No. 55— 1904.] RAJA SINHA II. AND THE DUTCH. 177 
comply with the Sinhalese king's wish.''^ They decided, 
however, that fresh and more binding agreements must be 
made with the King, and that every place taken from the 
Portuguese must be occupied by the Dutch forces. More- 
over, to prevent Raja Sinha's acting as he had done on former 
occasions, it was determined that 200 Dutch soldiers should 
accompany him in his march on Colombo. 
On August 25, 1639, therefore, the skipper Minne 
Willemsz Caertekoe was dispatched with two yachts for 
Batticaloa to apprise Thyssen of the Council's intentions, 
and conveying a letter from the Governor-General and Council 
to Raja Sinha, in which the King was told of the proposed 
plan of action, and was begged not to fail this time in the 
fulfilment of his part. In order to give the King no cause 
of offence, the letter made no reference to his former laches.^^ 
Just a month later, on September 25, 1639, nine more 
ships sailed from Batavia direct for Colombo, under the 
command of the Director Philips Lucasz, to whom an 
ample commission had been given for the making of treaties, 
movement of troops, &c. Altogether the force for the attack 
on Ceylon consisted of 734 sailors, 944 soldiers, and 252 
natives. Coster was Vice-Commander, and Sergeant-Major 
Adriaan Anthonisz third in command.^^ The fleet did not 
make landfall on the east coast of Ceylon until December 2, 
and the first place at which anchor was cast was Trinco- 
malee, where things were found to be in a terrible state 
from want of provisions and sickness, Raja Sinha having not 
only failed to send supplies to the garrison, but forbidden 
his subjects to do so. Lucasz relieved the famished soldiers, 
and sent the King an urgent request to fulfil his promises 
better and to march on Colombo in person with his forces. 
Leaving Trincomalee, the fleet arrived early in January, 
1640, before Colombo, where the Admiral found Caertekoe'B 
two yachts lying, but no signs of Raja Sinha's army or the 
small Dutch force under Thyssen. This fact, added to the 
information he had obtained along the coast between Trinco- 
malee and Colombo, confirmed Lucasz in his suspicions 
