A.--The above Instructions were ready for Your Honours when, on
January 31 last, the yacht "Bekenstyn" brought a letter from Colombo
dated January 18, in which we were informed of the arrival of our new
Governor, His Excellency Gerrit de Heere. By the same vessel an extract
was sent from a letter of the Supreme Government of India of October
19 last, in which my transfer to Mallabaar has been ordered. But,
much as I had wished to serve the Company on that coast, I could
not at once obey the order owing to a serious illness accompanied
by a fit, with which it pleased the Lord to afflict me on January
18. Although not yet quite recovered, I have preferred to undertake
the voyage to Mallabaar without putting it off for another six months,
trusting that God will help me duly to serve my superiors, although
the latter course seemed more advisable on account of my state of
health. As some matters have occurred and some questions have arisen
since the writing of my Memoir, I have to add here a few explanations.
B.--Together with the above-mentioned letter from Colombo, of January
18, we also received a document signed by both Their Excellencies
Governors Thomas van Rhee and Gerrit de Heere, by which all trade
in Ceylon except that of cinnamon is made open and free to every
one. Since no extract from the letter from Batavia with regard to this
matter was enclosed, I have been in doubt as to how far the permission
spoken of in that document was to be extended. As I am setting down
here my doubt on this point, His Excellency the Governor and the
Council of Colombo will, I have no doubt, give further information
upon it. I suppose that the trade in elephants is excepted as well
as that in cinnamon, and that it is still prohibited to capture,
transport, or sell these animals otherwise than on behalf of the
Company, either directly or indirectly, as has been the usage so far.
C.--I suppose there will be no necessity now to obtain the areca-nuts
as ordered in the Instructions from Colombo of March 23, 1695, but
that these nuts are included among the articles open to free trade,
so that they may be now brought from Jaffnapatam through the Wanni to
Tondy, Madura, and Coromandel, as well as to other places in Ceylon,
provided the payment of the usual Customs duty of the Alphandigo,
[69] which is 7 1/2 per cent. for export, and that it may also be
freely transported through the Passes on the borders of the Wanni, and
that no Customs duty is to be paid except when it is sent by sea. I
understand that the same will be the rule for cotton, pepper, &c.,
brought from the Wanni to be sent by sea. This will greatly increase
the Alphandigo, so that the conditions for the farming of these must
be altered for the future accordingly. If the Customs duty were also
charged at the Passes, the farming out of these would still increase,
but I do not think that it would benefit the Company very much, because
there are many opportunities for smuggling beyond these three Passes,
and the expenditure of keeping guards would be far too great. The
duty being recovered as Alphandigo, there is no chance of smuggling,
as the vessels have to be provided with proper passports. All vessels
from Jaffnapatam are inspected at the Waterfort, Hammenhiel and at
the redoubt Point Pedro.
D.--In my opinion the concession of free trade will necessitate the
remission of the duty on the Jaffnapatam native and foreign cloths,
because otherwise Jaffnapatam would be too heavily taxed compared
with other places, as the duty is 20 and 25 per cent. I think both
the cloths made here and those imported from outside ought to be
taxed through the Alphandigo of 7 1/2 per cent. This would still more
increase the duty, and this must be borne in mind when these revenues
are farmed out next December, if His Excellency the Governor and the
Council approve of my advice. The duty of 25 per cent. is far too
high, and it must be remembered that this was a duty imposed with a
view to prevent the weaving of cloths and to secure the monopoly of
the trade to the Company, and not in order to make a revenue out of
it. This project did not prove a success; but I will not enter into
details about it, as these may be found in the questions submitted
by me to the Council of Ceylon on January 22, 1695, and I have also
mentioned them in this Memoir under the heading of Rents.
E.--It seems to me that henceforth the people of Jaffnapatam would,
as a result of this free trade, be no longer bound to deliver to the
Company the usual 24 casks of coconut oil yearly before they are
allowed to export their nuts. This rule was laid down in a letter
from Colombo of October 13, 1696, with a view to prevent Ceylon being
obliged to obtain coconut oil from outside. This duty was imposed
upon Jaffnapatam, because the trees in Galle and Matura had become
unfruitful from the Company's elephants having to be fed with the
leaves. The same explanation was not urged with regard to Negombo,
which is so much nearer to Colombo than Galle, Matura, or Jaffnapatam,
and it is a well-known fact that many of the ships from Jaffnapatam
and other places are sent with coconuts from Negombo to Coromandel
or Tondel, while the nuts from the lands of the owners there are held
back. I expect therefore that the new Governor His Excellency Gerrit
de Heere and the Council of Colombo will give us further instructions
with regard to this matter. More details may be found in this Memoir
under the heading of Coconut Trees.
F.--A letter was received from Colombo, bearing date March 4 last,
in which was enclosed a form of a passport which appears to have been
introduced there after the opening of the free trade, with orders to
introduce the same here. This has been done already during my presence
here and must be continued.
G.--In the letter of the 9th instant we received various and important
instructions which must be carried out. An answer to this letter was
sent by us on the 22nd of the same month. One of these instructions is
to the effect that a new road should be cut for the elephants which are
to be sent from Colombo. Another requires the compilation of various
lists, one of which is to be a list of all lands belonging to the
Company or given away on behalf of it, with a statement showing by
whom, to whom, when, and why they were granted. I do not think this
order refers to Jaffnapatam, because all fields were sold during the
time of Commandeur Vosch and others. Only a few small pieces of land
were discovered during the compilation of the new Land Thombo, which
some of the natives had been cultivating. A few wild palmyra trees
have been found in the Province of Patchelepalle, but these and the
lands have been entered in the new Thombo. We cannot therefore very
well furnish such a list of lands as regards Jaffnapatam, because
the Company does not possess any, but if desired a copy of the new
Land Thombo (which will consist of several reams of imperial paper)
could be sent. I do not, however, think this is meant, since there is
not a single piece of land in Jaffnapatam for which no taxes are paid,
and it is for the purpose of finding this out that the new Thombo is
being compiled.
H.--The account between the Moorish elephant purchasers and the
Company through the Brahmin Timmerza as its agent, about which so
much has been written, was settled on August 31 last, and so also
was the account of the said Timmerza himself and the Company. A
difficulty arises now as to how the business with these people is
to be transacted; because three of the principal merchants from
Galconda arrived here the other day with three cheques to the amount
of 7,145 Pagodas in the name of the said Timmerza. According to the
orders by His Excellency Thomas van Rhee the latter is no longer to
be employed as the Company's agent, so there is some irregularity
in the issue of these cheques and this order, in which it is stated
that the cheques must bear the names of the purchasers themselves,
while on the other hand the purchasers made a special request that
the amount due to them might be paid to their attorneys in cash or
elephants through the said Timmerza. However this may be, I do not
wish to enter into details, as these matters, like many others, had
been arranged by His Excellency the Governor and the Council without
my knowledge or advice. Your Honours must await an answer from His
Excellency the Governor Gerrit de Heere and the Council of Colombo,
and follow the instructions they will send with regard to the said
cheques; and the same course may be followed as regards the cheques
of two other merchants who may arrive here just about the time of my
departure. I cannot specify the amount here, as I did not see these
people for want of time. The merchants of Golconda have also requested
that, as they have no broker to deal with, they may be allowed an
advance by the Company in case they run short of cash, which request
has been communicated in our letter to Colombo of the 4th instant.
I.--As we had only provision of rice for this Commandement for
about nine months, application has been made to Negapatam for 20,000
paras of rice, but a vessel has since arrived at Kayts from Bengal,
belonging to the Nabob of Kateck, by name Kaimgaarehen, and loaded as
I am informed with very good rice. If this be so, the grain might be
purchased on behalf of the Company, and in that case the order for
nely from Negapatam could be countermanded. It must be remembered,
however, that the rice from Bengal cannot be stored away, but must
be consumed as soon as possible, which is not the case with that of
Negapatam. The people from Bengal must be well treated and assisted
wherever possible without prejudice to the Company; so that they
may be encouraged to come here more often and thus help us to make
provision for the need of grain, which is always a matter of great
concern here. I have already treated of the Moorish trade and also
of the trade in grain between Trincomalee and Batticaloa, and will
only add here that since the arrival of the said vessel the price
has been reduced from 6 to 5 and 4 fannums the para.
K.--On my return from Colombo last year the bargemen of the Company's
pontons submitted a petition in which they complained that they had
been obliged to make good the value of all the rice that had been lost
above 1 per cent. from the cargoes that had been transported from
Kayts to the Company's stores. They complained that the measuring
had not been done fairly, and that a great deal had been blown away
by the strong south-west winds; also that there had been much dust in
the nely, and that besides this it was impossible for them to prevent
the native crew who had been assigned to them from stealing the grain
both by day and night, especially since rice had become so expensive
on account of the scarcity. I appointed a Committee to investigate
this matter, but as it has been postponed through my illness, Your
Honours must now take the matter in hand and have it decided by
the Council. In future such matters must always be brought before
the Council, as no one has the right to condemn others on his own
authority. The excuse of the said bargemen does not seem to carry
much weight, but they are people who have served the Company for 30
or 40 years and have never been known to commit fraud. It must also
be made a practice in future that these people are held responsible
for their cargo only till they reach the harbour where it is unloaded,
as they can only guard it on board of their vessels.
L.--I have spoken before of the suspicion I had with regard to the
changing of golden Pagodas, and with a view to have more security in
future I have ordered the cashier Bout to accept no Pagodas except
directly from the Accountant at Negapatam, who is responsible for the
value of the Pagodas. He must send them to the cashier in packets of
100 at a time, which must be sealed.
M.--The administration of the entire Commandement having been left by
me to the Opperkoopman and Dessave Mr. Ryklof de Bitter and the other
members of the Council, this does not agree with the orders from the
Supreme Government of India contained in their letter of October 19
last year, but since the Dessave de Bitter has since been appointed as
the chief of the Committee for the pearl fishery and has left already,
it will be for His Excellency the Governor and the Council to decide
whether the Lieutenant Claas Isaacsz is to be entrusted with the
administration, as was done last year.
Wishing Your Honours for the second time God's blessing,
I remain,
Yours faithfully,
(Signed) H. ZWAARDECROON.
On board the yacht "Bekenstyn," in the harbour of
Manaar, March 29, 1697.
SHORT NOTES by Gerrit de Heere, Governor of the Island of Ceylon,
on the chief points raised in these Instructions of Commandeur
Hendrick Zwaardecroon, for the guidance of the Opperkoopman
Mr. Ryklof de Bitter, Second in authority and Dessave of the
Commandement, and the other members of the Political Council of
Jaffnapatam. Where the notes contradict the Instructions the orders
conveyed by the former are to be followed. In other respects the
Instructions must be observed, as approved by Their Excellencies
the Governor-General and the Council of India.
1. The form of Government, as approved at the time mentioned here, must
be also observed with regard to the Dessave and Secunde, Mr. Ryklof
de Bitter, as has been confirmed by the Honourable the Government of
Batavia in their special letter of October 19 last.
2. What is stated here is reasonable and in compliance with the
Instructions, but with regard to the recommendation to send to
Mr. Zwaardecroon by Manaar and Tutucorin advices and communications
of all that transpires in this Commandement, I think it would be
sufficient, as Your Honours have also to give an account to us, and
this would involve too much writing, to communicate occasionally
and in general terms what is going on, and to send him a copy of
the Compendium which is yearly compiled for His Excellency the
Governor. This we authorize Mr. de Bitter and the other members of
Council to do.