I have no doubt you will all see the truth of what I say, yet, in order the more clearly to convey the force of my suggestion, I will specify here some of the documents which I consider it particularly useful to obtain a general insight of.
With regard to Jaffnapatam, I know of no better documents than the Instructions compiled by Admiral Ryclof van Goens, Mr. Anthony Paviljoen, and the Hon. Laurens Pyl, at present Councillor of India at Batavia, left for this Commandement respectively on September 30, 1658, December 12, 1659, July 26, 1661, December 19, 1665, and October 7, 1679, the latter[1] having been inserted in the General Instructions left by His Excellency Ryclof van Goens, junior, on his departure on October 3 of the same year, to take up the Governorship of Ceylon. The directions in these Papers must be followed so far as change of time and circumstances will permit. I could not avoid mentioning these before entering into further details.
It was the more necessary because so many observances, customs, institutions, and singular methods of action are to be met with in Jaffnapatam which are not found anywhere else or among any other subjects of the Company, and also because they cannot be discovered or understood without careful investigation and only in process of time. Thus, although the most important matters have been successively treated of in the service of the Company, yet all the necessary information cannot be brought together here, and such a detailed description would be beyond the purpose of ordinary instructions. I will therefore only touch upon such matters as will be unavoidable under the present circumstances.
The mode of government during my absence will be the first point to be decided upon; because formerly the Dessave, as second in the Commandement, used to be appointed to preside, as may be seen in the yearly Memoirs of Commandeur Floris Blom, left by him when he had to travel beyond the Commandement; with the only restriction that the Dessave was not to pass any orders for the warehouses, the Treasury, workshops, &c., which were left to the Administrator, although the Dessave was more often present within the Castle. Later on, in the year 1694, on the death of the same Commandeur Blom of blessed memory, the government of the whole of this Commandement was entrusted to the Political Council by order of the Hon. Thomas van Rhee, Councillor of India and Governor of Ceylon, and the Council of Colombo. The government was then divided, and the authority limited, and rules were laid down, which may be seen from the letters from Colombo bearing date July 20 and August 23, 1694; but experience has proved that this mode of government was not successful in the best interests of the Company; because the subordinate officers and the subject classes often did not know to whom they had to apply; so that they were sent “from Pontius to Pilatus,” as it is sometimes said; which often caused unnecessary waste of time and delay in the Service. I noticed this to have been the case when I was away from this Commandement from the last of March till about the middle of August this year, on the occasion of my being ordered to Colombo, and the authority distributed according to the instructions contained in the letter from Colombo of March 22. But I noticed later on that the letters from Colombo were addressed to Mr. Rykloff de Bitter as Dessave and Secunde of the Commandement and the other members of the Political Council here; which was done again on October 16, 1696, when it was anticipated that I had already left for Mallabaar by the frigate “De Tamboer.”
In the letter from Colombo of April 18 the members of the Council were also recommended to show the said Mr. de Bitter all the respect due to his position as Dessave and Secunde in the Commandement; so that it seems His Excellency the Governor and the Council wished to re-introduce the former mode of government during the absence of the Commandeur, seeing that the Company’s affairs cannot be properly conducted by such divided authority. This at least is my opinion, and I intend to point out that in the absence of the Commandeur the government here ought to be carried on according to the former lines, and consequently the entire administration entrusted to the Dessave, with the assistance of the members of the Political Council; and that he must call the meetings both of the Council and of the Court of Justice, and preside at both; and that he must further sign the orders for the Treasury, the workshop, the arsenal, and even for the warehouses, and in reference to any other of the effects of the Company. This would be in compliance with the Instructions contained in the letter from Colombo of December 5, 1696, where it is said that no orders are to be passed here but by the person in authority. I therefore think that, in the interests of peace and order in this Commandement, the Dessave R. de Bitter should be in authority at such times, especially as I have to be so far away. Besides, he lives just in front of the town, and close by the Castle; so that he is always at hand for those who require his assistance or instruction. But as the Dessave lives outside the fortress, the giving of the watchword, the closing and opening of the gate, and the supervision over the military and their drill, could not very well be delegated to him. This must therefore be left to the Captain as special chief of the Military; unless the Dessave should occasionally remain within the Fort overnight, in which case he will preform those duties. ([1])[2]
With a view to prevent the impression being created that I had formally given over this Commandement and entirely transferred the authority, I will leave without making a written transfer of any of the Company’s effects. I merely entrust these to Your Honours’ care and management; but, on the other hand, it must be understood that I do not want to be held responsible for any mistakes you might make during my absence. I therefore, and in order to show that I do not relinquish my authority in the Commandement, but only absent myself during the mission to Mallabaar or until further orders from the Honourable the Government of India are received, Your Honours are recommended to send to me by Manaar and Tutucorin proper advices, and to communicate to me the principal transactions that take place with regard to the Company’s service, in order that I may not be obliged on my return to ask what had transpired or to look up these things in the books. It will be well here to remind Your Honours of the order contained in the Resolution passed by the Council of India on December 6, 1694, with regard to all Administrators, viz., that they will be held responsible for all cash or articles belonging to the Company which are found missing, and that, if unable to justify themselves, they would have to replace these within two months, or submit to be punished for their offence. ([2])
Economy is the first matter which I have to recommend to Your Honours, because this is not only constantly urged both from the Fatherland and from Batavia, but also because it is beyond doubt that what is saved in this manner will be pure profit. It must be understood, however, that in using the word economy I mean care in the administration of the Company’s effects, and not a wrong economy. There are officers who take this word in its narrowest sense, and, failing to have the necessary repairs done in proper time in their endeavour to spend as little as possible, create the necessity in the course of time of a complete restoration, while the existing objects might have stood good for a long time with a small timely expenditure. I must therefore recommend Your Honours to read certain letters from the Hon. Mr. van Mydregt,[3] bearing date July 4, 1690, and addressed to the establishment at Jaffnapatam during his circuit on the coast of Madura. ([3])
The Wanni is the largest division in this kingdom, and would also be the most profitable to the Company if matters went on as they ought to. It is from there that we have to obtain the elephants which are sold here at considerable profit, as the proceeds of the sale of elephants which are sent here for sale from Galle, Matura, and other places in Ceylon cannot be credited to this Commandement, as the profits are not retained here, but have been so far forwarded to these places. With a view to secure the profits on the elephants which are to be obtained from the Wanni, the Company has divided this large forest and extensive territory into several Provinces, which have been farmed out to Majoraals, known as Wannias, on the condition that they should deliver yearly 42½ alias.[4] This practice was followed from the time that the Company first established itself here up to the present day, but the results have proved that these Wannias continually fail to deliver the tribute elephants, and it appears in the Instructions of the late Mr. Paviljoen that their arrears in his time were already 74½ alias, when the Company had possessed this territory only 7 or 8 years. In the returns for 1680 it will be seen that these arrears had then increased to 313 alias. The whole of this debt was remitted to them, but in 1694 again the arrears went up to 18½ alias, and last year they had come up to 70 animals, namely:
Don Philip Nellamapane and Don Gaspar Konsjeynaar Ilengenarene Mudaliyar, for the Provinces of Lanengamo, Paleamblancolam, and Poedicoe 48½ alias; Don Diogo Poevenellemapane Wannia, for the Provinces of Karkattemoele and Meelpattoe 18 alias; Peria Meynaar Oediaar, for the Province of Moeliawalle 3½ alias; total 70 alias.
It will therefore be necessary for Your Honours to endeavour to secure as many elephants from these Wannias as possible, both in payment of their arrears and of their present dues. This must be done, with all kindness, and in compliance with the successive orders received from His Excellency van Rhee,[5] Governor of Ceylon, and the Council of Colombo, in order that this profitable trade may be maintained, because there has been no lack of purchasers since the year 1689, as the merchants from Golconda come over every year, and there is a possibility that the Bengal Moors will also come over to purchase elephants now that this passage has been opened. The price to be paid to the Wannias for animals delivered above their tribute has been stated in the letter of the Hon. Mr. van Mydregt of blessed memory, sent here on April 3, 1690, from Tutucorin, while the Honourable the Government of India, in their esteemed letter of December 12, 1691, agreed to pay from 10 to 20 Rds. more for each animal, according to their value. I fear, however, that it will take a long time yet before it will be necessary to make such payment. The Wannia Philip Nellamapane may be allowed to sell every year one elephant on his own account to the Moors, in compliance with the orders of the said Governor and Council at the meeting of May 11, 1696, although Your Honours will find a positive refusal to the request made by him and submitted to His Excellency van Mydregt by Commandeur Floris Blom on October 20. The refusal was made in His Excellency’s answer of November 20. There are two other Wannias to whom the same privilege has been granted, viz., Ambele Wannia and Chedoega Wannia, the former holding the Province of Carnawel pattu, and the latter that of Tinnemerrewaddoe. They obtained this permission because their tribute is of little importance compared with that of the other Wannias mentioned above, and because they had paid up their arrears at the closing of the books last August. It seems, however, that they also are not much inclined to deliver any elephants beyond their tribute. Most likely they prefer the tithes which they draw for ruling these Provinces to the payment they would receive from the Company for the delivery of elephants.