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 passports. 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 passage 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 Assistant 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 Assistant. The Ensign at the Passes 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 Passes 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 passed 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 tithes. The Dessave must therefore see that these roads are extended again to their original breadth and condition, punishing 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 document. 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 circumstances 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 God during that period, as may be seen from what has been stated in this Memoir. I hope that Your Honours’ diligence 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])