Jacob de Bucquoy

Jacob de Bucquoy, born 26 October 1693, was a hydrographer and cartographer of the Netherlands. He began his career as a cartographer in Europe and then from 1721, he worked for the Dutch East India Company or VOC. During his first overseas excursion to Dutch Fort Lijdzaamheid at Delagoa on the southeast coast of Africa to map the river there, however, he was interrupted in this work and captured by pirates. He had produced remarkable works of cartography and, even if by consequence of his capture, ethnology of Madagascar. His natural curiosity about all things made him an excellent emergency field anthropologist. This is an English translation of his manuscript, originally translated into French by Alfred Grandidier. The culture and habits of both English pirate and Malagasy of Madagascar are detailed.