No. 60. — 1908.] couto : history 01? oeylon. 315 



climbing up, hurling upon them many pots of powder, which 

 he did many times with such dexterity that the enemy could 

 never wound him, desirous as they were of avenging themselves 

 on him for the injury they had received ; and the elephants 

 tried to throw their trunks upon the pieces of artillery in order 

 to drag them down ; but with fire-lances they likewise were 

 repulsed. Antonio Dias da Lomba, who was fighting on the 

 flank of this bastion, and who had charge of the powder and the 

 pots, seeing the attack that was taking place on the bastion, 

 and that the soldiers after their spears had broken off in the 

 breasts of the enemies hastened to look for pots of powder, 

 leaving their posts vacant, whereby the bastion ran risk, 

 hastened with great promptitude, bringing baskets of them, 

 making them stay in their places, and he on his part did 

 nothing else but run to all of them and supply them with these, 

 because this was not intrusted to anyone else, for fear that 

 through panic there might happen to him some disaster, 

 whereby the bastion might take fire, which would cause a 

 total destruction, and in this manner he provided them all 

 very well, and munitions were not lacking to those that asked 

 for them. 



This stress lasted at all parts nearly an hour, during 

 which they lost many men and the confidence with which 

 they had arrived, because each time they found our people 

 more desperate : wherefore they were forced to retire some 

 twenty paces away ; and as they were many, and became 

 more densely packed, our harquebusery caused amongst 

 them such havoc that it was dreadful. Raju, who was on the 

 point of the island, on their bringing him word that his men 

 had withdrawn discomfited, when he hoped that it was for 

 him to go and enter the city, was like to die of passion ; and 

 although they told him of the great havoc that had been 

 wrought among his people, with much anger he commanded 

 his captains to return with all the rest of the force and attack 

 the positions, giving the signal to all with five strokes 

 that he ordered to be made on the kettledrums, which 

 is what is done when it is intended to risk the whole force. 

 The modeliares rushed upon the bastions with such noise, fury, 

 and confusion, that that barbarous uproar might have put 

 fear into anyone that had not already lost it, like our men, 

 who were at their posts to defend them as promptly as if 

 they were quite free from trouble. Those of the king's guard 

 and others that were very venturesome, who had come in 

 fresh, arriving at the walls and bastions set up a great number 

 of ladders, by which they began to ascend, naming themselves, 

 as if our people knew them, not understanding that the braver 

 and more renowned they were, with all the more pleasure and 



