50 



JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). 



[Vol. XX. 



of arms than his own forbearance, although he considered it 

 to be more profitable for the government of the country. 

 Finally, being goaded by both enemies and friends, during a 

 siesta, the time when the heathenry of the country after eating 

 lie down to sleep, and are the less suspicious on this account, 

 with about one hundred and fifty picked men he attacked the 

 town of Columbo 1 , which was close to our fortress 2 . And 

 as this sally was of a sudden, the enemy were so stricken with 

 fear, that without thinking of wife or children they all took to 

 flight at the first onset. As his intention was to intimidate, 

 and not to kill, in order that they might become afraid of again 

 attempting what they had done, Lopo de Brito ordered them 

 to bind the women and children to the doorways of the houses, 

 so that they might see that they had them in their power 

 and did not wish to do them harm. However, when he was 

 leaving, he ordered to set fire to a broad and straight street, 

 which was the principal one of the city 3 , and of greatest resort 

 by the people, fearing that, on the retirement of our men, as 

 the street led direct to our fortress, the enemy would come 

 and fall upon his rear, whereby he might receive some harm ; 

 and so it happened. For when the first impulse of fear had 

 passed, which had caused them to place themselves in safety, 

 seeing that wife and children remained to them, they returned 

 from love of them, like men devoted to death. And although 

 the fire was a great protection to our men, being now great, 

 and intervening between them and the others, nevertheless that 

 fury cost the lives of many of them and of our men : for before 

 they got free of that onrush of theirs more than thirty had been 

 wounded, some of whom afterwards died. And truly, if they 

 had not occupied themselves in extinguishing the fire, 

 and had not found the women and children bound to the 

 doorways, by which they understood that that sally of 

 Lopo de Brito' s was more of a menace than a desire to 

 injure them, since many hastened to their help, and they came 

 on madly, it would not have taken much for them to enter 

 the fortress together with our men. 



1 In II. in. i. (p. 27) supra, Barros speaks of the " lugar of Columbo," the 

 first word meaning literally " place," but used in reference to a town or 

 village, irrespective of size. Here he employs the word povoagam (lit. 

 " population "), meaning the native town (the " black town ") as distin- 

 guished from the Portuguese fortress. 



2 The ancient town of Kolamba, Kolompura, or Kolontota (the 

 " city of Kalanbu " of Ibn Batuta), may possibly have extended from 

 the site of the present Pettah to the Kelani river. 



3 Barros now uses the word cidade, to signify that Columbo was of 

 considerable size. 



