Moreover, during the last 38 years which the Company has been in the absolute possession of this territory, many papers have been written with regard to Jaffnapatam which are always accessible to the members of the Political Council at the Secretariate, so that I take it for granted that, in addition to your daily experience, you have obtained a sufficient knowledge of these matters from these documents; because among these are to be found descriptions of whatever is necessary to give the reader a clear idea of all that is required in the Company's service, and they having been written by wise and circumspect men, some more and others less in detail. I am, therefore, sure that everything that is necessary will be found if carefully looked for. I will not, for this reason, enter into detail in respect of the manner the Company took possession of this territory, or of the advantages that may be found here both for the inhabitants and for the Company; nor what compulsory services are demanded from the subjects in Jaffnapatam, and the number of castes into which they are divided and under which they are registered; nor will I specify here the licenses for navigation and trade which have been given to them, nor the changes which have taken place in the course of time with regard to these and many other matters not stated here. Because, if I were to relate all these matters from the very beginning, I would have to write several volumes instead of a few sheets of paper. And this I do not intend to do, as I wish to be as brief as possible. Moreover, sufficient information may be found in the documents preserved at the Secretariate, which it would be well if Your Honours would make yourselves familiar with. We must be always prepared to take upon ourselves higher and more difficult posts whenever called upon, and in so preparing ourselves we avoid confusion, and the Company would never be in want of capable servants. 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 [4] 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.