chandise. In addition, there is a bundle of receipts relating to the sale of goods
which returned to Middelburg on the Princes van Oranje, the inventory is called
't Huiskomende ongelden, half-winst goederen en retouren.61
Separate receipts can be traced back to the journal up to the ledger account, and
balance, as these documents refer to a journal page. However, it is more compli
cated to find the original transaction record based on a journal entry. It is unclear
whether all the invoices and bills are preserved, much less that they are archived
in a searchable manner. Yet, the relevance of these individual transactions should
not be underestimated. While the balance is the most extreme abstraction of the
MCC business, the individual transaction records can provide intricate details on
the goods and persons involved in the company's trade.
For example, for the cargazoen of the Princes van Oranje, the records show
that the MCC bought gunpowder from the gunpowder mill, de Eendracht, owned
by MCC director Joost van Huyen, for the voyage of the ship in 1749.62 This finding
supports De Kok's thesis that being a supplier of the MCC was probably profita
ble, and especially for the directors who owned local businesses, such as the gun
powder mills around Middelburg.63 Furthermore, the entries in the journal also
suggest that the purchases for the cargazoen in Middelburg for the Jonge Wilhem
and the Princes van Oranje were made simultaneously.64
For the equipage of the voyage of the Princes van Oranje, a transaction record
for the purchase of 122 bags of pearl barley (gedroogde gort) from Jan der Kinde
ren, shows why several debit accounts share the same contra account. The trans
action record states that the purchase of the bags of pearl barley is part of a larger
receipt (quitantie) on the 7th of February 1749.65 The journal reveals that the 122
184
Accounting in the Dutch Transatlantic Slave Trade
61 ZA, MCC, 1720-1889, inv. nr. 956. Diverse stukken betreffende deze equipage. 1 verbroken lias,
956.1 Equipage (NL-MdbZA_20_956.1_0001-0167);
ZA, MCC, 1720-1889, inv. nr. 956. Diverse stukken betreffende deze equipage. 1 verbroken lias,
956.2 Cargazoenen (NL-MdbZA_20_956.2_0001-0047);
ZA, MCC, 1720-1889, inv. nr. 956. Diverse stukken betreffende deze equipage. 1 verbroken lias,
956.3 't Huiskomende ongelden, half-winst goederen en retouren (NL-MdbZA_20_956.3_
0001-185).
62 ZA, MCC, 1720-1889, inv. nr. 956. Diverse stukken betreffende deze equipage. 1 verbroken lias,
956.1 Equipage (NL-MdbZA_20_956.1_0094); Reinders Folmer-Van Prooijen, Van goederen
handel naar slavenhandel, 17.
63 De Kok, Cursed Capital, 17.
64 ZA, MCC, 1720-1889, inv. nr. 1632. Journaal, 1720-1889. 21 delen, 1743-1748 ('La F') (NL-Mdb-
ZA_20_1632_0277).
65 ZA, MCC, 1720-1889, inv. nr. 956. Diverse stukken betreffende deze equipage. 1 verbroken lias,
956.1 Equipage (NL-MdbZA_20_956.1_0111).
