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



301 



strait 1 that surrounds the island, and began to have it filled in 

 with a view to entering it, and in both parts of the strait 1 Raju 

 ordered to be made two tranqueiras for the purpose of pre- 

 venting the sallies that our people made by the gates of the 

 bastions of Sao Sebastiao and Sancto Antonio : and this 

 work also our people attacked, and killed many of their 

 men. And although we have said that the captain abandoned 

 the island, yet it was not so entirely that he did not leave 

 there some lascarins to guard it, who as soon as the enemy 

 crossed the strait 1 withdrew to the fortress, and the captain 

 commanded those two gateways 2 to be closed up with stone 

 and lime, that he might not have to look after them, and 

 in order not to occupy in guarding them men that he had 

 not got, and left only the gates of Sao Sebastiao 3 and Sao 

 Joao and that of Mapano And as the enemy had not made 

 a display of all his power, he wished to do so one day, which 

 was the 19th of July, and came out on the plain of Mapauo 

 with all the elephants in line in front, and the troops in this 

 order : in the van his atapato, that is, captain of the guards 4 , 

 with six thousand picked men, three thousand matchlock 

 men, one thousand targe-bearers, and two thousand lancers 5 , 

 who are his bodyguard, like the Janissaries of the Turk, and 

 at one part of the plain Canahara 6 , captain-general, with 

 five thousand men, and Raju in person with the remainder 

 of the army extended over the Quarry, in such sort that as far 

 as the eyes reached, in all parts, plains and hills were covered 

 with men of arms, which glittered, elephants and many other 

 things that threatened death to anyone that did not fear 



1 In the manuscript estreito {cf. supra, p. 299, note 3 ). The printed 

 edition reads esteiro, which means an inlet, sea, or river branch or 

 arm {cf. supra, p. 292, note 8 ). 



2 The printed edition has " parts." 



3 There must be some error here, since we have just been told that 

 this gate was closed up. 



4 See supra, p. 220, note K 



5 The manuscript has calseiros, a word having no meaning that I can 

 find. 



6 I think there can be no doubt that this word (in the manuscript 

 spelt " Chanaara ") represents the name of Senarat Mudali (see Rdjdv. 

 91), though how it came to assume this extraordinary form is not 

 obvious. Probably the initial letter should be Q, this having been 

 substituted for an S ; and the final t has somehow dropped out. (King 

 Senarat, who succeeded Dom Joao alias Vimala Dharma Surya, is 

 called by the Portuguese writers " Enarat," which represents the alter- 

 native form " Henarat.") After " Canahara " the printed edition has 

 t he words " que he " (which is) ; but these are not in the manuscript. 



