No. 60. — 1908.] couto : history of ceylon. 



199 



that the viceroy Do in Constantino gave them an ill dispatch : 

 for that same day they left him, and on the road were murdered 

 with all their servants. 



Of all this the viceroy was quite unaware, when on the morning 

 of the following day he learnt the truth and certainty of the 

 calamity that had occurred ; and fearing other treacheries, 

 he dispatched the captains of the companies to go along the 

 river, by a road deviating from the ordinary one, and he 

 embarked in some manchuas 1 , which he had there always for 

 service, so that communication with the armada might be 

 quicker for him, because at that part the land went curving 

 inland, and formed a bay, whereby the sea was for him a less 

 distance than by land. 



And after reaching the city, when he learnt of what had 

 happened, and how the fortress was besieged and in great 

 straits, he immediately dispatched Pom Antonio de Noronha 

 Catarras with four hundred men divided into companies, the 

 captains of which were Joao Fernandez Correa, captain of 

 Negapatao, and Andre de Villalobos, to go and succour the 

 fortress, giving them orders to withdraw all that was in it 

 and abandon it, because it was resolved in council that since 

 the inhabitants of Sao Thome did not wish to come and 

 occupy that city, they should not saddle themselves with a 

 thing that might afterwards give trouble to the state. 



And to withdraw all that was in the fortress Dom Antonio 

 de Noronha took all the sailors, servants, and slaves of the 

 armada (because there were in the fortress more than two 

 hundred sick, who could not retire on foot). And whilst Dom 

 Antonio is on the march, we shall give an account of the 

 events that took place in the fortress during this time. 



It having been besieged by all the insurgents, they deter- 

 mined to take it by storm, because they well knew that the 

 viceroy was sure to send help to it ; and before they did so. 

 they wished to make certain of this business, wherefore they 

 prepared very long ladders of areca trees ; and whilst they 

 were making them, some of them by night came to speech with 

 our people, and told them that the viceroy was dead and all 

 that were with him, that therefore they must not expect help, 

 and that if they surrendered they would spare their lives, but 

 if not they must know that they would all be impaled. They 

 answered them from above that they lied like dogs and curs as 

 they were, that they had already received news of the viceroy 

 (which was not the case, nor did they know how things went 

 there), and that they were the ones who would have to pay for 

 that impudence very soon. And because these who spoke 



Large cargo boats (see Hob.- Job. s.v.). 



