Round the harbour, on the outside, lie many islands, which the Dutch have taken possession of, and apply to different, uses. To one of them, called Edam, they transport all Europeans who have been guilty of crimes that are not worthy of death: some are sentenced to remain there ninety-nine years, some forty, some twenty, some less, down to five, in proportion to their offence; and during their banishment, they are employed as slaves in making ropes, and other drudgery, In another island, called Purmerent, they have an hospital, where people are said to recover much, faster than at Batavia. In a third, called Kuyper, they have warehouses belonging to the Company, chiefly for rice, and other merchandize of small value; and here the foreign ships, that are to be laid down at Ourust, another of these islands, which with Kuyper has been mentioned before, discharge their cargoes at wharfs which are very convenient for the purpose. Here the guns, sails, and other stores of the Falmouth, a man of war which was condemned at this place when she was returning from Manilla, were deposited, and the ship herself remained in the harbour with only the warrant officers on board for many years. Remittances were regularly made them from home; but no notice was ever taken of the many memorials they sent, desiring to be recalled. Happily for them, the Dutch thought fit, about six months before ourarrival, to sell, the vessel and all her stores, by public auction, and send the officers home in their own ships. At Ourust, they repair all their own shipping, and keep a large quantity of naval stores.

Voyaging Accounts