ivided among them to eat. At _Cardevola_, the enemy had two forts,
which were carried by escalade. The enemy fled in every quarter, making
no stand till they arrived at the foot of the mountains of Candy, where
they were defeated, and the forts of _Manicravare_, _Safragam_,
_Maluana_, and _Caliture_, were immediately afterwards reduced, as was
the district of Matura, of which the commander of the Chingalese
Christians, who deserted from de Sa, had made himself king. At last the
king of Candy sent to implore peace, which was granted at the
intercession of the priests and monks. In fine, Almeyda not only
restored the reputation of the Portuguese arms in Ceylon, but increased
it, and established the government of the island in good order. He was
removed, however, by the succeeding viceroy, and returned to Goa poor,
and full of honour, where he died poor, more from grief than age; and no
sooner was he deprived of the command, than all he had gained was
speedily lost, though it was again recovered by Diego de Melo y Castro
in 1633.

About the end of the year 1635, the Count de Linares resigned the
government of India to Pedro de Silva, who was usually called _Mole_ or
the Soft, on account of the easiness of his disposition. He disliked the
government so much, that he was often heard to exclaim, "God forgive
those who appointed me viceroy, as I am not fit for the office." He held
the government, however, nearly four years, and died in the end of June
1639, when he was succeeded as governor by Antonio Tellez de Silva,
whose name was found in one of the royal patents, which was now opened.
Tellez happened to be absent from Goa at the time, for which reason, the
archbishop of Goa, who was next in nomination, assumed the government in
his name, and sent notice to him of his appointment, and in the
meantime, employed himself in fitting out twelve ships of war for the
relief of Malacca, then threatened by the king of Acheen and the
Hollanders. At this time nine Dutch ships entered the river of Goa, and
set on fire three Portuguese galleons then lying at _Marmugam_, after
which they retired without loss or opposition, because the fort was
destitute of men and ammunition. Antonio Tellez arrived immediately
after this unfortunate accident, at which he was exceedingly enraged,
not so much for the actual loss, as that the enemy should be able to
insult the harbour of the Portuguese Indian capital without harm or
resistance. On the back