Famine and disease in the Fort of Colombo
There were enough people to help the Dutch. The king sent labourers for work like the digging of ditches. As a result, the delay in besieging the city was not a big problem for the Dutch.
But what followed was that some of the people who came out of the fort were chased back into the fort by the power of the sword of the Dutch. Some were hanged just to cause fear among the rest. Meanwhile on top of the famine that the people were suffering from, disease began to spread.
Their only intention at the time was to prevent all help and food coming from both land and sea to assist the Portuguese. Meanwhile the Portuguese were suffering from hunger. To remedy the situation, they decided to send the soldiers who were not equipped with weapons out of the fort.
Daily there were a number of men dying of disease. This gradually reduced the numbers in the army. The Portuguese who were left inside the fort had to survive on dry vegetables and at times even the flesh of dead animals. Rumour spread that they were forced to even consume human flesh.
This sad state of affairs made some Portuguese to go and join the Dutch. Then there came a severe drought too. Even the water in the Beira Lake was running dry. This made things easy for the Dutch to come closer to the walls of the fort.
By Halaliye Karunathilake
Edited and translated by Kamala Silva
Illustrated by Saman Kalubowila