No. 60. — 1908.] cotjto : history of ceylon. 



359 



soon as it touched the heart 1 , it proved fatal, leaving those 

 bodies deformed. And as the sickness was new in that country 

 and not known, nor had ever been seen by the natives, the 

 physicians made an anatomy on one of those bodies to see if 

 they could understand the disease in order to cure it, because 

 it was going on increasing greatly, and many were dying ; and 

 having viewed the intestines, they found the livers apostemated , 

 and it was affirmed that that proceeded from the heat and 

 humidity because of the great drought that prevailed, it not 

 having rained the whole of that year 2 , a thing that the old 

 people could not remember the like 3 ; and further to increase 

 the disease, the vara of Choromandel 4 happened to discharge 

 so much water that it was a deluge ; and by the heat that was 

 in the liver with that humidity of the earth, which was soaked, 

 the bodies came to apostemate in that manner. And the 

 disease being understood, they applied remedies of cold and 

 dry things, like vinegar, with which they mitigated it ; and 

 this lacking, they made use of a fruit which they call gorsas 5 , 

 which has the same virtue, and with some other herbs ; but as 

 this also came to be exhausted, there did not fail to die many ; 

 but it pleased God that it was wretched and miserable folk, 

 and the disease lasted but a short time, for it soon ceased. 



Dec. X., Bk. x., Chap. xii. 



...... of how Dom Paulo sent Simao de Abreu de Mello with 



news of the victory to the viceroy : and of how he was wrecked 

 on the coast of Ceilad : and of the troubles that he underwent. 



Simao de Abreu de Mello set out from Malaca 6 , and in five 

 days made landfall of the islands of Nicobar, and there he 

 made fast in the full of the moon, and took in water ; and 



1 The printed edition omits " the heart." 



2 But see supra, p. 351. 



3 Cf. supra, p. 35, and Ribeiro's statement in C. A. S. Jl. xii. 94. 



4 See supra, p. 31, note 3 . 



5 Both the manuscript and the printed edition read so, but the word 

 should be " gorcas " = gorakas, the fruit of the Garcinia Cambogia, 

 which is of a pleasant subacid flavour. The bark and leaves of the 

 tree are used therapeutically by the Sinhalese, but not the fruit, as far 

 as I can find. 



6 At the beginning of December 1587, bearing letters from D. Paulo 

 de Lima to the viceroy and the city of Goa apprising them of the victory 

 lie had gained over the king of Johor (see Linsch. ii. 198-200). 



