Chap. It. through the great eft Part of the E A $ T-I N DIES. 779 
from a Raftlrd, was advanced to that high Dignity 
the Portuguese took this Opportunity to eftablifh them- 
felves in Ceylon ; but Fimala Derma S'uriada , Son of one 
of the chief Men in the Kingdom, who had been edu- 
cated among the Portuguese and baptized, and by their 
Intereft advanced to the Dignity of High- Con (table, dis- 
liking the Encroachments of a Nation whom he knew 
would be in a little Time for grafping at all, had fo gained 
the Affe&ion of the Soldiery, that he prevailed with them 
to kill all the Portuguese in the Town of Candy , and to 
declare open War againft them ; which, being done, he 
was by the Cingalefe declared King. The Portuguese had 
among them a certain Princefs,the next Heir to the Crown, 
who was baptized, and named Katharina. Pedro Lopes de 
Soufa being the General of Malacca for the Portuguese , 
refolving to enter the Country with a good Army, {Length- 
ening his Intereft, brought the faid D. Katharina along 
with him, and having caufed her to be declared lawful 
Heirefs to the Kingdom of Candy , made himfelf Mafter 
of the capital City of the fame Name ; but being clofely 
blocked up by Fimala Derma , who intercepted his Fora- 
gers, and cut off his Provifions, found himfelf conftrained 
to come to a Battle in 1 590, in which he was put to the 
Rout, himfelf killed upon the Spot, and D. Katharina 
taken Prifoner by Fimala ; who afterwards, to ftrengthen 
his Title to the Crown, married her. Four Years after 
the Portuguese made a lecond Attempt againft Candy but 
not with much better Succefs ; for though they were not 
abfolutely routed, yet were they fo harraffed that they did 
not think fit any longer to continue the War with him. 
The Dutch , at their firft Settlement, had not much bet- 
ter Fortune ; for though the King received in the Year 
1604 their Admiral with a great deal of Civility, yet in 
the next following Year, having commanded their Vice- 
Admiral with fifty of his Men to be put to Death, the 
Dutch laid afide their Defign of trading there, till having 
found an Opportunity of gaining the Fort of Punto de 
Gallo from the Portuguese , and fortifying the Harbour of 
Negamho , they began to eftablifh themfelves there, and at 
Jaft accomplifhed it by taking of Colombo from the Portu- 
guese. The King of Candy is the moft potent and moft 
abfolute of all the other Princes in the Ifle of Ceylon. He 
takes great Delight, as well in the European Way of 
Building, as in their Fortifications. The Kingdom is fitu- 
ated all along upon that River, upon which lies the City of 
Vintain^ which ferves for an Harbour to the King’s Ships. 
The Inhabitants referable the Malabar s, but that they are 
not quite fo black. They generally go naked, except that 
fome ufe Portuguese Doublets. They all wear Pendants 
in their Ears and Poiniards at their Sides. The Women 
likewife go with their Breafts uncovered *, but for the reft, 
they are very modeft both in their Cloathing and Coverfa- 
tion, drafting their Heads much like the European Wo- 
men, with their Hair clofe behind, and tied in Treffes. 
They appear in gold and filver Garments, with Rings upon 
their Hands, Feet, and Legs, fet with precious Stones. 
They live conveniently enough in their Houfes, their 
Wives being good Houfewives, and efpecially well fkilled 
in Cookery. The Cingalefe are fo much adidted to an idle 
Life and Effeminacy, that they are neither fit for War nor 
any thing elfe. 
7. Ceylon is, as I faid before, beyond all Difpute, the 
moft plentiful Ifle of all the Indies ; nothing can be named 
cither of Provifions or Fruits, but what is very cheap here ; 
though they are Pagans they eat of every thing in general, 
even Pork (abftaining only from the Flefh of an Ox or 
Cow.) The Mohammedans enjoy a full Liberty among them ; 
and the Pagan Inhabitants abftain from Wine as well as 
they. They have a great Veneration for their Bramans ; they 
marry their Maids at ten or twelve Years of Age, and burn 
their Dead. Fimala Derma , whom we fpoke of before, 
had got as much Chriftianity as could be expedted among 
the Indian Portuguese , which he foon laid, afide ; fo that 
his Succeffors continued in their Idolatry. Some of the 
Inhabitants worfhip the Head of an Elephant cut in Wood 
or Stone, who, they fay, outdo Mankind in Judgment, 
and therefore pray for Wffdom to them.' 
1 hey lay up every Day a certain Share of their Provi- 
lions in a Bafket kept for that Purpofe for their Pagods, 
Mid hold it as a Point of Faith, that the World Will not 
perifti as long as their grand Temples, which may be dif» 
covered at a great Difjjnce at Sea betwixt Punto de Gallo 
and Monte Catto , ftiall remain Handing. They have another 
Opinion concerning a certain Mountain in this Iflarid* 
named Pico dlmam , where they fay the firft Man was cre- 
ated, and that the Spring on the Top of the Mountain 
arofe from the Tears that Eve filed for Abel ; and that 
the Me of Ceylon was the terreftrial Paradife. This Tinc- 
ture of Chriftianity gives us fufficierit Hopes, that among 
a People, docile enough in themfelves, the Chriftiari Re- 
ligion might be eftablifhed, if People were as forward in 
the Work of Salvation as to gain Riches. There is 
fcarce any other King in the Me of Ceylon , except him of 
Candy , but what pays fome fmall Tribute by way of Ac-, 
know ledgment to the Portuguese , of which the King of 
Mat ec ale pays nO more that fifty Ducats per Annum . 
Ceylon affords very good Pepper, but their ftaple Com- 
modity is Cinnamon. The Kingdom of Candy hath cer- 
tainly both Gold and Silver-Mines, but are not Wrought 
by an exprefs Inhibition from the King ; neither muft 
their precious Stones be fold to any but the King % but, as 
they have fuch Plenty of them that they are found among 
the Gravel that is wafhed down from the adjacent Moun- 
tains, and carried along with the Current of the Water ; 
fo it is impoffible to prevent their being fold under- 
hand to Strangers. This I fie alfo furnifhes fufficient Storfe 
of Timber and Stone for Building; of Corn, Oil, and 
Wine, if they would take the Pains to cultivate the Vines, 
Cotton, divers Roots for the Ufe of Dyers, Ginger, Car- 
damom, Mirabolanes, Corcoma, Nutmegs, and divers 
medicinal Drugs, and of Rice they have ftich Store that 
they furnilh the whole Coaft of Coromandel with that 
Commodity. The Dutch buy the Cinnamon here at the 
rate of an hundred and twenty-eight Livres the Hundred 
Weight. 
8. While we were becalmed near this Ifle, 1 had the 
Opportunity of making an Enquiry of our Prefident and 
fome Jefuits, who were on Board us, and had fpent moft of 
their Days in the Indies , concerning thofe Parts I had not 
feen, according to whofe Relation I thought fit to infert 
the following Account. Near the Cape of Comorin , along 
the Coaft of Malabar , for a Trail; of near an hundred and 
forty Leagues by Sea, extended the Ifles (by fome account- 
ed One thoufand, called Maldives by the Portuguese, hav- 
ing the Cape to the North, fome of which being fo very low 
that they are often fubjeil to Inundations, are not inha- 
bited, others are. The Malabar s are of Opinion that they 
were torn from the Continent by the Violence of the tem- 
peftuous Waves of the Sea, which, in fome Places, is at 
fo flender a Diftance from the Continent, that a brifk ac- 
tive Fellow might leap over it. The capital City which 
has given its Name of Maldives to all the Elands is built 
upon four fmall Ifles, being the Refidence of the King, 
who commands over all the reft, and a Place of good 
Trade, though they produce naturally fcarce aniy thing 
but Cocoas ; but the Induftry of the Inhabitants ftipplies, 
in fome meafure, the Defeat of Nature here, there being 
not any Nation in the Indies more ingenious in Making 
Garments of Silk and Thread than they. The Coaft of 
Coromandel being in the moft Eaftern Part of the Indies 
this Side of the Ganges , is divided from the Malabar Coaft 
by the Mountains of Balagatta , its Extent being one hun- 
dred Leagues along the Coaft from Cape Comorin , or ra- 
ther the Point of Negapatan , as far as the River Nagund 
and the Town of Mufilipatan, which, as it has excellent Har- 
bours, and the belt Roads for Anchorage in the Indies , fo 
it ferves for a fafe Retreat for fuch Veffels as are bv the 
tempeftuous Winter-feafon forced from the Coaft 01 Gu - 
surat thither, where the Climate and Weather is very calm, 
at that Time. 
The Portuguese art Mafters of the Town of St. Thomas: 
On this Coaft, they fay,- that when they firft poffeffed, them- 
felves of Cochin and Cranganor , the Inhabitants of this 
Coaft, who were Chriftians of the Greek Religion, implored 
the Protection of the King of Portugal To back this Tra- 
dition, they affirm, that St. Thomas , one of the twelve A- 
poftles, after he had taught the Gofpel in the Kingdom of 
Narjinga , petitioned the King to give hirq Leave to build a 
Chapel 
