SUSANNA

30| CARNAL COMMUNICATION

Minister de Voogd, tall and in his mid-twenties, walked into Commander Wagenaer's office with his Bible clutched in one hand. Word among the soldiers in the taps abounded of jokes about a giraffe that is too energetic for the pace of the older folk of his congregation.

It had been a long day and Wagenaer was eager to dispose of his last appointment with speed. He got right to the point. 'The death of van Arckel left a spiritual void in this Colony, Minister de Voogd.'

'That becomes evident every day.'

'Then your work is cut out. Our salvation rests on those shoulders of yours, are you ready?'

Unlike his predecessor, Johannes de Voogd, had urgency in his movements. His sentences were short, his responses succinct and he did not speak as if he was preaching from his pulpit. It was refreshing that his mannerisms had none of the piousness which was a great irritation when time was of essence. He took an instant liking in the young priest.

'The Lord placed me here. He will equip me, Commander.'

'Zest and reverence for the calling. I can work with that.'

'Thank you.'

'Which brings me to the baptism of slave children.'

De Voogd pressed his Bible tighter under his arm. 'Baptising them is a start. But their numbers are growing. Rapidly. That is,' he sighs, cranes his neck, pivots it and pouts his lips. 'A concern for the church...'

'For the Company too, especially my administration.' Commander Wagenaer stared at the minister for a split second longer than necessary. 'May I call you Johannes?'

'Sure.'

'Johannes,' he said. 'The Netherlands, the Statutes of India, the Lords Seventeen, the church... We all agree. There are far too many unbaptised slaves running around. As you are aware, there was an appeal from the church to stop this illegal communication of the flesh.'

'Then the church and the Company are of one mind on the topic. We must legitimise concubinage. Through marriage.'

'Johannes, when I arrived here, I wrote to Batavia. They assured me they were in discussion with the Netherlands on this matter. A tender matter it is. Indeed.'

'You lost me Commander. I was under the impression that marriage follows baptism. We baptise the children and the parents and they get married.'

'There is no easy solution to your holy dilemma. The instruction is to baptise only.'

'Our Holy dilemma,' de Voogd corrected him.'

'Of course. Of course.'

'It is encouraging to hear you say that, Commander but I would fail in my duty-.'

'My predecessor's policy of fructification left us with a moral problem and pressure from the Netherlands and India. And this is where we are.'

'Fructification?' De Voogd repeated the word with furrowed eyebrows. 'Fructification as in the way we understand it?'

'The multiplication of slave labour through carnal communication. Fornication. Concubinage. Is there another way to understand it?' He threw his hands in the air. 'The result of that policy is all around us. Talks back home speculate about fetuses strewn along the beach. It is-'