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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XL 



year on a coasting expedition ; but falling ill of a dangerous 

 fever, he returned home and suffered from ill-health for 

 three years, during which time two sons were born to him. 

 In 1612 he went to Morocco to serve as a frontero, which he 

 did with distinction, and returned home after two and a half 

 years' service. But the warrior spirit burned too strongly 

 within him to allow him to rest ; and he resolved to go to 

 India, that " sepulchre of the De Sa's," as it was called by the 

 nobles of his race. This fatal resolve he took in spite of the 

 opposition of his relatives, and especially of his wife, and 

 the fact of his having a family of four young children and 

 the expectation of a fifth. " Leaving the Court at last in 

 March, 1614, he embarked for India on board the ship 

 Almiranta, in which were other noblemen, and whose 

 Captain was Paulo Rangel de Castel-Branco : but leaving 

 Lisbon late in the season (a common mistake of the Govern- 

 ment, and an old and almost irremediable error of its officials, 

 whose mistakes and carelessness caused so many grave losses) 

 they could not arrive at Goa that year, for when they 

 reached the latitude of Sacotora they had to put back to 

 Mombaca as a last resource." At length, after a voyage 

 fraught with many dangers, Constantino de Sa arrived at Goa 

 in the year 1615, Dom Jeronimo de Azevedo being then 

 Viceroy of India. Here he conducted himself like a true 

 gentleman, keeping himself apart from all the corruption 

 that was then rampant, and seeking in every way to put it 

 down. This course naturally brought upon him the enmity 

 of the evil-doers ; one of whom (supposed to be a kinsman 

 of his own) made a cowardly attempt on his life, inflicting a 

 wound on his hand, — the only wound, says our author, he 

 ever received until his death. In the summer of 1616 he 

 embarked on an expedition with his kinsman Dom Bernardo 

 de Norona, who was Captain-General of the Malabar coast ; 

 and his conduct being favourably reported to the Viceroy, 

 he was subsequently intrusted with the command of various 

 expeditions, and in the following year he was appointed 

 Captain-General of Cape Comorin. In this post he acted 

 with such ability that the Viceroy employed him in several 

 dangerous expeditions, which he conducted with courage 

 and success. In 1618 Dom Francisco Coutinho, Conde de 

 Redondo, succeeded to the Viceroyalty, and the first 

 thing he did was to look into the affairs of Ceylon, 

 which at that time were in a wretched condition ; and the 

 king, on receiving his report, ordered the Count to set them 

 to rights with the assistance of some worthy and renowned 

 subject, the choice of whom he left to him. The Viceroy 

 and his Council unanimously chose Constantino de Sa, and 

 he left for Ceylon, arriving at Colombo in September, 1619. 



