No. 55.— 1904.] RAJA STNHA 11. AND THE DUTCH. 217 
Oolombo. His Excellency also protested that the Dutch had 
uever had in their minds to appropriate to themselves a foot 
of land belonging to the King's crown, much less Colombo 
after its conquest, but that we should prove the contrary by 
adding it to His Majesty's crown. He had written to 
Batavia for His Majesty's account which he had asked for 
several times, in which he would see that all the expenses, 
besides the receipts on the other side, would be plainly set 
down (except the fitting out of the fleets, which had yet to be 
ascertained). Raja Sinha also sought the advice of the Dutch 
Governor, because the Portuguese were very desirous of 
coming to Candi to deliver the letters from their King and 
from the Viceroy of Goa but His Excellency was of 
opinion that those letters were simply invented in order to 
hoodwink His Majesty, and that they must on that account 
be declined.298 
While this interchange of letters between the King and 
the Dutch Governor had been going on, however, there had 
been an insurrection among the Portuguese in and around 
Colombo, who had imprisoned the Captain-General Manoel 
Mascarenhas Homem and his son-in-law Lopo Barriga, the 
Field Captain-Major, on account of their misdeeds and 
on the matter being reported to Goa, the Viceroy had sent 
Francisco de Mello de Castro as Captain-General and Dom 
Alvaro de Ataide as Field Captain-Major. These had arrived 
at Colombo with reinforcements in twelve vessels on May 
10, 1653, two days after the Dutch cruisers had been forced 
by the monsoon to leave that place for Galle, much to their 
chagrin.^^^ A large force was now expected daily from 
Batavia, and the Dutch Governor promised Raja Sinha that 
he would then be ready to appear with the camp of the 
Hollanders before the gates of Colombo.^^^ 
On October 25 Mr. Adriaan van der Meyden wrote from 
Galle to the King to inform him that Mr. Van Kittenstein 
had left for Batavia,^^^ and that he had been appointed to 
succeed him as Governor; therefore he begged His Majesty 
to recognize him as such. He added that the Dutch had 
