17 



K pepper is smuggled away, as well as arecanuts, although it would be thought that 

 " a multitude of more than 100,000 persons who consume these nuts for the space of 

 "two or three months should give some profit, yet the Company draws nothing from 

 " it. If therefore all these matters be weighed, one against the other, it must be 

 " decided, as I, for my part, maintain, that unless the fishery be indeed a full and 

 " opulent one, all others must be prejudicial to the Company's interests ; and it were 

 " really desirable that no such fisheries should take place, but that there should be 

 " an annual rent for the diving of the banks, as now takes place with regard to the 

 " chanks, with a limited number of persons and of boats ; or in some other convenient 

 " wav that a mode should be devised to acquire for the Company the profit which 

 " they should derive from the fisheries, both here and on the opposite coast, as Lords 

 " of the country, without the holding of any public fishery. The bad condition of 

 " the pearl-banks on both sides the coast has lasted for some years, and there is now 

 " no prospect of an early fishery ; yet this cannot be attributed to any disorder in the 

 <{ country any more than the want of purchasers for our Madura cloths. This is mere 

 " chance and experience has shown that the banks have lain fallow for a much longer 

 "time than has as yet been the case on this occasion, and it is useless therefore to 

 " seek for the causes of things which are neither uncommon nor unheard of. I only 

 " mention this cursorily, and to prove that the interest of the Company requires that 

 "an examination of the banks sbould take place every two years, if not every year, 

 " which indeed is not absolutely necessary, and the expense may therefore be spared ; 

 " yet from time to time or say every two years, an investigation should take place. 



" As far as the inspection of the Aripo banks is concerned, Tutucoryn boats should 

 ' : be employed, as their Honors recommended in a recent despatch, a Dissave from 

 " Jaffnapatam should also be present to see that no neglect takes place, and to summon 

 ' : the boats from the opposite coast, and to take all necessary precautions when appear- 

 " ances prove favourable, in order to ensure a good result ; for the Company has been 

 l - shamefully treated in this respect since the fishery of 1732. Indeed there are many 

 " natives who pretend to give reasons for the failure of the banks, and who say that 

 M the multitude of persons forced there against their will have ruined the banks, whilst 

 " others looked to their own profit too much, and also that the divers have not spared 

 " the young oysters, and that this accounts for the nakedness of the banks which have 

 " not yet recovered from their last pillaging. All this is as probable as the pretexts of 

 " the country being under a spell, but to end this matter we will pray God that the 

 " Island may never again suffer losses such as it now sustains from one cause or the 

 " other." 



Pour years after the date of this memoir, namely in 1744, Baron Van ImhofE 

 became Governor-General of the Netherlands Indies and immediately called attention 

 to his Ceylon memoir. He desired to be informed whether it would not be advisable 

 to discontinue the open fisheries and preferable to rent them out to a single individual. 

 Van Gollenesse, the new Governor of Ceylon, in a closely-reasoned reply, * meets and 

 refutes the objections likely to be raised to this change and strongly advocates an 

 alteration in the method of conducting the fisheries, which was thereupon sanctioned. 



Accordingly the fishery which took place in 1746 was conducted on this new 

 footing : all free boats and stones were abolished, for, as the Governor states, these 

 privileges were merely conceded to the Nayak and the Setupati because the greater 

 number of the dhonies and people required at a public fishery came out of their 

 territory, and these would not be necessary if the diving took place with a limited 

 number of persons. All privileges were therefore withdrawn and the following 

 instructions were given to the Commissioners of the Pearl Fishery by Governor Van 

 Gollenesse : — 



" If it should happen (which is however improbable) that the Nabob or Theuver 

 " should send their Ambassadors to be present at this Pishery, and to take care of 

 " their pretended rights, they are not to be allowed to land, but some armed boats well 

 " filled with men and ammunition must be sent to meet them, and they must first be 

 " warned in a friendly way to depart, and if this be ineffectual, the matter must be 

 " treated more seriously, and you must order the Commanders of our boats that they 



* See Appendix D, pages 90-92. 



