1718 Doulat van Balij
Doulat was found guilty of stealing cash, clothing and food at different times from farms in the Stellenbosch district, and of running away when he was chased. What makes the story particularly interesting is that he was the slave of a Ternate prince, Denge Mamouti (also referred to as Daije Mosis1) who had been exiled to the Cape by the VOC authorities in Batavia.2 Slaves formed an important part of the households of men of wealth and status throughout Southeast Asia, and high-ranking Asian exiles frequently brought an entourage of their wives, children and slaves with them to the Cape.3 That their authority over their exiled households was respected by the Company is shown by the opportunity the court authorities gave to Denge Mamouti to defend his slave, and the importance attached to the permission that he gave for them to punish Doulat, especially necessary since he was sentenced to death.
Doulat’s own interrogation (which is not published here since it repeats the material in the sententie) was carried out in Portuguese,4 and the documents read to Denge Mamouti were in Portuguese and Malay, both of which were widely spoken in Southeast Asia, and for which there were interpreters at the Council of Justice in Cape Town.5
Footnotes
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This was probably a bad phonetic rendering by the deputy landdrost, who did not know any Malay or Portuguese, hence his use of an interpreter. ↩
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This exile is variously referred to in the records as Dain Mamoodi or Daeng Mamoetie. When he came to the Cape is not clear, the earliest reference in the archival documents being February 1717. To the VOC he was a somewhat troublesome character. In 1721 he promised one of his other slaves, Leander van Malabar, his freedom if he refunded him his purchase price. However, when he saved enough to do so, Denge Mamouti reneged on his offer (Leibbrandt 1906: 665). The following year he was banished to Robben Island after he had been found guilty of encouraging both slaves and free people to his house for ‘gambling, whoring and other indecent activities’ (De Kock 1950: 194; Penn 1996: 21). From the inception of the Bandieten rollen in 1728 he appeared every year as ‘den sogenaamde prins van Ternaaten, van d’ Caab na ’t eijland gesonden 28 Novembr. 1722, tot nadre ordre’ (the so-called prince of Ternate, sent from the Cape to the island on 28 November 1722, until further notice), the last phrase meaning that his term of banishment was not specified, unlike most other convicts, (CJ 3188, ff. 8-9). This entry was repeated every year until 1747 (ff. 372-73) when he died. ↩
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Several hundred Asian political prisoners were exiled to the Cape, which was favoured as a place of banishment by the VOC authorities in Batavia. Sheikh Yusuf is probably the best known today, Ward 2002: 120-83. Pangerans Seloringpasar, a Javanese prince in exile at the Cape in the 1720s, petitioned the governor to have six of his personal slaves punished for ‘vagabondery’ (vagabonding), the men to work on Robben Island and the women to be kept in the Slave Lodge. Ward (2002: 158) comments that ‘[i]n a remarkable display of power and authority, the royal exile and the Company conspired to ensure the continued oppression of the slave population in the small colony’. Denge Mamouti’s acquiescence fits this general pattern. ↩
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CJ 322, document 59. Also included in the documentation for this case is the eijscheijschLiterally ‘claim’ or ‘demand.’ This is strictly speaking the eijsch ende conclusie without the final part about sentencing, but the term is often used as a shorthand for the whole document., CJ 322, document 60. ↩
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See 1775 Moses van de Caab for a discussion of slave use of Creole Portuguese and Malay. ↩
CJ 322 Criminele Process Stukken, 1718, document 58.
By order of the honourable landdrost Sieur Jacob Voet, I, the undersigned, in the presence of the assistant Johannes Keijts, set out to the house and residence of the Prince of Ternate, named Daije Mosis. He (on being questioned by the said Keijts, if he wished to defend his slave, currently under arrest, or to wholly give him up to the Officer) answered that if his slave had committed any crimes, the judge may punish him, and that he gives him up to the judge.
All of which was thus translated to me, the undersigned, by the said Keijts from Malay and Portuguese into Dutch; which I report to have happened.
The Cape of Good Hope on 28 September 1718,
By me, the messenger of the court, [signed] Sn. Witmont.
As witness, [signed] J. Keijts.
Op ordre van den edele landdrost, Sieur Jacob Voet, mij ondergeteeckende, ten bijweesen van den adsistent Johannes Keijts, vervoegt hebbende ten huijse en woonplaatse van den Ternataansen prins, Daije Mosis genaamt, soo heeft denzelven (op affvraage door gemelde Keijts aan hem gedaan, off hij zijne, als nu in hegtenis zijnde, slaaf wilde diffendeeren, ofte hem in het geheel aan den officier wilde overgeeven) geantwoord dat indien zijn slaaff eenige misdaden begaan had, den regter hem konde straffen en hij hem aan deselve overgaff.
’Twelke aldus door genoemde Keijts aan mij ondergeszeijde, soo uijt het Maleijs als Portugees verduijts weesende, relateer dit te sijn mijn wedervaaren.
Cabo de Goede Hoop, den 28e September 1718.
Door mijn [sic], gereghtsboode, [get.] Sn. Witmont.
Als getuijgen, [get.] J. Keijts.
CJ 784 Sententiën, 1717-1725, ff. 64-71.
As Doulat of Balij, 30 years old at a guess, bondsman of Denge Mamouti, Prince of Ternate, and currently their honours’ prisoner, has freely and volutarily confessed and admitted, without any pain or coercion of bonds, of irons, or any threat of suchlike; and moreover, as it has appeared totally evident to the honourable Council of Justice of this government:
That the prisoner, during March of this year, went to the farm of the former landdrost Sieur Johannes Mulder, where the prisoner was in a certain small room with one of the slaves named Daniel, who gave the prisoner a rixdollar from a little bag which he had taken from his chest.
That the prisoner went forth from there but, some days afterwards, he again set out there during the evening, on which occasion the prisoner did not scruple to open with a piece of wood the door of the said small room, which (as he claims) was not locked properly. Thereupon he dragged the same chest from which the slave Daniel had handed him the rixdollar out of the house to the back and broke it open from behind with a bit of wood, which he had cut for this purpose; and stole from it nineteen rixdollars in cash, without knowing the specie, as well as an old jacket and six skeins of yarn, leaving the chest there.
That the prisoner, shortly after leaving there, had shown the money to a certain slave of one Christoffel Wit, saying that it was his own. That afterwards the prisoner gave some of this stolen money to his aforementioned master to pay his maandgeld1 of five rixdollars, as he had been in agreement with him to earn that much every month.
Moreover that the prisoner not only spent the remaining money, but also dumped the jacket and the yarn into the bushes, after which he once again set out (as he admits) to several farms to earn his keep by working.
That the prisoner, on the last day of August this year, crawled on hand and foot along Clapmutsberg to the house of the aforementioned Christoffel Wit and, finding the door there closed, opened it with a pre-prepared piece of wood. He went inside and, finding a chest there, opened it by shaking it and breaking the hinges with a piece of wood. That the prisoner took nothing from the chest, but took from the house three pounds of butter in a napkin, during which operation, he noticed a certain young Hottentot running towards two slaves in the vineyard where they were occupied.
That the prisoner, being afraid, took flight to a wild vineyard close by, from where the slaves asked him to go with them to their master’s house. That when first asked, the prisoner did not do this, but when he was called for the second time by a slave, he went there and ate with them.
That the prisoner set off from there to the farm of the farmer Christoffel Groenewalt, also situated close to the Clapmuts, where he was found by the deputy of the honourable landdrost who wanted to apprehend the prisoner, who, however, escaped from him through the window, wearing only his shirt; in the course of which the prisoner received a wound on his little finger, the result of a blow which the aforesaid deputy gave the prisoner. He left behind a sword, which he had on the bed with him, without though (as he confesses) having any intention to injure anybody.
That the prisoner fled to the bushes around the mountain of Clapmuts and sustained himself with uijntjes2 until, after nineteen days, he was apprehended on the farm of the aforementioned Christoffel Groenewald [sic] by Groenewald’s son, one Claas Leckerwijn,3 and Pieter Simonsz. Plooij who, after struggling with him for a while, overpowered him and delivered him into the hands of justice.
All of which are matters of the most evil and pernicious consequences, being to the detriment of all good inhabitants and their prosperity, which cannot, under any circumstances, be tolerated in a country where justice is administered, but must be averted and punished most severely, as a deterrent to all such villains.
Thus it is, that the honourable Council of Justice of this government, serving today, having seen and read the written crimineelen eijsch ende conclusiecrimineelen eijsch ende conclusieLiterally ‘criminal demand and conclusion.’ The document drawn up by the prosecutor based on the evidence he collected and delivered in court against an accused. The conclusie is the final part of the document in which the prosecutor suggested an appropriate punishment for the crime., deliberated by the honourable landdrost Jacob Voet in his official capacity, in addition to the voluntary confession of the prisoner, properly verified in court, and the further documents serving the case, and moreover, having pondered with attention everything which in any way served the case and could have moved their honours, practising justice in the name and on behalf of the high and mighty Lords States General of the free and united Netherlands, and having judged the prisoner, is sentencing him with this: to be taken to the place where criminal sentences are usually executed here, and there to be handed over to the executioner, to be punished with the rope on the gallows in such a way that death will follow; afterwards that the dead body be taken from there, dragged through their honours’ streets to the outer place of execution, there to be hanged again and to remain like that until being consumed by the air and birds of heaven, with the costs and expenditure of justice.4
Thus done and sentenced in the Castle of Good Hope on 13 October 1718.
Pronounced and executed on the 15th thereupon.
[signed] M.P. Chavonnes, A. Cranendronk, K.J. Slotsboo, Jan de la Fontaine, Jn. Aldersz, Clis. Barents, C. Valk, Hk. Donker, Hk. Möller, Fk. Russouw.
In my presence, [signed] Dl. Thibault, secretary.
Footnotes
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Some slaves, usually those who lived in Cape Town, were obliged to pay their owners a set amount, known as koeli geld, which they had earned by selling goods or doing casual work (Thunberg 1986: 123; Ross 1980: 10-11), and slaves who failed to do so were often punished (see, for example, 1737 Januarij van Tutocorijn). In this case Doulat had agreed to pay his owner a regular monthly payment (maandgeld) of five rixdollars. It could not have been easy for slaves to earn such amounts regularly, and this might explain why Doulat stole the money. For more references to examples of koeli geld from the eighteenth century, and for comments on the origins of the word, see Franken 1953: 105-6. ↩
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These are not onions, but probably refer to the corms of a type of iris, the Moraea fugax (Iridaceae), which are edible and known to have been used by both the indigenous population and the settlers for food (Thunberg 1986: 55). ↩
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Not a nickname for somebody fond of wine, but a ‘Dutchification’ of the French surname Lecrévent or Lécrivain. This Nicholaas Lecrévent was the stepbrother of Christoffel Groenewald’s daughter-in-law, Margaretha Hattingh (Heese & Lombard 1986-2004, vol. 3: 116 and vol. 4: 576). ↩
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This sentence was recommended in the eijscheijschLiterally ‘claim’ or ‘demand.’ This is strictly speaking the eijsch ende conclusie without the final part about sentencing, but the term is often used as a shorthand for the whole document., CJ 322, document 60, and also recorded in the regtsrollenregtsrollenLiterally ‘rolls of justice’, the minutes of the proceedings of the Council of Justice., CJ 7 [1718], f. 50. ↩
Alzoo Doulat van Balij, oud naar gissing 30 jaaren, lijfeijgen van den Ternatensche prins Denge Mamouti, althans ’s heeren gevange, buijten pijn of dwang van banden van ijsers, ofte eenige bedrijging van dien, liber en vrij heeft geconfesseert ende beleeden, mitsgaders den agtbaaren Raade van Justitie deeses gouvernements volkomen gebleeken is:
Hoe dat hij gevangen in de jongst gepasseerde maand Maart gekomen is op de plaats van den oud landdrost Sieur Johannes Mulder, dat hij gevangen aldaar met eene der slaaven, Daniel genaamt, is geweest in seeker kamertje, dewelke aan hem gevangen uijt een sakje, ’tgeen hij uijt zijn kist haalde, een rijxdaalder gegeeven heeft.
Dat hij gevangen voorts van daar is gegaan en eenige dagen daaraan in den avondstond, zig weederom derwaarts vervoegt, als wanneer den gevangen zig niet heeft ontsien de deur van ’t gemelde camertje, die (soo hij voorgeeft) niet wel geslooten was, met een stuk hout open te maak, vervolgens de voorsijde kist waaruijt hem deese rijxdaalder door den slaaf Daniel gegeeven was, daaruijt, en agter het huijs te sleepen, deselve kist met een, door hem daartoe smal gesneeden, houtje van agteren open te breeken en daaruijt te steelen neegenthien rijxdaalders in gelde, sonder de species te kennen, mitsgaders een oude borstrok en ses strengen gaarn, latende de kist aldaar staan.
Dat hij gevangen zig kort nadat van daar heeft begeeven, en aan seekere slaaf van eenen Christoffel Wit het gestoole geld vertoont, en gesegt dat het zijn eijgen was. Dat hij gevangen vervolgens van dit gestoolene geld aan zijn meester, voornoemt, heeft gegeeven om zijn maand geld te betaalen, 5 rijxdaalders, vermits met denselven geaccordeert was ’s maandelijx sooveel te zullen opbrengen.
Dat hij gevangen weijders het resteerende geld verteert, mitsgaders de bortstrok en het gaarn in de ruigte gesmeeten heeft, en weijders zig selven (zoo hij beleijd) naar dato op verscheijde plaatsen tot costwinning om te arbeijden begeeven.
Dat hij gevangen, op ultimo Augustus jongstleeden, langs de Clapmutsberg op handen en voeten naar het huijs van den voorsegden Christoffel Wit gekroopen, en aldaar de deur meede geslooten vindende, deselve weeder met een geprepareert stuk hout geopent, binnenshuijs gegaan, en aldaar een kist vindende, deselve door het schudden, en met behulp van een stuk hout, de hengsels afgebrooken heeft. Dat hij gevangen niets uijt de kist, maar uijt den huijse, in een servet, 3 ponden boter heeft genomen, onder welkers verrigting hij ontwaart heeft dat zeeker klijn Hottentotje naar twee jongens in de wijngaart, aldaar in beesighijd zijnde, is geloopen.
Dat hij gevangen, bevreest sijnde, de vlugt heeft genoomen in een daar omtrent staande wilde wijngaard, vanwaar die slaaven hem gevangen hebben versogt om meede na haar meesters huijs te gaan. Dat hij gevangen op de eerste afvraging sulx niet heeft gedaan maar, wanneer voor de tweede reijse door een jonge geroepen zijnde, naar derwaarts gegaan is, en aldaar met haar gegeeten heeft.
Dat hij gevangen zijn cours van daar heeft genoomen naar de plaats van den landbouwer Christoffel Groenewalt, meede aan de Clapmuts geleegen, en aldaar door den substituijt van den edele landdrost gevonden zijnde, in meening den gevangen te apprehendeeren, hij hem egter in ’t hembt door een venster is ontsnapt; zijnde hij gevangen alsdoen aan zijn pink, door den houw die den voorseijde substituijt naar den gevangen deed, gequetst geraakt, agterlatende een deegen die hij op de kooij bij hem heeft gehad, egter met geen oogmerk (zoo hij confesseert) om iemand te beleedigen.
Dat hij gevangen van daar zijn vlugt in de bosjes aan ’t gebergte van de Clapmuts heeft genoomen en zig met uijntjes g’erneert totdat, na verloop van 19 dagen op de plaats van Christoffel Groenewald [sic], meergemeld, door desselfs soon, eenen Claas Leckerwijn, en Pieter Simonsz. Plooij is geattrapeert en, na een wijl tijds met deselve geworstelt te hebben, eijndelijk overmand en in handen van de justitie is overgeleevert.
Alle ’twelke zijnde zaaken van seer quaade en pernitieuse gevolgen, streckende tot prejuditie van alle goede ingeseetenen en hunner welvaaren, die in een land, daar de justitie werd geadministreert geensints mogen geduld maar tot afschrik van alsulke booswigten, op ’t serveerst moeten geweerd en gepunieert werden.
Soo is ’t, dat den agtbare Raad van Justitie deeses gouvernements, ten dage dienende, gesien en geresumeert hebbende, den schriftelijken crimineelen eijsch en conclusie bij den edele landdrost Jacob Voet amptshalven overgelegt, beneevens de libre confessie van den gevangen, in judicio behoorlijk gerecolleert, en de verdere stucken daartoe specteerende, weijders met aandagt gepondereert alle ’tgeene ter materie eenigsints dienende was en haar Agtbaarens deede moveeren, doende regt in den naam ende van weegen de hoogmogende Heeren Staaten Generaal der vrije en Vereenigde Neederlanden, den gevangen hebben gecondemneert, gelijk hem condemneeren bij deesen: gebragt te werden ter plaatse daar men alhier gewoon is crimineele sententiën te executeeren, en aldaar den scherpregter overgeleevert zijnde, met de coorde aan de galgh soodanig gestraft te werden datter de dood naarvolgt, vervolgens het doode lighaam van daar afgenoomen zijnde, door ’s heeren weegen naar ’t buijten geregt gesleept en aldaar weeder opgehangen zijnde, zoolange te blijven totdat door de lugt en vogelen des heemels zal zijn verteert, met de costen en mise van justitie.
Aldus gedaan en gesententieert in ’t Casteel de Goede Hoop, den 13e October 1718.
Gepronnuntieert en g’executeert den 15e daaraanvolgende.
[get.] M.P. Chavonnes, A. Cranendronk, K.J. Slotsboo, Jan de la Fontaine, Jn. Aldersz, Clis. Barents, C. Valk, Hk. Donker, Hk. Möller, Fk. Russouw.
Mij present, [get.] Dl. Thibault, secretaris.