The churches and the buildings attached to the churches are in many places greatly decayed. I found to my regret that some churches look more like stables than buildings where the Word of God is to be propagated among the Mallabaars. It is evident that for some years very little has been done in regard to this matter, and as this is a work particularly within the province of the Dessave, I have no doubt that he will take the necessary measures to remedy the evil; so that the natives may not be led to think that even their rulers do not have much esteem for the True Religion. It would be well for the Dessave to go on circuit and himself inspect all the churches. Until he can do so he may be guided by the reports with regard to these buildings made by Lieutenant Claas Isaacsz on March 19 and April 4, 1696. He must also be aware that the schoolmasters and merinhos have neglected the gardens attached to the houses, which contain many fruit trees and formerly yielded very good fruit, especially grapes, which served for the refreshment of the clergymen and Scholarchen on their visits.(39) The Civil Court or Land Raad has been instituted on account of the large population, and because of the difficulty of settling their disagreements, which cannot always be done by the Commandeur or the Court of Justice, nor by the Dessave, because his jurisdiction is limited to the amount of 100 Pordaus. [45] The sessions held every Wednesday must not be omitted again, as happened during my absence in Colombo on account of the indisposition of the President. This Court consists at present of the following persons:-- Abraham Michielsz Biermans, Administrateur. President. Jan Fransz, Vryburger, Vice-President. Arnoud Mom, Ensign. Jan Lodewyk Stumphuis, Paymaster. Lucas de Lange, Vryburger. Jan de Wit, Bookkeeper. Louis Verwyk, Vryburger. J. L. Stumphuis, mentioned above, Secretary. The native members are Don Louis Poeder and Don Denis Nitsingeraye.