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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL, XII. 



any person whatsoever, but only in their own selves ; and 

 therefore he asked them to take upon themselves the defence 

 thereof, on account of its great importance to the service of 

 His Majesty, who would remunerate them for it with great 

 rewards ; and that only by such means would all be free 

 from uneasiness, having such honoured gentlemen as defen- 

 ders ; because the most that that trouble and siege could last 

 was a month, since in the following one (March), when the 

 monsoon had set in, help would reach us. 



Of those whom he chose for this occupation, eight accept- 

 ed with great zeal and willingness. To each two it fell to 

 take two watches in that post, one by day and the other by 

 night, because there was only room for two persons to be 

 there, and these separate. In the inner part of the interior 

 space, and at the mouth of the countermine, was made a 

 doorway, which scarcely allowed one man to pass ; and when 

 the two who were going to act as sentinels came to it, 

 before entering they disarmed themselves of all their arms, 

 because if they took them they would only serve as an 

 embarrassment to them, and so each one took nothing but a 

 blunderbuss; and when they entered the doorway they 

 locked it with a key, and reported themselves to the captain 

 commanding the bastion ; the two walked that distance 

 under the earth to a place where there was scarcely room for 

 the body, and in such dense darkness that all reckoning was 

 lost. When they had reached this on the left hand there was a 

 cave, formed by the ruins of the bastion, whither one of the 

 two ascended to the height of two spans, and placed himself 

 under some planks which happened to be there, and which 

 must have been used when the bastion was overlaid. In this 

 post that sentinel remained, whilst the other proceeded further 

 forward, a distance of two fathoms, which was where we 

 had an encounter with the enemy, who protected themselves 

 with the boards, there being between this sentinel and them 

 only seven spans of earth, where was buried the case of 

 powder. The enemy placed in that guard-post twenty-five 

 carbineers, who usually played pranks with this sentinel ; 



