442 



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



[Vol. XX. 



between the Seven Corlas and the kingdom of Candea, where- 

 by he continued closing the gates to the enemy, and leaving 

 him inside as it were penned in. This the tyrant resented 

 so strongly, that he preferred rather to risk being destroyed 

 than to submit to that fetter, which was becoming very heavy 

 to him. Wherefore he mustered his troops, and proceeded to 

 encamp in certain rugged and strong mountain fastnesses, 

 with the intention, by means of excursions and assaults, of 

 hindering our people in that work, with which great haste 

 was being made. 



Dom Jeronimo d'Azevedo was soon informed of his design, 

 and he deemed it necessary to dislodge and eject him thence : 

 because if he fortified himself in that place, beside the hin- 

 drance that it would be to the conquest of the kingdom of Can- 

 dea, the enemy would gain reputation amongst the Chingalas, 

 and they would recover courage on seeing that in despite of 

 our people being so much at grips with them they were erecting 

 tranqueiras and fortifying themselves. Wherefore he at once 

 sent Salvador Pereira with two hundred and thirty soldiers and 

 two thousand five hundred native lascarins to go and fall upon 

 the enemy of a morning, the general remaining in the place of 

 the tranqueira that he was building, with one hundred and 

 fifty soldiers and five hundred lascarins ready and fully pre- 

 pared o hasten to the help of their comrades if necessary. 

 And our men having set out at the beginning of the daylight 

 watch went along the road capturing and razing several 

 tranqueiras until they arrived above where the enemy was 

 encamped ; and attacking the array al, they entered it and 

 burnt it with great determination ; and afterwards in the open 

 field, the enemy recovering themselves had with our men a 

 very severe battle : because it is asserted that on the side of 

 the enemy there were three thousand firelocks, there being 

 amongst all eight thousand. But our men held their own 

 with great valour until nearly eleven o'clock in the day, when 

 the captain-general ordered them to return to him, which they 

 did, the tyrant's men pressing upon them so hotly, that it was 

 necessary for the general to succour them with the force that 

 he had, and with fresh munitions, whereby all recovered so 

 much courage, that they turned upon the enemy with such 

 impetuosity that they put them to the rout, they having in 

 this expedition more than three hundred killed, and amongst 

 these many modeliares, without there being on our side more 

 loss than two Portuguese killed 1 and about twenty of the 

 lascarins, besides many wounded. 



1 It is suspicious that in the affair described in XII. t. xiv. (see 

 p. 426) and in this one only two Portuguese are said to have been killed. 



