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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XX. 



them with great fury : those in front on seeing them rallied to 

 the banner of the arache Manoel Pereira, who was the recon- 

 noitrer that day, and who was with some lascarins some two 

 hundred paces from the bastion ; and seeing the enemy 

 coming dispersedly, he set on, crying " Santiago !" and engaged 

 them in a very stiff battle. This skirmish was seen from the 

 bastion by Antonio Guerreiro, captain of it, who went out to 

 him with his men, and having joined Manoel Pereira, they 

 had with the enemy a brave spear -play, in which moreover 

 they were assisted by Thome Pires, captain of the bastion of 

 Sao Pedro 1 , who dashed out by the embrasures to aid them, 

 and arrived at the time when our people were in a great strait 

 on account of the numbers that reinforced the enemy ; and 

 falling on them with great courage, they caused great havoc ; 

 and driving them from the field, they went on killing them 

 as far as close to Raju's tranqueiras, where they again turned 

 upon our people with others that had reinforced them, and 

 there took place between them all a very hot battle, in which 

 the captain on horseback 2 hastened out to take part, and some 

 captains with their companies, ordering to beat the retreat, 

 which our people did in very good order, leaving the field 

 strewn with dead bodies, and carrying off in token of victory 

 several heads, without having on our side more harm than two 

 lascarins slightly wounded. 



The same day the captain sent the ar aches Manoel Pereira 

 and Pero Afonso, and the Amouco 3 , and Luiz Gomes the 

 Mulatto, and a native of India called the Moorkin, with the 

 men of their round to destroy the tranqueira that Raju had 

 made twenty paces from the bastion of Sao Sebastiao, as it 

 was not well to allow them a proximity so close, since he 

 intended to go forward with another until he had got right up 

 to the bastion 4 , and ordered some captains with their men 

 to be ready in the field to help them. The araches having 

 gone out, taking some barrels of tar and plenty of powder to 

 throw into it, before they reached there were seen from the 

 direction of the island ; and giving the signal with their 

 coquiadas and cries they went running from tranqueira to 

 tranqueira. But as the distance was one of only twenty paces 

 to where the tranqueira was, our men, coming to it with great 

 determination, placed on the outer side of it up against the 

 timbers the barrels of tar and much powder, to which they set 



1 See supra, p. 314, note 2 . 



2 This is the second time that Couto has mentioned the use of horses 

 in Ceylon (see supra, pp. 183, 188, 189, and cf. p. 53, note 1 ). 



3 See supra, p. 303. 



* The manuscript has " fortress." 



