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 quantity 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 destitute 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 3½ 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, 1½, 2, and 2½ 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 passage 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 Passes 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 passport. At Kayts and Point Pedro passports 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.,[65] 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
, 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 Petitfilz, 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 Passes 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 Passes on the inner boundary of this Commandement at the river leading to Ponneryn and the Wanny, and in order to prevent any one passing without a passport a guard is stationed there. The duties on goods are also collected there, being leased out, but they do not amount to much. These Passes, 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 Toepasses under the command of a Dutch Sergeant.
The Passes 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 passing in or out without a passport, 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 passes through unnoticed. Means of drawing these redoubts together, or at least of making a trench to prevent persons or goods from passing 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 principally 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 Passes are garrisoned, and they are commanded by an Ensign according to the regulations.