Note 53 — Memoir (continued 2)

The fortifications of the Castle have now for a few years been complete, except the moat, which is being dug and has advanced to the peculiar stratum of rocks which is found only in this country. All matters relating to this subject are to be found in the Compendiums for 1693, 1694, and 1695. Supposing that the moat could be dug to the proper depth without danger to the fort, it could not be done in less than a few years, and it cannot very well be accomplished with the services of the ordinary oeliaars, so that other means will have to be considered. If, on the other hand, the moat cannot be deepened without danger to the foundations of the fort, as stated in the Compendium for 1694, it is apparent that the project ought to be abandoned. In that case the fort must be secured in some other way. The most natural means which suggests itself is to raise the wall on all sides except on the river side by 6 or 8 feet, but this is not quite possible, because the foundation under the curtains of the fortification, the faces of the bastion, and the flanks have been built too narrow, so that only a parapet of about 11 feet is left, which is already too small, while if the parapet were extended inward there would not be sufficient space for the canons and the military. The best plan would therefore be to cut away the hills that are found between the Castle and the town. The earth might be thrown into the tank found eastward of the Castle, while part of it might be utilized to fill up another tank in the town behind the orphanage. This was the plan of His Excellency van Mydregt, although it was never put down in writing. Meantime care must be taken that the slaves and other native servants of persons residing in the Castle do not through laziness throw the dirt which they are supposed to carry away from the fort on the opposite bank of the moat, and thus raise a space which the Company would much rather lower, and gradually and imperceptibly prepare a suitable place for the battery of an enemy. I have had notices put up against this practice, under date July 18, 1695, and these must be maintained and the offenders prosecuted. Considering the situation of the Castle and the present appearance of the moat, I think that the latter is already sufficiently deep if always four or five feet water be kept in it. In order to do this two banks would have to be built, as the moat has communication in two places with the river, while the river also touches the fort at two points. This being done I think the moat could be kept full of water by two or three water mills driven by wind and pumps, especially during the south-west monsoon or the dry season, when an attack would be most likely to occur, and there is always plenty of wind to keep these mills going both by night and day. A sluice would be required in the middle of these banks so that the water may be let out whenever it became offensive by the river running dry, to be filled again when the water rose. It would have to be first ascertained whether the banks could really be built in such a way that they would entirely stop the water in the moat, because they would have to be built on one side against the foundations of the fort, which I have been told consist of large irregular rocks. An experiment could be made with a small mill of the kind used in Holland in the ditches along bleaching fields. They are quite inexpensive and easily erected and not difficult to repair, as they turn on a dovetail. The late Commandeur Anthony Paviljoen also appears to have thought of this plan even before this Castle was built, when the Portuguese fort was occupied by the Company, as may be seen from his instructions of December 19, 1665.53 This would, in my opinion, be the course to follow during the south-west monsoon, while during the north-east monsoon there is usually so much rain that neither the salt river nor the water mills would be required, while moreover during that time there is little danger of an attack. These three plans being adopted, the banks of the moat could be protected by a wall of coral stone to prevent the earth being washed away by the water, as the present rocky bed of the moat is sufficiently strong to serve as a foundation for it. The moat has already been dug to its proper breadth, which is 10 roods.