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



[Vol. XX. 



whereby all the territories of that part, which had been stirred 

 up to rebel, quieted down. And so great was the damage that 

 the inhabitants of the Seven Corlas received, that their princes 

 sent to beg peace of the general, which he did not concede to 

 them ; but he conceded to them a truce, with suspension of 

 arms, and restitution of the captives that they had in their 

 territories. In this state the affairs of this island remained 

 in this winter of 1600 in which we are 1 . 



1 This is the last that Couto tells us of events in Ceylon. In a 

 letter to the viceroy, dated 6 February 1602, the king of Spain 

 acknowledges receipt of a letter from Cochin, under date 13 Decem- 

 ber 1600, and says: — "I rejoice to know that in the conquest of 

 Ceilao there have been prosperous successes, and that that island is 

 almost entirely conquered and obedient to me, and that there are 

 made in it many churches and many Christians by order of the monks 

 of St. Francis, and that Dom Jeronimo de Azevedo had a great victory 

 against Dom Joao the rebel of Candya, killing and capturing many of 

 his men." He proceeds to urge the viceroy to send to Ceylon the 

 soldiers necessary to finish the conquest oncefor all, adding that it is 

 not convenient to send from Portugal direct to Ceylon a ship with 

 troops. He continues: — " I was gratified at your telling me that for 

 the garrisons of that island there is in it everything necessary, on 

 account of there being a great quantity of villages from whose rents 

 there will be sufficient return when it is quiet, and that the fertility of 

 that country would thus attract many Portuguese from India. And 

 I was also gratified likewise at the good procedure that Dom J eronimo 

 de Azevedo, captain of that conquest, has in it, from which I hope 

 that with his prudence and experience he will make an end of it with 

 the brevity that is desired. And I commend to you that the returns 

 that you say are in the same island you procure that they be collected 

 and come to my revenue in order to be spent in the same conquest ; 

 and because the ship Sao Valentim, as captain of which came Dom 

 Juliao de Noronha, by whom you sent me the drawing of that island 

 of Ceilao, has not arrived at this kingdom, nor is there news of her, 

 I commend to you to send me another drawing." (The ship 

 referred to arrived on 8 June 1602 at Cezimbra, where she was 

 captured by the English. What became of the " drawing " of Ceylon 

 I do not know.) In a letter dated 28 February 1602 the king 

 orders the viceroy to send to Ceylon a person of confidence as vedor da 

 fazenda to make a fresh tombo of all the lands that had been or would 

 be conquered and of the rents of the pagodes. (This was not carried 

 into effect until some years later, when Antao Vaz Freire was sent: 

 see M. Lit. Reg. iv. 211, note.) In a letter of 7 March 1602 the 

 king informs the viceroy that he hears that Dom Jeronimo is appro- 

 priating the rents of the lands in Ceylon, and is very rich: regarding 

 which he orders private inquiry to be made (c/. M. Lit. Reg. iv. 209, 

 210, 211 note, 213 note). 



