sentences:  Relations between the Dutch and the Kandyans remained peaceable after this until the final expulsion of the former from the island in 1796.Though several British sailors and priests had landed in Sri Lanka as early as the 1590s, the most famous was Robert Knox who published "An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon" based on his experiences during the reign of Rajasinghe II in 1681.One hundred years later, British involvement in Sri Lankan affairs commenced in earnest with the seizure of Trincomalee by Admiral Edward Hughes as part of general British-Dutch hostilities during the American War of Independence.