No. 35. — 1887.] CAPTUEE OF tkincomaleb. 



131 



April 28. — In the forenoon there arrived here in the bay 

 the yachts " Ryswyck " and the " Nachtegael," having in their 

 cruise met and set right the yatch "Klein Amsterdam" 

 coming from Batticaloa with the Ambassador Sr. Jacob 

 Compostel, who brought with him an untranslated letter 

 from His Imperial Majesty of Ceylon : as it could not 

 be read, His Majesty's intention could not be rightly 

 gathered. The aforesaid Compostel reported that His Majesty 

 had resolved to lie close to Colombo in the low lands with 

 his principal force, that he was master of the field there, and 

 that the Portuguese had deserted the Fort Maluane and Mani- 

 cawara ; also that His Majesty had drawn to his side many in- 

 habitants of the low-lands, who, should he leave the place, 

 would easily be brought to ally themselves with the Portuguese; 

 that he could not therefore appear in person at Coutijar, but 

 would send here some great Mudaliyar with 4,000 soldiers to 

 conquer with our assistance the Forts Trincomalee and Jaffna- 

 patnam. The ships " Utrecht," " Wassenaer," and " Egmondt " 

 were cleared of their remaining provisions, ammunitions of 

 war, and men, and got in readiness to sail to Batavia. 



In the afternoon the Commander went ashore, when all the 

 soldiers (the deaths of many of whom had much reduced the 

 strength of the Company's forces,) were divided into three 

 -companies, each seventy strong. The rest of the soldiers 

 armed with guns, and some experienced sailors, formed 

 another company. These troops having been mustered on 

 land, the Commander went to the batteries and entrenchments, 

 where he was surprised that such a large work had been 

 thrown up by so small a number of men in such a short space 

 of time. There were three or four shots fired at us without 

 injury. We were busy on land in the meantime in getting 

 our defences ready by May 1. There were, accordingly, 

 landed from the " Utrecht " two more brass halve-cartouwen 

 shooting 18 lb. iron. The besieged, although they fired 

 several shots with guns, muskets, and cannon, did not do us 

 the least injury, as we were defended by the batteries and 

 ramparts and the natural situation and position of the land. 



