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



[Vol. XX. 



praising them with words of gratitude, which in their case 

 was little needed 1 , because all could lend courage and spirit. 

 And on arriving at the bastion of Sao Gonsalo he commanded 

 to shout to Pero Toscano, who was fighting outside, to come 

 in, which he did in very good order through the embrasures ; 

 and some entering by them, and others fighting without 

 retiring, and in the embrasures he left two valiant soldiers, 

 each with his half -pike, and others with fire-lances and 

 some matchlocks, and he with the rest of the soldiers went 

 up on to the bastion, where he put himself on the defensive, 

 fighting with much valour, because it was attacked by the 

 greatest body of troops and the largest force of elephants, 

 which on arriving at the wall strove to reach with their trunks 

 the edges of the mud- walls in order to pull them down ; 

 but our men so annoyed them that they made them turn 

 back with loud trumpetings and roars. 



At that part which the elephants were trying to reach 

 were the araches Manoel Gonsalves and Tanavira, who had a 

 very difficult task, on account of the walls' being very low 

 there, a part well-known to the enemy, and which they 

 purposely came to, and they pressed the attack so fiercely 

 there that the lascarins, being unable to endure that impetus, 

 abandoned the whole and fled, leaving alone the two araches, 

 who performed marvellous feats of arms. At the time that 

 the lascarins fled from the post there came to it the father 

 Pero Dias, cleric ; and finding them in that terror animated 

 and emboldened them, and made them go up, saying that 

 the captain was just coming with succour, and he remained 

 with them in that part, where the araches performed very 

 great deeds of valour, and he helped them and animated them, 

 making the lascarins fight, and from there dispatched a 

 message to the captain of the peril in which that part was, 

 who returned to it, and finding the lascarins so discouraged, 

 he put himself amongst them, and began to fight very 

 courageously, emboldening all, and making much of the 

 deeds of the two araches, who had done marvellous things, 

 whereby all gained fresh courage, and began to renew their 

 strokes, hurling upon the enemy many pots of powder, with 

 which they set many on fire and made the elephants stop. 



The rumour of the peril in which that part was reached 

 there ; and Pero Francisco, captain of one of the rounds, 

 ascending to the platforms distributed his soldiers and 

 lascarins at the loopholes in the wall, whence with their 

 matchlocks they caused great destruction among the enemy, 



1 By an oversight, the manuscript omits the words from " and 

 encouraging" to " needed." 



