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



269 



the gusts of wind kept breaking her cables in various places, 

 which the mechanics as often repaired as best they could, 

 without resting day or night, and thereupon the galleon began 

 to drift, dragging her cables, in such fashion that they found 

 themselves one day fifteen leagues further up, where they 

 anchored towards Manar, and so close to the land, that they 

 were waiting for the moment when they would have to run 

 her aground there. The captain Gaspar Barbosa seeing himself 

 in this peril commanded to take great care of the boat in order 

 to save themselves in it, because all along the coast he saw the 

 enemies anchoring , hoping every moment to get that prize into 

 their hands. The captain of Ceilao was soon notified of the 

 trouble in which the galleon was, and dispatched in great haste 

 a light tone with letters to Ambrosio Leitao 1 , who was in 

 Manar in command of an armada of three ships, both to assist the 

 pearl fishery and to receive and guard the ships that were to 

 come from the opposite coast with provisions for the fortress 

 of Columbo , ordering him to leave everything and at once go 

 to the help of that galleon. This tone reached Manar very 

 quickly, and at that message Ambrosio Leitao weighed anchor 

 and went to succour the galleon, which with the storm had got 

 so close inshore, that it was necessary to cut her masts to see 

 if thereby she could any longer ride on her cable, because the 

 yards and the shrouds caught the wind much : but neither did 

 this avail, because the galleon still kept drifting towards land, 

 all the cables being now chafed and frayed. The captain 

 Gaspar Barbosa seeing that he was lost and without retrieve, 

 and that he could not avoid running aground, put into the boat 

 the money that he was carrying, and fitted it with many oars 

 and necessary things, and by the advice of all ordered many 

 holes to be bored in the galleon so that she might fill with 

 water and founder, in order that she might not go ashore and 

 the enemy get that artillery into their hands and have the 

 benefit of the timber and nails : the which was done in great 

 haste when they were already close in shore, and he with the 

 Portuguese got into the boat, and waited until the ship settled 

 down. At this time there reached them one of the ships of 

 Ambrosio Leitao's company, the captain of which was one 

 Diogo Gonsalves 2 , which being very light had got in advance, 

 and coming to the boat took in the captain with several 



1 See supra, p. 265. 



2 Perhaps the same mentioned in X. ix. iv. and X. x. vii. infra. The 

 manuscript here, instead of "Gonsalves," has ''Frz" == Fernandez. 

 Below, the printed edition calls him twice " Domingos Gonsalves " ; 

 while the manuscript in the first case has " Diogo Lopes," and in the 

 second " Diogo Gonsalves." 



