58 



JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XVI^ 



Letter M. 



Extract from a letter dated May 18, written from Colombo by a Captain 

 of the Militia, who had accompanied the expedition to Candia. 

 Mr. Commandant Rein as well as Mr. Stork are at Candia, but ill. 

 Of these two, it is doubted whether the latter is still living, for he was 

 ill when I returned. There is no news from Candia to this date, 

 because all the posts from that place up to Whenawe have been 

 broken up and everything set on fire. 



APPENDIX A. 



(Mahdwansa, XCIX., 110-145.) 



Now, while this great king of great fame and great authority dwelt 

 in the great city, defending the church and the kingdom, the Hollanders, 

 who were powerful merchants, and had been appointed in the time of 

 king Rajasiha to defend the (sea-coast of the) island, continued to 

 perform the duties of messengers to the kings of Lanka. It was their 

 custom to bring presents of great value (to the king) of divers cloths 

 and other goods wrought in other countries, and many costly things 

 also that were fit for the enjoyment of kings, every year, with great 

 honour and in great procession. Now at that time, by reason, perhaps, 

 of some sin committed by the people of Lanka, or of the neglect of the 

 gods that were appointed to defend the religion and the land, they 

 (the Hollanders) became exceedingly wroth and cruel, and began to 

 vex the inhabitants of Lanka in manifold ways. And when the 

 illustrious king heard tidings thereof, he thought it an unjust thing, 

 and sent officers against them. And those officers went with the men 

 of Lanka, as they had been commanded, and carried on a fierce war 

 with the Hollanders. And they destroyed the enemy, and burned 

 their houses and forts, and, by manifold devices, struck terror into 

 their hearts. And when the enemy was thus oppressed with fear, a 

 certain stubborn, cruel, and vile man— a sinner whose days were 

 numbered — assumed the leadership, and took with him a great number 

 of followers consisting of many Malays and others, and in manifold 

 ways began to lay waste divers parts of the country, and destroyed 

 villages, viharas, devalas, bridges, resting-houses, and the like. 



And although the officers who had been ordered by the lord of 

 Lanka opposed him in divers places with men of valour skilled in war, 

 and fought against him in divers ways and slew (many of) the enemy 

 in every battle, yet were they not able to prevail against him, so that 

 he began to march against the city. Thereupon the great military 

 officers opposed the enemy in front, stopping the way in divers ways, 

 that they might hinder him in his rapid progress. And in the mean- 



* See supra, p. 77, and note. 



