Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine July 2019 | Page 204

Behind the
Waterfort, on the
northern end of the
cliff, lie the remains
of the battery
Rotterdam. You may
spot the iguana who
now considers it his
stronghold
WATERFORT
Pirates
ROTTERDAM
end of the cliff, lie the remains
of the battery Rotterdam. Its
Fort Oranje proved not
guardian nowadays is a big
sufficient to defend the whole
iguana! The three fortifications
of St. Eustatius. Many a pirate
– Oranje, Waterfort and
managed to get ashore and
Rotterdam - formed a proper
plunder the island. A so-called
defense system. Rotterdam
Waterfort was therefore built
replaced an earlier battery, the
at the northern end of Lower
New Fort, built shortly after
Town before 1700. It was
1700. It fell into disrepair and bit
constructed right on the beach by bit rolled down the cliff. One
so that its canons could fire
massive battlement can still
straight into the hulks of ships
be seen behind the Waterfort.
So on this one location, you
that managed to get so close
can see the remains of three
to shore that the cannon balls
from high-lying Fort Oranje flew fortifications!
straight over them. Its ruined
walls are still the thickest of
The boy who had to
any structure on the island. Its
importance also lies in the slave defend a fort
house that was set up behind its One of the most dramatically
situated fortifications is Fort
walls in the 1720’s. It was here
that the enslaved Africans who De Windt. It is a battery (small,
were taken to the island spent
open defense work) laid
their first nights on St. Eustatius out before 1740 at the very
before being sold.
southern end of the cliff, round
the corner of a bay with a name
Behind it, on the very northern
that explains the reason for
its construction: Buccaneers
Bay! It offers spectacular views
of neighboring islands St.
Kitts and Nevis and at clear
weather, even Montserrat. There
may be quite a bit of wind at
times, but its name derives
from the governor who had
it significantly improved and
strengthened: Jan de Windt. You
can see his initials engraved in a
stone in the parapet.
However, in 1780 this battery
relied for its defense on one
constable and two ‘mates’: his
common law wife and their
little son… it illustrates the
way in which the Dutch West
India Company dealt with the
island’s fortifications – like the
time in 1749 when they sent
cannons for batteries that the
inhabitants were building but
forgot the cannon balls.