1744 Barkat van Timor
This drama took place in the house of the prominent burgher Abraham Cloppenburg.1 When he angrily ordered his slave Barkat van Timor to be whipped for not having set the supper table, Barkat attacked him, as well as another slave who got in his way, and barricaded himself in the attic. The subsequent siege lasted until the following morning, when Barkat was overcome by a bandietbandietLiterally ‘bandits’. These were convicts sentenced by the VOC courts to hard labour. The term was used for any such person, irrespective of his or her status as a slave or free person. working as one of the Company’s policemen.2
Barkat’s response was a form of running amok,3 with indiscriminate attacks on everyone who got in his way, burghers, cafferscaffersTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia. and his fellow slaves, and his realisation that his actions were suicidal. It was a sudden and spontaneous reaction which took Cloppenburg by surprise. However, Cloppenburg was renowned for maltreating his slaves and admitted to the court that he had been angry. Barkat was executed by breaking on the wheel, but Cloppenburg was also reprimanded by the Council of Justice.4
Barkat may have been a newcomer to the Cape since he did not yet understand Dutch and his testimony was given in Malay.5 It is a striking indication of the divisions within the forced migrants to the colony that he was overcome by a bandietbandietLiterally ‘bandits’. These were convicts sentenced by the VOC courts to hard labour. The term was used for any such person, irrespective of his or her status as a slave or free person. from Boegies, in the same region as his own place of origin, who would also have understood Malay.
We include here the interrogation of Barkat, and the testimonies of Cloppenburg and one of the bandietenbandietenLiterally ‘bandits’. These were convicts sentenced by the VOC courts to hard labour. The term was used for any such person, irrespective of his or her status as a slave or free person., which enable a reconstruction of the episode from several perspectives.6
Footnotes
-
Abraham Cloppenburg arrived at the Cape as a free burgher in 1732 and held positions as a burgher councillor and on the church council, Resolusies, vol. 8: 385, n. 229. His brother, Ruardus Cloppenburg, became minister at the Cape in 1746 (DSAB IV: 86). The house was at the corner of Heere Street in Block B, and a room-by-room inventory was taken of it in 1743 (MOOC 8/6, document no. 67). ↩
-
For discussion of the cafferscaffersTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia., see 1719 Jonas van Manado, n. 13. ↩
-
The phenomenon of “running amok” was well attested by comtemporaries as a dangerous response of Southeast Asian slaves. It usually involved unexpected attacks on all who had the misfortune to come in the path of the perpetrator, ending with his (amok-runners were always male) suicide, or attempted suicide. Amok had supernatural significance, often involving the use of the kris sword, which was believed to have special spiritual powers, and took place throughout insular Southeast Asia. For general analysis of amok, see Spores 1988 and, for a Cape example, Bradlow 1991. Other references or examples in this volume include 1717 Aaron van Bengalen; 1739 Cupido van Mallabaar; 1751 Januarij van Boegies; 1757 Baatjoe van Mandhaar; and 1775 Maart van Bencoule. ↩
-
Barkat admitted guilt but stated in defence that he had been mistreated by his owner. He was sentenced to be broken on the cross with the coup de grâce, the sentence 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 349, f. 103. Nonetheless, after the sentence was carried out, the court decreed that although it had been deserved, reports had been received of Cloppenburg’s ‘al te driftige en brusque behandeling’ (rather too hot-tempered and brusque treatment) of all his slaves and that he should be admonished, CJ 26, ff. 15-6. A delegation was sent to his house to reprimand him, but two years later a similar incident happened when Galant van Mallebaar attacked Cloppenburg after he tried to flog him for staying away overnight (CJ 787, ff. 156-61). ↩
-
On the linguistic situation at the Cape, see 1763 Christina Strang and 1775 Moses van de Caab. ↩
-
Other available testimonies of witnesses are those of two of Cloppenburg’s slaves, Julij van Persie and Tornes van Balij, two burghers, Pieter Meijer and Abraham Leever, and a medical report on those who were wounded, CJ 349, ff. 99-120. ↩
CJ 349 Criminele Process Stukken, 1744, ff. 104-8.
There appears before us, the undersigned delegates from the honourable Council of Justice of the Castle of Good Hope, Barkat van Timor, bondsman of the former burgher councillor, Sinjeur Abraham Cloppenburg, 30 years old at a guess, who, on the requisition of the honourable independent fiscal, Pieter Reede van Oudshoorn, confesses it to be true:
That at about ten o’clock at night of Saturday, the 22nd of this month February, his owner came home and first went into the room to his wife, coming out again shortly thereafter when he came to the confessant, who was in the voorhuijsvoorhuijsLiterally the ‘front house’, this referred to the first area entered from the main door or stoep (porch). In most houses this was a room, although in the later design of some Cape houses it referred to a narrower passage (like a hall or vestibule) flanked by one or more front rooms. where he had set the table,1 and asked him why the food was not on the table, to which the confessant replied that it had not yet been ordered by him, Sinjeur Cloppenburg. Hereupon his said owner immediately grabbed him by the hair and, after having given him some slaps with his hand in the face, took the confessant to the kitchen, ordering some of his fellow slaves to undress him and to tie him to a ladder standing in the kitchen. Hereupon, these slaves immediately took him in order to tie him up and beat him, while in the meantime he begged his owner for forgiveness. However, as this did not help, the confessant tore himself free from the hands of these slaves, taking at this time out of desperation a knife which was lying on the table in the kitchen, and went with it to his owner, who was also still in the kitchen, being of the intention then to take his2 life in order thereby to depart from the world himself, because he could not bear it any longer with his owner. Hereupon he stabbed with the said knife at his aforementioned master, without knowing whether or where he had hit the same, whereupon his owner ran from the kitchen to the galderijgalderijNot a ‘gallery,’ but usually a family room behind the public front rooms of a house where families ate together or where domestic chores were performed. In some earlier Cape houses it referred to a passageway or linking area between the front room and the kitchen area.,3 being followed by the cook Julij who closed the kitchen door after him, while the other slaves likewise ran to the back of the yard and also closed the door after them.
So that the confessant then found himself alone in the kitchen and was of mind to flee to the attic, yet, when he came to the ladder he met with the slave Julij who was coming down the ladder from the attic, and since he, Julij, was in the way of the confessant, he gave him two stabs with that very same knife, without knowing whether or where he was hit. Hereupon the confessant immediately went to the attic with the knife in his hand, without knowing if he had wounded anybody else at this time.
That when the confessant got to the attic, after letting the ladder fall down into the kitchen, he immediately blocked off the trap-door with some chests which were in the attic, being of the intention to conceal and defend himself as long as he could, continually putting other chests in the place of those which were being worked away from underneath and also, on several occassions, threw whatever he could lay his hands upon, be it pots, bottles, stones etc., through the window of the attic to the people who had joined the others there at the house.
That after some time, when more and more of the chests on the trap-door were worked away, the confessant held several conversations with the people who were in the kitchen. He saw a European person in a white shirt going to the back yard to speak to the cafferscaffersTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia. who were there, which person also swore at him, for which reason the confessant took a pot and hurled it at the head of the said person.
That with the break of day the confessant saw that somebody, with the help of a ladder which had been set up to the window of the attic from the outside, was hacking at that window with a sharp instrument, without having seen anything more of this person than the arm and the instrument since the confessant stood to the side of the window, whereupon he stabbed two or three times in the direction of this person with a sharp broom handle which he at this time held in his hand, and also felt that this person had been hit by it. After this, the chests, which were still on the trap-door, were again worked away below into the kitchen and, while moreover shots were fired at him by Schipper Kroos – after he had managed to get the confessant in view – from a flat roof from where he could see into the attic,4 without however hitting him. Upon which the confessant became anxious, and seeing a bamboo parasol handle from which some things were hanging, he took this stick down and sharpened the one end in order to defend himself with it against those who wished to capture him. Shortly hereupon the confessant saw and heard two openings being knocked through the wall and that another opening into the attic was being made next to the trap-door, for which reason the confessant went to the corner by the chimney, where the openings were being made, holding the knife and the bamboo stick in his hands, at which point he was hit unexpectedly upon his head by a caffercafferTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia., not being sure if this was done with a broadsword. Upon this, he and this caffercafferTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia. started struggling with each other (continually holding the knife in his hand, though not knowing whether or not he had wounded the said caffercafferTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia.) until yet another caffercafferTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia. came there and also took him on, and likewise Schipper Kroos, who came into the attic and hit the confessant on his arm with the pistol he had in his hand, by means of which he was unable to defend himself any longer and thus came into the hands of justice.
Finally, the confessant declares not to know if the knife currently being shown to him is the very same knife with which he injured his owner and fellow slave, yet he says that if there is blood on it, it surely must be the same; further that he is sorry to have committed such a crime, to which he confesses his guilt.
Thus confessed in the Malay language, rendered into Dutch by the second undersigned delegate, the honourable Jan Lourens Bestbier, at the Cape of Good Hope on 24 February 1744 before the honourables D. d’Aillij and J.L. Bestbier, who have properly signed the original of this, together with the confessant and me, the secretary.
Verification
There appears before us, the undersigned delegates from the honourable Council of Justice of the Castle of Good Hope, Barkat van Timor, slave of the former burgher councillor, Sinjeur Abraham Cloppenburg, who, after this, his given deposition, had been read out word by word, and interpreted again into the Malay language by the honourable Lourens Bestbier, declares to fully persist by it, therefore not desiring that anything more be added to or taken from it, and declares all of the above to contain the whole truth.
Thus verified at the Cape of Good Hope on 28 February 1744 before the honourables D. d’Aillij and J.L. Bestbier, who have properly signed the original of this, together with the confessant and me, the secretary.
Which I declare, [signed] Jn. Fr. Tiemmendorf, secretary.
CJ 349 Criminele Process Stukken, 1744, ff. 109-10.
Statement given, on the requisition of the honourable fiscal Pieter Reede van Oudshoorn, by the former burgher councillor, Sieur Abraham Cloppenburg, which is of the following content, namely:
That the testifier got home at about ten o’clock this evening5 and asked his wife, who was sitting in the back room reading, if the table had been set, and obtained as answer from her that the table is set in the voorhuijsvoorhuijsLiterally the ‘front house’, this referred to the first area entered from the main door or stoep (porch). In most houses this was a room, although in the later design of some Cape houses it referred to a narrower passage (like a hall or vestibule) flanked by one or more front rooms. and that a while ago his slave Barkat van Timor had demanded the key of the silver cabinet to this end; to which the testifier replied that this had not been done. He then had the slave Barkat called into the galderijgalderijNot a ‘gallery,’ but usually a family room behind the public front rooms of a house where families ate together or where domestic chores were performed. In some earlier Cape houses it referred to a passageway or linking area between the front room and the kitchen area. asking him why the table had not been set, and received from him, rather insolently, the answer that the table had been set for the knechtknechtLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’. Hereupon the testifier became rather angry and told the aforementioned slave Barkat that he better go to the kitchen, at once calling the slave Achilles to get a sjamboksjambokThis word entered seventeenth-century Dutch via Malay (tjambok) or Javanese (sambok) from Persian (châbuk). It is a whip cut from thick animal skin, usually hippopotamus or rhinoceros, and was already known in the Dutch East Indies as an instrument for punishing slaves. At the Cape it was also used to beat draught animals with. in order to have the said Barkat chastised in the kitchen for his insolence, and, when he got there, the sjamboksjambokThis word entered seventeenth-century Dutch via Malay (tjambok) or Javanese (sambok) from Persian (châbuk). It is a whip cut from thick animal skin, usually hippopotamus or rhinoceros, and was already known in the Dutch East Indies as an instrument for punishing slaves. At the Cape it was also used to beat draught animals with. was brought by the said Achilles, whereupon the slave Barkat shot towards the testifier’s body, which the testifier thought was because he wished to fall down in front of his feet and to beg for forgiveness. Yet, instead of this, the same, with a knife which he held in his hand and which the testifier did not see, stabbed him in the middle of his chest, somewhat to the left-hand side, wounding him at the same time with that knife in his right arm. When the testifier received these wounds, he went from the kitchen to the front, without being able to say what happened further.
There being nothing further to declare, the testifier asserts to be convinced of the accuracy of his statement as in the text, while offering to subsequently confirm this, his report, at any time, if so required.
Thus related at the Cape of Good Hope at the residence of the testifier on 22 February 1744 before the honourables D. d’Aillij and J.L. Bestbier, members from the honourable Council of Justice of this government, who have properly signed the original of this, together with the testifier and me, the secretary.
Verification
There appears before us, the undersigned delegates from the honourable Council of Justice of the Castle of Good Hope, the former burgher councillor, Sinjeur Abraham Cloppenburg, who, after this, his given statement, had been read out word by word, clearly and plainly, declares to fully persist by it, therefore not desiring that anything more will be added to or taken away from it, and declares all of the above to be the whole truth.
Thus verified at the Cape of Good Hope on 28 February 1744 before the honourables D. d’Aillij and J.L. Bestbier, members from the aforementioned Council, who have properly signed the original of this, together with the testifier and me, the secretary.
Which I declare, [signed] Jn. Fr. Tiemmendorf, secretary.
CJ 349 Criminele Process Stukken, 1744, ff. 115-16v.
Statement given, on the requisition of the honourable independent fiscal, Pieter Reede van Oudshoorn, by the bandietbandietLiterally ‘bandits’. These were convicts sentenced by the VOC courts to hard labour. The term was used for any such person, irrespective of his or her status as a slave or free person. Pannaij van Boegies,6 of competent age, being of the following contents, namely:
That at about half past ten o’clock on Saturday evening, which was the 22nd of this month February, the testifier, serving as caffercafferTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia. of the honourable fiscal, went out with some of his colleagues and their honours’ geweldigergeweldigerAn old Dutch term for ‘provost.’ At the Cape this was the title of the person at the head of the caffers, the people who in effect acted as the local ‘police force.’ to the house of the former burgher councillor, Sieur Abraham Cloppenburg, in order to help take prisoner a slave who had injured the said Sieur Cloppenburg and who was [hiding] in the attic of the kitchen.
That after they had been watching all night long without success, the testifier finally, when day broke on Sunday morning, climbed to the attic with the help of a ladder which had been put up to the window at the outside in order to apprehend the said slave. When he got to the attic, the testifier found the same with a knife in his hand, sitting in the corner by the chimney, looking around him; and, since the testifier was not seen by the same, he went to the aforesaid slave and gave him a sudden blow on the left arm with the stick that he had in his hand. Whereupon the said slave leaped up, grabbed the testifier and started to struggle with him, as a result of which the testifier got a cut on the left-hand side of his neck from the said slave with the knife that he held in his hand; and when this slave was again lifting up his hand in order to stab the testifier for a second time, with him trying to prevent this as far as possible and calling for help, he was freed by his colleagues and, coming down from the attic, immediately had himself bandaged.
There being nothing further to relate, the testifier asserts to be convinced of the accuracy of his statement as in the text, being willing to subsequently confirm this, his report, at any time, if so required.
Thus related at the Cape of Good Hope on 24 February 1744 in the presence of the clerks Otto Wilhem Rotenburg and Oloff Christoff Karnspek, as witnesses, who have properly signed the original of this, together with the testifier and me, the secretary.
Verification
There appears before us, the undersigned delegates from the honourable Council of Justice of the Castle of Good Hope, the bandietbandietLiterally ‘bandits’. These were convicts sentenced by the VOC courts to hard labour. The term was used for any such person, irrespective of his or her status as a slave or free person. Pannaij van Boegies, who, after this, his given statement, had been read out word by word, clearly and plainly, declares to fully persist by it, therefore not desiring that anything more be added to or taken from it, except that when he was struggling with the said slave Barkat, he wrested from him the knife he was holding in his hand and also brought it down from the attic; and declares, in the presence of the aforementioned Barkat, all of the above to be the whole truth.
Thus verified at the Cape of Good Hope on 28 February 1744 before the honourables D. d’Aillij and J.L. Bestbier, members from the aforementioned Council, who have properly signed the original of this, together with the testifier and me, the secretary.
Which I declare, [signed] Jn. Fr. Tiemmendorf, secretary.
Footnotes
-
The voorhuijsvoorhuijsLiterally the ‘front house’, this referred to the first area entered from the main door or stoep (porch). In most houses this was a room, although in the later design of some Cape houses it referred to a narrower passage (like a hall or vestibule) flanked by one or more front rooms. was the main reception and eating room at the front of the house. This house appears to have been a relatively large and wealthy one for the period, with a full-sized voorhuijsvoorhuijsLiterally the ‘front house’, this referred to the first area entered from the main door or stoep (porch). In most houses this was a room, although in the later design of some Cape houses it referred to a narrower passage (like a hall or vestibule) flanked by one or more front rooms. and front and back rooms. ↩
-
This seems to refer to Cloppenburg. Barkat wanted both to kill his owner and to commit suicide by his actions. ↩
-
In older Cape Town houses this was a connecting passageway between the kitchen and the front rooms. It later became a room behind the voorhuijsvoorhuijsLiterally the ‘front house’, this referred to the first area entered from the main door or stoep (porch). In most houses this was a room, although in the later design of some Cape houses it referred to a narrower passage (like a hall or vestibule) flanked by one or more front rooms. where the family ate and household chores such as sewing were done. It is not clear in this case what the galderijgalderijNot a ‘gallery,’ but usually a family room behind the public front rooms of a house where families ate together or where domestic chores were performed. In some earlier Cape houses it referred to a passageway or linking area between the front room and the kitchen area. contained. ↩
-
i.e. through the front gable window. Schipper Kroos may have been standing on the flat roof of a building opposite the front of the house. This was probably the attic window through which Barkat threw objects at the crowd gathering in the street, and through which, by means of a ladder, the caffercafferTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia. gained entry to the attic. ↩
-
Note that this testimony was taken on 22 February, the same day as the events described. Since Cloppenburg was a senior and well-connected burgher, he doubtless ensured that swift action was taken. The sentence was passed on 12 March. ↩
-
Pannaij is exceptional since, unlike any other caffercafferTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia., something is known about his life before he assumed this position. Having served as slave in Batavia, he was banished for life to Robben Island in 1730 for arson. There he laboured as bandietbandietLiterally ‘bandits’. These were convicts sentenced by the VOC courts to hard labour. The term was used for any such person, irrespective of his or her status as a slave or free person. until 1743 when he became caffercafferTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia., thereby greatly improving his lot (on him, see Groenewald 2005). ↩
Compareerde voor ons, ondergetekende gecommitteerdens uijt den edelagtbaren Raad van Justitie des Casteels de Goede Hoop, Parkat van Timor1 lijfeijgen van den oud burgerraad, sieur Abraham Cloppenburg, oud naar gissing 30 jaar, denwelken, ter requisitie van den Heer Independent Fiscaal Pieter Reede van Oudshoorn, confesseerde hoe waar is:
Dat sijn confessants lijfheer op Saturdag, den 22e deeser maand Februarij, ’s avonds omtrent thien uuren, te huijs gekoomen sijnde, eerst in de caamer bij sijn lijfvrouw is gegaan en, kort daarop weederom daar uijt koomende, bij hem confessant, die sig in ’t voorhuijs bevond en de tafel aldaar gedekt hadde, is gekomen, vragende aan hem confessant waarom dat de kost niet op taafel was, repliceerende hij confessant daarop dat ’t nog niet door hem, sinjeur Cloppenburg, belast was, krijgende gemelten sijn lijfheer hierop hem immediaat bij het hair en, naar hem eenige slaagen met de hand in ’t gesigt gegeeven te hebben, bragt hij den confessant dusdaanigh in de combuijs, ordonneerende aan eenige sijner meedeslaaven hem confessant uijt te trecken en op een, in de combuijs staande, leer te binden, welke slaaven hem hierop immediaat hebben aangevat om denselve vast te binden en te slaan, biddende hij confessant ondertusschen aan sijn lijfheer om vergiffenis, dog sulx niet kunnende helpen, heeft den confessant sig uijt de handen dier slaaven los geruckt, neemende alsdoen uijt disperatie een mes dat in die combuijs op tafel lag, en liep daarmede na sijn lijfheer, die sig meede nog in de combuijs bevond, toe, van meening sijnde denselven daar meede om ’t leeven te brengen, om daar door selfs uijt de waarelt te koomen, dewijl ’t niet langer bij gemelten sijn lijfheer uijthouden konde, hebbende hierop met het voormelten mes ook naar voormelten sijn meester gestooken, sonder te weeten waarin of denselven geraakt heeft, sijnde hierop sijn lijfheer uijt de combuijs na de galdereij geloopen, gevolgt werdende door den cock Julij, die de combuijs deur agter hem toemaakte, lopende de ander slaaven insgelijx na agteren op de plaats en maakten die deur meede agter haar toe.
Dat den confessant sig dus alleenig in de combuijs bevindenden en van sints sijnde na de solder te gaan vlugten, dog bij de leer gekoomen sijnde, troff hij den slaaf Julij, die van de solder door behulp van die leer afquam, aan, ende hij Julij oversulx den confessant in de weg sijnde, bragt hij denselven met dat eijgenste mes meede twee steecken toe, sonder te weeten waar off denselven getroffen heeft, begeevende hij confessant sig hierop immediaat na de solder met het mes in de hand, sonder te weeten dat hij te dier tijd ijmand verder gequetst heeft.
Dat den confessant, op zolder koomende, na de leer beneede in de combuijs te hebben laaten vallen, het luijk immediaat met eenige kisten, op die solder sig bevindende, toegemaakt heeft, van meening sijnde om sig so lange te verbergen en te verweeren als hij konde, hebbende hij confessant gestaadig in steede van die kisten die van onderen af gearbijd wierden, aanstons anderen in de plaats geset, ook heeft differente maalen met hetgeene dat hem confessant voor de hand quam, als potten, bottels, steenen etc. uijt de solder venster na de menschen gegooijde die sig aldaar ten huijse bij den anderen vervoegd hadden.
Dat, na een ruijmen tusschenpoosingh, de kisten die op het luijk stonden met meer afgearbeijd wierden, hij confessant verscheijde saamenspraaken met die, in de combuijs sig bevindende, persoonen gehouden en gevoert heeft, hebbende hij confessant een Europiaans persoon, in een wit hembd sijnde, agter na de plaats sien gaan om met de caffers, die sig aldaar bevonden, te spreeken, welken persoon hem teffens uijtschold, weshalven hij confessant een pot genoomen en gemelten persoon daarmeede op ’t het hoofd gesmeeten heeft.
Dat met het aanbreeken van den dag hij confessant gesien heeft dat ijmand door behulp van een leer, die van buijte aan ’t solder venster geset was, met een scherp instrument aan dat venster gekapt heeft, sonder meer van voormelten persoon als de arm en het instrument gesien te hebben, dewijl hij confessant op sijde van ’t venster stond, ter dier tijd in de hand hebbende een scherpe beusemstok met dewelke hij confessant naar gesegde persoon tot twee à drie maalen gestooken en ook gevoelt heeft, dat denselven geraakt was, waarop vervolgens weederom in de combuijs de kisten, die nog op het luijk stond, na beneden toe gearbeijd wierden, mitsgdaders wierd door Schipper Kroos, die op een plat dakjen, vanwaar hij op de solder sien konden, na hem confessant in ’t gesigt te hebben gekreegen, geschooten, sonder egter denselven te treffen, waarop den confessant benaauwt werdende en een bamboese sommereelstock, daar eenige goed op hing, gesien hebbende, die stock afgenoomen en denselven aan de een seijden scherp gemaakt heeft om sig daarmeede te verweeren teegens diegeenen die hem wilden vangen, siende en hoorende hij confessant kort daarop dat er twee gaaten in de muur gebrooken en dat er een ander gat buijten de luijk in de solder gemaakt wierd, weshalven hij confessant in de hoek bij de schoorsteen daar de gaaten gemaakt wierden, sig begaff, het mes en de bamboes in de hand hebbende, werdende alsdoen op het onvoorsienst door een caffer teegens het hooft geslagen, niet beeter weetende off sulx is met een houwer geschied, waarop met dien caffer aan ’t worstelen is geraakt (geduurig het mes in de hand hebbende dog niet weetende of gemelten caffer gequetst heeft ofte niet) tot soo lange dat nog een ander caffer daar bij is gekoomen en hem meede aangevat heeft, koomende Schipper Kroos insgelijx op die solder dewelke den confessant met een, in de hand hebbende, pistool op de arm heeft geslaagen, waardoor buijten staat is geraakt om sig langer te kunnen verweeren en dus in handen van de justitie is gekomen.
Laastelijk betuijgt den confessant niet te weeten of het aan hem thans verthoond werdende mes ’t eijgenste is waarmeede sijn lijfheer en meede slaaff gequetst heeft, dog segt dat wanneer er bloet aan was, seekerlijk ’t eijgenste moeste sijn, sijnde hem confessant ’t wijders leed dat diergelijke misdaad bedreeven hadden, waaroover hij schuld was bekennende.
Aldus geconfesseert in de Maleijtse taale, door den tweeden ondergeteekende gecommitteerden, de edele Jan Lourens Bestbier, in het Duijts vertolkt, aan Cabo de Goede Hoop, den 24e Februarij 1744 voor d’ edele D. d’Aillij en J.L. Bestbier, die de minute deeses, beneevens de confessant ende mij, secretaris, meede behoorlijk hebben onderteekent.
Recollement
Compareerde voor ons, ondergetekende gecommitteerdens uijt den edelagtbaren Raad van Justitie des Casteels de Goede Hoop, Parkat van Timor, slaaf van den oud burgerraad, sieur Abraham Cloppenburg, denwelken deese, sijne gegeevene confessie, van woorde tot woorde voorgeleesen zijnde en door de edele Jan Lourens Bestbier in de Maleijtse taale weederom vertolkt werdende, verklaarde daarbij volkomen te persisteeren, niet begeerende oversulx dat er iets meer bijgevoegt ofte van gedaan werden sal, en betuijgde alle het vooraanstaande de opregte waarhijd te behelsen.
Aldus gerecolleert aan Cabo de Goede Hoop, den 28e Februarij 1744 voor de edele D. d’Aillij en J.L. Bestbier, die de minute deeses, beneevens den confessant ende mij, secretaris, meede behoorlijk hebben onderteekent.
’Twelk ik getuijge, [get.] Jn. Fr. Tiemmendorf, secretaris.
CJ 349 Criminele Process Stukken, 1744, ff. 109-10.
Relaas gegeven, ter requisitie van den heer Independent Fiscaal Pieter Reede van Oudshoorn, door den oud burgerraad, sieur Abraham Cloppenburg, zijnde ’tselve van deesen volgenden inhoud, als:
Dat hij relatant deesen avond omtrent te thien uuren te huijs gekomen zijnde, aen desselfs huijsvrouw, die in de agterkamer te leesen sat, afgevraagt heeft, of de taafel niet gedeckt was, en van deselve ten andwoort bekomen hebbende dat de taafel in het voorhuijs gedeckt en dat desselfs slaaf Parcat van Timor haar ten dien eijnde de sleutel van de silver cas al lange afgeëijscht hadden, en den relatant hierop repliceerende dat sulx niet geschiet was, liet hij den slaaf Parcat in de galderij roepen, vraagende alsdoen aen denselven, waarom dat de taafel niet gedeckt hadde en, van hem, met eenige brutaliteijd, ten andwoort bekomen hebbende dat de taafel voor de knegt gedeckt hadde, wierd den relatant hierop eenigsints moeijlijk, seggende teegens meergemelten slaaff Parcat dat sig maar na de combuijs begeeven soude, roepende meteen den slaaf Achilles om een sjambock te haalen ten eijnde meergemelten Parcat over sijne assurantie in de combuijs te laten corrigeeren en, aldaar gekoomen sijnde, wierd de sjambock door gemelten Achilles gebragt, waarop den slaaf Parcat nae des relatants lijf is toegeschooten, denckende hij relatant dat hij hem wilde te voet vallen en om vergiffenis bidden, dog in steede van dien, bragt denselven hem relatant met een mes, hetwelke in de hand was hebbende, en ’tgeene den relatant niet gesien heeft, een steek in ’t midden van de borst, een wijnig nae de lincker sijde toe, quetsende denselven meteenen met dat mes in de regter arm, hebbende den relatant sig op die bekomene wonden aenstonts uijt de combuijs na vooren begeeven, sonder dat weet te seggen wat er wijders voorgevallen is.
Anders niet relateerende, geeft den comparant voor reedenen van weetenschap als in den text, met praesentatie van dit, sijn gerelateerde, ten allen tijden, sulx vereijscht werdende, naader te sullen gestand doen.
Aldus gerelateert aan Cabo de Goede Hoop, ten woonhuijse van den relatant, den 22e Februarij 1744, voor d’ edele D. d’Aillij en J.L. Bestbier, leeden uijt den edelagtbare Raad van Justitie deeses gouvernements, die de minute deeses, beneevens den relatant ende mij, secretaris, meede behoorlijk hebben onderteekent.
Recollement
Compareerde voor ons, ondergetekende gecommitteerdens uijt den edelagtbare Raad van Justitie des Casteels de Goede Hoop, den oud burgerraad, sieur Abraham Cloppenburg, denwelken dit, zijn gegeeven relaas, van woorde tot woorde claar en duijdelijke voorgeleesen zijnde, verclaarde daarbij volkoomen te persisteeren, niet begeerende oversulx datter iets meer bijgevoegt ofte van gedaan werde sal, en betuijgde alle het bovenstaande de suijvere waarheijd te zijn.
Aldus gerecolleert aen Cabo de Goede Hoop, den 28e Februarij 1744 voor d’ edele D. d’Aillij en J.L. Bestbier, leeden uijt voormelten Raad, die de minute deeses, beneevens den relatant ende mij, secretaris, meede behoorlijk hebben onderteekent.
’Twelk ik getuijge, [get.]. Jn. Fr. Tiemmendorf, secretaris.
CJ 349 Criminele Process Stukken, 1744, ff. 115-16v.
Relaas gegeeven, ter requisitie van den heer Independent Fiscael, Pieter Reede van Oudshoorn, door den bandiet Pannaij van Boegies, van competenten ouderdom, zijnde ’tselve van deese volgende inhoud, als:
Dat hij relatant, als caffer bij den heer Fiscaal dienst doende, met eenige sijner meede mackers en ’s heeren geweldiger, sig op Saturdag avond, sijnde den 22e deeser maand Februarij, de clocke omtrent halff elff uuren, vervoegt heeft ten huijse van den oud burgerraad, sieur Abraham Cloppenburg, ten eijnde een slaaff, die gemelten sieur Cloppenburg gequetst hadde en denwelken sig op de combuijs solder was bevindende, te helpen gevangen neemen.
Dat sijlieden de gantse nagt daarop vrugteloos gepast hebbende, hij relatant eijndelijk op Sondag morgen, wanneer ’t dag was, door behulp van een leer, die van buijten aen een venster geset was, naar die solder is geklommen, om meergemelten slaaff te apprehendeeren, vindende hij relatant denselven, wanneer op die solder quam, op de hoek van de schoorsteen sitten loeren met een mes in sijn hand, ende hij relatant van denselven niet gesien werdende, so begaff hij sig naar voormelten slaaff en bragt denselven op ’t onvoorsienst een slagh met de in de hand hebbende stock op desselfs linker arm toe, waarop gedagte slaaff opspringende, den relatant heeft aengegreepen, en is met hem aen ’t worstelen geraakt, waardoor den relatant van geciteerde slaaff, met ’t in de hand hebbende mes, een steek aen de linker sijde van de hals heeft bekoomen, ligtende gedagte slaaff de hant weederom op om den relatant voor de tweede maale een steek toe te brengen, dog hij sulx soo veel doenlijk was afweerende en om hulp roepende, is hij door sijn meede mackers ontset en van de solder koomende, heeft sig immediaat laaten verbinden.
Anders niet relateerende, geeft den relatant voor reedenen van weetenschap als in den text, berijd zijnde dit, zijn gerelateerde, ten allen tijden, sulx vereijscht werdende, nader gestand te doen.
Aldus gerelateert aan Cabo de Goede Hoop, den 24e Februarij 1744, ten overstaan der clercquen Otto Wilhem Rotenburg en Oloff Christoff Karnspek, als getuijgen, die de minute deeses, beneevens den relatant ende mij, secretaris, meede behoorlijk hebben onderteekent.
Recollement
Compareerde voor ons, ondergeteekende gecommitteerdens uijt den edelagtbaren Raad van Justitie des Casteels de Goede Hoop, den bandiet Pannaij van Boegies, denwelken dit, zijn gegeeven relaas, van woorde tot woorde claar en duijdelijk voorgeleesen zijnde, verclaarde daarbij volkoomen te persisteeren, oversulx niet begeerende datter iets meer bijgevoegt ofte van gedaan werden zal, als eenelijk dat hij comparant, wanneer met gemelten slaaff Parcat aan ’t worstelen raakte, hem ’t mes dat in de hand hadde, ontweldigt en meede van die solder gebragt heeft, en betuijgde in ’t bijweesen van meergemelten Parcat alle ’t bovenstaande de suijvere waarhijd te zijn.
Aldus gerecolleert aen Cabo de Goede Hoop, den 28e Februarij 1744, voor d’ edele D. d’Aillij en J.L. Bestbier, leeden uijt voormelten Raad, die de minute deeses, beneevens den relatant ende mij, secretaris, meede behoorlijk hebben onderteekent.
’Twelk ik getuijge, [get.] Jn. Fr. Tiemmendorf, secretaris.
Footnotes
-
The name is spelt both as Parkat and Barkat throughout the documentation, but is given as Barkat in the most formal, the regtsrollenregtsrollenLiterally ‘rolls of justice’, the minutes of the proceedings of the Council of Justice., CJ 26, f. 19. The letters b and p, like d and t, were often interchanged by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Dutch writers. ↩