Seas of Fortune(90)
The sailors had found Dirck when they were on their way to Jan’s shop to resupply, and brought him to Jan for treatment. Unfortunately, while Jan had learned some first aid from Maria, he couldn’t do much more than keep Dirck comfortable. Dirck died the day after his arrival.
This might have started a feud between the colonists and the crew of the Patientia. Fortunately, the sailors had tried to help Dirk once they realized he was seriously injured, and Pieter admitted that Dirk had a temper and might well have acted imprudently. Still, Jan was troubled by the larger implications of the incident.
By now, there were perhaps a hundred Europeans on the Marowijne and its tributaries, looking for gold. More arrived, usually in twos or threes, every week.
Some of the newcomers respected the knowledge of the first arrivals, and worked for them for a few weeks, in a rough and ready apprenticeship, before finding their own panning spots. Others, like the three the Ashanti had disposed of, tried to intimidate their predecessors into giving up part, or all, of their territory. Even those that didn’t intend to take what wasn’t theirs could get into honest disputes, fueled by fatigue, frustration, and fermented Indian drinks.
Jan raised his voice. “Folks, it’s obvious that we need some rules, or miners’ll spend more time arguing and fighting than they do mining. And some are going to end up dying, like Dirk. So think about what would be fair, and let’s talk about it on the next full moon.”
* * *
The Walvis anchored about fifty miles up the Marowijne, just below the whitewater that David christened Maria Falls. It wasn’t, strictly speaking, a waterfall, but rather a series of rapids by which the river dropped about fifteen feet over half a mile. Still, there was no way that the Walvis, or any other blue water vessel, was getting past it.
David was more than a little concerned about the risk that a European warship would come upriver and attempt a hostile takeover. But he had to worry about the local Indians, too. Hence, the Walvis was anchored with springs on her cable, so that by heaving one spring and paying out the other, she could be turned readily to fire her broadside at an opponent downstream or on either bank.
To protect the Walvis—and to make sure that any would-be gold seekers from other colonies paid for the privilege of going farther upriver—David left a guard force on board. He sent an advance party upriver, to the head of the rapids, and they established a camp there. The crew spent several days ferrying supplies and portaging canoes up to this camp. Finally, they were ready to follow Kojo and David to the supposed El Dorado of the Lawa.
* * *
Kojo suddenly stood up in the canoe. “Heinrich!” he called out. He had seen Heinrich as the German’s canoe came around the bend a few hundred yards upstream.
Heinrich waved back. Soon, he brought his canoe alongside Kojo’s, and grasped Kojo’s arm, hand to elbow. “Good to see you!”
“Well, did you find gold?” asked David.
“We found what we were looking for,” Heinrich admitted. “Enough to make the trip worthwhile, I’d say. And I think a fair number of the creeks off the Lawa have gold. You just have to know where to look, and how to pan, and be willing to work hard and long. You glean a speck here, a speck there. It’s not like capturing a treasure galleon.”
Some of David’s men bristled. They perhaps had a different view of what it took to capture such a ship.
“We brought tools to make it easier,” said David. “What they call—” he gave Elias a quick glance.
Elias recognized his cue. “A rocker. Like the ones the Forty-Niners used. Perfect for use by a pair of miners.”
“That’s good news,” said Heinrich. “Although I am done for this season. But Captain, there’s been trouble here. Three men tried to take our creek and our gold dust, and it might have turned out badly if the Ashanti hadn’t shown up and stopped them.”
“The Ashanti?” asked Kojo. In his excitement, he nearly fell out of the canoe. “Where, where did you see them?”
“I will tell you in a moment. But that’s not all, we’ve had a killing.”
“A killing?”
“Of one of the colonists, by a couple of crewmen off a visiting Dutch ship.”
Seeing David’s scowl, Heinrich hastily added, “it was something of an accident. Still, there’s going to be more trouble if we don’t have some kind of mining law here. Remember Jan Smoot? He came up with a proposal. It might have been accepted if it had been made up front, before anyone started panning. But now folks can see immediately how the law will affect them, and if they don’t like it, they don’t want to give their consent. So they make a counterproposal, and of course that displeases other miners. Instead of fighting over the claims, now we’re wrangling over the rules for making the claims.”