NO. 41.— 1890.] REBELION DE CEYLAN. 



435 



The expulsion of the Moors took place at the commence- 

 ment of 1626, and we are told that "Christianity called 

 for it, and it was executed with courage and prudence." 

 The King of Kandy, however, received those of the Moors 

 who had not been slaughtered, and placed a garrison of them 

 in Batticaloa. The description of the Kandyan kingdom 

 and its inhabitants is interesting, though doubtless borrowed 

 to a large extent from earlier writers. The author also gives 

 a historical sketch of Ceylon affairs during the Portuguese 

 occupation ; and when referring to Admiral Spilbergen's 

 arrival in the Island, he takes the opportunity of venting 

 his wrath upon the Calvinist heretics who, at the time that 

 he wrote his work, had ousted his nation from their most 

 valuable possessions in the East. 



Chapter XI. informs us " How the Captains of Ceylan were 

 employed with a view to the conquest of Candid; Constantino 

 de Sa erects two new fortresses at Manicravare and Bate- 

 calou; the Vice-Roy gives him charge of the royal treasury." 



The General, we are told, desirous of speedily bringing the 

 whole of Ceylon under the power of the Portuguese, wrote to 

 the Viceroy setting forth the many advantages possessed by 

 the Island owing to its geographical position and its natural 

 fertility, which made it more suitable than Goa to be the 

 headquarters of the Portuguese in the East. The Viceroy, in 

 reply, urged the erection of a fortress at Batticaloa ; and 

 this Constantino de Sa proceeded to carry out after build- 

 ing a new fort at Manicravare. This took place in the 

 year 1627. Our author says of Batticaloa that it was " the 

 most capacious maritime port in the Island, into which 

 could sail an Indiaman fully loaded, contrary to the common 

 opinion of the Portuguese, who knew little about its depth." 

 The King of Kandy tried to prevent the work, first by force 

 and then by the offer of a large bribe : but all in vain. He 

 then, says our author, employed spies to spread false accusa- 

 tions against the Governor of misappropriation of funds. 

 The chapter ends with an account of the arrival in the Island 

 and death soon after of Felipe de Oliveira, " a man of great 

 parts, whose religion and valour had caused him to destroy 

 more than 500 pagodes ; as much a conqueror of peoples as 

 of souls, so that the natives called him God of the sword, 

 Bulwark of iron." 



Chapter XII. tells us of the " Movements which preceded 

 the war with Candia ; its commencement and obstinacy ; and 

 some of the events in its progress." The Kandyan monarch, 

 seeing himself now shut in on every side, resolved to strike 

 a blow for freedom, and made an incursion into the territories 

 occupied by the Portuguese. Thus begun the war which was 

 waged fiercely during the next three years, ending in the 



