The man
who really
founded
NEW YORK

Run is one of the forgotten islands of the world. It is less than three kilometres long and one kilometer wide. 1................ It is a small piece of rock in a remote part of the East Indies, separated from Australia by 960 kilometres of ocean.

But despite its size, Run was not always so neglected. For much of the seventeenth century there were settlers there, and England and Holland fiercely fought for control of the island. For many years, a tiny band of courageous Englishmen fought off an army much stronger than themselves. 2 ................That man was Nathaniel Courthope.

Nathaniel Courthope was a trader who worked for the East India Company. He arrived in Run in 1616 and took part in the three-year struggle against the Dutch. Surprisingly, the fight was for control of Run's nutmeg trees, whose lemon-yellow fruit was worth its weight in gold. 3................Unfortunately it was also very rare. In fact, nutmeg grows on six remote islands in the West Indies. As a result the value of nutmeg rose by an incredible 60,000 per cent, and Courthope was sent to defend Run, England’s last remaining source of the spice. 4 ………… .

Courthope’s two ships arrived in Run's harbour in December 1616. At first, the Dutch tried to starve Courthope and his men rather than fight them, but amasingly they managed to survive. Finally, in 1620 some of them tried to leave the island by ship. The Dutch surprised the ship, opened fire on it and Courthope was injured. He never recovered. After that, the island surrendered to the Dutch.

In 1652, The war ended and Run was given back to the English. But soon after, war broke out between the two countries again, and Run was taken by the Dutch once more. This time the English were so angry that the Duke of York sent warships across the Atlantic and captured the Dutch-held island of Manhattan. The two sides met to try and find a solution to the problem. 5 ................ . However, after months of negotiations, it was agreed that the Dutch should keep Run and the English should keep Manhattan. Soon afterwards the tiny settlement around Manhattan was renamed New York.

6............... . Yet his defence of Run helped to reshape history. Although his death robbed England of her nutmeg, it was to give her the biggest of apples!

British Airways Highlife magazine