60 



MODERN HISTORY. 



[Part VI. 



1 



A.D. ascertained result, compared Ceylon to one of the costly 

 l^^4- tulips of Holland, which bore a fabulous nominal price, 

 ■without any intrinsic value. ^ 



To such lengths did misgovermnent prevail, that Hol- 

 land was at last threatened with the loss of the "jewel" 

 altogether, by the treason of her own officers, and the 

 rebeUion of the Singhalese. Vuyst, the governor of 

 Ceylon, in 1626 aspked to become sovereign of the island, 

 and visited with forfeitiu"e, torture, and death every chief 

 who opposed him. For this he was broken on the wheel 

 at Bata\da, and his body bmiied and scattered on the 

 sea.^ Versluys, who was sent to supersede him, was 

 removed for extortion and cruelty ; and m the midst of 

 the discontent and anarchy wliich ensued, a change in 

 the reigning dynasty at Kandy gave encom^agement to 

 the lowlanders to attempt theii* own dehverance by 

 revolt. 



The forced tranquilhty of Eaja Singha H., after the 

 A.p. ominous insurrection of his own subjects in 1664, 

 1G72. remained unbroken till 1672, when on the outbreak of 

 war between Louis XIV. and the United Provinces, a 

 French squadron made its appearance at Trincomahe, 

 commanded by Admiral De la Haye. They were eagerly 

 Avelcomed by the emperor as unexpected alhes, hkely to 

 aid him in the expulsion of the pestilent Hollanders. 

 The French took instant possession of Trincomahe, 

 and the Dutch in then* panic abandoned the forts of 

 Cottiar and Batticaloa, but the inabihty of the former 

 to mamtain their position in Ceylon, and then- sudden 

 disappearance, sufficed to allay the apprehensions of the 

 Dutch.3 



^ Appendix to Lee's Ribeyro, p. 

 182. 



^ NaiTative of RoGGE\VErN's Voy- 

 age, Harris's Coll., vol. i. p. 288. 



3 Valenttn, cli. XV. p. 25(5. On this 

 occasion the French Admiral De la 

 Haye sent M. Nauclars de LaneroUe 

 as ambassador to Kandv. But this 



gentleman ha^sing violated the im- 

 perial etiquette b}^ approaching the 

 palace on horseback, and manifested 

 disrespectful impatience on being 

 kept too long waiting for an audience, 

 Kaja Singha ordered hi)n and his 

 sui'tc to bejloyyed ; a sentence which 

 was executed on all but the envoy, 



