302 



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



[Vol. XX 



it as little as the Portuguese that beheld that, they not 

 being two hundred who had to defend themselves against 

 that infernal force, which by such threats wished to make 

 itself feared. 



And in order to give them to understand how little they 

 esteemed it, there sallied forth against them some captains 

 of companies, namely, Antonio Pereira and Antonio Guer- 

 reiro with their soldiers, and with them the other 1 Chingala 

 fidalgos of whom we have spoken above 2 , who wished to 

 demonstrate to the Portuguese their faith and love by parti- 

 cipating on occasions when they could be of service to them, 

 in order in part to repay them for the honours that they had 

 accorded them on their reception : all these fell upon Raju's 

 vanguard, and engaged them in a considerable fight, in which 

 our people cut them down right well, and the eight Chingalas 

 became so intermingled with the enemy in the desire that 

 they had to avenge themselves of Raju, that our people 

 thought that it was treachery, and that they were returning 

 to their own folk : but they, giving no heed to us, went on 

 laying many low ; and thus, supported by our men, pressed 

 the vanguard so hard, that they made them fall back upon 

 the body of the atapata, which followed after. The captain 

 Joao Correa was outside in order to come to the help of 

 his men if it were necessary ; and seeing that beginning of 

 victory, he gave the signal to retire, which they did in 

 safety ; and during this confusion a Portuguese, who had 

 been a captive there eleven years 3 , took the opportunity 

 to escape to us, whom the captain warmly welcomed, 

 because he gave him information on many very important 

 matters. 



Raju was not very well satisfied with this show that he 

 had made, as it cost him very dear, and he ordered the work 

 of fortification to be continued, and they proceeded with a 

 tranqueira through the middle of the island; and along the 

 other part, which terminates at the bastion of Sao Sebastiao, 

 he went on extending another stronger one. By this time 

 the lake was drained, and the foists were stranded alongside 

 of the bastions, the which Raju was desirous of capturing, 



1 Both the manuscript and the printed edition have " outros "; but 

 I suspect that this is an error for onto or oito (eight), which occurs lower 

 down. 



2 See supra, p. 286. 



3 He must, therefore, have been captured in 1576 : but as we have 

 no record of this period of Ceylon history, I cannot say in what engage- 

 ment he was made a prisoner. He is probably the Miguel Ferreira 

 Baracho spoken of in X. x. vii. (p. 339) infra. 



