No. 60. —1908.] oouto : uistoby of ceylon. 



365 



and the elephants ; and it pleased God that a falcon was dis- 

 charged from the bastion, which was so well aimed, that it 

 killed three elephants and wounded six very badly, as it car- 

 ried a cartouche of stones. So that in all parts they harried 

 the enemy, both with arms and with fire, in such fashion that 

 only through shame and fear of Raj li they did not withdraw 1 . 

 In the bastion of Santiago, the captain of which was Antonio 

 Guerreiro, and in the ravelin that was above the point 2 , in 

 which was Paulo Pimenta 3 , there was very great danger, 

 because it was attacked by several modeliares with a large 

 force ; but they defended themselves very valorousiy, al- 

 though the ravelin was in great straits, and the report spread 

 that the enemy had entered by it, upon which Dom Gilianes 

 de Noronha hastened with his soldiers, and placed himself 

 above the gates, because some elephants were there, placing 

 their foreheads against them in order to force them in, and 

 with fire-lances our men burnt them and made them with- 

 draw and turn upon their own people, whom they went tread- 

 ing under with the pain of the fire. And not to particularize 

 so many things, or to name in particular all the captains and 

 soldiers that did heroic deeds, because all did so much that 

 there would be something to write of them, we shall pass 

 over this, because the glory was everyone's, and all did so 

 much that after the battle had lasted two hours they made 

 the enemy withdraw disorganized, defeated ; and when the 

 morning dawned, everywhere our people saw the whole plain 

 strewn with dead bodies, and it was affirmed that nearly a 

 thousand were those that perished in the battle, besides the 

 wounded, who must have been many. The enemy having 

 withdrawn, the captain ordered all the bastions to be decked 

 with flags, and the artillery to be discharged, and the bells 

 rung out in token of victory, because only one man was lost. 

 With this Raju was reduced to utter despair, and thought 

 that the idols were offended with him ; and presently when it 

 dawned our people found inside the city and on top of the 

 houses a great quantity of pots with the matches alight, 

 without their breaking when thrown on the hard ground, 

 the which was ascribed to a miracle ; and both for this and 

 for the victory all gave many thanks to our Lord. 



1 The printed edition erroneously reads "withdraw from the bastion," 

 &c, and has a semicolon after " Guerreiro." I follow the reading of 

 the manuscript. 



2 The manuscript has " above the gate." This being the only mention 

 of the ravelin, I am uncertain as to the "point " above which it stood. 



3 Paulo Pimenta de Bulhao, one of the knights that came from Goa 

 with Joao Caiado de Gamboa (see supra, p. 353). 



