312 



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



[Vol. XX. 



made our men retire within, burnt and almost blinded by the 

 smoke, because the worst danger in which they found 

 themselves was its density, under cover of which the enemy 

 were determined to enter the embrasures : but those inside 

 even with those impediments defended them against them 

 valorously, and they succeeded in cutting the spears of our 

 men, who after having many times dipped these in the coarse 

 blood of the enemy took to their swords, and caused amongst 

 them another new destruction, and with them proved 

 the strength of their valorous and valiant arms, which was 

 afterwards seen in the terrible gashes of those that were there, 

 the combat ending in those that lay stretched at the foot 

 of the embrasures. 



Those that were climbing up the ladders strove all they 

 could to get to the top, without heeding those that fell down 

 from close beside them cut to pieces, but the rather the 

 number of those that ascended increasing, they threw on the 

 top so much fire that the bastion became a mass of flame ; 

 and our men drawing off a little 1 outside, a soldier, Gaspar 

 Dias by name, who that day had done great things, seeing 

 the fire, and that in the bastion was a quantity of powder, 

 which they had there in case of necessity, seeing that if the 

 fire reached it there would be an end of everything 2 , deter- 

 mined either to die or to deliver all from that peril, and so 

 seized a bed-cover and some mats, and with all these threw 

 himself upon the flame, whereby he smothered it and got it 

 under, and with the same readiness darted upon a jar of 

 water that stood there, and poured the whole of it upon the 

 fire, and entirely extinguished it, whereby those of the bastion 

 were freer to defend themselves, returning to their posts, 

 in which they did wonders. Of much value and help to our 

 men were the many cressets that the captain of that bastion 

 had ordered to set alight all over it, which continued to burn 

 as long as the combat lasted, and the soldiers saw very well 

 where it was necessary to go to help : and this was a most 

 important work, because for very shame the lascarins were 

 forced to stay at the sides, where they fought, which maybe 

 they would not have done had it been dark, and they could 

 have slunk away without being seen, on, account of the great 

 strait in which they many times found themselves. 



The enemy went on with their perseverance, striving to 

 enter both this bastion and also at the sides by the wall that 

 joined on to it, at which were the araches Manoel Gonsalves 

 and Tanavira ; and although they saw how well our people 



1 The manuscript has passo (step) for pouco. 



2 The manuscript has " all would be burnt up." 



