150 



the notes which I have appended from Sir Edward Creapy'3 <£ His 

 tory of the Ottoman Turks" further corroborate every import- 

 ant detail. 



No. r. 



An account of the French Embassy to the Court of Kandt in 



1685, AND SOME PARTICULARS OF THE De LANEROLLES OF CeYTiONj 



(Translated from the Sinhalese.) 



In conformity with the command of the illustrious King 

 Eaja Singha, ou» Supreme lord of the Universe, endowed with a 

 fair of lotus feet, and resplendent with the nine gems, incom- 

 parably great, and esteemed as a precious jewel which sheds its 

 glory on the diadem of innumerable foreign Kings, and who 

 occupied the throne of Lanka,* the following epistle is addressed 

 to the humble Amerekon Mudianse. 



For the purpose of subduing the pride of the Dutch people, 

 the Supreme King, Eaja Singha, who was gifted with an all-power- 

 ful arm, in his wrath against them, privately despatched an 

 embassy! requesting to be favoured with an army from France 

 together with a proper officer in command ; and the Great 

 Emperor of France, in glory like the rays of the sun, J having 

 agreed thereto, despatched in charge of the General de Lanerolle, 

 a fleet of forty vessels with men and arms, accompanied by a 

 variety of valuable presents to be offered to the victorious and 

 illustrious Lord of Lanka. These vessels having arrived at the 

 harbour of Trincomalee without meeting with any mishap on 

 the voyage, the soldiers were landed on Thursday after the new 



• Reigned from A, d. 1632 to a. n. 1687. 



t Sir Emerson Tennent's account of the arrival of Admiral De la Ha ye 

 at Trincomalee, leads to the supposition that he came with the object of attack- 

 ing the Dutch, rather than in answer to a special embassy from Rajasingha. 

 The Sinhalese narrative, from which I translate, is however very explicit to 

 the contrary. 



% Louis XIV, — no inapt compliment to the u Grande Monarque." 



