Proclaimed as a monument in 1948, the De Ruyter Stone is a large syenite boulder in the earth at the King Jimmy Wharf, just below the Connaught Hospital waterfront view facing the estuary of the River Rokel.
It carries the inscription: M.A. Ruyter, I.C. Meppel vice Admiralen van Hollant en Westuries Land Anno 1664.
Other names etched on the stone included: Wm Storym, I. Andriessen 1664, W. K. Rubert. Aandrens Pewe 1730, F. Scoplet, O. Scivsok, Clas Moore, Haen 1664. And P.H. Neeleman
Several eighteenth century dates inscribed on the De Ruyter Stone would suggest that over time, officers from European vessels that visited the area in search of fresh water that was found there, had made successive inscriptions on the Stone.
De Ruyter was a Dutch admiral and made the first inscription. His visit is clearly linked to wars between the English and the Dutch in the seventeenth century, and De Ruyter sailed to the Sierra Leone area to destroy British installations in the area, particularly at Bunce Island.
Such carvings on large boulders were not uncommon in this area as European ships frequented the Rokel Estuary. For instance, a European visitor named Finch, identified one such rock in 1607 carrying the names of popular European explorers and slave traders named Hawkins and Drake. This rock was still visible by 1787 when the first settlers arrived in the area, but was no longer visible by the 19th century.
Because of its location in an area where very heavy annual rainfall deposits ample sediments from nearby hilltops, the De Ruyter Stone has remained buried in rubble and trash, unearthed at certain points and soon re-buried again. The first major unearthing was in 1923 during construction works. It was cleaned and photographed, only to be soon lost from view.
It was uncovered again in 1947 and plans for properly securing its view never fully materialized. Another essay at baring the stone made in 1958 by the colonial government led to the identification of other names inscribed on the Rock as mentioned above.
The Monuments and Relics Commission is currently studying ways of effecting a more permanent exposure of the De-Ruyter Stone.