Towards The Close Of The Viceroyalty Of Don Duarte De Menezes, Raju Who
Had Usurped The Sovereignty Of Ceylon, Determined Upon Making A Conquest
Of The Portuguese Fortress Of Columbo, With A View Of Expelling Them
From That Island.
For this purpose he collected an immense army, in
which were 50,000 soldiers, 60,000 pioneers, and nearly
As many
artificers of various descriptions, with 2200 elephants, 40,000 oxen,
150 pieces of cannon, and 50,000 intrenching tools, axes, shovels,
spades, and mattocks, with an innumerable quantity of spare arms and
ammunition; among which were two wooden castles built upon enormous
carriages, each of which had nine wheels. Added to all which he had
nearly 500 craft of different kinds. Before proceeding upon this
expedition, he deemed it proper to consult the idols respecting its
success; and on this occasion he secretly placed men behind the idols,
who answered to his supplications for a favourable termination to his
great design, If you, would take Columbo you must shed innocent blood!
The people were astonished at this familiar and direct intercourse
between their idols and their prince; and he, pretending obedience to
the divine commands which they had all heard, caused 500 children to be
taken from the arms of their mothers, all of whom were sacrificed, and
the idols sprinkled with their blood.
After all his preparations were completed, he marched with his
prodigious army and invested Columbo, choosing the ground which he
deemed most advantageous, as the garrison was not sufficiently strong to
contend with him in the field. Joam de Britto, who then commanded in
Columbo, had sent intimation of his danger to the other Portuguese
possessions, and had arranged every thing for defence as well as he
could. To defend the place against the vast army by which he was now
assailed, he had only 300 Portuguese, a third of whom were useless, as
being old men or children; besides whom he had 700 armed natives and
slaves. This incompetent force he posted to the best advantage around
the walls, which were far too extensive, reserving 50 picked men to
attend upon himself to give relief wherever it was most needed. After
the commencement of the siege, Raju spent a whole month in draining a
lake which secured one side of Columbo from being assailed, and as the
Portuguese had several boats on the lake, there were frequent skirmishes
in which the enemy suffered considerable loss. The side of the fort
which had been covered by the lake was much weakened by the drawing off
its water, which had been its chief defence on that side. In
consequence of the advices sent by Brito to the commanders of the
neighbouring forts, reinforcements were prepared at different quarters.
The first relief, consisting of 40 men, was sent by Juan de Melo the
commander of Manaar, under the command of his nephew Ferdinand de Melo,
who likewise brought a supply of ammunition; and Ferdinand was posted
with his men to strengthen the defence upon the side towards the drained
lake.
On the 4th of August before day-light [406], Raju advanced in silence to
give the first assault, but was discovered by the lighted matches of his
musqueteers. The enemy applied their scaling ladders at the same time to
the three bastions of St Michael, St Gonzalo, and St Francisco, while
2000 pioneers fell to work below to undermine the works. Many of the
assailants were thrown down from their ladders on the heads of the
workmen employed below, while numbers of the enemy who were drawn up in
the field before the town were destroyed by the cannons from the walls.
Everywhere both within and without, the fort resounded with the cries of
women and children, and the groans of the wounded, joined to the noise
of the cannon and musquetry and the shrill cries of elephants, which,
forced to the walls by their conductors, were driven back smarting with
many wounds, and did vast injury in the ranks of the besiegers. Such was
the multitude of the enemy that they did not seem lessened by slaughter,
fresh men still pressing on to supply the places of the killed and
wounded. Brito was present in every place of danger, giving orders and
conveying relief, and after a long and arduous contest, the enemy at
length gave way, leaving 400 men dead or dying at the foot of the walls.
During this assault, some Chingalese who had retired into the fort to
escape the tyranny of Raju, fought with as much bravery as the
Portuguese. Twice afterwards, Raju made repeated attempts to carry the
place by escalade, but was both times repulsed with much slaughter.
After which he repaired his entrenchments, and prepared to renew the
assaults.
[Footnote 406: The date of the year is omitted by DeTaria, who, always
rather negligent of dates, now; hardly ever gives any more light on this
subject than the years in which the respective viceroys and governors
assumed and laid down their authorities. The siege therefore must have
happened between 1584 and 1588, during the government of Duarte de
Menezes. - E.]
After the commencement of the siege Diego Fernandez Pessoa came from
Negapatnam with a ship of his own, and Antonio de Aguilar brought
another ship, by means of which the besieged were much encouraged. Don
Joam de Austria the Modeliar of Candea[407], and the Arache Don
Alfonzo, did at this time eminent service against the enemy; and a
soldier of vast strength, named Jose Fernandez, having broken his spear,
threw several of the enemy behind him to be slain by those in his rear.
On learning the danger of Colombo, the city of Cochin fitted out six
ships for its relief, with a supply of men and ammunition, which were
placed under the command of Nuno Alvarez de Atouguia. Before their
arrival, Raju gave another general assault by sea and land, in which the
danger was so pressing that even the religious were forced to act as
officers and soldiers to defend the walls, and the enemy were again
repulsed with great slaughter.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 200 of 217
Words from 203343 to 204366
of 221361
