The diary entry at the start of this chapter refers to the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, in which the English bloodlessly captured New Amsterdam. At the end of the war, the Dutch permanently gave up control of New Amsterdam, but got to keep an island in the Pacific that was key to controlling the supply of nutmeg. The British later planted nutmeg trees across their colonies and destroyed the Dutch monopoly.
[[AUTHOR'S NOTE]
The diary entry at the start of this chapter refers to the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, in which the English bloodlessly captured New Amsterdam. At the end of the war, the Dutch permanently gave up control of New Amsterdam, but got to keep an island in the Pacific that was key to controlling the supply of nutmeg. The British later planted nutmeg trees across their colonies and destroyed the Dutch monopoly.