336 



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



[Vol. XX. 



them, just as they came, in quarters near the bastion of Madre 

 de Deus, in order from there at the command of their captain- 

 major to hasten to help in all the affairs of most necessity. 

 With this succour those of the fortress became more assured, 

 and the enemy more fearful, because they well knew that the 

 brave Portuguese would not suffer themselves to remain 

 hemmed in, but would burst forth to their hurt. 



At this same time the captain was advised that Raju. was 

 bringing forward the mine at the part that we have mentioned 1 , 

 which had its exit aboveground, because of the ponds of water, 

 right at the bastion of Sao Sebastiad, in order to come and 

 break in underneath it, the which had already come very near, 

 and with which it was necessary to deal : he therefore ordered 

 to place some stakes in the ditch at the part where the mine 

 would have to break through until they reached the water 

 which was near there, so that as soon as the mine reached 

 these they would be discovered by them, in order by means of 

 the same ditch to deprive them of the filling and the earth 

 that was above it, which served them as earthworks with which 

 they intrenched themselves : and so, as they went forward 

 with the mine, they carried forward the earthworks, which 

 were great. But as the captain did not know the height to 



which the mine reached, he ordered Antonio . . . •. 2 and 



Antonio Dias, captains of his round, to get into the ditch with 

 the engineers and proceed digging below the mines, opening up 

 the earth ; and he ordered the araches Pero Af onso and Manoel 

 Pereira to go and burn a piece of bastion, of that which they 

 had burnt, which Raju had strengthened anew, who with their 

 lascarins went and attacked it with great determination, and 

 set fire to it, and made those in it take to flight, whereby our 

 men who were in the ditch had time to discover the mine, 

 which already penetrated below the ditch, and was coming 

 bit by bit to issue at the bastion ; and they found that the 

 height of it inside was that of a big man, and the breadth a 

 fathom and a half, shored up above with thick timber, and at 

 the sides with broad planking, to keep the mine from falling in, 

 because Raju did not aim at more than to convey his men 

 protected from our artillery until they reached the bastion or 

 the wall and undermined it, without their being able to 

 prevent it, or knowing what they intended ; and the earth 

 that they dug out they threw up above, which served them 



1 See supra, p. 322. 



2 In both the manuscript and the printed edition the surname is 

 wanting ; but that it should be "Lourenco " is evident from chap. ii. 

 (p. 313) supra, where the same two Antonios are mentioned together. 



