No. 55.— 1904.] RAJA SINHA II. AND THE DUTCH. 219 
mostly starved troops which he had brought down,^i^ from 
the vicinity of the Portuguese pickets, from Carvanello, as 
elsewhere, in November, through the Four and Seven Corlas, 
back to Candi to rest." 
During the latter part of 1653 and the early part of 1654 
numerous engagements took place between the Portuguese 
and the Sinhalese and the Portuguese and the Dutch, the 
advantage being, for the most part, with the first-named.^^^ 
One of the results was that the Dutch vacated Kalutara, and 
the Portuguese once more occupied that fort. An engage- 
ment at sea off the west coast of Ceylon between five 
Portuguese galleons and the three Dutch cruisers was 
indecisive, each side retiring after considerable loss. Ryklof 
van Goens, however, in his return voyage from Persia and 
Surat on May 1, 1654, met with the five galleons and forty 
frigates off Cabo da Rama, and after a severe engagement 
came off victorious, being enabled to release twenty of the' 
Dutch taken prisoners at Anguruwatara, who were on board 
one of the galleons.^^^ This welcome news was communi- 
cated to Raja Si^ha through Lieutenant Frans Has by a 
letter from Governor Van der Meyden dated June 6.^^^ 
The Dutch were now receiving constant accessions of 
supplies and troops by sea ; and several engagements took 
place between them and the Portuguese to the south of 
Colombo, the most important being at Tebuwana and 
Kaluwamodara.^^''' 
On November 27 Governor V^an der Meyden sent a letter 
to Raja Sinha by the merchant Ysbrand Godsken, besides 
several fine horses and other pretty rarities to the prince his 
son,^^^ as well as various intercepted letters from the Portu- 
guese for His Majesty's diversion.^^^ 
To this letter the King replied on March 8, 1655, by 
Godsken, who returned with His Majesty's ambassadors. 
Upon this Mr. Van der Meyden on March 27 informed Raja 
Sinha that the Portuguese were being strengthened by 
faithless subjects of His Majesty's in the Seven and Four 
Corles, which had made the enemy so bold that they had 
