Van der Meersh had left Mauritius in…
July 1658 CE
Van der Meersh had left Mauritius in September 1648 and been replaced by Reinier Por.
Slaves are not particularly well treated by the colonists and revolts or the act of organizing one is severely repressed and punished.
Some punishments consist of amputation of various parts of the body and exposure in the open air for a day as example to others, eventually culminating in condemned slaves’ execution at sunset.
More hardships had befallen the colonists, masters and slaves alike, in 1652.
The population was then about a hundred people.
The continuing hardships affect the commercial potential of the island and a pullout had been ordered in 1657.
Almost all the inhabitants leave the island on July 16, 1658, except for a ship’s boy and two slaves who have taken shelter in the forests.
Thus the first attempt at colonization by the Dutch ends badly.