Map of planned fortifications of Crab Island

Title Leupe: Project tegens de invaart van (de) mond des rivier de Berbices.

A plan, probably drawn up in the Republic, for the defense of the mouth of the Berbice was presented to the directors of the Berbice Society in May 1741.

Nothing is known about the makers of the overview map, N. Sluijs en O. Prams. Their plan included a fort of more than 800 by 450 metres right next to the sea at the end of the eastern bank of the river-mouth, including another three auxiliary batteries on the same bank and three others on Crab Island.

The firing lines from the main fort indicate that this was especially intended to make it impossible for enemy ships to approach the eastern passage along Crab Island, let alone enter the main navigation channel. Even if such ships did manage to pass the fort then four of the six auxiliary batteries would be able to give crossfire.

The western passage was thought to be too shallow for average-sized ocean-going vessels, so the designers maintained that just a single battery would suffice there.

As can be read in the annotation accompanying the map by François Samuel de Veije (see VEL1571), the five ships of colonel De Salve’s expedition that had run aground there upon arrival at the end of December 1763 later actually managed, during a spring tide, to move higher up the river via the western route, ‘despite the fact that one of the said ships, namely the George Hendrik, had a draught of sixteen feet’.

This plan far exceeded the means of the Society and consequently it was never seriously considered.

Of special interest is the reference under (m) to ‘negroes’ huts’, in other words the slaves’ quarters; the armed forces in the colonies also made use of slave labour.

North is right.

Scale-bar of 150 Rhineland rods = [approximately 1 : 8,840].