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



225 



Cotta, where was stationed as captain Francisco Gomez 

 Leytao 1 ; Joao Correa de Britto 2 in the Pass of the Mainotos*. 

 With the captain remained some fidalgos and knights to go 

 with him and the king to help wherever most needed : these 

 were one Dom Francisco de Noronha, of whom they could tell 

 me nothing more ; Rodrigo Furtado, brother of the governor 

 Andre Furtado 4 : a certain de Atayde Lerma ; Francisco de 

 Macedo, who still lives today 5 in Cochim, a friar of the third 

 order of St. Francis, a highly respected man, who in this siege 

 performed great d.eeds of valour ; and Gaspar 6 Goncalvez, 

 master captain of the inhumes 7 , very well known ; and others 

 regarding whom I have no information. 



Raju continued carrying on the siege with all his strength, 

 and preventing any provisions from reaching our people, who 

 were already in great want. Raju's field-marshal, who in 

 their language was called Bicarnasinga 8 , on several occasions 

 when Dom Diogo de Atayde sent provisions to Cotta always 

 attacked his soldiers, who defeated him, at which he was so 

 annoyed, that he sent to challenge Dom Diogo to meet him at 

 the ambolam 9 , which is half-way on the road from Columbo 



1 In X. vn. xiv. (p. 276) we shall meet with this man again, in connec- 

 tion with Raja Sinha's final siege of Columbo in 1587-8. (See also p. 256.) 



2 Afterwards captain of Columbo, 1583-90 (see infra, p. 261). 



3 Washermen (see Hob. -J oh. s.v., and infra, p. 331). The manuscript 

 has, incorrectly, moinatas. 



4 Andre Furtado de Mendoga (see infra, p. 393), who governed India 

 for only three months and eight days, May-September 1609. 



5 That is, in 1615, when Couto wrote this summary of his Eighth 

 Decade. In XII. i. xiv. (p. 427) he mentions this man as taking part in 

 the war in Ceylon in 1597-8. When he exchanged the soldier's casque 

 for the friar's cowl I do not know. He it was, Couto tells us further 

 on (p. 236), that furnished him with an account of this siege. 



6 Further on (p. 237 ) he is called Estevao. I cannot say which name 

 is right. 



7 I cannot explain this. The only meaning that the dictionaries 

 give for inhame is "yam" (which is derived from the Portuguese 

 word) : but that is clearly out of place here. I suspect some error. 

 Perhaps it is an attempt to represent Sinh. yamdnnu, which Clough's 

 Dictionary explains as ' 6 iron manufacturers in the days of Kandyan 

 kings ; " or inama; " a general name for any low caste," may be meant , 



8 In the manuscript ' ' Bicar Narsinga. " This is Vikramasinha mudali . 

 so often mentioned in the Rajavaliya 82 ff . We shall meet with him 

 again in X. vn. xiii. (p. 273). The Portuguese seem to have mistaken 

 the name for a title, for Bocarro (cap. cxiv.) speaks of Antonio Barreto's 

 having become " bicanasinga, which is captain-general of the king of 

 Candia." 



9 See supra, p. 217, note 1 . 



q 36-08 



