Colomboture and Catsay are two Passes on the inner boundary of this Commandement at the river leading to Ponneryn and the Wanny, and in order to prevent any one passing without a passport a guard is stationed there. The duties on goods are also collected there, being leased out, but they do not amount to much. These Passes, however, must be properly guarded, and care taken that the people stationed there submit their reports regularly. One of these may be found in a letter from here to Colombo of December 12 last.
Ponneryn, a good redoubt, serves as a place from where to watch the doings of the Wannias and to protect the inhabitants from invasions. It is garrisoned by Toepasses under the command of a Dutch Sergeant.
The Passes Pyl, Elephant, and Beschutter serve chiefly to close this Province against the Wannias and to protect the inhabitants from invasions of the Sinhalese, and also to prevent persons passing in or out without a passport, or goods being taken in or out without a license, as also to prevent the theft of slaves and the incursions of elephants and other wild animals into the Provinces. A difficulty is that the earth mounds are not close together, so that notwithstanding the continual patrol of the militia, now and again a person passes through unnoticed. Means of drawing these redoubts together, or at least of making a trench to prevent persons or goods from passing without a license, have often been considered. Some have proposed a hedge of palmyra trees, others a fence of thorns, others a moat, others again a wall, because at this point the Commandement measures only two miles in breadth. But none of these proposals have been adopted all these years, as stated in our letter of August 24, 1695, to Batavia. Their Excellencies replied in their letter of July 3, 1696, that this is a good work, but as it is entirely to the advantage of the inhabitants it must be carried out without expense to the Company. This, in my humble opinion, is quite fair, and the Dessave, whom this matter principally concerns, will have to consider in what way such a trench as proposed could be made. The yearly Compendium will give much information on this subject, and will show what defects and obstacles have been met with. It has been stated already how the Passes are garrisoned, and they are commanded by an Ensign according to the regulations.