Page 191 - Early English Adventurers in the Middle East_Neat

FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH 191

Thereafter the English flag was hoisted and saluted and
six guns were landed and mounted in two batteries near
the shore in preparation for all eventualities. The Dutch
were not slow to take up the gauntlet which Courthope
had so defiantly thrown down. A few days after the cere­
mony described, Cornelis Dedel, the Dutch Commander
at Neira, appeared off Poolo Roon with three ships fully
manned, prepared to evict the intruders. He anchored
two of his vessels near the Swan and Defence and the
third was placed between the ships and the shore to pre­
vent assistance being rendered from that quarter. But
Dedel had reckoned without the shore batteries, and when
he discovered these and found also that the natives were
fully prepared to back the English he reluctantly with­
drew to await reinforcements from Amboina.
The next move on the Dutch side was to send a pinnace
to take soundings off a small island called Nailaka which
lies close to the northern shore of Poolo Roon. This posi­
tion, if in Dutch hands, would have enabled them to
dominate the anchorage at Poolo Roon, and accordingly
by Courthope’s orders shots were fired at the pinnace to
drive her away. No damage was done or was intended,
but the firing was a direct act of hostility which the Dutch
were quick to utilize as a justification for their own acts
of violence which followed.
Courthope’s position, which was never strong, was
weakened at this critical moment by dissensions which
appeared in the ships’ companies and notably amongst
the landsmen who did not relish the prospect before them
of spending an indefinite time on this remote island.
Davis, the master of the Swan, sided with the disaffected
faction, and announced his intention to take his ship to