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



which was the father of Loten's artist protegee.* What the 

 name of Captain Willem Hendrik de Bevere's son was, we are 

 not told by Loten. Mr. de Vos, however, tells me of a " David 

 Willemsz de Bevere, of Batavia, an assistant 0. L C, who 

 married (2) in Colombo, 15th January 1736, Elizabeth Andrie- 

 sen of Trincomalee,"f and who, Mr. de Vos thinks, was a son 

 of Captain de Bevere's. If this actually be the father of the 

 artist, the latter may have been a child by the first wife,{ 

 whose name Mr. de Vos does not give. 



With respect to the mysterious affair which involved the 

 hot-headed captain in further trouble, I think that the follow- 

 ing extract from the Beknopte Historic van de Voornaamste 

 Gebeurtenissen op Ceilon% may afford some light : — 



In the beginning of the year 1714 an ambassador who had gone 

 up with the usual yearly presents, and had been received very 

 friendlily at the court, was indiscreet and foolhardy enough, on 

 retiring thence, to have recourse, contrary to all imagination, to 

 unheard of grossnesses and conduct shameful to our nation, in 

 consequence of which there was the greatest uneasiness in Colom- 

 bo : nevertheless not the slightest harm came to him or to his 

 suite, at which one could not help being surprised. On this ac- 

 count, in order to prevent the consequences of such illbred and 

 improper behaviour, it was thought well at once to send an ola to 

 the court and therein to offer apologies, with a promise that the 

 ambassador's conduct should be rigorously punished, with which 

 the court then appeared to be satisfied, since in this and the 

 following year 1715 matters continued in peace. 



Taking all things into consideration, I think there can be 

 hardly any doubt that the ambassador here spoken of was 

 Captain de Bevere, || and that the " loggerheads " (strubbelin- 

 gen) spoken of by Valentyn were the consequence of his 



* Loten, as quoted by Mr. van Houten above, says that in 1755 

 " Major " de Bevere's son " seemed about 50 or 55." But, as Captain 

 de Bevere did not arrive in Ceylon until the end of 1708, his son could 

 not possibly have been more than 45 or 46 in .1755. 



f Mr. de Vos adds the names of several descendants of this couple. 



J What Loten says, however (u. s.), seems to disprove this. 



§ See also C. As. Soc. Jl. xi. 116, where, however, the translation is 

 rather free. 



|| An examination of the Dutch records in Colombo would probably 

 settle the question. 



