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



293 



of two faces lined with mats, all of which was executed 

 with great speed by means of the large material that he carried ; 

 and because during the siege in the time of Manoel de Sousa 

 they caused him much damage on the side where the lake was 

 by means of the castles 1 and foists that were put on it, he 

 determined to drain it dry ,, both in order that they might not 

 do him further harm from it, and that he might from that 

 side attempt an entrance to the fortress, the walls there being 

 weaker, and in order that his forces might be thrown against 

 it all round, because this lake encircles more than half the city, 

 which made it the stronger : and to this work he put his hand 

 first of all. 



JoaoCorrea was already so well prepared and fortified, that 

 he did not worry himself about the power that he had, and had 

 already destroyed all the gardens that were on the outside, 

 and the wood, which was much, he had brought in, whereby 

 the campaign lay more exposed to view ; and because the 

 island of Antonio deMendoca 2 , which is outside the walls, and 

 which during the siege in the time of Manoel de Sousa gave 

 much trouble in its maintenance through the number of troops 

 that were occupied therein, and from the risk that they always 

 ran to avoid the injuries that they had received there, and in 

 order jiot to have men outside the fortress, with the approval 

 of all he abandoned it, and ordered to cut down all the palm- 

 frees, which would be six hundred, and brought them in for 

 the platforms of the fortifications, and the leaves for covering 

 the watch-towers and barracks. On the inland side the city 

 had a circuit of one hundred and ninety- two fathoms 3 , with 

 many bastions and watch-towers, and there were not more 

 than three hundred Portuguese, old and young, among whom 

 were a hundred useless ones, and of native lascarins and 

 servants of the Portuguese there would be about seven 

 hundred — a very small force for the defence of so great an 

 enclosure : and with it the captain did the best he could, and 

 divided it up and provided the posts after this manner 4 : — 



In the bastion of Sao Joao, which was the most important, 

 he placed Thome de Sousa de Arronches ; and in the couraga 



1 These were doubtless similar to those made by D. Jorge Menezes 

 Baroche as described in VII. ix. vi. (p. 207) supra. 



2 See supra, p. 283. 



3 Equivalent to about 425 yards. According to Ribeiro (see C. A. S. 

 Jl. xii. 76), the circumvallation of the whole city occupied 1,300 paces 

 (about 1,100 yards). 



4 Of. supra, pp. 282-3. Here we get a complete list of the bastions 

 and watch-towers in the whole circuit of the fortress, beginning at the 

 north-east angle, proceeding southward, then along the lake westward 



