No. 55—1904.] RAJA SINK A II. AND THE DUTCH. 173 
which city, if God should give them the victory, should, he 
pledged his royal word, be for the Dutch and himself 
jointly, and he would make an agreement with the Admiral 
regarding all the pepper and cinnamon in the Island ; that it 
would, therefore, be best for the Admiral to come with his 
full force, that a peace might be arranged, or, if he could 
not come himself, send a trustworthy person instead. The 
Sinhalese deputies were eye-witnesses of the engagement 
that took place on January 4, 1638, between the Dutch and 
Portuguese fleets off Goa, in which the former gained a 
notable victory, which gave the envoys a favourable idea of 
the strength of the HoUanders.^^ 
Meanwhile there had joined the Dutch fleet the ship 
Hertogenhusch from Surat with the Vice-Commander 
Willem Jacobsz Coster . and it was resolved to send the 
latter to Ceylon in command of the ships Texel^ Kleyn^ 
Amsterdam^ and Dolfyn^ manned by 190 men,^^ to apprise 
Raja Sinha that a further force would follow in May, and 
meanwhile to give him any assistance he required against the 
Portuguese.^^ By the same opportunity the Sinhalese envoys 
returned to Ceylon, bearing a letter^^ to Raja Sinha from 
Admiral Westerwold, in which the latter promised to come 
himself with three more ships if the blockade of Goa were 
raised by the end of April, and asking the King meanwhile 
to make all needful preparations for an assault on the Portu- 
guese fort at Batticaloa, and also to have in readiness two or 
three shiploads of cinnamon. This expedition left Goa on 
March 17 and arrived on April 3^^ at Trincomalee, where the 
Sinhalese ambassadors landed and proceeded to Kandy to 
deliver the Admiral's letter and inform the King of the arrival 
of the Dutch vessels. 
Meanwhile the Portuguese General of Colombo, Diego de 
Mello de Castro, had from threats proceeded to more vigorous 
measures, in order, if possible, to prevent the attempted 
alliance of the Sinhalese and the Dutch. Accordingly, in 
March, 1638, he marched on Kandy with an army of 700 
Portuguese and 28,000 lascoreens, and reaching the capital 
