panje ende haere H. Mo. gemaeckt soude syn
geweest, noch dat wy van geene vreede geweeten noch gehoort hebben.
Alle t'welcke wy ondergeschreven verclaren alsoo waer ende waerachtich
te weesen, presenteerende t'selve, des noots synde, altoos met Eede te
verifieeren. Ady desen 25en July a'o 1649. N. Amst.

dit ist [X] marck van
HENDRICK ARENTSZ, Luytenant.
KEMPO SYBADA.
RAIPH CLARCK.
dit merc _eese_ is gestelt by
ANTONY DE MOEDES, Spaenjaert.

_Translation._

We the undersigned, having all voyaged together in the frigate _La
Garce_, of which Willem Albertsz Blaeuvelt is captain, having cruised
in the West Indies, testify, witness, and declare, in place and under
promise of solemn oath if need be, that it is true and certain, that
we captured from the Spaniard, in the river of Tabasko,[2] the bark
named _Tabasko_, which Spaniard did not notify us of any peace or
truce concluded between the King of Spain and their High Mightinesses,
nor had we known or heard of any peace.[3] All which we the
undersigned declare to be true and certain, offering also if need be
to verify it under oath. This 25th of July, 1649, in New Amsterdam.

[Footnote 2: A river of southern Mexico, flowing into the Gulf of
Campeche; in all but its lower portion it is now called the Grijalva.]

[Footnote 3: The deposition of William Nobel, surgeon of the _La
Garce_ (_N.Y. Col. Docs._, I. 398), shows that the _Tabasco_, "laden
with grains of paradise", was captured on April 22, 1649, and that
another prize was taken on July 5, and confirms the narrative given in
the next document. Yet peace had been concluded January 30 (N.S.),
1648. Roger Williams writes to John Winthrop, jr., October 25, 1649,
referring no doubt to the prize mentioned in the next document,
"Blufield is come to Newport and is carrying the ship (his prize) to
Munnadoes [Manhattan], having promised the Governor to answer it to
the Spaniard if demaunded, because she is taken against the Treves"
(truce, peace); _Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll._, fourth ser., VI. 272, 274.]

This is the [X] mark of
HENDRICK ARENTSZ, Lieutenant.
KEMPO SYBADA.[4]
RAIPH CLARCK.
This mark _eese_ is made by
ANTONY DE MOEDES, Spaniard.

[Footnote 4: The pilot of the privateer. The _Records of the Quarterly
Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts_, I. 314-319, show Captain Kempo
Sybada as dwelling in the next ensuing years at New London and on
Block Island, and as suffering in his turn from the depredations of
pri