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



[Vol. XX. 



eyes thereto, he saw on the other side, which was the face of 

 the ditch that the captain had ordered to be brought thither, 

 the mine opening out of the earth at that part in order that 

 they might come out by it into the ditch ; and having assured 

 himself he brought the captain thither very dissemblingly , and 

 showed it to him. On seeing that, he ordered stonemasons 

 to be summoned, without saying what for, and ordered them to 

 cut by square an embrasure that should correspond with the 

 middle of the mouth of the ' ditch, which was not cut right 

 through in order not to be seen, leaving a thickness on the 

 other side that, on striking it with the mouth of a camello 

 that they intended to place there, would break open, the 

 stone being worked there at once for the embrasure. The 

 hollow having been excavated with great speed, and a camello 

 placed therein loaded with its charge and ball and a cartouche 

 of stones very well prepared, on the following day in the morn- 

 ing the captain ordered to send out some ar aches with their 

 lascarins to provoke the enemy to come and attack them, 

 which they did ; and when they saw our men outside they 

 covered the plains and filled the mines. Thome de Sousa, who 

 was astride on the camello watchingJyy the hole, ordered the 

 piece to be laid by the bombardiers ; and as soon as he saw the 

 enemy entangled and thought the ditch was full, had the 

 camello run out as it was : and first striking a blow on the 

 facing that had been left on the outer side 1 , and taking aim 

 at the mouth of the mine , they set fire to it ; and as it was near 

 the cartouche and ball took it from end to end, and went making 

 all along it such shakings of the earth and such destruction, 

 until it was quite exhausted, leaving the mines full of dead 

 bodies. The enemy retired, and gave Raju word of the injury 

 that had been done. So , that we might not know how much we 

 had done to him, nor his people the great injury that they had 

 received, that they might not be discouraged, he commanded 

 the mine to be broken up, and all the earth to be thrown 

 over it that they had brought up for the entrenchments, in 

 order therewith to cover up the destruction and the multitude 

 of corpses that were therein, there being great rejoicing on 

 our side, and the enemy feeling it much, the affair increasing 

 their hate and desire to get a great satisfaction for it 2 . 



1 The printed edition omits this clause. 



2 The Rdjdvaliya describes this event as follows : — " Raja Siyha .... 

 had a mine made by the hill-men. The Portuguese, discovering it, 

 placed gunpowder in the mine and blew it up. Note that many hill- 

 men thus perished." (The translation at p. 91 of Gunasekara's edition 

 is not justified by the original.) There seems to be some confusion 

 here with the event described supra, X. x. v., pp. 332-3. 



