 This was the location of the first Dutch settlement, a trading post established by Nicolaes Baliestel and Dirck Claeszoon van Sanen in 1613.English and French traders also tried to establish settlements in Suriname, including a French post established in 1644 near present-day Paramaribo.The Dutch settlement was abandoned some time before the arrival of English settlers in 1650 to found Willoughbyland.