Part 8
J. L. Stumphuis, mentioned above, Secretary.
The native members are Don Louis Poeder and Don Denis Nitsingeraye.
The instructions issued for the guidance of the Land Raad may be found with the documents relating to this college of 1661, in which are also contained the various Ordinances relating to the official Secretaries in this Commandement, all which must be strictly observed. As there is no proper place for the assembly of the Land Raad nor for the meeting of the Scholarchen, and as both have been held so far in the front room of the house of the Dessave, where there is no privacy for either, it will be necessary to make proper provision for this. The best place would be in the town behind the orphanage, where the Company has a large plot of land and could acquire still more if a certain foul pool be filled up as ordered by His Excellency van Mydregt. A building ought to be put up about 80 or 84 feet by 30 feet, with a gallery in the centre of about 10 or 12 feet, so that two large rooms could be obtained, one on either side of the gallery, the one for the assembly of the Land Raad and the other for that of the Scholarchen. It would be best to have the whole of the ground raised about 5 or 6 feet to keep it as dry as possible during the rainy season, while at the entrance, in front of the gallery, a flight of stone steps would be required. In order, however, that it may not seem as if I am unaware of the order contained in the letter from Their Excellencies of November 23, 1695, where the erection of no public building is permitted without authority from Batavia, except at the private cost of the builder, I wish to state here particularly that I have merely stated the above by way of advice, and that Your Honours must wait for orders from Batavia for the erection of such a building. I imagine that Their Excellencies will give their consent when they consider that masonry work costs the Company but very little in Jaffnapatam, as may be seen in the expenditure on the fortifications, which was met entirely by the chicos or fines, imposed on those who failed to attend for the Oely service. Lime, stone, cooly labour, and timber are obtained free, except palmyra rafters, which, however, are not expensive. The chief cost consists in the wages for masonry work and the iron, so that in respect of building Jaffnapatam has an advantage over other places. Further instructions must however be awaited, as none of the Company's servants is authorized to dispense with them.(40)
The Weesmeesteren (guardians of the orphans) will find the regulations for their guidance in the Statutes of Batavia, which were published on July 1, 1642, [46] by His Excellency the Governor-General Antonis van Diemen and the Council of India by public placaat. This college consists at present of the following persons:--
Pieter Chr. Bolscho, President. Lucas Langer, Vice-President. Joan Roos, Onderkoopman. Gerrit van Hovingen, Lieutenant. Johannes Huysman, Boekhouder. Jan Baptist Verdonk, Vryburger. Jan de Wit, Secretary.
As the Hon. the Government of India has been pleased to send to Ceylon by letter of May 3, 1695, a special Ordinance for the Orphan Chamber and its officials with regard to their salaries, I consider it necessary to remind you of it here and to recommend its strict observance, as well also of the resolution of March 20, 1696, whereby the Orphan Chamber is instructed that all such money as is placed under their administration which is derived from the estates of deceased persons who had invested money on interest with the Company, and whose heirs were not living in the same place, must be remitted to the Orphan Chamber at Batavia with the interest due within a month or six weeks.(41)
The Commissioners of Marriage Causes will also find their instructions in the Statutes of Batavia, mentioned above, which must be carefully observed. Nothing need be said with regard to this College, but that it consists of the following persons:--
Claas Isaacsz, Lieutenant, President. Lucas Langer, Vryburger, Vice-President. Joan Roos, Onderkoopman. Jan van Bruggen, Secretary.[42]
The officers of the Burgery, [47] the Pennisten, [48] and the Ambachtsgezellen [49] will likewise find their instructions and regulations in the Statutes of Batavia, and apply them as far as applicable.[43]
The Superintendent of the Fire Brigade and the Wardens of the Town (Brand and Wyk Meesteren) have their orders and distribution of work publicly assigned to them by the Regulation of November 8, 1691, upon which I need not remark anything, except that the following persons are the present members of this body:--
Jan van Croenevelt, Fiscaal, President. Jan Baptist Verdonk, Vryburger, Vice-President. Jan van der Bruggen, Assistant. Lucas de Langer, Vryburger. Jacobus Aubert, Schoolmaster. Jan de Wit, Secretary. [44]
The deacons, as caretakers of the poor, have been mentioned already under the heading of the Consistory. During the last five and half years they have spent Rds. 1,145.3.7 more than they received. As I apprehended this would cause inconvenience, I proposed in my letter of December 1, 1696, to Colombo that the Poor House should be endowed with the Sicos money for the year 1695, which otherwise would have been granted to the Seminary, which did not need it then, as it had received more than it required. Meantime orders were received from Batavia that the funds of the said Seminary should be transferred to the Company, so that the Sicos money could not be disposed of in that way. As the deficit is chiefly due to the purchase, alteration, and repairing of an orphanage and the maintenance of the children, as may be seen from the letters to Colombo of December 12 and 17, 1696, to which expenditure the Deaconate had not been subject before the year 1690, other means will have to be considered to increase its funds in order to prevent the Deaconate from getting into further arrears. It would be well therefore if Your Honours would carefully read the Instructions of His late Excellency van Mydregt of November 29, 1690, and ascertain whether alimentation given to the poor by the Deaconate has been well distributed and whether it really was of the nature of alms and alimentation as it should be. A report of the result of your inquiry should be sent to His Excellency the Governor and the Council of Colombo. You might also state therein whether the orphanage has not been sufficiently enlarged yet, for it seems to me that the expenditure is too great for only 14 children, as there are at present. It might also be considered whether the Company could not find some source of income for the Deaconate in case this orphanage is not quite completed without further expenditure, and care must be taken that the deacons strictly observe the rules laid down for them in the Regulation of His Excellency the Governor and the Council of Ceylon of January 2, 1666. The present matron, Catharina Cornelisz, widow of the late Krankbezoeker Dupree, must be directed to follow the rules laid down for her by the Governor here on November 4, 1694, and approved in Colombo. That all the inferior colleges mentioned here successively have to be renewed yearly by the Political Council is such a well-known matter that I do not think it would escape your attention; but, as approbation from Colombo has to be obtained for the changes made they have to be considered early, so that the approbation may be received here in time. The usual date is June 23, the day of the conquest of this territory, but this date has been altered again to June 13, 1696, by His Excellency the Governor and the Council of Colombo.[45]
The assessment of all measures and weights must likewise be renewed every year, in the presence of the Fiscaal and Commissioners; because the deceitful nature of these inhabitants is so great that they seem not to be able to help cheating each other. The proceeds of this marking, which usually amounts to Rds. 70 or 80, are for the largest part given to some deserving person as a subsistence. On my arrival here I found that it had been granted to the Vryburger Jurrian Verwyk, who is an old man and almost unable to serve as an assayer. The post has, however, been left to him, and his son-in-law Jan Fransz, also a Vryburger, has been appointed his assistant. The last time the proceeds amounted to 80 rds. 3 fannums, 8 tammekassen and 2 1/2 duyten, as may be seen from the report of the Commissioners bearing date December 13, 1696. This amount has been disposed of as follows:--
For the Assizer Rds. 60.0.0.0 For the assistant to the Assizer " 6.0.0.0 Balance to the Company's account " 14.3.8.2 1/2 ============ Total Rds. 80.3.8.2 1/2
It must be seen to that the Assizer, having been sworn, observes his instructions as extracted from the Statutes of Batavia, as made applicable to the customs of this country by the Government here on March 3, 1666.
In compliance with orders from Batavia contained in the letter of June 24, 1696, sums on interest may not be deposited with the Company here, as may be seen also from a letter sent from here to Batavia on August 18 following, where it is stated that all money deposited thus must be refunded. This order has been carried out, and the only deposits retained are those of the Orphan Chamber, the Deaconate, the Seminary, and the Widows' fund, for which permission had been obtained by letter of December 15 of the same year. As the Seminary no longer possesses any fund of its own, no deposit on that account is now left with the Company. Your Honours must see that no other sums on interest are accepted in deposit, as this Commandement has more money than is necessary for its expenditure and even to assist other stations, such as Trincomalee, &c., for which yearly Rds. 16,000 to 18,000 are required, and this notwithstanding that Coromandel receives the proceeds from the sale of elephants here, while we receive only the money drafts.[46]
No money drafts are to be passed here on behalf of private persons, whether Company's servants or otherwise, in any of the outstations, but in case any person wishes to remit money to Batavia, this may be done only after permission and consent obtained from His Excellency the Governor at Colombo. When this is obtained, the draft is prepared at Colombo and only signed here by the Treasurer on receipt of the amount. This is specially mentioned here in order that Your Honours may also remember in such cases the Instructions sent by the Honourable the Government of India in the letters of May 3, 1695, and June 3, 1696, in the former of which it is stated that no copper coin, and in the latter that Pagodas are to be received here on behalf of the Company for such drafts, each Pagoda being counted at Rds. 2 in Batavia.[47]
The golden Pagoda is a coin which was never or seldom known to be forged, at least so long as the King of Golconda or the King of the Carnatic was sovereign in Coromandel. But the present war, which has raged for the last ten years in that country, seems to have taken away to some extent the fear of evil and the disgrace which follows it, and to have given opportunity to some to employ cunning in the pursuit of gain. It has thus happened that on the coast beyond Porto Novo, in the domain of these lords of the woods (Boschheeren) or Paligares, Pagodas have been made which, although not forged, are yet inferior in quality; while the King of Sinsi Rama Ragie is so much occupied with the present war against the Mogul, that he has no time to pay attention to the doings of these Paligares. According to a statement made by His Excellency the Governor Laurens Pyl and the Council of Negapatam in their letter of November 4, 1695, five different kinds of such inferior Pagodas have been received, valued at 7 3/8, 7 1/8, 7 5/8, 7 7/8, and 8 3/4 of unwrought gold. A notice was published therefore on November 18, following, to warn the people against the acceptance of such Pagodas, and prohibiting their introduction into this country. When the Company's Treasury was verified by a Committee, 1,042 of these Pagodas were found. Intimation was sent to Colombo on December 31, 1695. The Treasurer informed me when I was in Colombo that he had sent them to Trincomalee, and as no complaints have been received, it seems that the Sinhalese in that quarter did not know how to distinguish them from the current Pagodas. As I heard that the inferior Pagodas had been already introduced here, while it was impossible to get rid of them, as many of the people of Jaffnapatam and the merchants made a profit on them by obtaining them at a lower rate in Coromandel and passing them here to ignorant people at the full value, a banker from Negapatam able to distinguish the good from the inferior coins has been asked to test all Pagodas, so that the Company may not suffer a loss. But in spite of this I receive daily complaints from Company's servants, including soldiers and sailors, that they always have to suffer loss on the Pagodas received from the Company in payment of their wages, when they present them at the bazaar; while the chetties and bankers will never give them 24 fanums for a Pagoda. This matter looks very suspicious, and may have an evil influence on the Company's servants, because it is possible that the chetties have agreed among themselves never to pay the full value for Pagodas, whether they are good or bad. It is also possible that the Company's cashier or banker is in collusion with the chetties, or perhaps there is some reason for this which I am not able to make out. However this may be, Your Honours must try to obtain as much information as possible on this subject and report on it to His Excellency the Governor and the Council of Colombo. All inferior Pagodas found in the Company's Treasury will have to be made good by the cashier at Coromandel, as it was his business to see that none were accepted. With a view to prevent discontent among the Company's servants the tax collectors must be made to pay only in copper and silver coin for the poll tax and land rent, and out of this the soldiers, sailors, and the lower grades of officials must be paid, as I had already arranged before I left. I think that they can easily do this, as they have to collect the amount in small instalments from all classes of persons. The poor people do not pay in Pagodas, and the collectors might make a profit by changing the small coin for Pagodas, and this order will be a safeguard against loss both to the Company and its servants. It would be well if Your Honours could find a means of preventing the Pagodas being introduced and to discard those that are in circulation already, which I have so far not been able to do. Perhaps on some occasion you might find a suitable means.[48]
The demands received here from out-stations in this Commandement must be met as far as possible, because it is a rule with the Company that one district must accommodate another, which, I suppose, will be the practice everywhere. Since His Excellency the Governor and the Council of Colombo have authorized Your Honours in their letter of June 13,1696, to draw directly from Coromandel the goods required from those places for the use of this Commandement, Your Honours must avail yourselves of this kind permission, which is in agreement with the intention of the late Commissioner van Mydregt, who did not wish that the order should pass through various hands. Care must be taken to send the orders in due time, so that the supplies may not run out of stock when required for the garrisons. The articles ordered from Jaffnapatam for Manaar must be sent only in instalments, and no articles must be sent but those that are really required, as instructed; because it has occurred more than once that goods were ordered which remained in the warehouses, because they could not be sold, and which, when going bad, had to be returned here and sold by public auction, to the prejudice of the Company. To give an idea of the small sale in Manaar, I will just state here that last year various provisions and other articles from the Company's warehouses were sent to the amount of Fl. 1,261.16.6--cost price--which were sold there at Fl. 2,037, so that only a profit of Fl. 775.3.10 was made, which did not include any merchandise, but only articles for consumption and use.[49]
The Company's chaloups [50] and other vessels kept here for the service of the Company are the following:--
The chaloup "Kennemerland." Do. "'t Wapen van Friesland." Do. "Jaffnapatam." The small chaloup "Manaar." Do. "Hammenhiel." Do. "Het Vissertje." The ponton "De Hoop." Do. "De Last Drager." Do. "De Os."
Further, 14 tonys [51] and manschouwers, [52] viz.:--
4 tonys for service in the Fort. 1 tony in Isle de Vacoa. 1 do. in the islands "De Twee Gebroeders." 1 do. at Point Pedro. 1 do. at Kayts for the Waterfort.
Three manschouwers for the three largest chaloups, one manschouwer for the ponton "De Hoop," one manschouwer for the ferry at Colombogamme, one manschouwer for the ferry between the island Leiden and the fort Kayts or Hammenhiel.
The chaloups "Kennemerland" and "Friesland" are used mostly for the passage between Coromandel and Jaffnapatam, and to and fro between Jaffnapatam and Manaar, because they sink too deep to pass the river of Manaar to be used on the west coast of Ceylon between Colombo and Manaar. They are therefore employed during the northern monsoon to fetch from Manaar such articles as have been brought there from Colombo for this Commandement, and also to transport such things as are to be sent from here to Colombo and Manaar, &c. They also serve during the southern monsoon to bring here from Negapatam nely, cotton goods, coast iron, &c., and they take back palmyra wood, laths, jagerbollen, [53] coral stone, also palmyra wood for Trincomalee, and corsingos, oil, cayro, [54] &c. The sloop "Jaffnapatam" has been built more for convenience, and conveys usually important advices and money, as also the Company's servants. As this vessel can be made to navigate the Manaar river, it is also used as a cruiser at the pearl banks, during the pearl fishery. It is employed between Colombo, Manaar, Jaffnapatam, Negapatam, and Trincomalee, wherever required. The small sloops "Manaar" and "De Visser," which are so small that they might sooner be called boats than sloops, are on account of their small size usually employed between Manaar and Jaffnapatam, and also for inland navigation between the Passes and Kayts for the transport of soldiers, money, dye-roots from The Islands, timber from the borders of the Wanni, horses from The Islands; while they are also useful for the conveyance of urgent advices and may be used also during the pearl fishery. The sloop "Hammenhiel," being still smaller than the two former, is only used for convenience of the garrison at Kayts, the fort being surrounded by water. This and a tony are used to bring the people across, and also to fetch drinking water and fuel from the "Barren Island." The three pontons are very useful here, as they have daily to bring fuel and lime for this Castle, and they are also used for the unloading of the sloops at Kayts, where they bring charcoal and caddegans, [55] and fetch lunt from the Passes, and palmyra wood from the inner harbours for this place as well as for Manaar and Colombo. They also bring coral stone from Kayts, and have to transport the nely and other provisions to the redoubts on the borders of the Wanni, so that they need never be unemployed if there is only a sufficient number of carreas or fishermen for the crew. At present there are 72 carreas who have to perform oely service on board of these vessels or on the four tonies mentioned above. (50)
In order that these vessels may be preserved for many years, it is necessary that they be keelhauled at least twice a year, and rubbed with lime and margosa oil to prevent worms from attacking them, which may be easily done by taking them all in turn. It must also be remembered to apply to His Excellency the Governor and the Council for a sufficient quantity of pitch, tar, sail cloth, paint, and linseed oil, because I have no doubt that it will be an advantage to the Company if the said vessels are kept constantly in repair. As stated under the heading of the felling of timber, no suitable wood is found in the Wanni for the parts of the vessels that remain under water, and therefore no less than 150 or 200 kiate or angely boards of 2 1/2, 2, and 1 1/2 inches thickness are required yearly here for this purpose. His Excellency the Governor and the Council of Colombo have promised to send this yearly, in answer to the request from Jaffnapatam of February 17, 1692, and since this timber has to be obtained from Mallabaar I will see whether I cannot send it directly by a private vessel in case it cannot be obtained from Colombo. Application must be made for Dutch sailors from Colombo to man the said sloops, which are at present partly manned by natives for want of Europeans. According to the latest regulation, 95 sailors are allowed for this Commandement, while at present we have not even half that number, as only 46 are employed, which causes much inconvenience in the service.