JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XVIII. 
that I am twice as strong as before to carry out and fulfil my imperial 
expedition, which (with God's help) shall take place on Tuesday, 
2nd November. Herewith I send Your Honour an officer of my imperial 
court to inquire regarding Your Honour's health ; he will convey 
to Your Honour a certain decoration, which my imperial person sends 
to Your Honour. Your Honour will please not to consider the value of 
it, but the love and the goodwill with which, &c. 
In the imperial court in the town of Candy, 29fch October, 1655. 
(Signed) Raja Singa Rajon,^^^ Most Potent Emperor of Ceylon. 
On November 12 took place the unsuccessful general 
assault by land and sea on Colombo,^^- in which the Dutch 
lost so many in killed and vounded, and " on this unlucky 
day in the afternoon," says Baldaeus,^^*^ " the General received 
a letter from the Imperial Majesty in which, as usual, was 
set forth the full trust that he had in, His Honour, to 
give over into his hands the city of Colombo after its 
capture, and the fulfilment of the treaty formerly made 
with Mr. Wester wold ; that all runaway natives should be 
handed over to his present dessaves, whether dead or alive, 
in order to be punished, as was the case at Batecalo ; that he 
had commanded his dessaves to waste and to burn all the 
villages and the lowlands as far as was possible." With 
this letter was forwarded a note that had been sent to the 
King by the Portuguese General of Colombo, Antonio de 
Sousa Coutinho, on October 27, in which he endeavoured to 
persuade Raja Sinha to break off his friendship with the 
Hollanders and assist the Portuguese to expel them from 
Ceylon. 
On November 13 a letter was dispatched to Raja Sinha, 
to inform him doubtless of the ill-success of the attack on 
Colombo ; and on the 19th the King's disavas came to Hulft 
to show him a letter they had received from their royal 
master, " in which he expressed great regret regarding the 
wound received by His Honour in the recent assault, and said 
that it thereby became necessary to work night and day in 
order to get ready as soon as possible all that was needful 
for his march and descent to the camp to our help, and 
