Memoir Of Hendrick Zwaardecroon, Commandeur Of Jaffnapatam Part 4

In the number of Europeans is included, as stated above, all manner of Company's servants employed in the Trade, Church, Navigation, Military Duties, &c., all of which together number 385 men. The 76 mestises and the 85 toepa.s.ses will therefore have to be retained until this Commandement can have its full number of Europeans, and it would be well if Your Honours would continue to engage a few more toepa.s.ses when they offer themselves, because the Pa.s.ses are hardly sufficiently guarded; about which matter communication has been made in our letter to Colombo of March 5, 1695. Your Honours must also keep in mind the recommendation of His Excellency van Mydregt in his letter of March 27, 1688, wherein he suggests that a close watch should be kept on the Wannias, as they are not to be trusted in a case of treason on the part of the Sinhalese; and on this account the advanced guards must be always well provided with ammunition and provisions, while discipline and drill must be well attended to, so that as far as lies in our power we may be prepared for emergencies.

I have been rather prolix in treating of the fortifications and all that pertains thereto, not so much because I am ignorant of the fact that the Company's power in India depends more on her naval force than on her fortresses, but because I consider that since the latter are in our possession it is our duty to preserve them, as otherwise the large amount expended on them at the beginning of the Government in Ceylon would have been spent in vain.[56]

The public works are carried out here without expenditure to the Company by the Oeliaars, because, as stated before, no cooly wages are paid here, payment being made only to the native artisans, such as smiths, carpenters, and masons. The number of men employed is daily entered in a book by one of the Pennisten of the Comptoirs, which he has to hand over in the evening to the person whose turn it will be the next day to do this work. Care must be taken that these a.s.sistants personally see and count the men, and the payments must be made according to their list and not according to those of the Dutch foremen or the native Cannecappuls. This is in compliance with the orders from Batavia. The foremen of the carpenters' yard, the smiths' shop, the gunpowder mill, and the masonry works must also every evening, at sunset, bring in their reports with regard to the progress of the work. This is to be done by the sergeant Hendrik Rademaker, who, for some years, has been acting as overseer of the Oeliaars. The Oeliaars are changed on Mondays and Thursdays, each of them working only for three days at a time, which suffices for three months, as they owe twelve days of service in the year. Those who have performed their labour receive an ola from the Cannecappul, which is called a Sito, and is marked with a steel stamp thus: I-VOC, which serves them as a receipt. The names of those who fail to appear are written down by the Cannecappul and by the Majoraal, and they have to pay a fine which is called sicos. [60] The stamp is in the custody of the Chief, who also arranges and divides the work among the Oeliaars. He must see that the sergeant does not allow any of the coolies to depart before the three days have expired, and making a profit for himself and causing loss to the Company. Care must also be taken that no more than 18 persons are employed as Pandarepulles or native cooly drivers, who are each in charge of 16 to 30 men, whom they have to keep to their work. These 18 Pandarepulles must be appointed by written doc.u.ments, otherwise the sergeant appoints such officers on his own authority and thus also makes a profit. Then also it must be seen that the materials, such as timber, bricks, lime, &c., are not taken to other places than they have been ordered for by the person in authority, for all these are tricks to which the Company is subject on the part of the overseers when they see that no regard is taken of their doings. The princ.i.p.al of the public works at present in progress is the building of the church within the fort, [61] which has advanced to 8 feet above the ground, and may be completed during the southern season, if there is only a sufficient quant.i.ty of bricks. According to my calculation about 1,000,000 more will be required, which is a large quant.i.ty, but will not cost more than 3 fannums per thousand, and even this expense does not fall to the Company, but may be found out of the sicos or fines. The Dessave has the best opportunity for seeing that the work at the brickworks at Iroewale is pushed on as quickly as possible, so that there may be no waiting for bricks or tiles, which are also baked there and paid at the rate of 3 1/2 fannums a thousand. I consider it a shame that in a country where the cost of building is so small, and where religion is to be promoted, there should not even be a church in the fort, a state of things that has existed these last four years, during which the warehouses had to be used for this purpose, while many old and infirm people could not attend the services because of the inconvenience of the steps that lead to them. It would have been better if the old Portuguese church had not been broken down before the building of the new church was commenced, because an old proverb says: "That one must not cast away old shoes till one has got new ones." [62] However, for the present we must row with the oars we possess, until the new church is completed, the plan for which is in the hands of the surveyor Martinus Leusekam. The sergeant in the Wanni, Harmen Claasz, had already on my orders felled the necessary beams, and now the rafters must be thought of, which would be best made of palmyra wood, if they could be obtained sufficiently long. The timber for the pulpit I hope to send from Mallabaar, but as ebony is also found in the Wanni, some trees might be felled also there and be brought down here without expenditure to the Company. As may be seen in the answers to the questions from Jaffnapatam of March 12, 1691, and February 17, 1692, authority for the building of this church was obtained long ago. The only other works required within the Castle at present are the barracks for the married soldiers; which may be found indicated in the map, and the rebuilding of the four dwelling houses yet remaining of the Portuguese buildings which are old and decayed. They are no longer worth repairing, and it would be best if they were broken down and new and better houses built on their site. But before this is done it will be necessary to rebuild the Armoury, which fell into ruins last December. This building also remained from the Portuguese. Some new tiles are also required for the Company's building at Anecatte where the red-dyeing is done, the cross-beams of which building I had renewed. Likewise a number of tiles is required for the new warehouses in the island Leyden, which have been built there in compliance with the orders of His late Excellency van Mydregt. This was when it was intended to provide Ceylon with grain from Tansjouwer, [63] which was to be laid up there before the northern season. These warehouses may yet come in useful if the Moorish trade flourishes.[57]

The horse stable within the fort has been built in a bad place, and is very close and unhealthy; so that the animals die one after another. It would therefore be better if the stable referred to under the heading of "fortification" and situated outside the fort be used. If this is done it must be provided with the necessary cribs, &c., and not more than seven horses have been allowed by the last regulation. The supervision of the stable has been entrusted for some time to the Captain Jan van der Bruggen, but I could not approve of this, and consider it better that this supervision be also left to the chief person in authority, the more so as the said Captain has been troubled for the last five years with gout and gravel; so that he has often to remain at home for weeks, while, even when he is well, it is impossible for him to go about much, in consequence of weakness arising from the pain. For this reason he cannot properly supervise the stable; and this is not the first time he is excused from his duty, as it was done also during the time of Commandeur Cornelis van der Duyn, who also considered that it was more in the interest of the Company that this and other duties should be performed by the chief instead of by private persons. The Dessave is best aware if the hides of the stags and elks sent to this stable from the Wanny and the Pa.s.ses are properly utilized for saddles, carriages, &c., in the said stable, and also in the a.r.s.enal for cartridge cases, bandoleers, sword-belts, &c.[58]

The hospital was built too low, so that the patients had to lie in damp places during the northern monsoon. I therefore had the floor raised, in view of the fact that this is a place where the Company shows its sympathy with its suffering servants and wishes them to have every comfort. For this reason also regents are appointed to see that nothing wrong is done by the doctor or the steward. For some time this supervision was entrusted to Captain Jan van der Bruggen, but for the reason stated above I cannot approve of the arrangement any longer, while moreover, his daughter is the wife of the Chief Surgeon Hendrick Warnar, who has a very large family, and suspicious people might try to find fault with the arrangement. The supervision of the hospital must therefore be entrusted every alternate month to the Administrateur Biermans and the Lieutenant Claas Isaacsz, as it is against the principles of the Company to entrust such work to one person only.[59]

The Company's slaves here are few in number, consisting of 82 individuals, including men, boys, women, and children. But no more are required, as the Oeliaars perform many of the duties for which slaves would be otherwise required. They are employed in the stable, the warehouses, the a.r.s.enal, the hospital, and with the s.h.i.+pbuilders and masons. The only pay they receive is 3 fannums and a parra of rice per month, except some of the masons. This payment is sufficient for some of them, but not for all, as there are some employed in masonry work who do their work as well as any of the natives, and, as they have to maintain a wife and children, the master mason has often recommended higher pay for them. There is one among the masons who receives 6 fannums a month, another gets 4, and two others 3 fannums. This might be raised from 6 to 10, from 4 to 8, and from 3 to 6 fannums respectively, so that these poor people may not be discouraged; and on the other hand increased pay often produces increased labour, and thus the Company would perhaps not lose by the extra expense. The matter must, however, be submitted to His Excellency the Governor, as also the request of one of the masons that his daughter may be emanc.i.p.ated, in order to marry a native who has proposed to her. The father offers in her place as a slave another young and capable woman. There is also another application for emanc.i.p.ation from a dyer who is now, he says, 60 years of age. The Company would lose nothing in granting this request, because all he delivers is two or three pieces of ordinary chintz a year. All these matters must be submitted to His Excellency the Governor and the Council.[60]

Having now treated of the Wanny, of the lands of Ponneryn and Mantotte within the Province of Jaffnapatam, and of the fort, we must see what is to be said with regard to the seacoast, and also if any important matter has been forgotten.

Manaar is the last island on this side, and the banks and islets near it form together what is called "Adam's Bridge," which closes the pa.s.sage between Ceylon and Coromandel. This island also protects Jaffnapatam on the south, as no vessel could come here without pa.s.sing Manaar. The pa.s.sage through the river is so inconvenient on account of its shallowness that no vessel can pa.s.s without being first unloaded. Therefore no vessel is able to pa.s.s nor any smuggling take place without its being known in Manaar. It is on this account that an order was issued by His Excellency the Governor and the Council in their letter of March 5, 1695, to Jaffnapatam, to the effect that no smuggled areca-nut from Colombo or Calpentyn must be allowed to pa.s.s there. This was when the trade in these waters was re-opened for private enterprise from Coromandel, and the order was conveyed by us to Manaar by letter of March 11. A close watch must be kept, but so long as the pa.s.sage of Ramacoil or Lembe in the domain of the Teuver is so well known by some people as it is said to be, it is not likely that attempts at smuggling would be made in Manaar.[61]

Manaar not only protects Jaffnapatam, but it also yields to the Company the profits of Mantotte, Moesely, and Setticoulang, and of the capture of elephants. The latter might be more if not for the death of the animals, as, for instance, last year, when not a single animal delivered by the hunters survived. The hunters must therefore be encouraged to bring as many as possible.[62]

About 50 or 60 bharen of dye-roots are also yearly obtained from Manaar, which cultivation must also be attended to, in order that the Company may be in a position to deliver the red cloths ordered from this Commandement.[63]

Some revenue is also obtained from taxes and rents. These are yearly sold to the highest bidder. Last year they were sold for 1 1/2 year, like those in Jaffnapatam. The amount received was Rds. 2,268, as also Rds. 879.7.8 for poll tax and land rent in Manaar. The t.i.thes of the harvest in Mantotte are paid in grain, which is usually issued to the Company's servants. This amounted on the last occasion to 1,562 1/2 paras of rice. The tax in cooking b.u.t.ter in Mantotte is also paid in kind and likewise issued to the Company's servants. Besides, there are 3,000 or 4,000 paras of salt and 10,000 or 12,000 coils of straw or bark lunt which the inhabitants of the opposite lands have to deliver, as also chanks from the divers; but these do not amount to much, for, in 1695, were dived five kinds of cauries to the amount of 204 5/8 paras, and in 1696 only 94 7/8 paras; so that the amount for two years was only 299 1/2 paras of cauries. For this reason I submitted on May 10, 1695, to His Excellency the Governor and the Council, a proposal from the Moor Perietamby, who offered to pay the Company yearly Rds. 8,000 for the license to dive for chanks between Manaar and Calpentyn. This was refused by the reply received from Colombo on the 17th of the same month.[64]

From the Instructions to Commandeur Blom sent from Colombo on February 17, 1692, it may be seen what prices are paid to the divers for the chanks, mentioned already under the subject of the Moorish trade, so that it is not necessary to enter into detail on the subject here.

I think that I have now sufficiently explained all matters relating to this station, and would refer for further information to the report compiled by Mr. Blom for Governor van Mydregt, which is kept here at the Secretariate, [64] as also the answers thereto of September 13 and October 7, 1690. There are also the Instructions left by Mr. Jorephaas Vosch for the Opperkoopman Jan de Vogel, bearing date August 30, 1666, [65] which may also be read, but I think that I have mentioned all the most important matters with regard to Manaar appearing therein.

The pearl fishery is an extraordinary enterprise, the success of which depends on various circ.u.mstances; as there are various causes by which the banks or the oysters may be destroyed. It would take too long to mention here all that may be said on the subject, and as it would be tiresome to read it all, I will merely state here that the usual place for the fishery is near Aripo in the Bay of Condaatje, where the banks lie, and if no untoward events take place, a fishery may be held for several years in succession; because the whole bay is covered with different banks, the oysters of which will become successively matured. But sometimes they are washed away and completely destroyed within a very short time. The banks are to be inspected in November by a Commission sent for this purpose, who come in tonys from Jaffnapatam, Manaar, and Madura, and with them also some Patangatyns and other native chiefs who understand this work. The chief points to be considered when a pearl fishery has been authorized are the lodgings for the Commissioners appointed in Colombo; the inclosure of the tanks in Mantotte with banks for obtaining good drinking water; the supply of poultry, b.u.t.ter, oil, rice, sheep, cattle, &c., for provisions; Lascoreens and servants; military men, if they can be spared from the garrison, &c. The fishery usually takes place in the months of March, April, and May. I will not enter into detail on this matter, as it would not be in agreement with the nature of these instructions; while the Commissioners will be able to find ample information in the various doc.u.ments of the years 1666 and 1667, but especially in those of 1694, 1695, and 1696, including reports, journals, and letters, in case they have not gained sufficient experience yet. These doc.u.ments relate to the fishery, the collection of the Company's duties, the purchase and valuation of pearls, &c. I will therefore only state here the successive profits derived from the pearl fishery by the Company, viz.:--

Rds. Fl.

1666 19,655 91/980 58,965.11. 6 1667 24,641 461/968 73,924. 8.13 1694 21,019 19/60 63,057.13. 0 1695 24,708 11/12 74,126.15. 0 1696 25,327 43/60 75,983. 3. 0 ======= ======= ============= Total 115,352 499/960 346,057.11. 3 [66]

This is a considerable amount, and it is expected, according to the reports of the Commissioners, that the fishery now authorized for December 31, 1697, will yield still greater profits. I have already given orders for the repair of the banks of the tanks in Mantotte, which were damaged during the last storm, in order that there may be no want of drinking water, which is one of the most important points. Whether the prohibition to export coconuts from this Province applies also to the pearl fishery is a matter to be submitted to His Excellency the Governor and the Council; because many people use this fruit as food. This subject has been already dealt with under the head of Coconuts.[65]

The inhabited little islands are considered as the fifth Province of the Commandement, the others being Walligammo, Waddemoraatsche, Timmeraatsche, and Patchelepalle. Taxes, &c., are levied in these islands in the same way as in the other Provinces, the revenue amounting last time to Rds. 2,767.2.5 1/2, viz.:--

Rds.

Land rent 1,190.11.3 t.i.thes 712. 8.6 1/4 Poll tax 605. 1.0 Adigary 173. 9.0 Officie 162. 5.8 3/4 -------------- Total 2,844.11.8

Deducted as salaries for the Collector, Majoraal, Cayals, &c. 77. 9.2 1/4 ============== Total 2,767. 2.5 1/2 [67]

The islands are named as follows:--

Carredive, called by us Amsterdam; Tamiedive, Leyden; Pongedive, Middleburg; Nerendive, Delft; Neynadive, Haarlem; Aneledive, Rotterdam; Remedive, "de Twee Gebroeders," or Hoorn and Enkhuisen.

Besides the revenue stated above, Carredive yields the best dye-roots in this Commandement, although the quant.i.ty is no more than 10 or 12 bharen a year. The dye-roots from Delft are just as good, but it yields only 4 or 5 bharen a year. Salt, lime, and coral stone are also obtained from these islands, but particulars with regard to these matters have been stated at length in the report by the late Commandeur Blom to His late Excellency van Mydregt, to which I would refer. [66]

Horse-breeding is an enterprise of which much was expected, but so far the Company has not made much profit by it. Yet there is no reason to despair, and better results may be hoped for. Your Honours must remember that formerly in the islands Delft, Hoorn, and Enkhuizen all kinds of horses were bred together; so that but few good animals were obtained. In 1690 and 1691 orders were given to shoot all horses that were too small or defective, and to capture the rest and send them to Colombo and Coromandel. The latter were sold at Negapatam by public auction, while the rest were given to soldiers on the opposite coast in the Company's service, who used the animals so badly that they were soon unfit for work. In this way the islands have become dest.i.tute of horses, and the only thing to be done was to send there some good mares and two or three Persian stallions for breeding purposes. So far no good horses could be obtained, because a foal has to be 4 or 3 1/2 years old before it is fit for use. It is only since 1692, 1693, and 1694 that we had good stallions, and this accounts for the fact that no foals have yet been obtained. The deficit is at present Fl. 8,982.9, so that it would seem as if expenditure and trouble are the only results to be expected from this enterprise; but it must be remembered that at present there are on the island of Delft alone about 400 or 500 foals of 1, 1 1/2, 2, and 2 1/2 years old, while there are also a number of horses on the island "de Twee Gebroeders." The expenditure was incurred mostly in the purchase of the Persian stallions, and this expenditure has not been in vain, because we possess now more than 400 horses, each of which will be worth about a hundred guilders, so that the whole number will be worth about 40,000 guilders. In compliance with the orders by His Excellency van Mydregt of November 29, 1690, these animals must be sold at Coromandel on account of this Commandement, and the valuation of the horses may be determined from the fact that the Prince of Tansjour has accepted one or two of them in lieu of the recognition which the Company owes him yearly for two Arabian horses. For this reason and in compliance with the said orders the first horses captured must be sent to Negapatam, so that the account in respect of horse-breeding may be balanced. As the stallions kept on the islands have become too old, application has been made for younger animals, and also for five or six mares from Java, which have been granted by His Excellency the Governor and the Council in their letter of April 29, 1695. Your Honours are further advised not to sell any horses from the island of Delft for less than Rds. 25 and from the islands "de Twee Gebroeders" for less than Rds. 35 to the Company's servants, as they fetch more than that at the public auctions in Negapatam. Even this is a favour to them; but I noticed that the horses from Delft have been sold at 15 and those from Hoorn and Enkhuisen at Rds. 20, which I think cannot be done in future, since the destruction of the defective animals has improved the race. I hope that this will clear up the pa.s.sage with regard to the horse-breeding in the letter from Batavia to Ceylon of July 3, 1696, as also that Their Excellencies may be satisfied with the result. I think expectations were raised too high at first; as the real advantage could only be known in course of time; while, on the other hand, the capital expended must be looked upon as standing out on interest.[67]

The Pa.s.ses of this Commandement are various, but all are guarded in such a way that no goods can be brought in or taken out without a license, nor are people able to go through without a pa.s.sport. At Kayts and Point Pedro pa.s.sports are issued in the usual way to those who come or go by sea; while to those who travel by land an Acte of Permission is issued, which is written in Mallabaar on ola, and is called Cayoppe. These are issued both by the Dessave and by the Commandeur, but as so many thousands of people come and go, and the signing of these Cayoppes occupies so much of the time of the Commandeurs, a steel stamp is used now by the Dessave to mark these also. I have followed the same practice, and used a seal with the letters H. Z., [68] which I handed over shortly before my departure for Colombo in February, 1696, to the Political Council, together with the seal for the oely service, with instructions that these seals were to be used just as if I were still on the spot, because the Dessave was absent at the pearl fishery, and I was commissioned by the Supreme Government of India to proceed to Mallabaar without being formally relieved of my office in this Commandement. On my return from Colombo in August I found that this order had not been carried out, but that the Captain Jan van der Bruggen had thought it well to have another seal specially made, with the monogram VOC, not only suppressing my order given to him in full Council, but also having a new seal made, which was beyond his authority and seemed to me quite out of place. I cannot account for his extraordinary conduct in any other way than by supposing that he desired to confirm the rumour which had been spread among the natives and Europeans during the time of the Commissioners Messrs. Jan van Keulen and Pieter Pet.i.tfilz, that I would never return to this Commandement to rule, and thus by suppressing my seal to give public confirmation to this rumour, and so make it appear to the world that it was no longer legal. I therefore order again that this seal is not to be suppressed, but used for the stamping of the Cayoppes at the Pa.s.ses in case the Dessave should be absent from this Commandement, it being his province alone to issue and sign such olas. This order is to be carried out as long as no contrary orders are received from higher authorities.

Colomboture and Catsay are two Pa.s.ses on the inner boundary of this Commandement at the river leading to Ponneryn and the Wanny, and in order to prevent any one pa.s.sing without a pa.s.sport a guard is stationed there. The duties on goods are also collected there, being leased out, but they do not amount to much. These Pa.s.ses, however, must be properly guarded, and care taken that the people stationed there submit their reports regularly. One of these may be found in a letter from here to Colombo of December 12 last.

Ponneryn, a good redoubt, serves as a place from where to watch the doings of the Wannias and to protect the inhabitants from invasions. It is garrisoned by Toepa.s.ses under the command of a Dutch Sergeant.

The Pa.s.ses Pyl, Elephant, and Beschutter serve chiefly to close this Province against the Wannias and to protect the inhabitants from invasions of the Sinhalese, and also to prevent persons pa.s.sing in or out without a pa.s.sport, or goods being taken in or out without a license, as also to prevent the theft of slaves and the incursions of elephants and other wild animals into the Provinces. A difficulty is that the earth mounds are not close together, so that notwithstanding the continual patrol of the militia, now and again a person pa.s.ses through unnoticed. Means of drawing these redoubts together, or at least of making a trench to prevent persons or goods from pa.s.sing without a license, have often been considered. Some have proposed a hedge of palmyra trees, others a fence of thorns, others a moat, others again a wall, because at this point the Commandement measures only two miles in breadth. But none of these proposals have been adopted all these years, as stated in our letter of August 24, 1695, to Batavia. Their Excellencies replied in their letter of July 3, 1696, that this is a good work, but as it is entirely to the advantage of the inhabitants it must be carried out without expense to the Company. This, in my humble opinion, is quite fair, and the Dessave, whom this matter princ.i.p.ally concerns, will have to consider in what way such a trench as proposed could be made. The yearly Compendium will give much information on this subject, and will show what defects and obstacles have been met with. It has been stated already how the Pa.s.ses are garrisoned, and they are commanded by an Ensign according to the regulations.

Point Pedro, on the outer boundary of this Commandement, has resident only one Corporal and four Lascoreens, who are chiefly employed in the sending and receiving of letters to and from Coromandel and Trincomalee, in the loading of palmyra wood and other goods sent from there to the said two places, and in the search of departing and arriving private vessels, and the receipt of pa.s.sports. These men also supervise the Oeliaars who have to work at the church which was commenced during the time of Commandeur Blom, and also those who have to burn lime or break coral stone from the old Portuguese fortress.

The fortress Kayts or Hammenhiel serves on the north, like Manaar in the south, to guard the pa.s.sage by water to this Castle, and also serves the same purposes as Point Pedro, viz., the searching of private vessels, &c. Next to this fort is the island Leyden, where is stationed at present the a.s.sistant Jacob Verhagen, who performs the same duties as the Corporal at Point Pedro, which may be found stated more in detail in the Instructions of January 4, 1696, compiled and issued by me for the said a.s.sistant. The Ensign at the Pa.s.ses received his instructions from Commandeur Blom, all of which must be followed.

As the Dessave is Commander over the military scattered in the country, and therefore also over those stationed at the said Pa.s.ses and stations, it will chiefly be his duty to see that they are properly guarded so far as the small garrison here will permit, and also that they are provided with sufficient ammunition and provisions. The latter consist mostly of grain, oil, pepper, and arrack. This is mostly meant for Hammenhiel, as the other places can always be provided from the land side, but rice and ammunition must be always kept in store. Hammenhiel must be specially garrisoned during the southern monsoon, and be manned as much as possible by Dutchmen, who, if possible, must be transferred every three months, because many of these places are very unhealthy and others exceedingly lonesome, for which reasons it is not good to keep the people very long in one place. The chief officers are transferred every six months, which also must not be neglected, as it is a good rule in more than one respect.

Aripo, Elipoecarrewe, and Palmeraincattoe were formerly fortresses garrisoned like the others, but since the revolution of the Sinhalese and the Wannias of 1675, under the Dessave Tinnekon, these have become unnecessary and are only guarded now by Lascoreens, who are mostly kept on for the transport of letters between Colombo, Manaar, and Jaffnapatam.[68]

Water tanks are here very necessary, because the country has no fresh water rivers, and the water for the cultivation of lands is that which is collected during the rainfall. Some wealthy and influential natives contrived to take possession of the tanks during the time the Company sold lands, with a view of thus having power over their neighbours and of forcing them to deliver up to them a large proportion of their harvests. They had to do this if they wished to obtain water for the cultivation of their fields, and were compelled thus to buy at high price that which comes as a blessing from the Lord to all men, plants, and animals in general. His Excellency Laurens Pyl, then Governor of Ceylon, issued an order in June, 1687, on his visit to this Commandement, that for these reasons no tanks should be private property, but should be left for common use, the owners being paid by those who require to water their fields as much as they could prove to have spent on these tanks. I found that this good order has not been carried out, because the family of Sangere Pulle alone possesses at present three such tanks, one of which is the property of Moddely Tamby. Before my departure to Colombo I had ordered that it should be given over to the surrounding landowners, who at once offered to pay the required amount, but I heard on my return that the conveyance had not been made yet by that unbearably proud and obstinate Bellale caste, they being encouraged by the way their patron Moddely Tamby had been favoured in Colombo, and the Commandeur is not even recognized and his orders are pa.s.sed by. Your Honours must therefore see that my instructions with regard to these tanks are carried out, and that they are paid for by those interested, or that they are otherwise confiscated, in compliance with the Instructions of 1687 mentioned above, which Instructions may be found among the papers in the Mallabaar language kept by the schoolmasters of the parishes. Considering that many of the Instructions are preserved in the native language only, they ought to be collected and translated into our Dutch language.[69]

The public roads must be maintained at a certain breadth, and the natives are obliged to keep them in order. But their meanness and impudence is so great that they have gradually, year by year, extended the fences along their lands on to these roads, thus encroaching upon the high road. They see more and more that land is valuable on account of the harvests, and therefore do not leave a foot of ground uncultivated when the time of the rainy season is near. This is quite different from formerly; so much so, that the lands are worth not only thrice but about four or five times as much as formerly. This may be seen when the lands are sold by public auction, and it may be also considered whether the people of Jaffnapatam are really so badly off as to find it necessary to agitate for an abatement of the t.i.thes. The Dessave must therefore see that these roads are extended again to their original breadth and condition, punis.h.i.+ng those who may have encroached on the roads.[70]

The Company's elephant stalls have been allowed to fall into decay like the churches, and they must be repaired as soon as possible, which is also a matter within the province of the Dessave.[71]

Great expectations were cherished by some with regard to the thornback skins, Amber de gris, Besoar stones, Carret, and tusks from the elephants that died in the Company's stalls, but experience did not justify these hopes. As these points have been dealt with in the Compendium of November 26, 1693, by Commandeur Blom, I would here refer to that doc.u.ment. I cannot add anything to what is stated there.[72]

The General Paresse is a ceremony which the Mudaliyars, Collectors, Majoraals, Aratchchies, &c., have to perform twice a year on behalf of the whole community, appearing together before the Commandeur in the fort. This is an obligation to which they have been subject from heathen times, partly to show their submission, partly to report on the condition of the country, and partly to give them an opportunity to make any request for the general welfare. As this Paresse tends to the interest of the Company as Sovereign Power on the one hand and to that of the inhabitants on the other hand, the custom must be kept up. When the Commandeur is absent at the time of this Paresse Your Honours could meet together and receive the chiefs. It is held once during the northern and once during the southern monsoon, without being bound to any special day, as circ.u.mstances may require it to be held earlier or later. During my absence the day is to be fixed by the Dessave, as land regent. Any proposal made by the native chiefs must be carefully written down by the Secretary, so that it may be possible to send a report of it to His Excellency the Governor and the Council if it should be of importance. All transactions must be carefully noted down and inserted in the journal, so that it may be referred to whenever necessary. The practice introduced by the Onderkoopman William de Ridder in Manaar of requiring the Pattangatyns from the opposite coast to attend not twice but twelve times a year or once a month is unreasonable, and the people have rightly complained thereof. This practice must not be introduced again. Mr. De Ridder also appointed a second Cannekappul, which seems quite unnecessary, considering the small amount of work to be done there for the natives. Jeronimo could be discharged and Gonsalvo retained, the latter having been specially sent from Calpentyn by His Excellency Governor Thomas van Rhee and being the senior in the service. Of how little consequence the work at Manaar was considered by His Excellency Governor van Mydregt may be seen from the fact that His Excellency ordered that no Opperhoofd should be stationed there nor any accounts kept, but that the fort should be commanded by an Ensign as chief of the military. A second Cannekappul is therefore superfluous, and the Company could be saved the extra expense.[73]

I could make reference to a large number of other matters, but it would be tedious to read and remember them all. I will therefore now leave in Your Honours' care the government of a Commandement from which much profit may be derived for the Company, and where the inhabitants, though deceitful, cunning, and difficult to rule, yet obey through fear; as they are cowardly, and will do what is right more from fear of punishment than from love of righteousness. I hope that Your Honours may have a more peaceful time than I had, for you are well aware how many difficulties, persecutions, and public slights I have had to contend with, and how difficult my government was through these causes, and through continual indisposition, especially of late. However, Jaffnapatam has been blessed by G.o.d during that period, as may be seen from what has been stated in this Memoir. I hope that Your Honours'

dilligence and experience may supplement the defects in this Memoir, and, above all, that you will try to live and work together in harmony, for in that way the Company will be served best. There are people who will purposely cause dissension among the members of the Council, with a view to further their own ends or that of some other party, much to the injury of the person who permits them to do so.[74]

The Political Council consists at present of the following members:--

Ryklof de Bitter, Dessave, Opperkoopman.

Jan van der Bruggen, Captain.

Abraham M. Biermans, Administrateur.

Claas Isaacsz, Lieutenant.

Pieter Boscho, Onderkoopman, Store- and Thombo-keeper.

Johannes van Groenevelde, Fiscaal.

Pieter Bout, Cas.h.i.+er and Secretary.

With a view to enable His Excellency the Governor and the Council to alter or amplify this Memoir in compliance with the orders from Their Excellencies at Batavia, cited at the commencement of this doc.u.ment, I have purposely written on half of the pages only, so that final instructions might be added, as mine are only provisional. In case Your Honours should require any of the doc.u.ments cited which are not kept here at the Secretariate, they may be applied for from His Excellency the Governor and the Council of Colombo. Wis.h.i.+ng Your Honours G.o.d's blessing, and all prosperity in the administration of this extensive Commandement,