on board the English ship to set her on fire was destroyed without doing
the enemy any harm. In this manner the first day was expended to no
purpose, and next day, on proposing to attack the English ships, they
were found riding in a place to which the entrance was so narrow that
one galleon only could come at them at once, which might therefore have
been disabled by the English cannon, for which reason no attempt was
made to attack them; but some alleged that this was only a pretence set
up by those who had no mind for the enterprise. A fruitless endeavour
was made to destroy them by means of fire-ships.
Perceiving that he only lost his labour at this place, the viceroy went
to Diu, whence he dispatched relief to Ormuz; and on his return from Diu
towards Goa, the four English ships were seen at a great distance from
Surat in full sail to the south. The viceroy pursued, and towards
evening came up with the sternmost, having left his own fleet far
behind. The head gunner offered to sink the English ship by means of two
40 pounders; but the officers who accompanied the viceroy opposed this,
alleging that the other three English ships would come upon him while
alone and the galleon might be lost. The viceroy accordingly submitted
to their opinion, but neglected to make them give it under their hands;
and when he was afterwards accused for having neglected to do what the
gunner proposed, they denied having ever given him any such advice. The
English were so thankful for this forbearance, that they fired their
cannons without ball as if saluting.
In the year 1615, Sebastian Gonzalez Tibao, formerly mentioned, who had
raised himself from a poor dealer in salt to be an absolute sovereign by
treachery and ingratitude, and who had neglected to submit himself to
the Portuguese viceroy in the height of his prosperity, finding himself
now in danger of losing his ill got power, sent to request succour; but
even now proposed terms like an independent prince, and offered in
return for assistance and protection to deliver a large ship load of
rice yearly at Goa as an acknowledgement of vassalage. He urged that all
he had done was to revenge the murder of the Portuguese in _Banguel of
Dianga_ by the king of Aracan, and hinted that the vast treasures of the
king might easily be taken by a very moderate effort. This blinded the
viceroy, who immediately fitted out 14 of the largest galliots with a
fliboat and a pink, and sent them to Aracan under the command of
Francisco de Menezes Roxo, who had formerly commanded in Ceylon. Roxo
sailed from Goa about the middle of September 1615. On the 2d of October
he arrived at Aracan, the chief port and residence of the king, having
detached a galleon to _Sundiva_ to give notice to Gonzalez of his
arrival and intentions. Having opened his instructions in presence of
all the captains, they directed him to proceed against Aracan without
waiting for Gonzalez; which was highly improper, as that man knew the
country and was acquainted with their manner of fighting, besides that
the force he was able to bring was of importance. But God confounded
their councils, having decreed the ruin of that vile wretch, and of the
unjust succours that were now sent to his aid.
On the 15th of October, the Aracan fleet was observed coming down the
river to attack, so numerous that they could not be counted. The
foremost vessel was a Dutch pink, and many of the other vessels were
commanded by Hollanders. All that could be seen appeared full of men
well armed and equipped, and seemed a prodigious overmatch for the small
number the Portuguese had to oppose them, as besides the galliot sent to
Sundiva another had been dispatched in search of the pink, so that only
12 galliots remained and the fliboat. The Dutch pink fired the first
gun, and then the fight began with great fury, the Portuguese galliots
bravely advancing against the vast hostile fleet. Four of the galliots
got before the rest, and in the very beginning of the action their
captains and many of their men were slain, but the other eight came up
to their rescue, and great execution was done among the enemy, many of
whom were drowned by oversetting their vessels in their haste to escape
from the destructive fire of the Portuguese. The battle raged the whole
day, but the enemy drew off in the evening, thinking that a
reinforcement was coming to the Portuguese, as they saw the galliot
approaching which had been sent in search of the pink. In this
engagement the Portuguese lost 25 men of note besides others.
Next morning the pink joined the fleet, on board of which all the
wounded men were put, and those that were fit for service in that vessel
were distributed among the others. Roxo now resolved to remain at anchor
at the mouth of the river till Gonzalez came to join him, and then to
attack the enemy. At length Gonzalez made his appearance, with 50
vessels well manned and equipped, and on being told the orders of the
viceroy and what had been already done, he expressed much displeasure at
the viceroy for giving such orders, and at Roxo for imprudently fighting
before his arrival. About the middle of November: the combined fleets
sailed up the river and discovered the vast fleet of Aracan at anchor in
a well chosen situation, where it was resolved immediately to attack
them. Roxo took half of the ships belonging to Gonzalez under his
immediate command, giving Gonzalez half of these he had brought from
Goa, so as to make two equal squadrons. Thus arranged they advanced
against the enemy, firing against those vessels they could reach, but
none of the enemy ventured to advance. The king of Aracan viewed the
engagement from the shore to encourage his people, and caused the heads
of such as fled to be cut off and exposed on spears as a terror to the
rest. About noon when the heat of the sun was so great as to scorch the
Portuguese; the Aracan ships came on in three numerous squadrons.
Sebastian Gonzalez put to flight those of the enemy that were opposed to
him, and the Portuguese pink compelled that belonging to the Hollanders
to draw off. On that side where Roxo commanded there was much slaughter
on both sides without any evident superiority; but about sunset, when
the advantage was obviously leaning to the Portuguese, Roxo was slain.
Being informed by signal of this mischance, Gonzalez was obliged to
discontinue following up his good fortune; and on the tide ebbing the
fleet separated, one of the Portuguese galliots being left aground among
the enemy, who tore her to pieces and slew all her crew; The Portuguese
fleet retired to the mouth of the river, where care was taken of the
wounded men, and above 200 dead bodies were thrown into the sea. Don
Luis de Azevedo succeeded in the command of the Portuguese squadron, and
they all retired to Sundiva, whence Don Luis sailed back to Goa, in
spite of everything that Gonzalez could say to detain him. Soon after
the departure of the Portuguese ships, the king of Aracan invaded and
conquered the island of Sundiva, by which Sebastian Gonzalez was reduced
to his original poverty, his sovereignty passing away like a dream, his
pride humbled in the dust, and his villainous conduct deservedly
punished.
In 1616, Don Nunno Alvarez Pereyra succeeded Emanuel Mascarennas Homem
as general of the Portuguese in Ceylon, and made several successful
inroads into the kingdom of _Candy_, whence he brought off many
prisoners and great numbers of cattle. From the commencement of the
Portuguese dominion in that island, they had been engaged in almost
perpetual wars with the different petty sovereigns who ruled over its
various small maritime divisions, and with the central kingdom of Canea,
most of which have been omitted in this work as not possessing
sufficient interest. At this time a dangerous commotion took place in
the island, occasioned by a circumstance which, though not new in the
world, is still admired though often repeated. Some years before,
_Nicapeti_ the converted king of Ceylon died without issue, and left the
king of Portugal heir to his dominions. A poor fellow of the same name
got admittance to one of the queens of _Valgameme_ from whom he learnt
several particulars respecting the deceased king, taking advantage of
which he determined to assume the character of the late sovereign, and
to endeavour to persuade the people that he was their prince who had
come again-to-life. For this purpose he feigned himself a _jogue_,
similar to a hermit among the christians; and making his appearance in
the neighbourhood of Maregnepora, he gave out that he came to free his
country from the tyranny of the Portuguese. Finding credit among the
people, many of whom flocked to him, he entered the _seven corlas_
during the absence of the _Dissava_ Philip de Oliveyra, and being
assisted by 2000 men sent to him by the king of Candy, he was
acknowledged as king by most of the country. Hearing of this commotion,
Pereyra sent a force under Emanuel Cesar to suppress the insurrection.
Cesar encountered the false _Nicapeti_ at _Gandola_, a village on the
river _Laoa_, where the insurgents had collected a force of 6000 men. In
the heat of the battle, 1000 Chingalese troops who served under Luis
Gomez Pinto deserted to the enemy; but Don Constantine, a native
Christian of the blood royal who served the Portuguese, called them back
by declaring himself their lawful king, on which they immediately
returned and proclaimed him their sovereign. After a long engagement the
enemy was defeated and fled across the river.
Philip de Oliveyra returned at this time from Candy to his command in
the _seven corlas_, having heard of the insurrection but not of the
victory at Gandola, to which place he immediately marched with about 800
Chingalese lascarins. On reaching the field of battle above 1000 men
were found slain, but no indication by which he could ascertain which
party had gained the victory. An inscription was found on a tree,
signifying that all the Portuguese were slain, none of that nation
remaining in Ceylon, and that Columbo had surrendered to Nicapeti, which
startled the Portuguese who accompanied Oliveyra, and gave great
satisfaction to his Chingalese troops. Continuing his march he was
attacked in the rear by 300 of the enemy, but on facing about they all
fled; soon after which he joined Emanuel Cesar on the river Laoa, and
the insurgents fled to the woods. Cesar and Oliveyra by way of obliging
the insurgents to return to their duty, seized above 400 of their women
and children; but it had the contrary effect, as all their Chingalese
troops immediately deserted with their arms, leaving only about 200
Portuguese. In this dilemma Cesar marched to the pagoda of _Atanagala_,
not far from _Maluana_ where the general resided, who sent him a
reinforcement of 500 men, 200 of whom were Portuguese.
Nicapeti had so much success with the natives that he collected an army
of 24,000 men, with which he marched against Columbo, and was so vain of
his good fortune that he caused himself to be proclaimed emperor of
Ceylon, and transmitted an order to the king of Candy to send him one of
his two wives. The answer on this occasion was, that it should be done
when the Portuguese were subdued. Nicapeti was so enraged at this
answer, that he threatened to use the king of Candy like the
Portuguese; and on this threat coming to the knowledge of the 2000
auxiliaries from Candy, they immediately returned home. By these means
the two enemies of the Portuguese became at variance with each other, to
the great benefit of the Portuguese interests. Emanuel Cesar being
joined by a considerable reinforcement, marched against Nicapeti, and
found the road by which Nicapeti intended to march clean swept and
strewed with flowers. A _Chingalese_ who carried intelligence of the
approach of Cesar to Nicapeti, was ordered to be impaled, the tyrant
declaring there were no Portuguese in Ceylon; but he was soon
undeceived, as the van guards of the two armies came in sight of each
other. Nicapeti immediately took possession of a hill with 7000 men,
where he entrenched himself; but his works were soon carried, 1000 of
his men slain, and the usurper was forced to flee into the woods, laying
aside his regal ornaments for better concealment. The rest of the
insurgent army immediately fled on seeing their chief defeated, and the
morning after the battle 500 of the Chingalese deserted from the enemy
and joined the victors.
At this time a native Chingalese of low birth, named Antonio Barreto,
who had been a Christian and in the service of the Portuguese, but had
gone over to the king of Candy, who appointed him general of his forces
with the title of prince and governor of the kingdom of Uva, took
advantage of the revolt of Nicapeti to seize upon the Portuguese fort of
_Safragan_, which he got possession of by treachery and slew the
Portuguese garrison. This was a severe but just retribution upon the
Portuguese, as they had slain an ambassador sent by the king of Candy to
treat of an accommodation, that they might jointly carry on the war
against Nicapeti. After this the king of Candy marched against the
Portuguese fort of Balane, which he reduced; yet immediately sent a
message to the general Pereyra, offering to treat of peace.
In 1617, the Portuguese affairs were in a dangerous situation in Ceylon,
having at the same time to make war on the king of Candy, Antonio
Barreto, and Nicapeti, who was still in considerable strength
notwithstanding his late defeat. Pereyra divided his forces with
considerable hazard, and put all to the sword in the revolted districts,
sparing neither age nor sex; but neither will mercy and kind usage
conciliate the Chingalese, nor cruelty terrify them into submission.
Part of the forces pursued Nicapeti from _Pelandu_ to _Catugambala,
Devamede_ and _Coraagal_, taking several forts, killing many of the
enemy, and making 600 prisoners. The usurper retired to _Talampeti_ his
usual refuge, and the Portuguese advanced to _Polpeti_ where they came
in sight of the enemys camp, and forcing their works passed on to
_Balapane of Religiam_, whence they sent away the prisoners and wounded
men. At this time the Portuguese force was divided, one part marching
against Barreto while the other continued to follow Nicapeti, but were
able to effect very little, and after being quite spent with fatigue
went into quarters at _Botale_.
Having received reinforcements, Pereyra marched in person with a
considerable force to drive Barreto from _Sofragam_ and _Matura_,
leaving Gomez Pinto with his regiment to-secure _Alicur_ and oppose
Nicapeti, while Cesar stayed to defend _Botale_ with 100 men. The
Portuguese were successful on all sides, driving the enemy from their
works and slaughtering great numbers of them in the woods. In May the
army advanced against Nicapeti, who was strongly entrenched at Moratena,
yet fled towards Candy with such speed that he could not be got up with.
He was at length overtaken in the desert of _Anorajapure_, when after
losing 60 men his troops dispersed and fled into the woods. On this
occasion the wives of the usurper, a grandson of _Raju_, and the nephew
of _Madune_ were all made prisoners. The fame of this victory induced
the inhabitants of the _Corlas_ to submit, and they plentifully supplied
the army then at Malvana with rice. The news of this victory induced the
king of Candy[433] to sue for peace, sending by his ambassadors 32
Portuguese who had been made prisoners during the war. The terms agreed
upon were, that he was to repair and restore the fort at Balane, and
permit another to be constructed at Candy, and was to deliver yearly as
tribute to the crown of Portugal four elephants and a certain stipulated
quantity of cinnamon. Finding afterwards that the Portuguese affairs in
Ceylon were less prosperous, he receded from these conditions and would
only agree to give two elephants as the yearly tribute, but the peace
was concluded.
[Footnote 433: In the translation of the Portuguese Asia, this sovereign
is here named _Anaras Pandar_ king of _Pandar_; but from every
circumstance in the context it appears that we ought to read _Anaras
Pandar_ king of _Candy_. - E.]
END OF THE SIXTH VOLUME.