SACHM6114

A postal stone with inscriptions in two languages. On the one side is an English inscription. On the reverse side a Dutch inscription. The stone is inscribed with the names of the ships Nassau, Frederik Hendrik, Nimmegen, Wesel and Galias. These ships departed from Batavia for the Netherlands on 6 January 1632 under the command of Dirk van der Lee. They visited the Cape from 3 to 20 April before continuing their voyage to the Netherlands. The postal stone gives the dates as being 9 to 15 April. The latter refers to the planned date of departure, whilst 9 April is probably an error. On the reverse side is an English inscription referring to the ship London (1631).