Hubert Hugo
On January 20, 1640, he set sail in the service of the VOC Chamber of Zeeland on the ship Zeelandia bound for Batavia.
He was then stationed in Suratte, the major port city of the Mughal Empire, where the company had been purchasing indigo and dyed and printed cotton fabrics (lywaten) since 1616, which could be exchanged for spices in the Moluccas.
This region, familiar to Hugo, had a history of piracy on the trade and pilgrimage routes between Gujarat, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea.
Commander of the pirate vessel L'Aigle Noir On August 20, 1661, the ship set sail, ostensibly for trade on the coast of Guinea and in the West Indies, with an unsuspecting crew on board.
Rounding the southern tip of Africa, the Black Eagle sailed past the Cape of Good Hope to the bay of Saint Augustine on Madagascar.
The most significant prize was a pilgrim ship belonging to the Queen of Bijapur, loaded with treasures destined for Mecca and Medina.
Consequences Loaded with booty (approximately 4 to 5 tons of gold), the Black Eagle visited the island of Mauritius on its way back, where they encountered the return fleet of Arnold de Vlaming van Oudshoorn.
Van Convent was sentenced to 30 years of hard labor in Dordrecht but soon managed to escape to Le Havre.
End of his pirate career In Asia, the VOC disseminated the text of the French letter of marque everywhere, making it clear that it was an expedition of a 'French rover,' and that everything 'that he has done and still intends to do, is without our authorization and knowledge.'
In the Republic, the States-General protested the letter of marque to the French, in which the Duke of Vendôme 'declares all Moors and Indian nations as enemies.'
Back as servant of the Company In early 1671, Hugo proposed to the States-General to cultivate the island of Mauritius to make it suitable as a stopover point near the Cape of Good Hope.
On May 14, Hugo was rehired as a merchant by the VOC, on the condition that he surrendered his letter of marque and did not venture further toward the East Indies.
He was to focus on planting vineyards, tobacco, indigo, and other products and on combating the infamous rat plague, 'with bunzings, weasels, or other similar animals.'
Chief of the outpost Mauritius On December 15, Hugo departed with the ship "De Pijl" from the VOC Chamber of Amsterdam from Texel, accompanied by his wife and five children.
"The houses were in ruins, livestock had scattered, and the land was overgrown, in sum, the valuable island was in a terrible state and resembled a wilderness.
Hugo wrote to Batavia, stating that "the undertaking was poorly carried out due to the strong winds and rain.
"[1] His harshness was evident in the fact that, out of anger over his daughter Marie's relationship with the young corporal Pieter Colle, he had the latter imprisoned, whipped, and branded, eventually sentencing him to 5 years of forced labor based on fabricated charges.
Batavia approved this request and appointed Isaac Johannes Lamotius, a draftsman and inventor who had developed a new type of sawmill for ebony wood, which was well-suited for use on Mauritius.
"[1] Away from Mauritius On December 15, Hugo arrived in Batavia with his family but was too ill to personally report to the Council of the Indies.
