The Unfortunate Dutchman

by Dennis De Witt

Overview

The Unfortunate Dutchman is a tale of the many trials and tribulations faced by Jacob van Kal, an employee of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), during this travels to the Far East and his return to Holland at the end of the 18th century.

It tells of his journey together with his family to Batavia, then the seat of the VOC’s power in the East, but only to find that he brought them to their doom as they contracted and died unknown tropical diseases. Unable to break the bond of his employment, he was transferred to a relatively unimportant Dutch colony in Malacca. There, he remarried but he eventually became entwined in tussle with the colony’s governor and it led him to be imprisoned and ultimately dismissed from his employment.

Upon Jacob van Kal’s return to Holland, he initiated legal proceedings and he was granted compensation on what would be an astronomical payout from the Dutch government. Jacob’s curse of misfortunes surpasses the tolerances of the normal man but his tragedy tells an amazing story of his travels and experiences in the East Indies.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940044548862
Publisher:	Nutmeg Publishing
Publication date:	05/22/2013
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Dennis De Witt is a 5th generation Dutch Eurasian originally from Malacca, Malaysia. He has developed a keen interest on subjects relating to Dutch influences in Malaysian history due to his own heritage. His research on his ancestors has produced family data going through 300 years, down 11 generations and across 3 continents. In 2009, he was named as the winner of the ‘Dutch incentive prize for Genealogy’ for his book ‘History of the Dutch in Malaysia’ and he received his prize in the Netherlands. He was the first ever recipient of this prize who is not a Dutch citizen.