Document: Declaration of Pieter Jansen Groen regarding an assault committed on Ensign Hendrick van Dyck by Gerrit Dircksen

Before me, [ Cornelis van Tienhoven ], secretary of New Ne[ therland ], appeared [ Pieter Jansen Groen ], surgeon of the ship [ ], who testifies, attests and declares, in place and with promise of a solemn oath if need be, [ that it is true and ] truthful that [ he, the ] deponent, sat [ with ] Ensign Hendric van Dyck in the cabin [ of the aforesaid ] ship, where Gerrit Dircksen, standing before the door, abused [ the aforesaid ] ensign as [ an ] informer, [ saying ] that he and the soldiers, [ who ] were informers, need not come on board, [ but ] that he, Gerrit Dircksz, who said that he was a merchant, had a right to come on board; that five or six times he came to the door to get near the ensign, but that each time the mate and the crew ordered him to go away, whereupon Gerrit Dircksz tore the said Ensign van Dyck’s jerkin and rabat, without said ensign having given him, Gerrit Dircksz, any cause for striking and abusing him. All of which the deponent declares to be true, offering to confirm the same by oath if necessary and required.

Pieter Jansen Groe[ n ]