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



[Vol. XX. 



days, until they reached a river 1 that divides the territories 

 of Jafanapatao from the kingdom of Trinquinimalle 2 , which 

 would be an eight leagues' march from the fortress 3 . There 

 they got tidings that the king had crossed to the other side, 

 which they likewise immediately did 4 , and on the other side 

 they found some forty headless men, who seemed to be 

 Chingallas 5 killed that day, by which it appears that the king 

 was near, and it was not known what that could be ; but as he 

 was cruel and wicked, it was presumed that he had entertained 

 some suspicion of them, and for this cause had ordered that 

 carnage to be wrought amongst them. And on the other side 

 of the river they came upon a broad road, along which they • 

 marched until they met with narrow ones, which they found 

 obstructed with large trees that the enemy kept on cutting 

 down in one place and another in order to hinder our people, 

 and through these they passed with great. trouble. And as 

 soon as it was night, they pitched their camp in the spot that 

 seemed to them best, where they passed the night with great 

 vigilance . In this manner they marched for five days , meeting 

 on that road with many villages, where they bought cows, 

 milk, fowls, and other things. 



At the end of these days at the hour of dinner they came in 

 sight of the king's arrayal, which was at the top of some fields, 

 with a large and dense jungle behind it ; and so suddenly did 

 they come upon him, that he had only time to get upon an 

 elephant and set off with all his people after him 6 , leaving in 



1 This is the salt lake dividing the Jaffna peninsula from the main- 

 land. In the map of Petrus Plancius it is shown as a river running west 

 and north-west, and is described as "Rio de Don Constantino o des 

 Barataron," Ci river of Dom Constantino [where] they routed him " (sic ! 

 — of course the king of Jaffna is meant). 



2 Gf. supra, p. 37; C. A. S. Jl. xi. 529; G. Lit. Reg. iii. 327, iv. 7. 

 The map of Petrus Plancius does not make the " Reino de Triquilemale " 

 reach to the "river" aforesaid. 



3 The distance from Jaffna town to Elephant Pass by the present 

 road is about 33 miles, so that Couto's estimate is about right. 



4 These were probably the first Europeans to set foot in the Vanni. 



6 At this period there was probably a larger Sinhalese population in 

 the Vanni than is the case at present (c/. Lewis's Manual of the Vanni 

 Districts, chap. vii.). 



6 In the map of Petrus Plancius a bare-legged king with a spear in 

 his hand is shown riding on a bare-backed elephant. If this is meant 

 for the king of Jaffna, the cartographer is far out, having located him 

 south-west of Jaffna; moreover, he seems to be making for Mamiar. 

 Just north of him is shown a road reaching almost across Ceylon, which 

 is described as " Camino id est via regia." 



