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,1 which is 7½ 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 7½ 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.