290 



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



[Vol. XX 



arms of all kinds in superabundance ; four hundred black- 

 smiths to make arrow-heads and other ironwork ; a thousand 

 carpenters ; four hundred bombardiers, Jaos 1 , Cafres, and of 

 other nationalities, the greater part of whom were Portuguese 2 ; 

 much timber large and small, of which he made two cars in the 

 manner of castles, each on nine wheels as high as a man ; 

 canes for mats 3 without number ; a great quantity of sulphur, 

 saltpetre, and gunpowder, much lead, and balls of every kind ; 

 and in certain ports of the island he ordered to be equipped 4 

 sixty-five foists and catures 5 and four hundred small boats 

 for service, and all the other things that seemed to him neces- 

 sary for the siege that he hoped to lay, from which he was deter- 

 mined not to stay his hand until he had captured the fortress. 

 And before he moved with all this force he wished to make 

 some sacrifices to his idols, and placate them, in order that 

 they might give him victory over the Portuguese : and for 

 this purpose he went to a pagode, and gave them gifts and 

 offered great offerings, and sent to consult them through 

 their priests and sorcerers, in order to know from them if he 

 was to gain the victory in that expedition 6 ; and as the thing 

 that the devil most thirsts for is human blood, he replied that 

 if they wished to enter Columbo and obtain victory over the 

 whites they must give him the blood of innocents to drink and 

 to bathe in. Upon this reply he commanded to gather five 

 hundred male and female children up to the age of ten years , and 

 ordered them to be beheaded in front of the idols, and collected 

 the blood in large cauldrons, and presented it to them, and their 

 priests sprinkled them all with that blood. This spectacle was 

 the most inhuman 7 and cruel that ever was witnessed, because 



1 Javanese or Malays. 



2 A curious statement to make without comment. A large propor- 

 tion of the Portuguese troops in Ceylon consisting of men who had been 

 sent there as a punishment for a term of years ,— generally three (see 

 Pyr. ii. 143, and Arch. Port. -Or. iii. passim), — it is no wonder that 

 many of these banished men should have deserted to the enemy and 

 become renegades (c/. infra, pp. 429, 433). The anonymous author of 

 Primor e Honra (i. vi.) draws a harrowing picture of the miseries 

 these men had to endure as a reward for renouncing their faith (see 

 supra, p. 234, note 3 ). 



3 In original esteiras (cf. supra, p. 237, note 1 ). The " canes " were 

 either rattans or bamboos ; the purpose to which the " mats " were 

 to be put is explained further on (see p. 351). 



4 The printed edition omits this word. 



5 Light rowing boats (see supra, p. 148, note 6 ). 

 G The manuscript omits the last three words. 



7 The manuscript omits this word. 



