404 JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XX. 



the defeat of Pero Lopes 1 . In this task Dom Jeronimo 

 had at first a measure of success 2 . As soon as he had over- 

 come the opposition of the Sinhalese in any district 

 he forthwith set to work to build and garrison a fortress there. 

 Thus in 1595 he had erected forts at Galle 3 and Matara 4 ; 

 and by the time the new viceroy arrived at Goa in May 1597, 

 twelve fortresses of stone and lime, earth, or wood, had been 

 built by him 5 , viz., besides the two named, forts at Negumbo 6 

 and Kalutara 7 , a fortress begun at Chilaw 8 , an earthwork at 



1 1 have no authoritative information on these points, but infer 

 them from the statements of various writers. 



8 In Arch. Port.-Or. iii. (595-7) is printed a " particular and express 

 instruction on the conquest and enterprise of Ceillao," dated 1 March 

 1596, for the count admiral D. Francisco da Gama, whe was proceed- 

 ing to India as viceroy. In this the king refers to the disaster and 

 the dispatch of D. Jeronimo de Azevedo, the news of which had reached 

 him by the ships of the previous year, and adds that by letters written 

 in February 1595 by Mathias de Albuquerque and sent overland he 

 had received much more favourable tidings of affairs in Ceylon (see 

 also the royal letter of 8 March 1596 to the Goa chamber in Arch. Port.- 

 Or. i. i. 115-6). The king also expresses his opinion as to the supreme 

 importance of Ceylon to the Portuguese in the East, and urges the new 

 viceroy to give the matter his best consideration on his arrival in India. 



3 This is mentioned in a letter of 15 December 1595 from the 

 Goa chamber to the king, printed in Arch. Port.-Or. i. n. (27). As 

 mentioned above (p. 370, note x ), the building of a fort at Galle had 

 frequently been urged by the king of Spain. This fortress was 

 evidently a poor affair, to judge from the description of it, sixteen 

 years later, by the Spanish captain Antonio Martins (see M. Lit. Reg* 

 iv. 165). 



4 See Rdjdvaliya 99, and cf. supra, p. 372, note 4 . This fort also is 

 referred to contemptuously by Antonio Martins (see previous noto). 



5 This information I take from Vida de M. de Alb. i. xxiv. Of. also 

 Boc. 45. 



6 Boc. (45) mentions this. Negumbo had evidently become increas- 

 ingly important as a native trade port, as intercourse with Columbo 

 and the Kelani river became more difficult owing to the wars between 

 the Portuguese and Raja Sinh^, (see M. Lit. Reg. iv. 135). 



7 Boc. (45) mentions that Dom Jeronimo built a fort at " Caluture," 

 and in several places later on he refers to this fort. Couto speaks of it 

 in 1599 (see infra, p. 435, note J ). 



8 Boc. (45) mentions this. On p. 424 infra we are told of the 

 Portuguese " tranqueiras in the direction of Chilao," but the fort at 

 that place is not specifically spoken of. As regards the importance of 

 the place see supra, p. 377, note 2 . 



