Letters of Aristodemus and Sincerus. 229 



of the work, the following sketch of the troubles which 

 led to such a voluminous book are taken from the differ- 

 ent volumes and freely translated : — 



In 1785, the colonies had been just given over by the 

 French, who had held them on behalf of the Dutch for 

 about three years. No town existed in Demerara up to 

 the present, but during the French occupation a little 

 village had grown up in the neighbourhood of the 

 Brandwagt, which they called la nouvelle ville or Long- 

 champs. The fort on the east bank of the Demerara 

 River (now Fort William Frederick) was also built at 

 this time, and named Le Dauphin, while another on the 

 opposite side was called La Reine. 



Complaints had been continually made by the planters 

 of the want of protection for their estates, to which the 

 West India Company gave little heed, throwing in their 

 teeth the fact that when the first lands were granted in 

 Demerara it was stipulated that the Company should 

 not to be bound to erect fortifications. The want of a 

 proper seat of government had also been felt for some time 

 before the capture of the colonies, the Commandeur 

 trying to get it placed near his own plantation, only 

 thinking of the convenience to himself. 



In anticipation of the colony being given up by the 

 French, meetings were held at the Hague in 1 783, to formu- 

 late a plan for the regulation of the government of the 

 colonies. It was understood that the Company were 

 financially unable to do much, and therefore the assist- 

 ance of the Stadtholder and States General would be 

 necessary. The Province of Holland would do nothing 

 unless the navigation and trade of the colonies were 

 entirelv free to all citizens of the Netherlands. Four 



