Albert Ruyl, remember, had come from the Netherlands to Morocco in 1622 at the request of Moulay Zayday, the Moroccan Sultan, to look into the feasibility of creating a new port on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. In last week’s excerpt, the ship Ruyl was traveling on had dropped anchor in the Salé roadstead (the stretch of deeper water outside the entrance to the harbor). They had exchanged messages with the Caïd (the Governor) of Salé regarding the freeing of any Dutch captives held there. The Caïd offered to send out a zabra (a small boat equipped both with sails and oars) to transport them over the sandbar that lay across the entrance to the harbor.
After this seemingly positive beginning, however, nothing happened for four days. No zabra was launched across the sandbar, and no Dutch captives were freed. But then a new element was added to the mix.
Wednesday, December 14 — In the evening, we were joined, in the roadstead, by Jan Jansz., from Harlem, [1] who had with him a small ship he had taken under the castle of Levis in Gondado. [2] We have hope that he will help us get our people back.
Thursday, December 15 — A zabra came out from Salé with our people, not without danger, because the bar was rough. But as the crew were all renegades under the command of Jan Jansz. of Harlem, and they had promised our people to bring them across, they rowed with all their strength through the breakers and came to our side. They informed me regarding the disorders amongst the people of Salé, which are destined to grow with time. The Caïd and his secretary, Moses Jago, are now very interested in pirate activities since they receive a fifth of all prizes that come into this port, for the maintenance of the Kasbah soldiers (all Andalusians), besides a tax of five percent on all goods and on the harvests of the local Moors. All this is granted them by the king of Morocco, who does not draw a penny. So the Salé channel will soon become a famous haunt of pirates, because their fleet currently already has thirteen vessels, and the daily tide in the above channel is eleven to twelve feet deep, thirteen or fourteen during the ordinary high tide, and in the rainy season, due to the rising water, about eighteen feet, and at low tide the bar is almost dry.[3]
The aforementioned Captain Jan came aboard and delivered to us all the Dutch who wanted to be free. Thus we received thirteen men and two boys, with some Englishmen. According to the unanimous attestations that I received from several of these men, the aforesaid Jan Jansz. has done much good for the Dutch. [4]
Friday, December 16 — As for the situation regarding the Kasba, or Rabato as it is called, it lies on the south bank of the river, with the city of Old Salé on the North Shore. The Kasba is built on a high rock, a strong position from whence it commands the city and the river. The ramp leading to it is closed, and the Kasba is equipped with six small metal cannons from the Portuguese and seventy of iron, all poorly provided with carriages. The artillery, on the side of the city, has three banks of cannons. The strong garrison, consisting exclusively of Andalusians, is fifteen hundred men, mortal enemies of the people of the town [i.e., Old Salé], who are all Moors. Andalusians and Moors are always ready to cut the ground out from under each other.
All aspects of the piracy conducted by these corsairs are controlled by those in the Kasba. Backers contribute to the cost according to their means, from one 100, from others 50, 20, 10 or fewer ducats, and they participate “pro rato” in the profits from the spoils. The town consists of old buildings, and there are beautiful churches built by the Romans. It was formerly a very large place, as evidenced by the old wall that can still be seen near the city and the Kasba and which extends over more than a league along the coast from south to north. [5]
Saturday, December 17th — In the morning, we weighed our anchor and departed with a south-southwest wind…
This section of Ruyl’s journal contains some of the most detailed specifics available about the situation in Salé at this time—the depth of water over the sandbar, the armament of the Qasba, the financing process for corsair expeditions, the percentage of the take brought in by the Salé corsairs that was due to the Governor (the Caïd), the number of ships in the Salé corsair fleet.
In 1622, when Ruyl was there, Salé was just coming into its own as a corsair capital. From that point onwards, it grew very rapidly. By the end of the 1620s, the thirteen-vessel fleet Ruyl mentions had grown to something close to 50, and Salé was the corsair center of the Atlantic.
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The above excerpts from Albert Ruyl’s journal come from Henry de Castries, ed. Les sources inédites de l’histoire du Maroc, première série, dynastie saadienne : archives et bibliothèques des Pays-Bas, tome III (The Unpublished Sources of Moroccan History, First Series, Sa’adian Dynasty, volume 3), pp. 266-68. The translation into English is my own.
[1] “Jan Jansz., from Harlem” was the famous Murad Reis, a leading corsair captain who eventually became Admiral of the Salé corsair fleet. Among other exploits, he led a raid on Iceland in 1627 and another on Ireland in 1631.
[2] The term “Gondado” here refers to el Condado, the area bounded by the Guadiana (the river that forms the southern stretch of the boundary between Portugal and Spain) and the Guadalquiver (the river linking Seville with the sea). The “castle of Levis” is likely the town of Lepe, located about 13 miles (20 kilometers) east of the Guadiana river mouth.
[3] Ruyl was not using our modern foot when he recorded these measurements. He was an alderman of the city of Enkhuizen, near Amsterdam, so he likely had the Amsterdamse voet (Amsterdam foot) in mind. A modern standard foot equals 30.48 centimeters. An Amsterdamse voet equaled 28.3133 centimeters. So Ruyl’s depths become 10 to 13 standard feet (3 to 4 meters), depending on the tide, with a maximum depth of a little over 16.5 standard feet (5 meters) at high tide in the rainy season. These measurements, remember, are of how much water there was over the sandbar that obstructed the entrance to the harbor, not of the depth of the water in the harbor itself.
[4] From Ruyl’s account, it seems that Jan Jansz./Murad Reis personally resolved the matter of the Dutch captives quite quickly. Murad Reis did not have any official position that we know of at this time in Salé—he did not become Admiral of the Salé fleet until 1624—but he clearly had considerable influence.
[5] Ruyl is referring here to the Almohad wall, built at the end of the twelfth century during the reign of the Almohad Sultan Abu Yusuf Ya’qub al-Mansur.
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