IN THEE STAITS SERVIS
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Plate 3. Adriaan Bankert. ZA, KZGW, Zel. 111. IV-195.
But what opportunities existed for those wanting to return to actually do so in
wartime? Sir George Downing, the Dutch-hating British ambassador at The
Hague, wrote at the turn of 1664/5 that English seamen in the Republic were
unable to return home, suggesting that a ship be sent to fetch them otherwise
destitution would force them to sign on with the Dutch fleet. He added that Scots
seamen had already done exactly that. Within two weeks Downing was personal-
