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    The Unfortunate Dutchman
    The Unfortunate Dutchman
    The Unfortunate Dutchman
    Ebook38 pages25 minutes

    The Unfortunate Dutchman

    By Dennis De Witt

    ()

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    About this ebook

    The Unfortunate Dutchman is a tale of the many trials and tribulations faced by Jacob van Kal, an employee of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), during this travels to the Far East and his return to Holland at the end of the 18th century.

    It tells of his journey together with his family to Batavia, then the seat of the VOC’s power in the East, but only to find that he brought them to their doom as they contracted and died unknown tropical diseases. Unable to break the bond of his employment, he was transferred to a relatively unimportant Dutch colony in Malacca. There, he remarried but he eventually became entwined in tussle with the colony’s governor and it led him to be imprisoned and ultimately dismissed from his employment.

    Upon Jacob van Kal’s return to Holland, he initiated legal proceedings and he was granted compensation on what would be an astronomical payout from the Dutch government. Jacob’s curse of misfortunes surpasses the tolerances of the normal man but his tragedy tells an amazing story of his travels and experiences in the East Indies.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNutmeg Publishing
    Release dateMay 22, 2013
    ISBN9781301681181
    The Unfortunate Dutchman
    Author

    Dennis De Witt

    Dennis De Witt is a 5th generation Dutch Eurasian originally from Malacca, Malaysia. He has developed a keen interest on subjects relating to Dutch influences in Malaysian history due to his own heritage. His research on his ancestors has produced family data going through 300 years, down 11 generations and across 3 continents. In 2009, he was named as the winner of the ‘Dutch incentive prize for Genealogy’ for his book ‘History of the Dutch in Malaysia’ and he received his prize in the Netherlands. He was the first ever recipient of this prize who is not a Dutch citizen.

    Read more from Dennis De Witt

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      Book preview

      The Unfortunate Dutchman - Dennis De Witt

      The Unfortunate Dutchman

      By

      Dennis De Witt

      * * * *

      Copyright © Dennis De Witt

      2020

      ISBN: 9781301681181

      Ebook

      Smashwords Edition

      Published by Nutmeg Publishing

      www.nutmegpublishing.com

      Email: nutmegpublishing@yahoo.com

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.

      The contents of this publication are provided without liability. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be responsible for any claims, loss, damages, costs or expenses arising in any way out of or in connection with this publication.

      * * * *

      Contents

      Title Page

      Copyright Page

      Chapter 1 - Introduction

      Chapter 2 - Outward voyage

      Chapter 3 - Batavia

      Chapter 4 - Malacca

      Chapter 5 - Homeward Bound

      Chapter 6 - Shifting Fortune

      Chapter 7 - Further Information

      Conclusion

      * * * *

      Introduction

      The unfortunate Dutchman is a true story of a person named Jacob van Kal from the Dutch town of Rotterdam. Like many Europeans during the golden age of Holland, he decided to enlist with the VOC (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, i.e. Dutch East India Company) and travelled to seek his fortune in the Far East.

      Van Kal's life is divided into a number of different periods in history, beginning from the late 18th century to the early 19th century. The events of his life also took place at different geological locations, spanning from Holland, Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia), Malacca, Riau (specifically at Tanjung Pinang in Bintan Island, Indonesia), and the Caribbean islands and finally back to Europe.

      At the time when our story begins, Great Britain and the Dutch Republic were at war with each other in what was known as the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. British focused its operations against Dutch colonial economic interests and naval battles were fought off the Dutch coast. As a result, the economy of the Dutch republic was severely

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