110 Gevaarlijke kusten

It was dangerous sailing down the Moroccan coast. Not only was there the threat of pirates' ships, but also of the local currents and Atlantic storms. There are 17th and 18th century illustrations of ships that run aground on the rocks and sandbanks that litter the coast. While the ship's crew tries to safe their lives in the surf, the local populations has gathered on the shore to take them prisoners. Nowadays one can enjoy a meal of freshly caught fish on the beach of Tifnit while the fishermen are fishing off the rocks that protect the beach from the onslaught of the Atlantic.

76 In search of Michiel de Ruyter

The first chapter of the Graphic Story about Iligh will be about the Michiel de Ruyter connection. Michiel de Ruyter was born in 1607 and died in 1676 during a sea battle against the French. He hailed from the town of Vlissingen on the island of Walcheren in the Province of Zeeland. Zeeland was in the 17th century an independent region of small but rich and powerful islands within the Dutch Republic of Seven Provinces. Michiel de Ruyter is an iconic hero of the seas. His sailors gave him the honorary title of ‘Bestevaer’ (grandfather). The latest biography about him by Ronald Prudhomme van Reine was called ‘De rechter hand van Nederland’ (The right hand of the Netherlands) and a movie about his exploits during the wars with England was titled ‘Admiral’. At primary school I learned the song ‘In een blauwgeruite kiel’ (In a blue tartan shirt) about him as a youth dreaming about going to sea while working on a ropewalk. Lately his heroic status has been questioned and to have an interest in him is considered dubious and ‘not done’. He is accused of facilitating the slave trade. The Dutch had taken over the cross-ocean trade from the Portuguese and made it more ‘efficient’ and thus more vicious and dehumanizing. As with all iconic figures a lot of myths were attached to him and he had become more like an institution than a human being. Time to get a ‘feel’ for this man and to make drawings ‘in situ’ for the graphic story. I took the train to Vlissingen. It was a beautiful sunny day when I set out to the railway station only to find out that the scheduled direct train to Vlissingen had been cancelled. Time enough to sit down and do some serious sketching of the monumental Amsterdam Central Station.

75 Paolo de Mas in Iligh in 2011

Paolo de Mas only came back to Iligh in 2011 with a TV crew with presenter Daphne Bunskoek. The Dutch national broadcaster made a series about slavery and the Dutch: a rather controversial and neglected subject. One part of the series was dedicated to Dutch hostages or the so-called Christian slaves. They weren’t really slaves they were hostages held for ransom. But of course when they weren’t paid for they ended their lives as slaves. In the meantime they were set to work: for instance on building the city walls of Meknes. The rulers in Morocco tended to hold all Dutch sailors for ransom that stranded on Moroccan shores or whose ships were looted. In the 17th century that were quite a lot: among them was also Dutch rebel warrior Piet Hein. The VOC had a ‘ransom fund’ for these occasions. But crews of ships that weren’t part of that organisation had to rely on private or parochial fundraising to be bought out. The House of Iligh also held Christian sailors for ransom and among them was a number of Dutch. Michiel de Ruyter describes in his diaries how he could buy out a number of them but also had to leave behind some as he didn’t have enough funds and he didn’t know if he would be paid back for his troubles. To highlight this story Paolo de Mas took the TV crew to Iligh. They were welcomed in the White Castle by his old friend Hamdi Aboudmiaa. Most shots were taken amid the rundown southern part of the village: not even in the ‘court’. And by the look of it, the weather was cold and miserable. But it is a great story and Paolo told it well in front of the cameras.