He had followed a custom prevalent in India ever since 1607, when the Dutch commander-in-chief Cornelis Matelief gave his soldiers and sailors permission to form alliances with native women, with a view of raising a class of mixed breeds who would form a link between the European and Asiatic races. The Portuguese had set the example in this, and the advantage of it to them was evident, as they could not have continued to hold a single station in the East without the assistance of the large Eurasian element in the population of their settlements. If not actually encouraged by the Dutch, this practice was by no means looked upon with disfavour in the seventeenth century, and a half-breed, if at all worthy, was as certain of employment and promotion as a white man. And as the form of marriage could not be gone through when the woman was not a professed Christian, looser alliances were regarded as throwing little or no discredit upon either father or child.
Adriaan van der Stel formed a connection of this kind with an Indian woman named Monica of the Coast, who accompanied him to Mauritius, and there on the 14th of November 1639 bore him a son, whom he named Simon. After serving for a time satisfactorily at Mauritius, where no one wished to remain long, he was removed to Batavia, and shortly afterwards was transferred to Ceylon in a military capacity as commander of a body of troops. Such changes of occupation are constantly met with in following the careers of men in the East India Company’s service, and some of the ablest officials were alike skilful as diplomatists, as traders, and as commanders in war on sea or on land.
At this time, which was shortly after Cornelis van der Lyn became governor-general, the Portuguese were making a desperate effort to retain their last strongholds on the western coast of Ceylon. Their most important possession on the island was Colombo, which they retained until May 1656, and when it surrendered the Dutch had the seaboard entirely to themselves. There was indeed peace in Europe between the Netherlands and Portugal, now independent of Spain once more, but that did not prevent the continuance of the struggle in the East. The chief Dutch stronghold was Galle, in the south of the island. The king of Kandy, Raja Singha Rajoc, was styled emperor of Ceylon, but had really lost all authority over the coast-lands, which were subject either to the Dutch or the Portuguese. His policy was to keep them pitted against each other, and occasionally to assist whichever appeared weakest, for he bore neither of them any love. And in point of fact he was able whenever he chose to fall upon one or the other with impunity, as that one was unable to retort by falling upon him. A few years later, after the Portuguese had been expelled, the condition of things was of course very different.
Death of Adriaan van der Stel.
Commander Adriaan van der Stel was directed with a considerable body of troops to occupy a certain position in territory claimed by the Dutch. On the march he was surrounded by a Cingalese army, and his whole force, only four men excepted, was destroyed, 19th of May 1646. His head was fixed on a stake and exhibited in triumph, and was then rolled in silk and sent to Joan Maatzuiker, the Dutch governor of Galle.[42]
Historical Sketches.
Simon van der Stel was not seven years old at the time of his father’s death. Kolbe says that he was in Ceylon and saw the head of his parent after the disaster, but nothing is more unlikely. The strong probability is that upon the arrival of Adriaan van der Stel at Batavia from Mauritius, or shortly afterwards, he sent his son to Holland to be educated, as was then the custom, though there is no actual proof of this. At any rate, at a very early age he was at school in Amsterdam, and was baptized either there or in Batavia when he was about five years old. His mother, Monica of the Coast, can no longer be traced, and whether she had died or remained in Batavia is quite uncertain. The property accumulated by his father was invested by the orphanmasters for his benefit, but it was inconsiderable, and he might have been destitute had not the directors of the East India Company regarded him as their protégé on account of his parent’s losing his life in their service. The Indian blood in his veins was no detriment whatever to him.
Early Life of Simon van der Stel.
Like most mixed breeds he was exceedingly proud of the nationality of his father, and as he advanced in stature was inclined in everything to be more intensely Dutch than anyone of pure blood born in the Netherlands could be. Yet as he possessed a large share of sound common sense, he never made such a silly display of his proclivities in this respect as most half-breeds are in the habit of doing. Who has not been irritated by the forwardness and foolish remarks of such people? At breakfast one morning recently in a London hotel, a hideous mulatto woman at one of the tables provoked the disgust of all the others seated in the same room by finding fault with everything, and asserting in very broad Scotch that “we do this very differently in Scotland.” Of such conduct Simon van der Stel was never guilty. He grew up to be a man under the medium stature, and of a dark complexion, with an open cheerful countenance, but no other indications of his personal appearance can now be found.