Amsterdam' Rijksmuseum is world famous for its unsurpassable collection of 17th century Dutch paintings, but usually only the Dutch know that it has another dimension: that of a national historical repository. For example, every schoolboy knows (and every Englishman tries to forget) one permanent display: the ornate stern of the English flagship The Royal Charles, captured by Admiral de Ruyter in the Medway. The museum, however, is now striving to give history another, less trophyoriented dimension, as Assistant Curator Bas Kist, one of our readers, explains below.Kist, who recently spent several months digging up remains of the 17th century Smoorburgh settlement of Dutch whalers on Spitsbergen, is now in the final stages of proposing an exhibit of finds from the wrecks of Dutch East Indiamen. He stresses, by the way, that his observations are his own and do not necessarily represent the views of his employers.