No. 60. — 1908.] PORTUGUESE HISTORY OF CEYLON. 403 



becoming prisoners and slaves in Kandy 1 , or being sent 

 down to Columbo shockingly mutilated 2 . But the crown- 

 ing triumph for Vimaladaham was the capture of Dona 

 Catharina, whom he straightway made his wife, thus 

 establishing his right to the throne of Kandy as consort of 

 the lawful heiress, acknowledged as such by the Portuguese 

 themselves 3 . 



When news of this terrible disaster reached Columbo 4 Pedro 

 Homem at once dispatched letters to the viceroy to apprise 

 him thereof. The council having been summoned, it was 

 resolved, in order to safeguard the territory already won, to 

 dispatch to Ceylon as captain-general Dom Jeronimo de 

 Azevedo, who at that time occupied the post of captain- 

 major of the Malabar coast. Orders to this effect having been 

 sent to Dom Jeronimo, together with money and munitions, 

 he speedily set out for Ceylon with five hundred soldiers in 

 seventeen ships, and reached Columbo on 23 December 

 1594 5 . Twice before, in 1582 and 1588, as we have seen 6 , 

 had Dom Jeronimo visited Ceylon ; but on both occasions 

 his stay had been brief. Now, however, he was entering 

 upon one that was destined to last eighteen years, during 

 which he was to deluge the island with blood and earn for 

 himself an eternal infamy. With the troops he had brought, 

 and such others as could be spared from Columbo, the new 

 captain-general at once proceeded to " pacify " the low- 

 country territories, which had doubtless revolted against 

 the Portuguese after the murder of Jayavira Bandara and 



1 Among these was a youth, Manuel Dias, whom Vimaladaham 

 subsequently made his maha mudali (see C. Lit. Reg. vi. 334). 



2 Rdjdvaliya 98 ; Bald. Ceylon v. ; Faria y Sousa, u.s. The last 

 writer and the Hist. Seraf. (iii. 542-4) describe the horrible treatment 

 accorded to the priests who accompanied the expedition. 



3 In the treaty of peace of 5 December 1632 {Col. de Trat. ii. 

 38 ff.) we find Raja Sinha II. asserting his right to the crown of Kandy 

 through his mother Dona Catharina. (See, however, Sa y Menezes's 

 remarks, in C. A. S. Jl. xi. 555.) The princess was about fifteen 

 years of age at the time of her marriage. 



4 In October or November 1594, probably. 



5 Vida de M. de Alb. i. xxiv. 



6 Supra, pp. 262, 367. , 

 2 d 2 



