384 



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



on account of things having succeeded so badly, and that in that 

 year of 1518 another captain-major and governor might arrive, 

 he wished before his departure to leave this work completed at 

 his hands 



1 See B 9. 



2 Of. the extract from letter of Albuquerque supra, C 15. 



3 Yule, in Hobson-Jobson s.v. "Colombo," has a faulty rendering 

 of this passage. 



4 Cf. the extracts from the summary of letter of Albuquerque 

 supra, C 7. 



5 The instructions given to Lopo Soares on his departure for 

 India in 1515 do not appear to be extant : at any rate, they have not 

 been printed. 



C 25. 



Barros III. n. iii. 



[? August 1518.] 



And that on the way he 1 was to pass by the island of 



Ceilam, and from the port of Columbo, whither our people were 

 accustomed to go to seek cinnamon, 2 he was to take pilots to 

 carry him to Bengali a ; and also that he was secretly 3 to inspect 

 and take soundings in this port of Columbo, and the lie of the land, 

 in order with his advice to come to a determination on what had 

 to be done by command of the king, which was a fortress in that 

 place, 4 the captaincy of which was to be his (Dom Joam's). 

 Who, having set out with the four ships with which he went to the 

 islands of Maldiva, reached Columbo, and having taken note of 

 the place and obtained pilots, took his way for Bengalla . . .„ ... 



1 Don Joao da Silveira, nephew to the governor Lopo Soares „ 

 who in sending him to Bengal gave him these instructions. 



2 This statement is noteworthy. 



3 Lopo Soares evidently knew that the king of Kotte was averse to 

 the erection of a fortress at Columbo. 



4 See C 24. If, however, we may judge from Dom Manuel's in- 

 structions in regard to other fortresses, the erection was to take place 

 with the consent of the king of K6tte. That consent was given only 

 under compulsion ; and this was probably one of the reasons that led 

 King Joao III. in 1524 to order its demolition. 



C 26. 

 Couto V. i. v. 

 [1517] [1518]. 



After the partition of these kingdoms had taken place, 1 



there landed at this island the governor Lopo Soares in the 

 year of Our Lord 1517, 2 and erected the fortress of Columbo, 

 the vassalage being renewed with that king of Cota, 3 with the 



