No. 60. — 1908.] coitto : history of ceylotn. 



331 



side, because all their ships are of Patana build 1 and require 

 little depth. Some of our people assumed this to be a ruse of 

 the same Raju's, because he thought from the courage of our 

 men that going after his people they would not allow them to 

 flee from them, and so, without being afraid of the sandbank, 

 they would follow them on to it, by which he was certain that 

 some ship would be lost, which he would greatly appreciate, 

 although his whole armada should perish : but our people 

 preferred rather to see them retreat disgraced and escape to 

 face Raju, who was watching them, than capture any of their 

 ships. Joao Correa de Brito, in order that this bold action 

 should not be without reward, whilst they were still going in 

 confusion on the sea, sent out the arache Pero Afonso with his 

 lascorins to go and dismantle a bridge that Raju had made on 

 the road from Cota to Calapate 2 , which he did with great 

 brevity, coming back with some timber. All these things 

 Raju felt much, and they vexed him greatly : for when he 

 came against that fortress he did not think that our people 

 would have the boldness to appear outside its walls, far less 

 make assaults upon them so many times in their own tranqueiras 

 with so much loss to his people. 



After this had taken place on the 7th of this month of 

 September, Raju commanded some araches with a thousand 

 men to be placed in ambush in Mapano in order to surprise our 

 mainatos (who are those that wash the clothes 3 ) and get some 

 booty from them : and at daybreak our people, as they were 

 ever wont, went out to reconnoitre the field ; and whilst going 

 near the entrenchments and having almost fallen into the 

 ambush, a cow that was wandering on the plain took fright 

 and came running towards our men : a usual thing with them, 

 as soon as they 'perceive people on the plain, being to flee to 

 the fortress ; and our men, understanding * that the cow per- 

 ceived people, halted. Those in the ambush thinking that 

 they were. discovered, seeing our men so near, rushed out upon 



1 In original (manuscript and printed edition) " de Patana." The 

 meaning of this (though I am somewhat doubtful) may perhaps be found 

 in the following passage in Bowrey (229) : — " A Patella. The boats 

 that come down from Pattana with saltpeeter or Other goods built' of 

 an Exceedinge Strength and are Very flatt and burthensome " (see 

 also note on p. 225). A picture of " a patella " is given in plate xv. 



2 As I cannot identify " Calapate," I am unable to tell where this 

 bridge was ; but it could not have been far from the fort. 



3 Cf. supra, p. 225, note 3 . In the plan of Columbo in Le Grand's 

 Ribeiro the lake, which is depicted of a ridiculously diminutive size, 

 is described as " Etang des Lavandieres " [s*cj, the dhobies being thus 

 turned into washerwomen ! 



