* * *
“I’m going to be honest with you all,” said David. “Those of you who are from Gustavus, you were brought to the New World by my ships, under contract. Those of you are from the Patientia, you are now in the USE Territory of the Wild Coast, of which I am the appointed governor, and your mining rights are what I say they are.”
The captain of the Patientia glowered at him. “This is the first I’ve heard of a ‘USE Territory of the Wild Coast.’ It’s not marked on my charts, I saw no USE flag or other marker anywhere along this river. The land was unclaimed.”
David shook his head. “Permit me to remind you, Captain, that the gold was discovered by an expedition from Gustavus, composed of the Ashanti Kojo, and the Indians Coqui and Tetube. They were sent by Maria Vorst, who is the ‘Science Officer’ of our colony, and they thus constituted an official USE expedition.” Whether they knew it or not, mused David.
“They claimed the Marowijne River, and all its tributaries, for the USE, by right of discovery.
“The Ashanti are allies of Gustavus, and residents of the Territory, by treaty, and were brought here by Kojo to pan for gold. Thus, through them, the USE claims these lands by right of occupation. And indeed they, or some of them, are settling here permanently.” Have to remember to tell them that, David told himself.
“And lastly, Captain, I have a warship here. So the Marowijne is ours, by right of conquest.”
David laughed abruptly. “Even if it weren’t, you abandoned the Patientia in Gustavus. It has been lawfully seized for failure to pay dockage. So unless you think you can swim back to Europe with your gold dust, you had best recognize my authority and comply with our mining laws.”
That silenced the man. Or perhaps it was the dark looks that he was receiving from David’s well-armed crew and the Gustavans.
“Anyone else wish to question my authority?” David paused. “I thought not.
“There is going to be a mining law. If the colonists, sailors and Ashanti can agree on its terms, well, that’ll be fine, as long as the government get the fees it sets for recording a claim. If not, then I’ll decide. I want each group to pick a representative today. And the representatives have three days to reach agreement.
“Dismissed.”
* * *
The treasure seekers’ representatives eventually agreed that every miner would have to put up some kind of monument, several feet tall, that gave his name and the date of the claim, and place boundary markers to show where the claim began and ended. And that the claim would have to be worked for at least one month each year, or it would be lost. Jan agreed to keep record of all the claims, in return for a recordation fee. And he would collect the government tax that David had insisted on, too.
The biggest issue was how large a claim could be awarded to a single miner. Initially, the thought was that the claim should be as wide as the creek itself, and one hundred fathoms long. An up-timer would assume a fathom was exactly six feet, but in seventeenth-century Europe it was the distance between the fingertips of a sailor’s outstretched arms and was five or five-and-a-half feet. A wag suggested that since they were so far from the sea, it would be more appropriate to measure the “run” in “smoots.” Jan obligingly lay down on the ground and those miners who had rope knotted them at intervals of a “smoot.”
David approved the mining law, with only a few changes. One of them was that the miners could pool their claims. While all the claims would still need to be worked, they could be recorded at one time, for a discounted fee, as jointly owned. This obviously was to the advantage of David’s sailors.
* * *
That settled, David had quizzed the Ashanti as to where and how to pan for gold. His men were raring to go.
“Big Chief David, we are so sorry for you,” said Antoa.
“Why? Is all the gold gone already?”
“No, no. When we came here, it was the beginning of the Time of Daily Rains. When it rains, the Crabs of the River God scurry about, and bring the gold out of the River God’s palace and leave it where the river shallows or turns.
“But now, the waters are so high, that it is difficult to reach the sands where the gold is. This is the time to paddle home.”
“Perhaps we can divert some of the water . . .” David suggested, somewhat doubtfully. “We have the apprentice carpenter from the colony, as well as the ship’s carpenter.”
“I cannot say if that will work,” Antoa told him. “It is not our way.”
David’s cousin Heyndrick spoke up. “So you don’t mine gold in the dry season at all?”