1982. Milling, Chapman J. Red Carolinians. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1940. Mills, Robert. Statistics of South Carolina. Charleston: Hurlbut & Lloyd, 1826. Muench, Dr. F. ‘‘The Story of Purysburg.’’ The Charleston News and Courier, 10 April 1898. Nairne, Thomas. A Letter from South Carolina, 2nd ed. London: R. Smith, 1718. ‘‘Notes and Comments.’’ The Catholic Historical Review 4, no. 4 (January 1919): 535–39 Newton, Arthur Percival, ed. Travel and Travellers in the Middle Ages. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, Ltd., 1949. Penrose, Boies. Travel and Discovery in the Renaissance, 1420–1620. New York: Atheneum, 1971. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, South Australian Branch. Vol. 19 (1917–18). Purry, Jean Pierre. A Method for Determining the Best Climate of the Earth On a Principle to Which All Geographers and Historians Have Been Hitherto Strangers in a Memorial Presented to the Governors of the East India Company in Holland for Which the Author Was Obliged to Leave the Country. Anonymous translation from the French. London: privately printed for Peter Cooper, 1744. ———. Description abre´gee de l’e´tat pre´sent de la Caroline Meridionale, nouvelle ` ce suject a ` edition, avec des eclaircissemens, les actes des concessions faites a l’auteur, tant pour luy que pour ceux qui voudront prendre parti avec luy. Et enfin une instruction qui contient les conditions, sous lesquelles on pourra ˆtel: n. p., 1732. l’accompagner. Neucha ` Sa Gr. My Lord Duc de Newcastle, Chambellan de ———. Me´moire Presente´ a ´ tat: sur l’e´tat pre´sent de la Caroline & S. M. le Roi George & c. & Secretaire d’E sur le moyens de l’ame´liorer. London: G. Bowyer, 1724.

.......................... 8784$$

BIBL

10-25-01 14:14:51

PS

192

BIBLIOGRAPHY

———. Memorial Presented to His Grace My Lord the Duke of Newcastle, Chamberlain of His Majesty King George, & c., and Secretary of State: Upon the Present Condition of Carolina and the Means of its Amelioration. Translated by Charles C. Jones, Jr. Augusta, GA.: privately printed for the translator by J. H. Estill, 1880. ` l’utilite´ ———. Me´moire sur le pais des Cafres et la terre de Nuyts par raport a que la Compagnie des Indes Orientales en pourroit retirer pour son commerce. Amsterdam: Pierre Humbert, 1718. ———. Second me´moire sur le pais des Cafres et la terre de Nuyts servant d’e´claircissement aux propositions faites dans le premier, pour l’utilite´ de la Compagnie des Indes Orientales. Amsterdam: Pierre Humbert, 1718. Ready, Milton. ‘‘The Georgia Concept: An Eighteenth Century Experiment in Colonization,’’ Georgia Historical Quarterly 55 (Summer 1971): 157–72. Richardson, Katherine Hurt. ‘‘ ‘As Easy to Build Towns As Draw Schemes . . . ,’ Colonial South Carolina Settlement Patterns: Towns on the Frontier.’’ M.A. thesis, University of South Carolina, 1988. Rowland, Lawrence S., Alexander Moore, and George C. Rogers, Jr. The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina, 1514–1861. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996. Saye, Albert B. ‘‘The Genesis of Georgia: Merchants as Well as Ministers.’’ Georgia Historical Quarterly 24 (September 1940): 191–201. ———. ‘‘The Genesis of Georgia Reviewed,’’ Georgia Historical Quarterly 50 (June 1966): 153–61. Sherriff, Florence Janson. ‘‘The Saltzburgers and Purrysburg.’’ The Proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association (1963): 12–22. Sherman, Richard P. Robert Johnson: Proprietary and Royal Governor of South Carolina. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1966. Sirmans, M. Eugene. Colonial South Carolina: A Political History, 1663–1763. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1966. Smith, Henry A. M. ‘‘Purrysburg.’’ South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine 10 (October 1909): 187–219. South Carolina Gazette. Charles Town, South Carolina. Summerall, C. P. ‘‘Address of General C. P. Summerall at the Dedication of the Huguenot Cross at Purrysburg, South Carolina, May 4, 1941,’’ Huguenot Society of South Carolina Transactions 46 (1941): 38–44. Urlsperger, Samuel. Detailed Reports on the Salzburger Emigrants Who Settled in America . . . , Vol. 5. Translated and edited by George Fenwick Jones and Renate Wilson. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1980. Ver Steeg, Clarence L. Origins of a Southern Mosaic: Studies of Early Carolina and Georgia. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1975. Voigt, Gilbert P. ‘‘The German and German-Swiss Element in South Carolina, 1732–1752.’’ Bulletin of the University of South Carolina, no. 113 (September 1922). ———. ‘‘The Germans and German-Swiss in South Carolina, 1732–1765: Their Contribution to the Province.’’ The Proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association 5 (1935): 17–25. Watson, Alan D. ‘‘The Quitrent System in Royal South Carolina.’’ William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd series 33 (April 1976): 183–211.

.......................... 8784$$

BIBL

10-25-01 14:14:51

PS

Index aboriginal populations, condition of, 71–72, 74 acorns, 142 Africa, 61, 71, 91, 93, 101, 149 Alexander (the Great), 60 Alexandria, 61 Altamaha River, 19, 28, 136, 140, 157 Amalekites, 59 Ambon Island, 68, 177 n. 54 Amboyne (Is.), 99, 102 America, 69, 71, 75, 93, 96, 99, 103, 121–22, 140–41, 143, 153, 162 Americans, 74 Amsterdam, 16, 47, 84–85, 114, 150 Amsterdam (Is.), 64 Anabaptists, 139 Andalusia, 121 Antarctic Hemisphere, 54 Antilles, Islands of the, 142, 146 apples, pippin, 89 apricots, 61 Arabia, 59, 124 Armenia, 61 artichokes, 56 Ascension (Is.), 67, 177 n. 53 Asher, tribe of, 60 Asia, 71–72, 93, 109 Asia Minor, 61 asparagus, 56 axes, 152 Bacon, Roger, 38 Bahama, Strait of, 124 Banda (Is.), 99, 102, 180 n. 30 Bantam, King of, 71 Barbados, 128, 142, 146, 153 Barbary Coast, 53, 60–61, 64, 93, 121, 145 barley, 137, 161 Barnwell, John, 21 Batavia (Jakarta), 14–17, 46–47, 49,

72, 77, 84–87, 102–4, 108–10, 113, 174 n. 4 Baudrand, (Michel-Antoine), 52, 174 nn. 11 and 12, 175 n. 13 beans, 75, 139, 161–62 bear (skins), 55 Bede, the Venerable, 38 beef, 139 beer, 88 bees, 125, 160 Bengal, 58, 85, 88, 102 Bern, 23 Bernier, Monsieur (Franc¸ois), 72, 177–78 n. 60 Biel, 23 biscuits, 67 Bishop of Basel and Porentru, 160–61 Black River, 28, 136 Bleek, Col. (South Carolina resident), 141 Bluff, Great Yamassee, 33, 157, 161 Board of Trade, 18–23, 27–28, 30–32, 34–36 Boddens, Mr. (Director of the Dutch East India Company), 46, 49, 174 n. 2 bombs, 94 bookkeepers (See also Purry, Jean Pierre: appointed bookkeeper), 88, 178 n. 3. bookkeeping, 107 Borneo, 57 Boudry, 14 bourgeoisie, 102 Bourguin, Jean Baptiste, 161, 163 brandy, 127 Bray, Dr. Thomas, 25, 30 Brazil, 99, 113 bread, 57–58, 70, 75, 93, 114, 128, 143, 146 breeches, 141 bricks, 149–50

193

.......................... 8784$$

INDX

10-25-01 14:14:54

PS

194

INDEX

brickyards, 149 British Empire, 118 British North America, 119 bulls, 123, 142 butter, 142, 153–54 cabbage, 56 California, 54 Callao, 63, 177 n. 43 calves, 142, 154 Calvinists, 126 Canaan, 53, 59–60, 95, 154, 187 n. 56 Canada, 75, 113, 122, 144 Canary Islands, 58 cannons, 94, 140, 161–62 Cape Colony, 14, 53, 58, 60–61, 64–66, 68–69, 75–76, 89–91, 95, 99, 104, 122 Cape of Good Hope. See Cape Colony Cape Town, 16 Cape Verde Islands, 14, 67, 177 n. 53 Cappadocia, 61 Carthage, 61 Carolina (See also South Carolina), 54, 122–24, 126–28, ch. 5 carpenters, 73, 140, 159 carpentry, 132, 152 Castille, 112 castles, 139 cattle, 125, 139–42, 153–54 cauliflower, 56 Celebes, 57, 102 Ceylon, 57–58, 99, 102, 175 n. 23 Chaldea, 53, 95 Chamber of Amsterdam for the East Indies. See Dutch East India Company Chaplin, Joyce, 28 Charles II, 123 Charles Town, 26, 28, 32–33, 132–33, 138–40, 142, 145, 147, 150, 152, 155, 161 cherries, 61, 89 chestnuts, 142 chickens, 90 Chile, 54–55, 61, 64, 76, 113, 121 China, 52–53, 60–61, 64, 70–71, 75– 76, 102, 108–09, 121, 145 Chinese (people), 71, 76, 108–10 cinnamon, 55, 106 clay, 150, 162

.......................... 8784$$

cloth, 88, 139 clothes, 139, 159 cloves, 55 cocks, 143 cocoa, 127 Columbus, Christopher, 86, 94, 96, 111–12 Combahee River, 20 Compagnie Des Indes en France, 17 Company. See Dutch East India Company corn, Indian, 139, 143, 161 Coromandel, 57, 102, 175 n. 23 cosmography, 75, 97, 122, 178 n. 64 cotton, 127, 137, 143, 146, 153 cows, 90, 142, 154 Coxinga (Zheng Chenggong), 110, 181 n. 44 Crete, 53, 145 crocodiles, 145, 148 Cuba, 96 cucumbers, 93 Cyprus, 53 d’Ailly, Cardinal Pierre (archbishop of Cambrai), 38 damas. See plums Damascus, 61–62 Dampier, (Guillaume William), 122, 182 nn. 5 and 6 Dauphin, Fort, 75 David (Old Testament King), 110 deer, 123 deerskins, 139, 141 de Gama, Vasquez, 66 DeJean, Capt. (Purrysburg militia officer), 162 De Laffitte, Lt. (Purrysburg militia officer), 162 Delhi, 58 De Monclar, Lt. (Purrysburg militia officer), 162 Desaussure family, 26 Description de la Chine, 71, 177 n. 57 Dickenson, Capt. (commander of The Pearl), 162 Dictionnaire historique, 51 dishes, 141 ducks, 143 Dutch (people), 64, 66, 108, 119, 122, 124

INDX

10-25-01 14:14:55

PS

195

INDEX

Dutch East India Company: Council of the High Regency of Batavia, 49, 87, 91, 96–97, 100, 103, 109, 111, 178 n. 1; employees of, 92, 97; expenses of, 87–88, 104, 107; profits of, 88, 100, 104; regulations of the Assembly of the Seventeen, 89; mentioned, 14–17, 38–40, 47–48, 50, 64–66, 69–70, 72, 74, 76–77, 84– 90, 92–93, 96, 98–100, 103–4, 106–9, 113, 118 dyestuffs, 127 East India Company. See Dutch East India Company East Indies: mentioned, 47, 49, 64–66, 71, 74–77, 84, 86, 88, 91, 93, 97–99, 101–2, 104–5, 107–9, 111–12, 122, 153 Edelsland Island, 54, 69 Eden, Garden of, 60 Egypt, 93, 95, 121 Egyptians, 72, 92 Emmanuel (King of Portugal), 112 emperor (Holy Roman), 108, 180 n. 40 England: mentioned, 61, 108, 111, 118, 120, 124, 127–28, 139–41, 145– 47, 150–52, 154, 159–160 England, Church of, 139 English (people), 64, 71, 100–2, 113, 118–19, 122–24, 127–28, 137, 143, 145–46, 152, 161 Evans, Capt. Rowland, 33 Eyre Peninsula, 14 Ezekiel (Old Testament prophet), 60 Faas, Counselor (Dutch East India Company administrator in Batavia), 84, 111, 181 n. 48 fevers, 144 fifth climate zone, 15, 22, 33, 39, 47, 53–55, 58–62, 64–65, 69, 73, 75–76, 90–91, 93, 98–99, 101, 113, 119, 123, 134 figs, 61 fish, 71, 93, 123, 137, 145, 161–62 fish oil, 141 Flanders, 150 flax, 137, 143, 146, 161 Flood, the Noahic, 95 Florida, 54, 75, 123

.......................... 8784$$

Fontenelle, Mr. (spokesperson for the Royal Acade´mie des Sciences), 118 food (as wages), 88 Formosa, Island of, 108–10 France, 51–52, 90, 108, 118–21, 125–26 French (Huguenots), 139, 184 n. 17 French (people), 64, 75, 92, 100–102, 113, 118–19, 122–25, 127, 138 frost, 141 fruits (See also specific types of fruits and vegetables), 56, 58–59, 61–62, 67, 70–71, 89–90, 92, 99, 127, 144, 146, 161 furniture, 139 furs, 124, 127 Galilee, 53 Gameron, 58, 175–76 n. 27 garlic, 93 Gee, Joshua, 21–22, 27 geese, 143 Geneva, 23, 32, 147 Genoa, Republic of, 111 Gentleman’s Magazine, 34, 170 n. 54 George, Fort, 162 Georgia (See also Purry, Jean Pierre: and Georgia), 162. Georgine. See Purry, Jean Pierre: and Georgia Germany, 120 glass, 141 glassworks, 141 gnats, 144 Godin, Stephen (Lords Proprietors’ agent in South Carolina), 24 gold, 55, 64, 101 Goliath, 110 Goosecreek (plantation), 143 grapes, 71, 89–90, 137, 141, 152–53 Great Britain, 127–28 Great Britain, King of, 136 Great Indies, 122 Greece, 61, 95 Greek (people), 95 Greenland, 55 gunpowder, 94, 139–40 hailstorms, 146 Hanak, children of, 95, 179–80 n. 23 hatcheries, silkworm, 153

INDX

10-25-01 14:14:55

PS

196

INDEX

hatchets, 152 hemp, 28, 127, 137, 143, 146, 153, 161 hens, 143 herbs, 142 hide (ox), 140 Hirsch, Arthur Henry, 25 Holland, 16, 65, 71, 90–91, 97, 99, 101, 119, 127, 150 Holzendorf, Capt. (Purrysburg militia officer), 162 Honan, 61 honey, 161 horses, 90, 124–25, 142 houses: brick, 150; pigeon, 143 Huguenot Naturalization Act (1697), 41 Hungary, 126 Idumeans, 59 Indians, aboriginal populations of (see also Purry, Jean Pierre: ethnocentrism of ), 71–72, 74, 94, 96, 102–3, 107, 137–39, 161 Indies. See East Indies indigo, 72, 124, 127, 137, 152–53 Infantis River, 76, 91 insects, 144 ` la Ge´ographie uniIntroduction a verselle, 53, 175 n. 16 Ipiros, 61, 176 n. 38 ironware, 139 Isfahan, 58 Israel, people of, 59, 110 Israelites, 59, 93 Italy, 52, 61, 95, 103, 121, 125–26, 128 Jacob (Old Testament Patriarch), 60 Jamaica, 128, 142, 146, 153 Japan, 53, 59, 75–76, 102, 108–9, 121 Japanese (people), 76 ‘‘Jardin d’Epicure,’’ 61 Java, 57, 73, 102–4, 178 n. 2 Jerusalem, 59 Jesso, 112, 181 n. 53 Jesuits, 126 Jethro (father-in-law to Moses), 100 jewels, 139 Joseph (Old Testament Patriarch), 72, 92, 110 Journal des Sc¸avans, 118

.......................... 8784$$

Kaffraria, country of: location of, 173–74 n. 1; productive potential of, 49, 70, 88–89, 93–94; mentioned, 46, 49, 54, 60, 65, 75–76, 85, 87, 90– 91, 99 Kaffraria Mountains, 59 Kensington Palace, 118 King Solomon, 160, 188 n. 62 lambs, 142 Languedoc, 51, 121, 128, 143 Lapland, 58 Laplanders, 103 La Plata, 55 lead, 139 leather, 127, 140–141 leather dressers, 141 le Comte, Father (Louis Daniel), 71, 177 n. 57 leeks, 93 Leeuwin Island, 54 lemons, 61, 67, 137 l’Ermite, Admiral Jaques, 68 letters (mail), 105–6 Levites, 92 Leyden, 71 Lignie`res, 14 lime (mineral), 140, 149–50 limestone, 149 linen, 107, 146, 159 locksmiths, 73 London, 118, 128, 152 Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations. See Board of Trade Lords Commissioners of Trade. See Board of Trade Louis XIV, 52 Louisiana, 123, 125 Luculle, 61, 176 n. 36 Macrobius, 38 Madagascar, 75 Madeira (wines), 141, 144 Madhya Pradesh, 61, 176 n. 39 magistrates, 87–88 Magnus, Albertus, 38 Malabar, 57–58, 102, 175 n. 23 Malacca, 91, 179 n. 11 masons, 73 meat, 56, 67, 93, 139, 154 medicines, 127

INDX

10-25-01 14:14:55

PS

197

INDEX

melons, 93 merchants, 88, 106, 152 ´ x, (David Franc¸ois de), 53, Mervilleu 175 n. 14 Meuriers Valley, 59 Meuron, Abraham, 32, 147, 163 Meuse River, 124 Mexico, 64, 76, 99, 113 Mexico, Gulf of, 124 Middleton, (Arthur), 26 Midianites, 59 militia, 88 mines, 101 Mississippi Bubble, collapse of the, 17, 118 Mississippi River, 75, 123, 127 Mississippi Valley, 119 Mithridate War, 61, 176 n. 37 Moabites, 59 Mogul Empire, Great, 58, 72, 175 n. 26 Molucca Islands, 57, 102–3, 109, 175 n. 24 money (Carolina), 140–41, 185 n. 21 Mongolia, 53, 121, 175 n. 17 Mongolistan, 145, 175 n. 17, 185 n. 37 monkeys, 103 Montgomery, Sir Robert, 19–20 More´ri, (Louis), 51, 174 n. 9 More´ri’s Encyclopedia, 148 Moscow, 108 Moses, 95, 100 mosquitoes, 133, 144 mules, 124 musicians, 73 muslin, 107 Nanking, 60–61 Naples, Kingdom of, 51, 121 Natal, 91–92, 122, 179 n. 9 navy, 88 Negroes. See South Carolina: slaves and slavery in ˆtel, 14, 23–26, 30, 33, 57, 120, Neucha 147, 151, 159–60, 163 Newcastle, Duke of, 18, 22, 39, 40, 118 New England, 140–41, 153 New France, 75 New Holland: location of, 174 n. 3. See also South Australia; Terre de Nuyts New Mexico, 54, 121, 124

.......................... 8784$$

Newton, Sir Issac, 118 New York, 140–41, 153 New Zealand, 54, 69, 113 Nicholson, Governor Francis, 25–26 niter, 138, 184 n. 13 North America, 118, 123, 135, 146 Norway, 59, 103 nutmeg, 55, 106 nuts, 142 Nuyts, Pieter, 14 oak bark, 140 oats, 137 ocher, 141, 185 n. 22 (les) Oeuvres meˆle´es (de Mr. le Chevalier Temple), 65 Oglethorpe, Gen. James, 30, 34, 162, 171 n. 58 olives, 61, 66, 71, 89, 94, 97, 137, 152 onions, 93 optimal climate zone. See fifth climate zone oranges, 61, 67–68, 137 Ostend Company, 108, 112, 180–81n. 41 oxen, 90 Palachuccolas, Ft. (also Ft. Palachuccola), 31, 33, 137 Palatinate, 126–27, 140 Paraguay, 55 Paris, 103 Parliament, 143 partridges, 93 Paul, Saint, 77 peaches, 61, 89, 144 pears, 61, 89 peas, 137, 139, 161–62 Pee Dee River, 28, 136 pepper, 55 perdrigons. See plums Persia, 53, 70, 99, 121, 124, 145 Peru, 63–64, 76, 113 Pharaoh (Egyptian leader), 72, 93 physicians, 159 pitch, 139, 143 plague, 148 planks, 139, 150 plate, 139 plates (earthenware), 141 plums, 61, 89, 179 n. 6

INDX

10-25-01 14:14:56

PS

198

INDEX

at colonization with the Dutch East India Company, 15–17, 84; family life of, 14; as feudal lord, 18, 37; fifth proposal for colonization (royal administration of South Carolina), 31–32; French proposal referred to the Royal Acade´mie des Sciences, 17; and Georgia, 123, 166 n. 23, 182 n. 8; impediments to colonization plans, 70, 84–87, 95, 98–99, 101–5, 108–13, 124; initial proposal to British authorities (1721–24), 17–18, 22, 118–19, ch. 4; Instruction pour ceux qui auroient dessein d’accompagner le soussigne´ Jean Pierre Purry en Caroline, 33, 132–33, 159–60; integrity of, 147–49, 162–63; limitations of the Description abre´ge´e de l’e´tat present de la Caroline Meridionale . . . , ` Sa Gr. 148–49; Me´moire Presente´ a My Lord Duc de Newcastle, Chambellan de S. M. le Roi George, & c. & ´ tat: sur l’e´tat pre´sent Secretaire d’E de la Caroline & sur le moyens de l’ame´liorer, 22, 118–19, ch. 4; Me´moire sur le pais des Cafres et la terre ` l’utilite´ que la de Nuyts par raport a Compagnie des Indes Orientales en pourroit retirer pour son commerce, 15–16, 46, ch. 2, 165 n. 6; plans to offset potential costs of colonization to Dutch East India Company, 105–8; plans to secure appropriate colonists, 70, 72–73, 119–20, 124– 27, 132–33, 135, 140, 159–60; Purry et Cie (his company), 23; rationale and continuity of purpose, 38–41; relationship with ‘‘Associates of Dr. Bray,’’ 25, 30–31; renewed interest in, 41–42; ridiculed, 110; royal authorities, alteration of agreements with, 32, 34–36; Second Me´moire sur le pais de Cafres et la terre de Nuyts servant d’e´claircissement aux propositions faites dans le premier, pour l’utilite´ de la Compagnie des Indes Orientales, 16, ch. 3; sojourn in the East Indies, 14, 46, 84, 87; South Carolina, first trip to, 32, 133–34, 169 n. 50; termination of his relationship with the Dutch

Poland, 143 police, 88 pomegranates, 61, 71 pompons, 93 Pon Pon River, 28, 136 porcelain, 107 Porentru Castle, 160 pork, 139 Port Royal, 36, 140, 143 Portugal, King of, 111, 113 Portuguese (people), 64–65, 67, 70, 74, 102, 113, 122 potatoes, 141, 161–62 potters, 141 Presbyterians, 139 Prince (Is.), 67, 177 n. 53 Privy Council, 27, 34–36 Protestants, 119–20, 124, 126, 137 Provence, 51, 121, 128, 143 provisions, salted, 146 prunes, 75 punch (alcoholic beverage), 144 Purry, Charles, 31, 167–68 n. 24 Purry, Jean Pierre: alteration of Lords Proprietors’ agreement with, 23, 24, 166–68 n. 24; appointed bookkeeper, 16, 84, 110–11; Clarifications to the Description abre´ge´e de l’e´tat present de la Caroline Meridionale . . . , 134–35, 147–55; climates, theory of, 14–15, 22, 46– 47, 50–63, 84–85, 119–23, 133, 145; Description abre´ge´e de l’e´tat present de la Caroline Meridionale, nouvelle edition, avec des eclaircissemens, les ` ce suactes des concessions faites a ` l’auteur, tant pour luy que ject a pour ceux qui voudront prendre parti avec lui. Et enfin une instruction qui contient les conditions, sous lesquelles on pourra l’accompagner, 33, 133–34, ch. 5, 147–49, 183 nn. 5–7; Director-General of the Compagnie Des Indes en France, 17, 120; early career of, 14; ethnocentrism of, 47, 69, 71–72, 74, 76, 94–95, 105, 108; failure of attempt at colonization with France, 17; failure of the attempt at colonization with the Lords Proprietors of South Carolina, 24–26, 132; failure of attempts

.......................... 8784$$

INDX

10-25-01 14:14:56

PS

199

INDEX

East India Company, 16, 47, 84, 87, 110 178 n. 2; Terre de Nuyts, his plan for exploration and settlement of, 94–98, 104; thoughts on land ownership, 73–74; troubled relationship with van Swol, 16, 47, 84– 87, 98, 100, 110–11 Purrysburg. See Purrysburg Township Purrysburg Township, 13, 26, 33, 36– 37, 40–41, 132–35, 137, 140, 149– 50, 157, 161–62 Prussia, King of, 108 Quakers, 139 quarries, 150 ‘‘Rabies Carolinae,’’ 34 rain, 141 rattlesnakes, 133–34, 145, 148 resin, 127 Reymond, Henry, 33, 147, 155 rheumatism, 144 Rhine (River), 61, 124, 137 rice, 57, 71–72, 127, 139, 143, 153, 187 n. 55 Richard, James (Jaques), 32, 147, 163 Rio de la Plata, 121, 182 n. 3 Rolle (Is.), 68 Roman Empire, 95 Romans, 73 Rome, 61 Royal Acade´mie des Sciences, 17, 118 Russia: Empress of, 127; mentioned, 55, 58, 103, 143 sable (skins), 55 sailors, 87–88, 107 St. Ange, Louis Perez de, 112 St. Augustin, Bay of, 66, 177 n. 49 St. Christopher (Is.), 128, 142 St. Franc¸ois Island, 69, 96 St. Helena (Is.), 68 St. Lucy, Cape of, 76 St. Paul (Is.), 64 St. Petersburg, 127 St. Pierre Island, 69, 96 St. Sulpy (St. Sulpice), 33, 147, 155 St. Thomas (Is.), 67–68, 177 n. 53 Sale, 60, 176 n. 34 salt, 138, 142

.......................... 8784$$

Salzburg, 34 Sanson, (Nicolas), 51, 174 n. 7 Santee River, 28, 136 Santiago, 54 Satur, Jacob (Lords Proprietors’ agent in South Carolina), 24 Savannah, 34 Savannah River, 19–20, 23, 28, 31, 33, 132, 136–37, 140, 145, 157, 161–62 Savannah Town, 137 Savoy, 125 Saxony, 127 scaffolding, 150 Scott, Capt. (South Carolina resident), 143 scurvy, 63, 67–68 serpents. See rattlesnakes sharks, 55 Sheba, Queen of, 160, 188 n. 62 sheep, 89–90, 142 shells, oyster, 140, 149–50 Shelton, Mr. (Secretary to the Lords Proprietors of South Carolina), 18 shingles, 151, 153 shirts. See clothes shoemakers, 73, 140–42 shoes, 140 shovels, 152 Siam, 57, 75, 175 n. 23 Siberia, 55, 58 Sicily, 121, 128 silk, 22, 28, 40, 70, 93, 99, 101, 124, 127–28, 143, 153, 162, 172 n. 69 silkworms, 70–71, 89, 94, 97, 128, 137, 143, 153 silver, 55, 64, 101, 151 Sinai Peninsula, 59, 176 n. 28 slaves, 73, 97, 153 smiths, 140 snakes. See rattlesnakes snow, 141 soldiers, 87–88, 107, 111 South Africa, 39–40, 69, 134 South America, 54 South Australia, 39–40, 134 South Carolina: assumption of royal control in, 26, 132, 136; bounty on hemp, 143; Church Acts of 1704, 1706, 19; Commons House of Assembly, 20–21, 30, 136–37; concessions to Purry, 137, 151; con-

INDX

10-25-01 14:14:56

PS

200

INDEX

struction materials for homes in, 149–51; cotton production, 153; criminals in, 152–53; dangers of living in, 133–34, 138, 144; documents pertaining to Purrysburg settlers from, 135, 156–58, 160–61; early eighteenth century problems, 19; economic conditions in, 19–22, 27– 29, 133, 138–44, 146, 153–54; General Assembly, 26, 33, 135; governmental administration of, 146–47; Granville County, 162; Johnson, Robert, royal governor of, 27–32, 34–36, 132, 135–36, 140, 157–58, 161–62, 169 n. 44; legal tender in, 151; liberty of conscience and commerce, 146–47; Lords Proprietors of, 18–22, 26, 35, 123, 132, 136, 138, 157; Margravate of Azila, 19–20; plans for defense of, 19–22, 26–28, 37 (see also South Carolina: township plan of settlement in); productive potential of, 22, 120–21, 123, 127–28, 133, 140–43, 146, 153, 155; Provincial Council, 36; provision for Purry’s colonists, 36, 149, 151–52, 154–57, 159–61; Purry’s initial plan involving, 17, 118–19, ch. 4 (see also Purry, Jean Pierre: initial proposal to British authorities (1721–1724)); quit rent payments in, 18, 20, 22, 27, 29, 32, 34–36, 187 n. 52; reasons for poverty in, 139; reasons for sickness and death in, 144; redistribution of Yamassee lands, 20; relations with Indians, 151–52; Revolution of 1719, 20; rumors of use as penal colony, 152–53, 187 n. 54; slaves and slavery in, 19–20, 28, 30–31, 139, 142, 151, 154–55; soil type and crop production, 152; suitability for Swiss immigrants, 154; township plan of settlement in, 21, 27–32, 132, 136–37, 151, 157–58; unhealthy conditions in, 144–45; Yamassee War, 18–20, 187 n. 53 South Carolina Assembly. See South Carolina: Commons House of Assembly; South Carolina: General Assembly

.......................... 8784$$

Southern Indies. See Terre de Nuyts spades, 152 Spain, 51–52, 103, 111–12, 121, 125– 26, 128 Spanish (people), 54, 64, 70–71, 74, 76, 96, 113, 122, 124, 138 spice traders, Dutch, 106 Spilberg, General G. (Dutch East India Company employee), 65, 177 n. 46 stables, 141–42, 154, 161 stokfish, 67 straw, 141 sugar, 72 Sumatra, 57, 102 Sunda Islands, 53, 65, 68, 96, 175 n. 15 Sunda Islands, Strait of the, 101–02 Surat, 58, 175 n. 25 surgeons, 159 Sweden, 108 swine, 142 Swiss, 119, 126, 132–33, 137, 154, 159–60, 162 Swiss cantons and cities. See Bern; ˆtel; St. Sulpy; Biel; Geneva; Neucha Switzerland Swiss Quarter, 137 Switzerland: plight of Protestant emigrants from, 125–26; troubled conditions in 125; mentioned, 23, 33–34, 118, 120, 127, 134, 138, 143, 149, 151–52, 155, 159, 161–62 Syria, 53, 60–61, 95, 121, 145, 154 tailors, 73, 140, 142 tanners, 141 tar, 127, 139, 143 Tartars, 110 tea, 107 temperate zone, 59 Temple, (Sir Guillaume le Chevalier), 62, 65, 176–77 n. 40 Terre de Nuyts: location of, 14, 174 n. 3; productive potential of, 49, 70, 88, 93–94, 98–99, 104; mentioned, 15, 46, 54, 58, 64–65, 69, 71, 73–74, 76, 85–87, 100–04, 109, 112–13, 122–23 Texel, 16 timber, 139 Timor, Island of, 102–03 tithe, 85, 91–92, 179 n. 10

INDX

10-25-01 14:14:57

PS

201

INDEX

tobacco, 89, 93–94, 97, 99, 127, 137 tools, 152 torrid zone, 54–56, 67, 75–76, 121, 142 Trade and Navigation of Great Britain Considered, The, 21, 27 trees: pine, 144; white mulberry, 70– 71, 89, 137, 143, 153 Tsar (of Russia), 127 Tucuman, 55 Tunis, 60 turkey (also Turkish) corn, 143, 161 turkeys, 143 Turks, 126 turpentine, 139 Tyre, 60, 176 n. 31 Uruguay, 55 van den Broeck, Pierre, 66 van Swol, Governor-General Christophel, 15–16, 46–48, 50, 84–87, 97, 100, 103–04, 109, 111, 113, 174 n. 5 van Warwyk, Admiral Wybrandt, 66 Vat, Jean (also John Watt, Swiss emigration agent), 23–26, 34–35 Vaudois, 92, 179 n. 13 Verhaguen, Bay of, 66, 177 n. 49 Verhoeven, Admiral (employee of the Dutch East India Company), 66 vermilion, 139 Vernod, Rev. Francis (also Varnod), 25, 33

.......................... 8784$$

Vernett, Mr. (financial associate of Purry), 23–24 vinegar, 141 vineyards, 97, 152, 159 viniculture. See vineyards Virginia, 54, 99, 113, 122 Waccamaw River, 28, 136 walnuts, 142 Walpole, Horace, 17–18, 22, 39, 118 Wateree River, 28, 136 water wheels, 150 wax, 127 Westmesaa (plantation), 143 wheat, 49, 59, 66, 70, 88–89, 93–94, 99, 127, 137, 152, 161–62 windmills, 150 windows, 141 wine, 28, 40, 49–50, 52–53, 55, 57–59, 62, 70, 88–91, 93–94, 99, 127–28, 141, 172 n. 69 wood: beams, 139; cedar, 139; for construction, 127, 150; cypress, 139; oak, 139, 153; pine, 139, 153; sassafras, 139; walnut, 139 woodworking, 152 wool, 99, 127, 142, 146 workers, skilled, 73, 125, 132–33, 140, 159 Wu ¨ rttemberg, 127 Yamassee Port, 137 Zubly family, 26

INDX

10-25-01 14:14:58

PS