No. 38.— 1889.] THE DUTCH IN CEYLON, 1602-1757. 



31 



His Majesty, His Majesty sent his Ambassadors to negotiate 

 with His Excellency ; 



2. That the Governor of Palliacat had written to His 

 Majesty concerning one or two cargoes of pepper, and that it 

 would be advisable to send five ships to capture Batticaloa, 

 and to erect another fortress in that harbour, and also to 

 transport the cinnamon stored in that place ; 



3. That His Majesty was informed of His Excellency's 

 intention of remaining at Goa until the end of the next 

 month, April, when he would leave for Jacatra, if possible 

 touching at Colombo, in order to despatch three ships for 

 the capture of Batticaloa, which His Majesty considered 

 sufficient for that purpose ; 



4. That His Majesty is about to proceed against Colombo, 

 and if victorious, the said town will belong jointly to His 

 Majesty and the Netherlanders ; 



5. That regarding the contract for cinnamon and 

 pepper, it would be advisable for Heer Westerwold to come 

 here with all his ships, in order to conclude a convention, 

 which should be as lasting as the sun and moon ; 



6. That in case His Excellency is prevented from 

 coming himself, he should immediately send a trustworthy 

 person to negotiate with His Majesty; for the treaty formerly 

 made with the Portuguese now being broken, the assistance 

 of the Netherlanders was necessary ; 



Meanwhile an important sea fight took place outside the 

 Bay of Goa between the Netherlanders and Portuguese, where- 

 in the former appeared to great advantage, and the King's Am- 

 bassadors, who had witnessed the fight, could not evince 

 sufficient surprise at our prowess at encountering with our 

 small vessels such large Portuguese galleons, which were by 

 far our superiors both in armament and men. The combat 

 over, the Netherland fleet cast anchor amongst the islands on 

 the south of Goa for repairs, in order to again show a bold 

 front to the enemy. The "Henrietta Louisa" from Batavia, 

 and the ship " 's. Hertogenbosch " from Surat, made their 

 appearance with the Vice-Commander Willem Jacobsz. Coster 



