JSIO. 53. — 1902.] GALLE DUTCH RECORDS. 



453 



Thus done and resolved in the ship " Frederick Hendrick," 

 1 mile east of Sta. Cruz de Gale, datum ut supra. F. Caron, 

 Jan Thysen, Willem van der Beecq, Marten Vinck, Reyndert 

 Weybrantsz, Steven Pietersz, Pieter Vinckboous. 



Sunday, December 20, 1643. 



MS.fol 107. 



The 80 military persons, together with 200 lascorins 

 summoned yesterday, having to-day come on board, and the 

 same being distributed over the fleet, 



the chiefs of the said lascorins and the Portuguese runaway 

 Diego Mendos having in the present meeting been asked 

 what place would be fitted for landing our forces, in order 

 to come easily before Columbo or near the enemy, who is 

 lying in the fields about Galle, 



they have according to the best of their knowledge given 

 us information touching the enemy's strength, place of 

 encampment, road, and morasses ; to wit, 

 that the Portuguese now number 1,050 white men and 2,000 

 Cingalese outside Columbo, divided into several troops, and 

 that inside the said town they have at present no more than 

 300 civilians, but a great many "blacks," with a few 

 companies of soldiers, of which number 18 istancies 1 or 

 540 men are lying near the Aldee 2 Hackmine, 3 1^ mile to 

 landward from Galle, where they are surrounded by deep 

 morasses almost inaccessible to hostile forces ; 

 that north of Columbo there would be a pretty good place 

 for landing, and every chance of capturing the town on 

 condition that we could surround the 18istaucies aforesaid, 

 being the flower of the enemy's forces, and defeat the same, 

 or at least keep them outside Columbo; 



1 An istanci, evidently the same as the word distanci which has occurred 

 in previous pages, would appear to have been a company of 30 soldiers. I 

 have failed to trace the etymology of the word. 



-'Port, aldea, village. 3 Akmimana, near G-alle. 



