On this day, date underwritten, before me, Cornelis van Ruyven, appointed secretary in New Netherland for the honorable directors of the Chartered West India Company, residing in Fort Amsterdam, appeared the Hon. Petrus Stuyvesant, director general of New Netherland and the Curacao islands, of the first part, and Jacob Jansz Huys, skipper under God of the ship De Peereboom, of the second part, who before and in the presence of the undersigned witnesses declared and acknowledged that in all amity they had entered into and concluded the following charter-party, in manner and terms hereinafter written:
In the first place, the above named skipper, Jacob Jansen Huys, shall be bound to put in order the aforesaid ship De Peereboom, now lying here in the roadstead before the fort, to have her caulked, ballasted and further fitted out in every way as a skipper according to the custom of the sea is bound to deliver a chartered ship to his freighters. Which being done by the skipper and notice thereof being given to the said Mr. Petrus Stuyvesant, the promised monthly pay shall begin to run and the vessel shall then be at the disposal of the honorable freighter to let her sail to Curacao, the islands thereof, or any other of the Caribbean islands, where the cargo which shall be put on board the ship De Peereboom is to be discharged by the skipper and to be landed by his boat and crew, when the bills of lading shall be satisfied.
The aforesaid skipper shall be bound to equip the ship De Peereboom and to provide her with a crew in the same way as she sailed this current year out of Holland, at the cost and expense of the skipper or his owners, only it is stipulated that the honorable director general aforesaid shall be bound at his cost and charge to have put on board provisions, such as the circumstances of the country now allow, for the ship's crew and those whom his honor shall be pleased to permit to embark in said ship, until such time as the said ship shall have completed her voyage from here to the Caribbean islands and thence back to New Netherland before Fort Amsterdam, or to Amsterdam in Holland. Furthermore, the respective parties have arranged and agreed that the provisions which are still stored in the ship De Peereboom may be taken over by the said honorable freighter to be served to the crew, on condition of paying therefor what they cost in Holland, a list whereof and also of the gunpowder on board and belonging to the ship shall be furnished by the skipper; and if on the voyage any of the ship's powder be consumed in firing salutes, and not in case of necessity against enemies, pirates, or on account of other misadventures, the honorable freighter remains bound to make good the powder consumed in salutes or to pay the value thereof.
The Hon. Petrus Stuyvesant promises to pay for the use of the said ship De Peereboom, the crew and whatever is necessary, to the above named skipper Jacob Jansz, his order, or his owners, after the safe voyage and happy arrival at the Texel, or at Amsterdam in Holland, which God grant, the sum of fifteen hundred guilders per month, which monthly pay shall commence so soon as the skipper shall have furnished the ship with everything necessary and provided her with ballast and wood, and notified thereof the honorable freighter, who is then bound to take possession of the ship and then, as soon as possible, cause all such goods and passengers to be loaded and embarked as he shall think proper, and the monthly pay shall cease whenever the ship De Peereboom shall have safely arrived in Holland, according to maritime law. And the honorable freighter remains also bound after her arrival there, to have the ship unloaded and her cargo discharged within three consecutive weeks.
It is also expressly agreed and stipulated, in case the freighter command the ship De Peereboom to touch or to anchor in the roadsteads or under forts in any unfree places, where the Dutch nation has no freedom of trade or right to come with ships, and the said ship may on that account be libeled, seized or confiscated, the freighter remains bound to make good or pay the value of said ship to the skipper or his owners.
For all that is above written the respective parties bind, the skipper his ship, tackle and ammunition, and the honorable general and the goods and merchandise laden therein, and each of them especially his person and property, submitting the same to all courts and judges, all honestly and in good faith. Thus done and agreed in the presence of the Hon. Cornelis van Thienhoven and Claes van Elslant, as witnesses hereto invited. This day, the 17th of December A° 1654, in Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland.
P. Stuyvesant
Jacob Jansz Huys
Cor: van Tienhoven
Claes van Elslant
Cornelis van Ruyvan
