151 



moon of the month of Nikinni in the year of Saha 1574,* the 

 intelligence whereof being conveyed to the victorious Lord o! 

 Lanka, in whom dwells the gift of prescience, His Majesty with 

 great joy despatched Atupella Dissamahatmeya and other chiefs 

 with presents for the Ambassadors, and provisions for the Army ; 

 and, directing the vessels to be kept in the Trincomalee harbour 

 invited the Commander of the French, Captains La Haye, Bahau- 

 ten, Dupleix Roche, and Freuelmans, accompanied by their Aides- 

 de-Camp De Lun, Blume, Gascoign, and Alexandre, and the two 

 Frenchmen who had been sent to France on the embassy, to the 

 Court of Kandy .f Hereupon, accompanied by the said Dissa- 

 mahatmeya and Chiefs, and carrying many valuable presents, they 

 proceeded, and arrived at the Rest-house of Sanguruwankete 

 town in Namen Deniya. From this place the Ambassadors, with 

 their presents, were conducted in state to the palace of the vic- 

 torious king, and introduced into the august presence of His Ma- 

 jesty, who received them kindly, and after a friendly interview,}; 



* A. D. 1652. 



f Of these eight Frenchmen, we lose all trace of five, Bahauten, Du- 

 pleix Roche, de Lun, Blume and Alexandre, nor am I sure that their names 

 are correctly given in the Singhalese. Commodore La Haye, we know on the 

 authority of Valentyn, sailed back with the fleet to France. M. Nanclars de 

 Lanerolle, as detailed in the body of this paper, remained at Kandy. Gascoign 

 too, no doubt, remained and died at Kandy, as one of his descendants, probably 

 a son, rose to the rank of Adigar in the following reign. 



This Gascon Adigar, as he was called, added that of Poet to his many other 

 accomplishments, and seems also to have inherited more than an ordinary shara 

 of the spirit of French gallantry with his father's blood — a possession which after- 

 wards cost him bis life. He had been carrying on a secret correspondence with the 

 Queen, but in an unguarded moment, while watching the painting of an image of 

 the Queen, he snatched the brush from the artist's hand and spotted a mole on a 

 part of her body, which none but the royal eyes could have seen. The King, 

 who was passing by, charged the Adigar with his faithlessness, and the self- 

 convicted Minister was cast into prison and subsequently beheaded. The verses 

 which he addressed to the Queen, from his cell, are accounted among the best ex- 

 amples of Sinhalese amatory poetry. 



J Valentyn's account of this reception, as cited by Sir Emerson Tennent, 

 is somewhat different. " On this occasion the French Admiral de la Haye sent 

 M. Nanclars de Lanerolle as ambassador to Kandy. But this gentlemaa, 

 having violated the imperial etiquette by approaching the palace on horseback, 

 and manifested disrespectful impatience on being kept too long, waiting for an 

 audience, RajaSingha ordered him and his suite to be flogged ; a sentence which 

 was executed on all but the envoy, whom he detained in captivity for a number 

 of years." 



