A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume VI

We have formerly in the First BOOK of this Second PART of our general arrangement, given a historical account of the Portuguese Discoveries along the Coast of Africa, with their Discovery of and early Conquests in India, from the glorious era of DON HENRY prince of Portugal in 1412, down to the year 1505. Necessarily called off from that interesting subject, to attend to the memorable Discovery of the NEW WORLD by the immortal COLUMBUS, we have detailed at considerable, yet we hope not inconvenient length, in the III. IV. and V.

Volumes of our Collection, the great and important Discovery of America, and the establishment of the principal Spanish colonies in that grand division of the world, with some short notices of the earliest American Discoveries by the Portuguese, English, and French nations. We now return to a continuation of the early Discoveries and Conquests in India, taking that word in its most extensive signification as comprehending the whole of southern Asia, from the Persian Gulf to Japan and Eastern China. In the present portion of our Collection, we propose chiefly to direct our attention to the transactions of the Portuguese; adding however such accounts as we may be able to procure of the early Voyages to India made by other European nations.

[Footnote 63: Portuguese Asia, by Manuel de Faria y Sousa-Astleys Collection of Voyages and Travels, I. 58. et sequ.]

It is not necessary to particularize the various sources from which the different articles to be contained in this Book or division of our work has been collected, as these will be all referred to in the several chapters and sections of which it is composed. Indeed as the introductions we prefix, on the present and other similar occasions, are necessarily written previous to the composition of the articles to which they refer, contrary to the usual practice, it would be improper to tie ourselves too strictly on such occasions, so as to preclude the availment of any additional materials that may occur during our progress, and therefore we here beg leave to notify that we reserve a power of including the earliest voyages of other European nations to the Atlantic and eastern coasts of Africa, together with Arabia and Persia, among the early voyages to India, if hereafter deemed necessary; which is strictly conformable to what has been already done in PART II. BOOK I, and what must necessarily be the case on the present occasion. It may be proper however to mention, that the present chapter, containing a continuation of the early Discoveries, Navigations, and Conquests of the Portuguese in India, is taken from the PORTUGUESE ASIA, of Manuel de Faria y Sousa, taking that author up in 1505, where we had to lay down Castaneda at the end of our Second BOOK. Faria[64], who is designated as a member of the Portuguese military order of Christ, was a celebrated historian among his countrymen, and his work, entitled ASIA PORTUGUEZA, contains an account somewhat in the form of Annals, of the Transactions of his countrymen in India, from their first going there in 1497, to the year 1646. This work contains all the Portuguese Voyages and Discoveries, from their first attempt to extend along the western coast of Africa, to their final discovery of the farthest parts of China and Japan: All their battles by sea and land, with their expeditions, sieges, and other memorable actions: The whole interspersed with descriptions of the places and countries they discovered, visited, or conquered; including accounts of the manners, customs, government, and religion of the natives. This author is remarkable for a concise and clear narrative, and for judicious reflections on the conduct of the Portuguese kings, ministers, governors, and commanders, as well as for his remarks on many other occasions. These are always just, and have often an air of freedom that might not have been expected under an arbitrary government: But in matters regarding religion, he often discovers a surprising reverse of character, full of weak and puerile credulity, the never-failing consequence of education and publication under the influence of that eternal and abominable stain of the peninsula, the Inquisition.

[Footnote 64: Astley, I. 87.]

This work of De Faria has gone through various impressions in Portugal, where it is esteemed a curious and accurate performance, though on some occasions it is alleged that he has placed too much reliance on Mendez Pinto, a dealer in bare-faced fiction. The first impression of the Portuguese Asia was printed at Lisbon in 1666, in 3 vols. small folio, and it has been often reprinted, and translated into Spanish, Italian, French, and English.

The English translation used on the present occasion, and we know of no other or later edition, was made by Captain John Stevens, and published at London in 1695, in 3 vols. 8vo. dedicated to Catherine of Portugal, Queen Dowager of England. In his Preface, Mr Stevens informs the reader, that he had reduced the work to considerably less size than the Spanish original, yet without omitting any part of the history, or even abridging any material circumstances; having cut off long speeches, which were only added by the author as rhetorical flourishes, and omitted many tedious lists of the names of officers who were present at the principal actions, and extended reflections of the author which were only useful to increase the size of the work. In this account of the work by the translator, the Spanish is mentioned as the original. Indeed the Portuguese and Spanish original editions appear to have both appeared contemporaneously in 1666.[65]

[Footnote 65: Bibl. Univ. des Voy. IV. 576.]

In the employment of Faria we have followed the example of Astleys Collection of Voyages and Travels, of which Mr John Green is said to have been the Editor. But although in that former Collection, published at London in 1745, an absolutely verbal and literal transcript is used so far as the Editor has been pleased to follow the translation of Stevens, many very curious and important particulars contained in that author are omitted, or slurred over by a hasty and careless abridgement. From where we take up Faria, in consequence of the loss of Castaneda, we have given his work nearly entire, only endeavouring to reduce the language of Captain Stevens to the modern standard, and occasionally using the freedom to arrange incidents a little more intelligibly, and to curtail a few trifling matters that seemed to possess no interest for modern readers. We have however availed ourselves of many valuable notes and illustrations of the text by the Editor of Astleys Collection, all of which will be found acknowledged and referred to in their proper places. And we have adopted from the same source some valuable additions to the text of Faria, intimately connected with the subject, which are likewise carefully acknowledged. Thus, like many former articles in this Collection, we trust that the present, as being greatly fuller, will be found more satisfactory and informing than any similar account in former Collections of Voyages and Travels.

After so considerable an interval employed on the Discoveries in America, it may be proper to remark that the former Account of the Discovery of the maritime route to India by the Cape of Good Hope, and the commencement of the Portuguese Conquests in the East, as contained in the Second Volume of this Work, Part II. Chap. VI. Sections I. to IX. pp. 292-505, comprises only a period of nine years, from the setting out of Vasco de Gama in July 1497, on his adventurous Voyage, by which he completed the discovery of the way by sea to India from Europe, projected by Prince Henry in 1412, eighty-five years before. On that former occasion, following the narrative of Hernan Lopez de Castaneda, we brought down the Transactions of the Portuguese in India to the year 1505; including the almost incredible defence of Cochin by the intrepid Pacheco against the immensely more numerous forces of the Zamorin of Calicut; the relief of the chivalric besieged, by the arrival of Lope Suarez de Menezes in September 1505; and the voyage of Suarez back to Portugal in 1505, leaving Manuel Telez de Vasconcelles as captain-general of the Portuguese possessions in India. It has been formerly mentioned, Vol. II. p.500, note 5, that Castaneda names this person Lope Mendez de Vasconcelles, and that he is named Manuel Telez de Barreto by the editor of Astleys Collection, in which we now find that he had followed the author of the Portuguese Asia. The difference between these authorities is irreconcileable, but is quite immaterial to the English reader.--E.

SECTION I.

Course of the Indian Trade before the Discovery of the Route by the Cape of Good Hope, with some account of the settlement of the Arabs on the East Coast of Africa[66].

Before the Discovery of the Route to India by the Cape of Good Hope, formerly related in PART II. CHAPTER VI. the spices and other productions of India were brought to Europe with vast trouble and at great expence, so that they were necessarily sold at very high prices. The cloves of the Moluccas, the nutmegs and mace of Banda, the sandal-wood of Timor, the camphor of Borneo, the gold and silver of Luconia, with all the other and various rich commodities, spices, gums, perfumes, and curiosities of China, Japan, Siam, and other kingdoms of the continent and islands of India, were carried to the great mart of Malacca, a city in the peninsula of that name, which is supposed to have been the Aurea Chersonesus of the ancients. From that place the inhabitants of the more western countries between Malacca and the Red Sea procured all these commodities, dealing by way of barter, no money being used in this trade, as silver and gold were in much less request in these eastern parts of India than foreign commodities. By this trade, Calicut, Cambaya, Ormuz, Aden, and other cities were much enriched. The merchants of these cities, besides what they procured at Malacca as before mentioned, brought rubies from Pegu, rich stuffs from Bengal, pearls from Calicare[67], diamonds from Narsinga[68], cinnamon and rich rubies from Ceylon, pepper, ginger, and other spices, from the coast of Malabar and other places where these are produced. From Ormuz these commodities were conveyed up the Persian gulf to Basorah at the mouth of the Euphrates, and were thence distributed by caravans through Armenia, Trebisond, Tartary, Aleppo, and Damascus; and from these latter cities, by means of the port of Barat in Syria, the Venetians, Genoese, and Catalonians carried them to their respective countries, and to other parts of Europe. Such of these commodities as went up the Red Sea, were landed at Tor or Suez at the bottom of that gulf, whence they were conveyed over land to Cairo in Egypt, and thence down the Nile to Alexandria, where they were shipped for Europe.

[Footnote 66: De Faria, Portuguese Asia, I. 82.]

[Footnote 67: Named Kalekare by Astley; and probably alluding to some place in the neighbourhood of the great pearl fishery in the Gulf of Manar, between Ceylon and the Carnatic.--E.]

[Footnote 68: Now called Golconda. But the dominions of Narsinga seem then to have included the whole southern peninsula of India, except the coasts of Canara and Malabar, from Visiapour and the Deccan to Cape Comorin.--E.]

Many princes apprehending vast loss to their revenues, by this new course which the Portuguese had discovered for carrying on a direct trade by sea between Europe and India, used their endeavours to drive them from that country. For this purpose, the Soldan of Egypt[69], who was principally affected by this new trade, gave out that he would destroy the holy places in Jerusalem, if the Portuguese persisted in trading to Malabar. Believing him in earnest, Maurus, a monk of Mount Sinai, went to Rome with a letter from the Soldan to the pope, signifying his intention to destroy those places, sacred in the estimation of the Christians, in revenge for the injury done to his trade by the Portuguese. The pope sent Maurus into Portugal, where the purport of his message was known before his arrival, and such preparations made for driving the Moors from the trade of India, that Maurus returned to Cairo with more alarming intelligence than he had brought. The king of Portugal informed his holiness by letter, that his intentions in prosecuting these eastern discoveries were to propagate the holy faith, and to extend the papal jurisdiction over the countries of the heathen, by which the pope was entirely reconciled to his proceedings.

[Footnote 69: This last mameluke Soldan of Egypt was Almalec al Ashraf Abul Nasr Sayf oddin Kansu al Gauri, commonly called Campson Gauri, the 24th of the Circassian dynasty, who reigned from 1500 to 1516, when he was slain in battle near Aleppo by Selim Emperor of the Turks.--Astley, I. 58. b.]

Along the eastern coast of Africa, the Moors or Arabs had several settlements. From Cape Guardafu, the most eastern point of Africa, to Mozambique, is a hollow coast like a bent bow, extending 550 leagues. From Cape Mozambique to Cape Corrientes is 170 leagues, and thence to the Cape of Good Hope 340 leagues. Hence turning again to the northwards and a little towards the west, the western coast of Africa reaches to Congo. Drawing a line east across the continent, there remains a large peninsula or promontory, to which the Arabs have given the name of Kafraria, naming the inhabitants Kafrs or unbelievers; an appellation bestowed by the Mahometans on all who are not of their religion, but chiefly those who worship images, whence they call most of the Christians by the opprobrious name of Kafrs. To the north of this line on the east coast of Africa is the maritime country of Zanguebar, or more properly Zenjibar, so named from a Negro nation called the Zenji, who had formerly conquered all that coast before the settlement of the Arabs. From Zanguebar all the way to Cape Guardafu and the mouth of the Red Sea, the coast is called Ajam or Ajen, signifying in Arabic the country of the barbarians; the maritime parts being occupied by the Arabs, and the inland country by heathen Negroes. Most of this coast is very low, covered by impenetrable woods, and subject to inundations, so that it is excessively hot and unwholesome. The Negroes of this country are black with crisp curled hair, and are wonderfully addicted to superstition, being all idolaters; insomuch that upon the most frivolous motives they will give over the most important enterprises: Thus the king of Quiloa failed to meet Don Francisco de Almeyda, because a black cat crossed his way when going out. The cattle, fruit, and grain are answerable to the wildness of the country. The Moors or Arabs, who inhabit this coast and the adjacent islands, seldom cultivate the ground, and mostly subsist on wild beasts and several loathsome things. Such as live more towards the interior, and have intercourse with the barbarous Kafrs, use milk as a part of their diet.

As this country has been endowed by nature with much gold, an eager desire to procure that precious metal has induced, first the Arabs, and afterwards the Europeans, to possess themselves of various parts along the coast. The first of the Arabs who came here were called Emozadi, which signifies subjects of Zayde, who built two inconsiderable towers, merely sufficient to defend them against the barbarous Kafrs. Afterwards still greater numbers came from the ports about the city of Lazah, forty leagues from the island of Baharem[70] in the Persian gulf, who settled first Magadoxa and afterwards Brava. The first Arabs separated from these, new comers, and mixing with the Kafrs became Bedouins, or Badwis, signifying people of the desert. Those Arabs who first possessed themselves of the gold trade of Sofala were from Magadoxa, and discovered the gold mines by accident. From thence they spread themselves farther towards the south, but durst never venture to navigate beyond Cape Corrientes, which is opposite to the south-wester-most part of the Island of St Lawrence or Madagascar. Along this coast the Arabs had possessed themselves of Quiloa, Mombaza, Melinda, and the islands, of Pemba, Zanzibar, Monfia, Comoro, and others; Quiloa being the principal of their settlements, from whence many others had been formed, particularly on the coast of Madagascar. Quiloa had been originally a peninsula, but by the encroachments of the sea it had become an island. The soil produces many palms and thorn trees, and various herbs and plants; and the wild beasts, cattle, and birds resemble those of Spain. The buildings in the places possessed by the Arabs resemble those in Spain, having flat roofs, with gardens and orchards behind.

[Footnote 70: More properly Bahrayn, which signifies the two seas, being the Arabic dual of Bahr, the sea.--Astl. I. 59. e.]

SECTION II.

Voyage of Don Francisco de Almeyda from Lisbon to India, in quality of Viceroy, with an account of some of his transactions on the Eastern coast of Africa, and Malabar.

On the 25th of March 1505, Don Francisco de Almeyda sailed from Lisbon with a fleet of twenty-two ships, carrying 1500 soldiers, being bound for India of which he was appointed viceroy. Eleven of these ships were to return with merchandize to Portugal, and other eleven were to remain in India. On the 2d of July the fleet met with a terrible storm, by which it was separated. In one of the ships commanded by Diego Correa, the sails were split to pieces and three men washed overboard, two of whom perished; but the third, named Fernando Lorenzo, called out that he would keep above water till morning, and begged of them to keep an eye upon him, and on the storm abating next morning he was taken on board. Owing to the separation of the fleet by the storm, Almeyda arrived at Quiloa with only eight vessels; and on saluting the port without receiving any answer, he called a council of his officers to deliberate upon his proceedings, as he had orders from the king to erect a fort at this place, which was accordingly resolved upon. He landed therefore with 500 men, accompanied by his son Don Lorenzo, and attacked the town in two places. Amir Ibrahim fled over to the continent with his wives and riches, having previously hoisted the Portuguese standard, by which device he stopped the pursuit and gained time to escape. The city was taken and plundered, without any loss on the side of the Portuguese, though a great number of the inhabitants were slain. Ibrahim though the forty-fourth successive sovereign, was an usurper, who had murdered the former king, and Almeyda raised Mohammed Ankoni, a relation of the former king and who had espoused the Portuguese interests to the throne, placing a crown of gold on his head with great pomp and solemnity. On this occasion Mohammed declared that if the former king Alfudail had been alive he would have refused the crown; and he actually appointed the son of Alfudail to be his successor, though he had children of his own. This rare example in an unbeliever may put to shame the inhumanity and barbarism of the Christians, who wade through seas of blood, contemn the most sacred bonds of consanguinity and alliance, spoil provinces, oppress the good, exalt the wicked, convert loyalty to treason, perjury into duty, and religion into a cloak to work out their accursed purposes, and to bereave of their crowns and sceptres those to whom Providence had been pleased to confide them as most worthy of rule.

Having settled every thing to his mind, and constructed a fort in twenty days, Almeyda left a garrison of 550 men, together with a caravel and brigantine, and sailed on the 8th of August with thirteen sail for Mombaza, which is seated like Quiloa in an island about fourteen leagues in circumference. This city is beautiful and strong, having a large bay before it capable of containing many ships. Before entering the bay, two vessels were sent to sound the bar, which is commanded by a battery of eight cannons, which fired upon these vessels; but a ball from the Portuguese happening to fall among the powder belonging to the enemy, blew it up and did great injury to the natives, so that they were obliged to abandon the work. Two smaller works being likewise abandoned, the fleet entered the bay without farther resistance. Being informed that the king of Mombaza had hired 1500 Kafr archers to assist in defending the place, Almeyda sent him a message demanding submission; but the answer was, that the Moors of Mombaza were not to be frightened by the noise of cannon like those of Quiloa, and he might do his worst. Enraged at this contemptuous answer, and because several of his men had been wounded, while attempting to burn some ships in the port belonging to Cambaya, Almeyda landed his men on the 15th of August and attacked the city. He succeeded in the assault, driving the enemy out at the other side of the town, and their king along with them, whose palace he took possession of, on which he planted a cross. Immediately after gaining possession of the town, he received notice that his ships had succeeded in their attack on those belonging to the Moors of Cambaya, all of which were burnt. In this action the Portuguese lost only five men; while of the Moors 1513 were slain and 1200 made prisoners, of which only 200 were retained and all the rest set free. Having plundered the city of every thing worth carrying off or which his ships could contain, Almeyda burnt Mombaza to the ground.

At this place Almeyda was joined by most of the remaining ships, and continuing his voyage for India, he stopped by the way at a bay called Angra de Santa Elena, where he found Juan Homem, who had been separated along with other ships, and had discovered some islands. Sailing from thence in continuation of his voyage, the first place he came to in India was the island of Anchediva[71], where according to orders from the king he constructed a fort in which he placed a garrison of 80 men, leaving two brigantines to protect the trade. While at this place he was visited by ambassadors from the king or rajah of Onore, a small kingdom of Malabar, who brought presents and a friendly message from their sovereign. Several considerable merchants also waited upon him, assuring him of the good will of their prince towards the Portuguese; and several Moors from Cincatora brought him considerable presents. All this however was the effect of fear, as they had heard of his successes at Quiloa and Mombaza. He was informed at this place that the prince Saboga had built a fort at no great distance on the banks of the river Aliga on the borders of Onore, which was garrisoned by 800 men. Meaning to make himself master of this place, he sent his son Don Lorenzo under pretence of a friendly visit to take a view of the fort, which he effected and remained there some days. Having completed the fort at Anchediva, he sailed to the port of Onore, and being ill received, he determined to shew himself as terrible there as he had done at Quiloa and Mombaza. The inhabitants however amused him with excuses and pretended submission, till they had removed their wives, children, and effects to a neighbouring mountain, and then stood upon their defence. On this Almeyda landed most of his forces to attack the town, sending his son Lorenzo with 150 men in boats to set some ships on fire which were in the port. Though the natives defended themselves with much bravery, and discharged prodigious flights of arrows, by one of which Almeyda was wounded, both the town and ships were set on fire; and as the wind blew the smoke in the faces of the Portuguese they were much incommoded for a time; but Don Lorenzo by taking a compass got away from the smoke, and fell in with a body of 1500 of the enemy, whom he immediately attacked. In this engagement Lorenzo had like to have been defeated, his men falling into disorder; but was fortunately succoured by his father, when the enemy fled to the mountain. At this time, Timoja, who was governor of the city and proprietor of some of the ships which were destroyed, waited on Almeyda making excuses for the conduct of the king; and being a man of graceful manners and appearance, and engaging for his master to become vassal to the king of Portugal, Almeyda was pacified and agreed to a treaty of peace.

[Footnote 71: Anchediva or Anjediva is I small island in lat. 14° 33' N. near the northern part of the Malabar coast, between Carwar and Meerjee.--E.]

Leaving Onore, Almeyda went to Cananor, where he had an interview on shore with the rajah, who was attended by 5000 men well armed. He informed the rajah that he was to reside for some time in India, in consequence of the troubles which had arisen between the Portuguese and the zamorin of Calicut, and desired permission to build a fort at this place for protecting the Portuguese trade against the Moors. This being granted and the fort begun, he left Lorenzo de Brito in the command with 150 men, and two vessels to cruize along the coast. Going from thence to Cochin, he received intelligence that the Portuguese factor at Coulan and all his men had been killed by the Moors. He sent however his son Don Lorenzo with three ships and three caravels, with orders to endeavour to procure loading for the vessels without taking any notice of what had happened; but in case loading were denied he was to take ample revenge for the murder of the factor and his people. The messenger sent upon this occasion was answered by a flight of arrows, and twenty-four ships belonging to Calicut and other places put themselves in readiness to oppose the Portuguese. After a short resistance Lorenzo burnt them all, only a very small number of the Moors saving themselves by swimming to the shore. Don Lorenzo then went to load at another port, after which he rejoined the viceroy at Cochin.

It had been the intention of Almeyda, according to his orders from the king of Portugal, to crown Triumpara in a solemn manner, with a golden crown richly adorned with jewels, brought on purpose from Lisbon, as a recompence for the gallant fidelity with which he had protected the Portuguese against the zamorin and their other enemies. But as Triumpara had abdicated in favour of his nephew Nambeadora[72], Almeyda thought proper to confer the same honour upon him, and he was accordingly crowned with great pomp, as a mark of the friendship of the Portuguese, and a terror to others. From this place Almeyda sent home six ships richly laden for Lisbon.

[Footnote 72: This name mast certainly be erroneous. In the former part of the history of the Portuguese transactions in India, Nambea daring is mentioned as brother to the zamorin of Calicut, whereas the prince of Cochin is repeatedly named Naramuhin.--E.]

SECTION III.

Some Account of the state of India at the beginning of the sixteenth Century, and commencement of the Portuguese Conquests[73].

As the viceroyalty of Don Francisco de Almeyda laid the foundation of the Portuguese dominion in India, once so extensive and powerful, it may be proper in this place to give a general view of its principal ports and provinces along the sea-coast. Asia is divided from Europe by the river Don, anciently the Tanais, by the Euxine or Black Sea, and by the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, or Straits of Constantinople. It is parted from Africa by the Red Sea, and a line drawn from Suez at the head of that gulf to the Mediterranean, across a narrow neck of land measuring only twenty-four leagues in breadth, called the Isthmus of Suez. Its principal religions are four, the Christian, Mahometan, Pagan, and Jewish. That portion of Asia which principally belongs to our present purpose, may be divided into nine parts, following the coast from the west to the east.

[Footnote 73: From the Portuguese Asia, Vol. I. 93. This account is omitted in Astley's Collection, but inserted, here as a curious record of the geographical knowledge of the Portuguese in those times. There are numerous errors in this short geographical sketch, especially in the names, measures, and latitudes; but it would load this portion of our work too much with notes, and induce great confusion, to comment upon every step of this survey.--E.]

The first, commencing at the mouth of the Red Sea in the west, reaches to the mouth of the gulf of Persia, being the oceanic coast of Arabia. From the mouth of the Red Sea in lat. 12° 40' N. to the city of Aden, is 44 leagues: Thence to Cape Fartaque in lat. 12° 30' N. is 100 leagues, containing the towns of Abian, Ax, Canacan, Brun, Argel, Zebel which is the metropolis, Herit, Cayem, and Fartach. Thence to Curia Muria is 70 leagues of coast, on which is the city of Dolfor, famous for frankincense, and Norbate 20 leagues farther east. From Curia Muria to Cape Ras-Algate, in lat. 22° 30' N. is 120 leagues all barren and desert. Here begins the kingdom of Ormuz, and hence to Cape Mozandan are 90 leagues, having the cities or towns of Colagate, Curiate, Mascate, Soar, Calata, Orfacam, Doba, and Lima, 8 leagues from Monbazam which Ptolomey calls Cape Assaborum in lat. 26° N. All this track is called Ayaman or Yemen by the Arabians, and was the Arabia Felix of the ancients, because the most fertile and best inhabited country of all Arabia.

The second division, from Cape Jacques or Jask to the mouth of the river Indus, is 200 leagues in extent, called Chirman or Kerman, and is divided into the two kingdoms of Macran and Madel, with these towns, Guadel, Calara, Tibique, Calamate, Goadel, and Diul. This coast is barren and most of it desert, and cannot be approached on account of the shallowness of the sea near the shore.

The third division contains 150 leagues, of which 38 from Diu[74] to Cape Jaquete or Jigat, whence to Diu in the kingdom of Guzerat are 50 leagues, having these towns, Cotinna, Mangalor, Chervar, Patan, and Corinar[75]. From Diu to Cambaya is 50 leagues, with these towns Madrafavat, Moha, Talica, Goda, and Gundin[76]. Between Cambaya and Cape Jaquete or Jigat, is included a part of the kingdom of Guzarate and the mountainous region of the Resboutos, or Rajputs.

[Footnote 74: Perhaps Debil, near the western mouth of the Indus.--E.]

[Footnote 75: Those names of sea port towns in the Guzerate are miserably corrupted in the text: Only Puttan can be recognised among them, and Mangalor must be a mistake; as that place is far to the south of Guzerat on the coast of Canara.--E.]

[Footnote 76: The sea ports on this part of the coast now are Jaffrabad, Cuttapour, Toolafee, Manuah, Gogo, Eawnagur, and Iotian.--E.]

The fourth division measures 290 leagues, being the most valuable part of India and the most frequented by the Portuguese. This is subdivided into three portions by two rivers which run from east to west. The first of these separates the kingdom of the Decan from Guzerate on the north, and the second divides the Decan from Canara which is to the south. There are other rivers, all of which have their sources in the mountains called Gaut; the chief among them being the Ganga, or Gangue, which falls into the sea near the mouth of the Ganges, between the cities of Angali and Pisolta, in about lat. 22° N [77]. The river Bate, rising in the Gauts, falls into the sea near Bombaim, dividing the kingdoms of Guzerate and Decan, the mouth of that river being 70 leagues from the city of Cambaya. From Chaul south of that river to the river Aliga, the south boundary of the Decan, is 75 leagues, with these towns Bandor, Dabul, Debitele, Cintapori, Coropatan, Banda, Chapora, and Goa the metropolis and archiepiscopal see of Portuguese India.

[Footnote 77: The Guaga or Godavery is probably here meant, which falls into the Bay of Bengal in lat. 16° 16' N. at the S.W. extremity of the Circars. The latitude indicated in the text gets beyond the Bay of Bengal, and the cities between which the Ganga is said to fall into the sea have no representatives in our best maps.--E.]

The fifth division begins where Canara parts from the Decan and ends at Cape Comorin, containing above 140 leagues. From the Aliga to Mount Delli or Dilly is about 46 leagues, with these towns, Onor, Baticale, Barcalor, Baranor, and others of the province of Canara which is subject to the king of Bisnagar. Below or south from Mount Delli to Cape Comorin is Malabar, extending 93 leagues, and divided into three kingdoms which own no superior. The kingdom of Cananor has 20 leagues of coast, in which are the towns of Cota, Coulam, Nilichilam, Marabia, Bolepatam, Cananor the metropolis in lat. 12° N. Tremapatam, Cheba, Maim, and Purepatam. At this place the kingdom of Calicut begins and extends 27 leagues, of which Calicut the metropolis is in lat. 11° 17' N. besides the following towns Coulete, Chale, Parangale, Tanor, the last of which is the capital of a small kingdom subject to the zamorin of Calicut, and Chatua the last in this kingdom. Next to Calicut to the south is the small kingdom of Cranganor, which borders on Cochin, after which is Coulan, and last of all Travancore, which is subject to Narsinga. Near Travancore is the famous Cape Comorin, the southernmost point of the continent of Indostan or India on this side the Ganges, in lat. 7° 30' N [78]. at which place the coast of Malabar ends, being the fourth of the nine districts into which I have divided the coast of Asia.

[Footnote 78: The latitude of Cape Comorin is 7° 54' N, or nearly so.--E.]

From Cape Comorin in the west to Cape Cincapura in the east, which is the southernmost point of the Aurea Chersonesus or Malacca, the distance is 400 leagues, within which line is contained the great bay of Bengal, sometimes called the Sinus Gangeticus, because the river Ganges falls into this bay in about the lat. of 22° N. after watering the kingdom of Bengal. This river discharges a prodigious quantity of water, and is esteemed holy by the neighbouring nations, who believe that its water conduces to their salvation when at the point of death, and are carried therefore that they may die with their feet in its water, by which means the king of Bengal derives a considerable revenue, no one being allowed to bathe in that river without paying a certain tax. This river has many mouths, the two most remarkable of which are Satigan on the west and Chatigan[79] on the east, near 100 leagues from each other, and here ends the fifth of the nine districts, which may be divided into three subordinate parts. In the first place the kingdom of Bisnagar[80] contains 200 leagues, and the following towns, Tarancurii, Manapar, Vaipar, Trechendur, Caligrande, Charcacale, Tucucurii, Benbar, Calicare, Beadala, Manancort, and Cannameira, giving name to a cape which stretches out into the sea in lat. 10° N.[81] then Negapatnam, Hahor, Triminapatnam, Tragambar, Trimenava, Colororam, Puducheira, Calapate, Connumeira, Sadraspatnam, and Meliapour, now called St Thomas because the body of that apostle was found there. From St Thomas to Palicata is 9 leagues, after which are Chiricole, Aremogan, Caleturo, Caleciro, and Pentepolii, where the kingdom of Bisnagur ends and that of Orixa begins. The second part of this district, or Orixa, contains 120 leagues and reaches to Cape Palmiras, with these towns, Penacote, Calingan, Visgapatan, Bimilepatan, Narsingapatan, Puacatan, Caregare and others. Here begins the third part of this district, or the kingdom of Bengal, the coast of which extends about 100 leagues.

[Footnote 79: The western branch of the Ganges is now called the Hoogly River. Satigan in the text may have some reference to what is now called Sagar roads or anchorage. Chatigan certainly means what is now called Chitigong: But the most easterly mouth is properly that of the great Barhampooter, or Bramah-putra River, long confounded among the mouths of the Ganges. The breadth of the Sunderbunds, or Delta of the Ganges and Barhampooter, is about 195 English miles.--E.]

[Footnote 80: The kingdom of Bisnagar in the text, appears to have contained the entire Carnatic above and below the Gauts, with Mysore and Golconda.--E.]

[Footnote 81: Now called Cape Calymere: It is next to impossible to identify the other names in the text; and the attempt would lead to very inconvenient length without correspondent utility.--E.]

The sixth district of the nine begins at the east mouth of the Ganges, called Chatigan or Chittagong, and ends at Cape Cincapura, in little more than 1° N. Along this coast from. Chittagong to Cape Negrais or Diamond Point, the southwestern point of Pegu, in lat. 16° N. is 100 leagues, with these towns, Sore, Satalolu, Arracan the capital of a kingdom of the same name, and Dunadiva on the cape. Hence to Tavay in the lat. 13° is 16 leagues[82], being the extent of the kingdom of Pegu. From Tavay to Cincapura is 220 leagues, the chief towns on this part of the coast being Martaban, Lugor, Tanacerim, Lungar, Pedam, Queda, Salongor, and Malacca the capital of the kingdom of that name.

[Footnote 82: It is difficult to correct this egregious error, not knowing the kind of leagues used by Faria. At 17-1/2 to the degree, the difference of latitude in the text would give 52-1/2 leagues. Perhaps it is a typographical error for 60 leagues, using the geographical measure, 20 to the degree.--E.]

The seventh district begins at Cape Cincapura or Sincapure, and ends at the great river of Siam, which falls into the sea in lat. 14° N.[83] and has its rise in the lake of Chiammay, called by the natives Menam, signifying the source of two rivers. Upon this coast are the towns of Pam, Ponciam, Calantaon, Patane, Ligor, Cuii, Perperii, and Bamplacot at the mouth of the Siam river.

[Footnote 83: The river of Siam falls into the great gulf of the same name, in lat. 18° 30' N. But De Faria seems to overlook the gulf.--E.]

The eighth district contains the kingdom of Cambodia, through which runs the river Mecon, otherwise called the Japanese river, which has its rise in China; the kingdom of Champa or Tsiompa, whence comes the true aloes-wood; next to that is the kingdom of Cochin-China;[84] and last of all the great empire of China, divided into fifteen provinces of governments, each of which is equal to a great kingdom. The provinces of this vast empire on the sea-coast are Quantung, Fokein, and Chekiang, where ends the eighth district[85]

The ninth district begins with the province of Nanking, and extends to the farthest discovered land on the coast of Tartary.

[Footnote 84: De Faria omits the kingdom of Tonkin or Tonquin, which intervenes between Cochin-China and China: Perhaps at that time Tonkin may have been: De Faria is incorrect in his account of the provinces of China. Those on the coast are, Quantung, Footchien, Tchetchiang, Kiangnan, Shantang, Petcheli; or six maritime provinces, instead of three only in the text. The others are, Yunnan, Quangsee, Kaeitchou, Hooquang, Setchuen, Sifan, Honan, Shensee, and Shansee; or nine inland provinces; making fifteen in all, as in the text.--E.]

[Footnote 85: Or Nizam-al-mulk, and Adel-khan.--E.]

I shall speak in the sequel concerning the many islands along this extensive coast of Asia, as they came to be discovered in the navigations of the Portuguese; but the principal of them may be here mentioned by name, as the Maldives, Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Banda, Timor, Celebes, the Moluccas, Mindanao, Luconia, and Japan. Having thus given a sketch of the Asian coast, we proceed to consider its inhabitants. Although there are many and various modes of worship in Asia, the chief religions may be mentioned under four heads, the Christian, Jewish, Mahometan, and Pagan; the two first of which are for the most part under the slavery of the other two, against which the Portuguese waged war. The power of the Mahometans and Pagans is thus divided. All the coast from the river Cintacora opposite the island of Anchediva, to the north and west is subject to the Mahometans, and all to the eastwards to the Pagans; except the kingdom of Malacca, part of Sumatra, and some parts of Java and the Moluccas, which are held by the Mahometans. In that tract are the following sovereign princes. The kings of Aden, Xael, and Fartaque, who have many ports of great trade, and their subjects, the Arabs, are brave and warlike. Next is the king of Ormuz, greater than the other three put together. Then the king of Cambaya, equal in grandeur and warlike power to Xerxes, Darius, or Porus. From Chaul to Cincatora belong to Nizamaluco and Hidalcan[85], two powerful princes, who maintain great armies composed of sundry warlike nations well armed. The Moors[86] of Sumatra, Malacca, and the Moluccas were well disciplined, and much better provided with artillery than we who attacked them. The heathen sovereigns were the kings of Bisnagar, Orixa, Bengal, Pegu, Siam, and China, all very powerful, but chiefly the last, so that it is difficult to express and scarcely credible the prodigious extent of his power. Siam extends above 500 leagues, and has seven subject kingdoms, which are Cambodia, Como, Lanchaam, Cheneray, Chencran, Chiamay, Canibarii, and Chaypumo. The king of Siam has 30,000 elephants, 3000 of which are armed for war, and he has 50,000 soldiers in Udia alone, the metropolis of his kingdom. The kingdom of China exceeds them all in extent, and the king of that country is as powerful as all the sovereigns in Europe together. His empire is above 700 leagues in extent, possessing abundance of metals, and far exceeds Europe in manufactures, some of which seem to exceed human art, and the silks, provisions, and luxuries with which it abounds are beyond computation.

[Footnote 86: These are unquestionably the Malays, called Moors by Faria, merely because they were Mahometans.--E.]

All the heathens of India, particularly between the Indus and Ganges, write without ink on palm leaves, with pens or stiles rather of wood or steel, which easily cut the letters on the leaves. Some of these I have seen in Rome curiously folded. What they intend to be lasting is carved on stone or copper. In writing they begin at the left hand and write towards the right, as we do in Europe. Their histories are extremely fabulous. About 600 years before the arrival of the Portuguese in India, there reigned in Malabar a powerful monarch, from, whose reign the people begin their era or historical computations, as they did afterwards from our arrival. This king was persuaded by the Moors who traded to his port to turn Mahometan, and gave them liberty to build houses at Calicut. When he grew old, he divided his kingdom among his kindred, giving Coulam to the chief, where he placed the principal seat of his religion of the Bramins, and gave him the title of Cobritim, which signifies high-priest. To his nephew he gave Calicut, with the tide of Zamorin, which means emperor. This dignity continues in the sovereign of Calicut, but the other has been removed to Cochin. Having disposed of his dominions, he resolved to die at Mecca, but was drowned by the way. Calicut is a plain country well watered, and abounds in pepper and ginger; but all the other spices are procured from other neighbouring countries. The inhabitants are wonderfully superstitious, and do not suffer those of one trade or profession to marry with those of a different occupation, or to put their children to learn any other trade but that of their fathers. The Nayres, who are their nobles, if they chance to touch any of the common people, purify themselves by ablution, as was done by the Jews and Samaritans. The women among the Nayres axe common to all, but chiefly those, of the Bramin cast, so that no one knows his father, nor is any one bound to maintain the children. These Nayres are wonderfully expert in the use of their weapons, in which they begin to exercise themselves at seven years of age. They are prone to all the ancient superstitions of augury and divination.

SECTION IV.

Continuation of the Portuguese Transactions in India, during the Viceroyalty of Almeyda.

Besides the forts already erected on the eastern coast of Africa at Quiloa and Mozambique, and the factory at Melinda, King Manuel determined to build a fort at Sofala to secure the trade in gold at that place; for which purpose he sent out Pedro de Annaya with six ships in the year 1506: three of these ships being destined to remain on the African coast, and the other three to proceed to India. This fleet was separated in a storm, during which one of the captains was washed overboard and drowned, and another lost sixteen men who were slain by the natives of an island on which they landed. The squadron rejoined in the port of Sofala, where Annaya found twenty Portuguese mariners in a miserable condition. The ship to which they had belonged, commanded by Lope Sanchez, was forced to run on shore at Cape Corientes, being so leaky as to be in a sinking condition. After landing, the crew refused obedience to their officers, and separated into different parties, endeavouring to make their way through the unknown countries and barbarous nations of Africa; but all perished except these twenty, and five who were found at the river Quiloma by Antonio de Magelhaens, who brought them to Sofala.

According to his orders, and by permission of the sheikh or king of Sofala, Annaya erected a strong wooden fort at that place. The king soon afterwards repented of his concession, and was for some time in hopes that the Portuguese would be soon obliged to abandon the place on account of its unhealthiness. About this time, three of the ships were dispatched for India, and two of these which were destined for protecting the coast from the attempts of the Moors were sent off upon a cruise to Cape Guardafu, both of which were lost; the captains and part of their crews saving themselves in the boats: In consequence of the unwholesomeness of Sofala, the Portuguese garrison became so weakened by sickness that it required six of them to bend a single cross-bow. Encouraged by these disasters and instigated by his son-in-law, the king collected a force of 5000 Kafrs with which he invested the fort, filled up the ditch with fascines, and made a violent assault, darkening the sun with incessant clouds of arrows. Though only 35 Portuguese were able to stand to their arms, they made such havock among the assailants with their cannon, that the part of the ditch which had not been filled up with wood was levelled with dead bodies. The enemy being thrown into confusion Annaya made a sally at the head of fifteen or twenty men[87], with whom he drove the Kafrs before him to a grove of palms, and thence into the town, crying out in consternation that their king had sent them to contend against the gods. In the ensuing night, Annaya attacked the town, and even penetrated into the house where the king resided, who, standing behind a door, wounded Annaya in the neck with his cymeter as he entered, but was soon killed with many of his attendants. Next day the two sons of the slain king made a new assault on the fort, but without success, many of the garrison who were sick, being cured by the alarm, joined in the defence, and the Moors were again repulsed with great slaughter. The two sons of the deceased King of Sofala fell out about the succession, and one of them named Solyman made an alliance with Annaya to procure his aid to establish himself in the sovereignty.

[Footnote 87: In the translation of De Faria by Stephens these are called Moors; but it is not easy to conceive how Annaya should have had any of these on his side.--E.]

The kingdom of Sofala, now called Sena by the Portuguese who monopolize its whole trade, is of great extent, being 750 leagues in circumference; but the inland parts are all subject to the Monomotapa, who is emperor of this southern part of Africa, his dominions being likewise known by the same name of Monomotapa, called by the ancients Ethiopia Inferior. This country is watered by two famous rivers, called Rio del Espiritu Santo and Cuama, the latter of which is navigable 250 leagues above its mouth. These and many other rivers which fall into them, are famous for their rich golden sands. Most part of this country enjoys a temperate climate, being pleasant, healthy, and fertile. Some parts are covered with large flocks of sheep, with the skins of which the natives are clothed to defend them from the cold south winds. The banks of the Cuama river are covered with wood, and the interior country rises into hills and mountains, being abundantly watered with many rivers, so that it is delightful and well peopled, being the ordinary residence of the Monomotapa or emperor. Its woods contain many elephants, and consequently produces much ivory. About 50 leagues southwest from Sofala are the gold mines of Manica, in a valley of 30 leagues circumference, surrounded by mountains on the tops of which the air is always clear and serene. There are other gold mines 150 leagues farther inland, but which are not so much valued.

In the interior of the country there are some buildings of wonderful structure, having inscriptions in unknown characters; but the natives know nothing respecting their origin. The natives of Monomotapa believe in one God, whom they name Mazimo, and have no idols. Witchcraft, theft, and adultery are the crimes most severely punished among them. Every man is permitted to have as many wives as he pleases or can maintain. The monomotapa has a thousand, but the first wife commands over all the rest, and her children only are entitled to inherit the throne. Their houses are built of wood; their apparel is made of cotton, those of the better sort being mixed with gold threads; their funerals are very superstitious. The attendance on the monomotapa is more ceremonious than grand, his usual guard being 200 dogs, and he is always attended by 500 buffoons. His dominions are ruled over by a great many princes or governors, and to prevent them from rebelling he always keeps their heirs about him. They have no law-suits. Their arms are bows and arrows, javelins, daggers, and small sharp hatchets, and they all fight on foot. The women of this country are used with so much respect, that even the kings sons when they meet a woman, give way to her and stand still till she has gone past. The Moors of Magadoxa were the first who possessed the mines of Sofala, after which they were seized by the King of Quiloa: But Yzuf, one of their governors, rebelled and usurped the government to himself, assuming the title of king. This was the same person with whom Annaya had now to contend, and whose son Solyman he established in the sovereignty, under the protection and vassalage of Portugal.

While these things happened at Sofala, the zamorin of Calicut was using every exertion to raise up enemies to the Portuguese, even entering into alliance with the Mameluke Soldan of Egypt, hoping by his assistance to drive the Christians from the Indian seas. His measures and preparations however became known to the Rajah of Cochin, who communicated the intelligence to the viceroy Almeyda. He accordingly sent his son Lorenzo with eleven vessels to endeavour to counteract the designs of the zamorin by destroying the fleet he had prepared. Learning that the Calicut fleet was in the port of Cananor, consisting of 260 paraos, 60 of which were larger than the Portuguese ships, Lorenzo sailed thither and put them to flight after a severe engagement. In the pursuit, some of the paraos were taken, but many were sunk and run aground, by which the enemy sustained great loss, while only five or six of the Portuguese were slain. The principal booty taken on this occasion was four ships loaded with spice. Almost immediately after this victory, Don Lorenzo received notice that the fort of Anchediva was beset by 60 vessels belonging to the Moors and Malabars, well armed and manned with a number of resolute men under the command of a renegado. On this occasion the besieged behaved with great gallantry, and the besiegers pressed their attacks with much bravery, but several of their vessels having been destroyed and others much damaged by the cannon of the fort, and hearing of the approach of Lorenzo, the enemy withdrew in all haste.

Finding their trade almost destroyed by the Portuguese, the Moors endeavoured to shun their cruisers by keeping out to sea in their voyages from Cambaya and the ports of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, passing through the Maldive Islands, and keeping to the south of Ceylon in their way to Sumatra and Malacca. The viceroy on learning this new course of the Moorish trade, sent his son Lorenzo with nine ships to intercept the trade of the enemy. While wandering through seas unknown to the pilots, Lorenzo discovered the island of Ceylon, formerly called Taprobana, and came to anchor in the port of Gale, where many Moors were taking in cinnamon and elephants for Cambaya. To induce Lorenzo not to molest or destroy them, the Moors made him an offer of 400 bahars of cinnamon in the name of the king of Ceylon; and although he well knew this proceeded only from fear, he thought it better to dissemble and accept the present, contenting himself with the discovery of the island, on which he erected a cross with an inscription of the date of his discovery. On his return to Cochin, he attacked the town of Biramjam or Brinjan, which he burnt to the ground and put all the inhabitants to the sword, in revenge for the slaughter of the factor and his people at Coulam, as this place belonged to that kingdom.

While Cide Barbudo and Pedro Quaresme were coming out from Portugal with two ships, they arrived after many misfortunes at Sofala, where they found Annaya and most of his men dead, and the rest of the Portuguese garrison sick. Quaresme remained there to defend the fort; and Barbudo proceeding towards India found Quiloa in as bad a condition, of which he carried intelligence to Almeyda. The viceroy sent immediately Nunno Vaz Pereyra to relieve the forts of Quiloa and Sofala[88]. But that of Quiloa was soon afterwards abandoned and destroyed, after having lost many lives, owing to the ill usage of the Portuguese to the natives, whom they treated with insufferable pride, and boundless avarice.

[Footnote 88: De Faria does not give any dates to the particular transactions in his text, merely noticing the successive years in the titles of the various sections into which his work is loosely divided, and occasionally on the margin: Even this has been neglected by the editor of Astley's Collection. These last transactions on the coast of Africa seem to have taken place towards the end of 1506.--E.]

Having been informed by Diego Fernandez Pereyra that the island of Socotora near the mouth of the Red Sea was inhabited by Christians who were subject to the Moors, the king of Portugal ordered Tristan de Cunna and Alfonso de Albuquerque to direct their course to that island, and to endeavour to possess themselves of the fort, that the Portuguese ships might be enabled to winter at that island, and to secure the navigation of the Arabian Gulf against the Moors; for which purpose they carried out with them a wooden fort ready to put up. De Cunna was destined to command the trading ships which were to return to Europe, and Albuquerque to cruise with a small squadron on the coast of Arabia against the Moors. These two commanders sailed from Lisbon on the 6th of March 1507, with thirteen vessels in which were 1300 soldiers, some of whom died by the way, having been infected by the plague then raging in Lisbon; but when they came under the line, the sickness left them. Having come in sight of Cape Augustine in Brasil, they took a new departure from thence to cross the Southern Atlantic for the Cape of Good Hope; but in this course De Cunna held so far to the south that he discovered the islands still called by his name. At this place the ships were parted in a storm, each following a separate course till they met again at Mozambique. Alvaro Tellez, however, who commanded one of these ships, overshot Mozambique and proceeded to Cape Guardafu, where he took six ships belonging to the Moors, so laden with all kind of goods, that he made a sort of bridge from them to his own vessel, consisting of bales thrown into the sea, over which his men passed as on dry land.

During this part of the voyage likewise, Ruy Pereyra put into the port of Matatama in the island of Madagascar; and being informed that this island abounded in spice, especially ginger, Tristan de Cunna was induced to go there, and anchored in a bay which his son Nunno named Angra de Donna Maria, after a lady whom he courted. By others it is named the bay of Santa Maria delta Conception. As some Negroes appeared on the coast, De Cunna sent a Moor to converse with them; but when he mentioned that the ships belonged to Christians, they endeavoured to kill him, and had to be driven away by the Portuguese cannon. About three leagues farther on, they came to a village, the xeque or sheikh of which carried them to another town on an island in a well sheltered bay into which the great river Lulangan discharges its waters. This town was inhabited by Moors[89] somewhat civilized, who, being afraid of the fleet made their escape to the main-land, but so overloaded their boats that many of them perished by the way. The Portuguese surrounded the island and took 500 prisoners, only twenty of whom were men, among whom was the xeque or chief, an aged man of a respectable appearance. Next morning the sea was covered with boats, bringing over 600 men to demand the release of their wives and children. After some negociation, the Portuguese commander restored the prisoners to their liberty. He here learnt that the island of Madagascar was chiefly inhabited by negro cafrs, and produced but little ginger. He afterwards wished to have entered a town on this island called Zada, but the inhabitants set it on fire.

[Footnote 89: By Moors in the writings of the early Portuguese, Mahometans are always to be understood. The Moors of Madagascar were a mixed breed between the Arabs and Negroes.--E.]

From this place, De Cunna sent on Alfonso de Albuquerque with four ships to Mozambique, with orders to reduce some places on the coast of Melinda; while he went himself with three ships to Matatama in Madagascar, where he was told that cloves, ginger, and silver were to be had. On this expedition however, he lost one of his ships, only the pilot and seven men being saved; on which account he steered for Mozambique, but was forced by stress of weather into the island of Angoza. At night he discovered the lights of the ship St Jago which he had left at Mozambique, and soon after Juan de Nova arrived from Angoza, where he had wintered[90], laden with pepper. At Mozambique he rejoined Albuquerque, whom he sent on before him to Melinda; and meeting two other ships of his squadron at Quiloa, he proceeded to Melinda. To oblige the king of Melinda, the Portuguese attacked the city of Oja, the king of which place, aided by the king of Mombaza, made war on the king of Melinda. In this country, which is inhabited by Arabs, there are some ancient and wonderful structures. Each city, and almost every village has a separate king, whom they call xeque or sheikh; but the principal among these are the sheikhs of Quiloa, Zanzibar, and Mombaza, while the sheikh of Melinda pretends to be the most ancient, deducing his pedigree from the sheikhs of Quitau, which, though in ruins, shows evident marks of ancient grandeur, having been superior to all its neighbours. These are Luziva, Parimunda, Lamon, Jaca, Oja, and others. This country is watered by the river Gulimanja, up which George Alfonso sailed for the space of five days, finding the banks every where covered with impervious woods, and the river inhabited by a prodigious number of sea horses or hippopotami.

[Footnote 90: This wintering, being in the southern hemisphere, probably refers to June and July 1507.--E.]

Having now only six ships out of thirteen with which he left Portugal, one being lost, some separated by storms, and others sent away, Tristan de Cunna appeared before the city of Oja, on an open shore seventeen leagues from Melinda, and defended by a wall towards the land, to protect it against the Kafrs. De Cunna sent a message to the sheikh desiring an interview, as having some important matters to arrange with him; but the sheikh answered, that he was subject to the soldan of Egypt, caliph or head of the Musselmans, and could not therefore treat with a people who were enemies to the prophet. Considering delay dangerous, Tristan resolved upon an immediate attack, and dividing his men into two parties, one commanded by himself and the other by Albuquerque, made for the shore as soon as day light appeared. The Moors were drawn up on the shore to resist the landing, but were soon forced to take shelter behind their walls; and, not trusting to them for protection, no sooner entered at the sea gate but they ran out at the gate opposite. Nunno de Cunna and Alfonso de Noronha pursued the sheikh and his people to a grove of palm trees, in which the sheikh and many of his attendants were slain. At this time, George Silveyra observed a grave Moor leading a beautiful young woman through a path in the wood, and made towards them. The Moor turned to defend himself, desiring the woman to make her escape while he fought; but she followed him, declaring she would rather die or be taken along with him, than make her escape alone. Seeing them thus strive who should give the strongest demonstration of affection, Silveyra allowed both to go away unhurt, unwilling to part so much love. The town was plundered and set on fire, and burnt with such fury that some of the Portuguese perished in the flames while in anxious search of plunder.

On being informed of what had happened at Oja, the sheikh of Lamo, fifteen leagues distant, came to make his submission, and to render himself more acceptable offered to pay a tribute of 600 meticals of gold yearly, about equal to as many ducats, and paid the first year in advance. From hence De Cunna proceeded to Brava, a populous town which had been formerly reduced, but the sheikh was now in rebellion, trusting to a force of 6000 men with which he opposed the landing of the Portuguese. But De Cunna and Albuquerque landed their troops next day in two bodies, in spite of every opposition from showers of arrows, darts, and stones, and scaled the walls, routing the Moors with prodigious slaughter. The city was plundered, and burnt; but in this enterprise the Portuguese lost forty-two men; not the half of them by the sword, but in consequence of a boat sinking which was overloaded with spoil. Those who were drowned had been so blinded with covetousness while plundering the town, that they barbarously cut off the hands and ears of the women to save time in taking off their bracelets and earrings. Sailing from Brava, Tristan de Cunna was rejoined off Cape Guardafu by Alvaro Tellez, who had been in great danger in a storm of losing his ship with all the rich booty formerly mentioned. Having got sight of Cape Guardafu, De Cunna now stood over for the island of Socotora, according to his instructions.

Socotora, or Zakatra is an island twenty leagues long and nine broad, stretching nearly east and west, in lat. 12° 40' N. and is the largest of the islands near the mouth of the Red Sea, but has no ports fit for any great number of ships to ride in during winter. Through the middle of this island there runs a chain of very high hills, yet covered over with sand blown up by the north winds from the shore to their tops, so that they are entirely barren and destitute of trees or plants, excepting some small valleys which are sheltered from these winds. It is 30 leagues from Cape Guardafu, and 50 leagues from the nearest part of the Arabian continent. The ports principally used by us are Zoco or Calancea to the westwards, and Beni to the east, both inhabited by Moors, who are very unpolished. In those valleys that are sheltered from the sand, apple and palm trees are produced, and the best aloes in the world, which from its excellence is called Socotorine aloes. The common food of the people is maize, with milk and tamarinds. The inhabitants of this island are Christians of the Jacobite church, similar in its ceremonies and belief to that which is established in Ethiopia[91]. The men generally use the names of the apostles, while most of the women, are named Maria. They worship the cross, which they set up in all their churches, and wear upon their clothes, worshipping thrice a-day in the Chaldean language, making alternate responses as we do in choirs. They have but one wife, use circumcision, pay tythes, and practice fasting. The men are comely, and the women so brave that they go to war like Amazons. They are clothed mostly in skins, but some of the better sort use cloth; their weapons are stones, which they sling with much dexterity, and they live mostly in caves[92]. This island was subject to the sheikh or king of Caxem[93] in Arabia.

[Footnote 91: Abyssinia is obviously here meant.--E.]

[Footnote 92: Though not distinguished in the text, Faria seems here to confine himself to the barbarous Christian natives, inhabiting the country; as the towns appear to have been occupied by Mahometan Arabs.--E.]

[Footnote 93: Cashen or Cassin.--Astley, I. 63.]

At this place[94] De Cunna found a tolerable fort, not ill manned, and decently provided for defence. He sent a friendly message to the sheikh, but receiving an insolent answer he resolved to attack the place, though the attempt seemed dangerous. He and Albuquerque went towards the shore with the troops, but Don Alfonso de Noronha, nephew to De Cunna, leapt first on shore, determining to shew himself worthy of the choice which the king had made of him to command in Socotora, if gained. Noronha immediately advanced against the sheikh with a few brave men. The sheikh defended himself with great resolution, and had even almost repulsed the assailants, when he was struck down by the lance of Noronha. The Moors endeavoured with much valour to rescue their wounded chief, but he and eight more were slain, on which the rest fled to the castle. This was immediately scaled by a party of the Portuguese, who opened the gate for the rest, who now rushed into the large outer court.

[Footnote 94: By a marginal note in Faria, it appears to have been now the year 1508; but the particular place or town in Socotora attacked by De Cunna is not mentioned. I am disposed however to believe that date an error of the press, for 1507.--E.]

The Moors bravely defended their inner fort to the last man, so that of eighty-three men only one was taken alive, besides a blind man who was found hidden in a well. Being asked how he had got there, being blind, he answered that blind men saw only one thing, which was the way to liberty. He was set free. In this assault the Portuguese lost six men. During the assault the natives of the island kept at a distance, but now came with their wives and children, joyfully returning thanks to the Portuguese commander for having delivered them from the heavy yoke of the infidels; and De Cunna received them to their great satisfaction under the protection of the crown of Portugal[95]. The Mosque was purified by the solemnities of the Catholic church, and converted into a church dedicated to the Invocation of Neustra Sennora della Vittoria, in which many were baptised by the labours of Father Antonio of the order of St Francis. De Cunna gave the command of the fort, now named San Miguel, to Don Alfonso de Noronha, his nephew, who had well deserved it by his valour, even if he had not been nominated to the command by the king. Noronha was provided with a garrison of an hundred men, with proper officers; after which De Cunna wintered at the island of Socotora, though very ill accommodated, and then sailed for India, sending Albuquerque, according to the royal orders, to cruise on the coast of Arabia[96].

[Footnote 95: Little did these poor Jacobite Christians suspect, that in exchanging masters they were subjected to the more dreadful yoke of the Portuguese Inquisition! The zeal of the Portuguese for the liberty of the Christian inhabitants of Socotora soon cooled, when it was found unable to pay the expence of a garrison, and it was soon abandoned to the milder oppression of its former Mahometan masters.--E.]

[Footnote 96: From an after part of the text of Faria, we learn that this fort in the island of Socotora was taken on the 20th of August, probably of the year 1507.]

While these things occurred at Socotora, the zamorin of Calicut was arming afresh against the Portuguese, relying on the promises of his wizards and soothsayers; who, finding that the succours under Tristan de Cunna were long delayed, assured him of success in that lucky opportunity, and predicted a great change of affairs, as indicated by an earthquake and a great eclipse of the sun, so complete that the stars were seen at noon for a considerable time, and which they pretended was a sure sign of the approaching destruction of the Portuguese. But on the viceroy Almeyda receiving notice of the preparations at Calicut, he sent his son Don Lorenzo thither with a squadron of ten ships. At this time Gonzalo Vaz was in Cananor with his ship, taking in water; and on his voyage to join Don Lorenzo he fell in with a ship belonging to Cananor having a Portuguese pass, which he sunk with all her moorish crew sewed up in a sail that they might never be seen. But this wicked action was afterwards discovered, for which Vaz was broke; a very incompetent punishment for so great a crime, owing to which the Portuguese afterwards suffered severe calamities, as will appear in the sequel.

On his way towards Dabul in search of the Calicut fleet, Don Lorenzo cast anchor at the entrance of the port of Chaul, into which seven vessels belonging to the Moors entered without making any return to his salute. On this Lorenzo followed them in his boats, and the Moors leaped overboard to escape on shore, but many of them were slain by the Portuguese in the water. Lorenzo then took possession of the ships, which were laden with horses and other goods; and as the Moors endeavoured to overreach him with regard to ransoming their vessels, greatly underrating their cargoes, he ordered them all to be burnt. Going thence to Dabul, where he found the Calicut fleet, he anchored off the mouth of the river, and called a council of his officers to consult on the proper measures for an attack; but owing to the narrowness of the river it was carried in the council not to attack, contrary to the opinion of Lorenzo, who was eager to destroy the enemies ships. Passing on therefore to a river four leagues beyond Dabul, a brigantine and parao which led the van saw a ship sailing up the river, and pursued the vessel till it came to anchor over against a town, where there were many other vessels. Seeing the two vessels in pursuit of the ship Lorenzo sent a galley after them, and the three began to clear the shore with their shot of many Moors who flocked thither to defend their ships. Supposing from the noise of firing that his assistance was necessary, Lorenzo made all possible haste up the river; but before his arrival the others had taken all the vessels in the harbour, and had burnt a house on shore full of valuable commodities. All the ships in this harbour were burnt, except two from Ormuz having very rich cargoes, which were carried away. On his return to Cochin with victory and rich spoil, expecting to be received by his father with applause, he was astonished to find himself threatened with severe punishment for not having fought with and destroyed the Calicut fleet. He was however excused, as it appeared he had been overruled by the votes of the other captains, contrary to his own opinion. The viceroy broke them all therefore, and sent them home in disgrace to Portugal. By this severity, Don Lorenzo was much troubled, and in afterwards endeavouring to restore himself to the esteem of his father, he lost his life in rashly displaying his valour.

The body of one of the Moors who had been basely destroyed by Vaz, as formerly mentioned, was washed on shore, and discovered to be the nephew of Mamale, a rich merchant of Malabar. Founding on this circumstance, the zamorin prevailed upon the rajah of Cananor to break with the Portuguese; and as it was not known who had been guilty of that barbarous act, the blame fell upon Lorenzo de Brito, captain of the fort at Cananor, who got notice of his danger, and not being in sufficient force to defend himself, sent intelligence to the viceroy. This message was delivered to Almeyda while in church assisting at the service on Maunday Thursday; and was of so pressing a nature that he immediately left the church, to give orders for the immediate shipment of provisions and men to succour Brito; and these orders were executed with such speed, that those who had lent their arms to others to watch the sepulchre, as the custom is, had to go to the church to get them back. Don Lorenzo was appointed to command this relief of Cananor, with orders on his arrival at that place to put himself under the command of Brito, who insisted that as son to the viceroy and an officer of reputation and experience he should take the command: But Lorenzo was positive that he would not take the command over Brito, pursuant to the orders of his father; and being unable to prevail, he left the relief at Cananor, and returned to Cochin.

By this time the rajah of Cananor had drawn together a force of 20,000 men, with which he besieged the Portuguese fort, which Brito determined to defend to the last extremity, and used every possible means to strengthen the place. Much blood was spilt about the possession of a well, which the Portuguese at length made themselves masters of by means of a mine. After this loss, the enemy retired to a wood of palm-trees, meaning to prepare engines to batter the fort, of which circumstance intelligence was conveyed to Brito by a nephew to the rajah of Cananor, who wished to acquire the friendship of the Portuguese, so that Brito was prepared to receive the intended assault. Having completed their preparations, the enemy moved on to fill up the ditch and assault the fort; but were opposed with so much energy, at first by incessant discharges of cannon, and afterwards by means of a sally, that the ditch was filled with dead bodies instead of fascines. After losing a prodigious number of men, the enemy retreated to the wood; and next night, which was cold and rainy, Brito sent out eighty men to beat up their quarters under the command of a Spanish officer named Guadalaxara, who was next in command. This enterprise was so vigorously executed, that after the discharge of a few small pieces of artillery, the enemy fled in every direction to save themselves, leaving 300 of their men slain. The joy for this victory on the side of the Portuguese was soon miserably abated in consequence of the destruction of their entire magazine of provisions by fire, by which they were reduced to the extremity of famine, and under the necessity of feeding on all kinds of vermin that could be procured. In this extreme distress, they were providentially relieved by a rough sea throwing up vast quantities of crabs or lobsters on the point of land where the chapel of the Virgin stands, which was the only food which could be procured by the garrison for a long while. While in this situation, in consequence of powerful assistance from the zamorin, the rajah of Cananor made a fresh assault upon Brito with 50,000 men, and was again repulsed with prodigious slaughter, without the loss of one man on the side of the Portuguese. Immediately after this exploit, Tristan de Cunna arrived at Cananor with a reinforcement and a supply of provisions, by which and the noble defence made by Brito the rajah of Cananor was so much intimidated that he sued for peace, which was granted upon conditions highly honourable and advantageous to the Portuguese.

As Tristan de Cunna was now ready to depart for Portugal with the homeward bound ships, the viceroy went along with him to Paniani, a town belonging to Calicut which he proposed to destroy, as it was much frequented by the Moors, who took in loadings of spices at that place under the protection of four ships belonging to the zamorin commanded by a valiant Moor named Cutiale[97]. The viceroy and Tristan, having anchored off the bar, held a council of war to deliberate upon a plan of attack, when it was determined to send their two sons in two barks and several boats to attack the place, while the viceroy and admiral should follow in a galley. When the foremost of the Portuguese assailants were attacking the trenches, on which some of them had mounted, Pedro Cam having even planted the colours of Lorenzo Almeyda on the summit, the viceroy on coming up observed his son climbing up with some difficulty. He immediately called out, "How comes it Lorenzo that you are so backward?" When the young man answered, "I have given way, Sir, to him who has gained the honour of the day." At this moment a gigantic Moor assailed Lorenzo and even wounded him; but in return he cleft the head of the Moor down to the breast. The town was now carried by storm, and all its defenders put to the sword, after which all the ships in the port were burnt. In this exploit the Portuguese lost only eighteen men, none of whom were of any note; but above 500 of the enemy were slain. Though the plunder of this place was of great value, it was all burnt along with the town and ships, the artillery only being carried off.

[Footnote 97: In an after part of De Faria, this officer is said to have been a Chinese.--E.]

After this the fleet and army returned to Cananor where De Cunna completed his lading, and then set sail for Portugal. At Mozambique, on his way home, he met several ships belonging to a squadron of twelve sail sent from Lisbon in the former year; seven of which were to return with goods, and the other five to cruise on the eastern coast of Africa, under the command of Vasco Gomez de Abreu, who was likewise to command in the fort of Sofala. There were also two other ships in this fleet, destined to reinforce the squadron of Albuquerque on the coast of Arabia. Of this fleet, the ship commanded by Juan Chanoca was lost in the river Zanaga, that of Juan Gomez in another place, and Abreu was lost with four vessels while going to Mozambique. Other vessels of this fleet were driven to various parts, after enduring terrible storms and imminent dangers; yet these dire misfortunes were insufficient to damp the boldness of our nation in quest of riches, so prevalent is covetousness over every consideration of difficulty or danger.

We must now return to Alfonso de Albuquerque, who parted from De Cunna, after the taking of Socotora on the 20th of August, as formerly related, being bound for the coasts of Arabia and Persia, pursuant to the commands of the king, having with him seven ships and 460 soldiers. He came first to Calayate, a beautiful and strong place in the kingdom of Ormuz, built after the manner usual in Spain, but which had once been more populous. Sending a message to the governor, he received supplies of water and provisions, and entered into a treaty of peace. Proceeding to Curiate, ten leagues farther on, he was very ill received, in revenge for which he took the place by storm, losing only three of his own men, while eighty of the defenders were slain. After plundering this place, it was destroyed by fire along with fourteen vessels which were in the harbour. From thence he sailed for Muscat, eight leagues farther, which was stronger than the two former, and well filled with people, who had resorted there from all quarters on hearing of the destruction of Curiate. Being afraid of a similar disaster, the governor sent great supplies of provisions to Albuquerque, and entered into a treaty of peace; but while the boats were ashore for water, the cannon of the town began unexpectedly to play upon the ships, doing, considerable damage, and obliged them hastily to haul farther off, not knowing the cause of these hostilities; but it was soon learnt that 2000 men had arrived to defend the town, sent by the king of Ormuz, and that their commander refused to concur in the peace which had been entered into by the governor. Although Albuquerque had received considerable damage from the smart cannonade, he landed his men early next morning, and attacked the place with such resolution that the Moors fled at one gate, while the Portuguese entered at another. The town was given up to plunder, all except the residence of the governor, who had received the Portuguese in a friendly manner, and had very honourably given them notice to retire, when the troops of Ormuz arrived; but he was slain during the first confusion, without being known.

After the destruction of Muscat, Albuquerque proceeded to Soar, all the inhabitants of which fled, except the governor and some of the principal Moors, who offered to surrender the town; but Albuquerque gave it back to them, on condition of holding it in vassalage from the crown of Portugal, and payment of the same tribute which used to be given to the king of Ormuz. Fifteen leagues farther he came to Orfucam, which was deserted by the inhabitants. Albuquerque sent his nephew, Don Antonio, to pursue them at the head of 100 men; who, though he brought back twenty-two prisoners, received almost as much damage from the Moors as he did, as they were very numerous and fought bravely in defence of their wives and children. The deserted town of Orfucam was plundered for three days, during which time Albuquerque disposed all things in readiness for proceeding against Ormuz, which was the chief object of his voyage, deeming these previous exploits only a prelude to his grand enterprise, and accounting them but trifles, though they might appear considerable to others.

The city of Ormuz or Hormuz is situated on the small island of Jerun at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, only three leagues in compass, and so barren that it produces nothing but salt and sulphur. The buildings of the city are sumptuous. It is the great mart for all the goods of Africa, Arabia, and India; by which means, though having nothing of its own, it abounds in all things. It is plentifully supplied with provisions from the province of Mogostan or Laristan in Persia, and from the islands of Kishom, Kissmis, or Kishmish, Larek, and others. About the year 1273, Malek Kaez possessed all the land from the isle of Jerun to that of Bahrayn, bordering on the kingdom of Gordunshah of the province of Mogostan[98]. This king by subtile devices prevailed upon Malek to give him the island of Jerun, being a place of no value whatever; after which he fortified himself there, and transplanting the inhabitants of the ancient city of Ormuz on the coast, where the king used to reside to that island, the king of Persia, fearing he would refuse the accustomed tribute, prepared to invade him: But the king of Gordunshah diverted him from his purpose, by engaging to be responsible for the tribute, and by doing homage by his ambassadors once in every five years. By these means the city and kingdom of Ormuz was established, which continued to be ruled over by the heirs of the first possessor and others, mostly by violence[99].

[Footnote 98: The expression in the text is obscure. It appears that Malek Kaez, ruled over the sea coast of the kingdom or province rather of Mogostan, of which Gordunshah was king or governor.--E.]

[Footnote 99: The account in the text is unintelligible and contradictory: But we fortunately have one more intelligible from the editor of Astley's Collection, I. 65. c. which being too long for a note, has been placed in the text between inverted commas.--E.]

"This account of the origin of the kingdom of Ormuz or Harmuz is related differently in a history of that state written by one of its kings, and given to us by Teixeira at the end of his history of Persia, as follows.--In the year of Hejirah 700, and of Christ 1302, when the Turkomans, or Turks from Turkestan, overran Persia as far as the Persian Gulf, Mir Bahaddin Ayaz Seyfin, the fifteenth king of Ormuz, resolved, to leave the continent where his dominions then were, and to retire to some of the adjacent islands. He first passed over with his people to the large island of Brokt or Kishmish[100], called Quixome by the Portuguese, and afterwards removed to a desert isle two leagues distant eastward, which he begged from Neyn king of Keys, and built a new city, calling it Harmuz after the name of his former capital on the coast, the ruins of which are still visible to the east of Gamrun or Gambroon. By the Arabs and Persians, this island is called Jerun, from a fisherman who lived there at the time when Ayaz first took possession. In the course of two hundred years, this new city and kingdom advanced so much in wealth and power, that it extended its dominion over a great part of the coasts of Arabia and Persia, all the way to Basrah or Basora. It became the chief mart of trade in all these parts, which had formerly been established at Keys; but after the reduction of Ormuz, by the Portuguese, its trade and consequence declined much, owing to their tyranny and oppression. Ayaz Seyfin, was succeeded by Amir Ayas Oddin Gordun Shah. Thus it appears distinctly, that the Malek Kaes in the text of Faria, ought to have been called the Malek or king of Kaes or Keys; and that instead of the kingdom of Gordunshah of the province of Mogostan, it should have been Gordun Shah king of Mogostan; besides, the island was not granted to him, but to his predecessor Ayaz. As a mark of their sense of the riches of Ormuz, the orientals used to say proverbially, if the world were considered as a ring, Ormuz was its jewel."

[Footnote 100: In a plan of Ormuz given in Astley's Collection, the isle of Kishoma or Kishmis is placed at a small distance from that of Ormuz or Jerun, and is said to be the place whence Ormuz is supplied with water. In fact the island of Kismis or Kishom is of considerable size and some fertility, though exceedingly unhealthy, while that of Jerun on which Ormuz was built, though barren and without water, was comparatively healthy. It was a commercial garrison town of the Arabs, for the purpose of carrying on the trade of the Persian Gulf, and at the same time withdrawing from the oppressive rule of the Turkoman conquerors of Persia.--E.]

When Albuquerque arrived at Ormuz about the end of September 1507, Sayf Oddin a youth of twelve years of age was sovereign, under the guardianship of a slave named Khojah Attar, a man of courage but of a subtile and crafty disposition. Hearing what had been done by Albuquerque at the towns upon the coast, Attar made great preparations for resisting the new enemy. For this purpose he laid an embargo on all the ships in the port, and hired troops from all the neighbouring countries, so that when the Portuguese entered the port there were 30,000 armed men in the city, of whom 4000 were Persians, the most expert archers then in the world. There were at that time 400 vessels in the harbour, 60 of which were of considerable size, the crews of which amounted to 2500 men. Albuquerque was not ignorant of the warlike preparations which had been made for his reception; but to shew his determined resolution, he came immediately to anchor in the midst of five of the largest ships riding in the harbour, firing his cannon as he sailed along to strike a terror into the inhabitants, and the shore was soon lined by 8000 troops. As no message was sent to him by the king, he commanded the captain of the largest ship, which seemed admiral over the rest, to repair on board of him, who immediately complied, and was received with much civility, but in great state. He then desired this man to go on shore and inform the king of Ormuz, that he had orders from the king of Portugal to take him under the protection of that crown, and to grant him leave to trade in the Indian seas, on condition that he submitted himself as vassal to the crown of Portugal, and agreed to pay a reasonable tribute: But if these proposals were rejected, his orders were to subdue Ormuz by force of arms. It was assuredly no small presumption to offer such degrading terms to a king who was at the head of above 30,000 fighting men, and 400 ships, while all the force he had against such prodigious force, was only 460 soldiers and seven ships. The Moorish captain, who was from Cambaya, went on shore and delivered this insolent message to the king and his governor Attar; who immediately sent Khojah Beyram with a message to Albuquerque, excusing them for not having sent to inquire what the Portuguese wanted in their port, and promising that the governor should wait upon him next day. Attar however did not perform this promise, but endeavoured to spin out the time by a repetition of messages, in order to strengthen the fortifications of the city, and to receive farther supplies. Albuquerque immediately perceived the purport of these messages, and told Beyram that he would listen only to the acceptation of peace on the terms proposed, or an immediate declaration of war. To this insolent demand, Beyram brought back for answer, that Ormuz was accustomed to receive, and not to pay tribute.

During the night, the noise of warlike instruments, and the shouts of the troops collected in Ormuz were heard from all parts of the city; and when morning came, the whole walls, the shore, and the vessels in the harbour were seen crowded with armed men, while the windows and flat tops of all the houses were filled with people of both sexes and all ages, anxious to behold the expected events. Albuquerque immediately began to cannonade the city and the large Moorish ships, and was spiritedly answered by the enemy, who took advantage of the obscurity occasioned by the smoke to send a large party of armed men in 130 boats to attack the ships, and did some damage among the Portuguese by incessant and prodigious discharges of arrows and stones. But as many of the boats were sunk by the Portuguese artillery, and numbers of the men slain and drowned, they were forced to retire. They returned again to the charge with fresh numbers; but after a severe conflict were again obliged to retreat with prodigious loss, the sea being dyed with blood, and great numbers of them slain. By this time, Albuquerque had sunk two of the largest ships in the port and taken a third, not without considerable opposition on the part of the enemy, forcing the surviving Moors to leap into the sea; and the other captains of his squadron had captured three ships, and had set above thirty more on fire. The crews of these cut their cables and drifted over to the Persian shore to enable themselves to escape; but by this means communicated the conflagration to other vessels that were lying aground. These disasters struck such terror into the people of Ormuz that they all fled in dismay within their walls, and Khojah Attar sent a message to Albuquerque offering to submit to his proposals; on which he put a stop to farther hostilities, yet suspecting the governor of treachery, he threatened to inflict still heavier calamities on the city unless the terms were performed with good faith. Thus, with the loss only of ten men on the side of the Portuguese, most of the numerous vessels belonging to the enemy, full of various rich commodities, were taken, burnt, sunk, or torn to pieces, and above seventeen hundred of the Moors were slain, numbers of whose bodies were seen floating in the harbour. Many of these were seen to have ornaments of gold, which the Portuguese anxiously sought after, and on this occasion it was noticed that several of the enemy had been slain by their own arrows, none being used by the Portuguese.

Khojah Attar, dismayed by the prodigious injury sustained in the conflict, and afraid of still heavier calamities, called a council of the chief officers of the kingdom to deliberate on what was best to be done, when it was agreed to submit for the present to the demands of Albuquerque; after which articles of pacification were drawn up and sworn to between the parties. The two principal articles were, that the king of Ormuz submitted to pay a tribute to the king of Portugal of 15,000 Xerephines yearly[101], and that ground should be allowed for the Portuguese on which to build a fort. The fort was accordingly immediately commenced, and considerable progress was made in its construction in a few days. On purpose to avoid the payment of the tribute, Khojah Attar dressed up a pretended embassy from the king of Persia demanding payment of the usual tribute, and required that Albuquerque should give them an answer, as the king of Ormuz was now subject to the crown of Portugal. Albuquerque penetrated into this design, and desired Attar to send some one to him to receive the answer. The pretended Persian ambassador accordingly waited upon him, to whom he gave some spears and bullets, saying such was the coin in which the tribute should be paid in future. Finding this contrivance fail, Attar endeavoured to corrupt some of the Portuguese, and actually prevailed on five seamen to desert, one of whom had been bred a founder, who cast some cannon like those belonging to the Portuguese. Being informed by these deserters that Albuquerque had only about 450 soldiers, Attar began to pick up fresh courage, and entered into contrivances for breaking the peace, pretending at the same time to lay the blame on Albuquerque, and refused to deliver up the deserters.

[Footnote 101: A Xerephine being worth about half a crown, this tribute amounted to about L. 1875 sterling.--Astl. I. 66. a.--According to Purchas a Xerephine is worth 3s. 9d; so that the yearly tribute in the text is equal to L. 2812 20s. sterling.--E.]

The high spirit of Albuquerque could not brook this conduct, and determined upon taking vengeance, but had little success in the attempt being badly seconded by the officers serving under him. Taking advantage of this spirit of insubordination, of which he had ample intelligence as it was occasioned by his own intrigues, Attar one night set fire to a bark which the Portuguese were building on the shore; and at the same time one of the deserters called aloud from the wall on Albuquerque, to defend his boat with his 400 men, and he should meet 7000 archers. At this time some of the Portuguese captains gave intelligence to the enemy, and had even assisted the five renegades to desert. Enraged at this affront in burning his bark, Albuquerque endeavoured to set some ships on fire which were building or repairing in the arsenal of Ormuz, but failed in the attempt. He next undertook to besiege the city; and having taken several persons who were carrying provisions thither, he cut off their hands, ears, and noses, and sent them into the city in that miserable condition, to the great terror of the inhabitants. About this time there was a hot dispute between the Portuguese and the garrison of Ormuz, about some wells which supplied the inhabitants with water, which Albuquerque endeavoured to fill up, in which the Moorish captain and the guard over the wells were all slain, and the wells filled with the carcasses of their men and horses. The young king and his governor sallied out from the city to drive the Portuguese away, and actually cut off the retreat of Albuquerque; but a lucky cannon-ball opened the way, by throwing the cavalry of the enemy into confusion.

In these actions with the Ormuzians, Albuquerque was ill seconded by his people, three of his captains having resolved to leave him and to sail for India. These men drew up a letter or remonstrance, assigning reasons why he should desist from his present enterprise; which Albuquerque ordered one of the masons to lay beneath a stone in the wall of the fort, saying that he had there deposited his answer, and would be glad to see if any one dared to remove the stone to read what he had written. Though much offended by this, these captains did not venture to make any reply; yet jealous about the command of the fort, when it should be built, the three captains actually sailed away for India. Though much troubled at this shameful desertion, Albuquerque determined upon continuing his enterprise, notwithstanding that two other captains who still remained opposed him, and were desirous to follow the example of the other three; but by proper severity he deterred them from executing their designs. Learning that a fleet was on its way from Bahrayn for Keyshom with a reinforcement of men and provisions, Albuquerque endeavoured ineffectually to intercept it. After failing in this, he fell upon a country palace belonging to the king which was guarded by three hundred foot and sixty horse, whom he defeated with the loss of one man, killing eighty of the enemy. He then fell upon Keyshom or Queixome, which was defended by five hundred archers sent to Ormuz by the king of Lar or Laristan in Persia under the command of two of his nephews, both of whom were slain with most of their men, and the bodies of the two slain princes were sent by Albuquerque as a present to Attar. The town of Keyshom was plundered and burnt. Among the plunder was taken a large Persian carpet, which the soldiers were going to cut in pieces to divide among them, and for the greater convenience of removal, which Albuquerque purchased from them, and sent afterwards to the shrine of St Jago in Gallicia.

Having but few men left who were much harassed, and winter approaching, Albuquerque resolved to go to Socotora, and gave leave to Juan de Nova to sail for India, where he had formerly had the command of a fleet. He accordingly wintered at Socotora, where he relieved the Portuguese garrison, then much distressed by famine; for which purpose he went in his own ship to Cape Guardafu, and sent others to Melinda and Cape Fum, to seize some ships for the sake of their provisions. When winter was over, be resolved to return to Ormuz, though too weak to carry his designs into execution, yet to see in what disposition were the young king and his governor. On his way thither he determined to take revenge upon the town of Kalayat, for some injury that had been done there to the Portuguese. Kalayat is situated on the coast of Arabia beyond Cape Siagro, called also Cape Rasalgat, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Behind this town there is a rugged mountain, in which are some passes which open a communication with the interior; and by one of these opposite the town almost all the trade of Yemen or Arabia Felix, which is a fertile country of much trade and full of populous cities, is conveyed to this port. Immediately on his arrival, Albuquerque landed his troops and took possession of the town, most of the inhabitants escaping to the mountains and some being slain in the streets. He remained here three nights, on one of which a thousand Moors entered the town by surprise and did considerable damage before the Portuguese could be collected to oppose them, but were at length put to flight with great slaughter. Having secured all the provisions of Kalayat, which was the principal booty, Albuquerque set the place on fire and proceeded to Ormuz, where he arrived on the 13th of September[102]. He immediately sent notice of his return to the king and governor; on which Attar sent him a message, saying they were ready to pay the tribute of 15,000 Xerephins, but would on no account consent to the erection of the intended fort. Albuquerque therefore determined to recommence the siege of Ormuz, and ordered Martin Coello to guard with his ship the point of Turumbaka[103], where the wells are situated, and Diego de Melo to prevent intercourse with the island of Keyshom; while he and Francisco de Tavora anchored before the city. He there observed that Khojah Attar had completed the fort formerly begun by the Portuguese. In this new attempt the success was no greater than it had been formerly. On one occasion Diego de Melo and eight private men were slain; and on another Albuquerque was himself in much danger. Finding himself unable to effectuate any thing of importance, he returned to India, having taken a ship in which was a great quantity of valuable pearls from Bahrayn, and Francisco de Tavora took another ship belonging to Mecca.

[Footnote 102: No year is mentioned in the text of Faria, which is throughout extremely defective in dates; but from the context it was now probably the year 1508--E.]

[Footnote 103: Turumbaka, in the plan of Ormuz mentioned in a former note, is a palace belonging to the king of Ormuz, in the same island with the city. The Isle of Keyshom has already been stated as the place whence Ormuz was supplied with water; but there may have been tanks or cisterns at Turumbaka.--E]

During the time when Albuquerque was employed before Ormuz, the Soldan of Egypt fitted out a fleet of twelve sail with 1500 Mamelukes, which he sent under the command of Mir Husseyn to oppose the Portuguese in India. While on his voyage up the Red Sea, Husseyn attacked the towns of Yembo and Jiddah, putting the sheikhs of both places to death, and making great plunder. He then sailed for Diu, where Malek Azz commanded for the king of Cambaya, with whom he was ordered to join his forces to oppose the Portuguese. The timber of which these ships were built was cut in the mountains of Dalmatia, by procurement as it was said of the Venetians, as the Soldan and the Turks were then at variance. It was conveyed from Dalmatia to Egypt in twenty-five vessels, commanded by a nephew of the Soldan, who had a force of 800 Mamelukes on board, besides mariners. At this time the gallies of Malta were commanded by a Portuguese knight, Andrea de Amarall; who, learning that the timber was designed to be employed against his countrymen in India, attacked the Egyptian fleet with six ships and four gallies, in which he had 600 soldiers. After a sharp engagement of three hours, he took seven ships and sunk five; but the rest escaped to Alexandria, whence the timber was carried up the Nile to Cairo, and thence on camels to Suez.

At this time the viceroy Almeyda was on the coast of Malabar, and had sent his son Don Lorenzo with eight ships to scour the coast as far as Chaul, a town of considerable size and importance seated on the banks of a river about two leagues from the sea, and subject to the Nizam-al-Mulk[104], by whose orders Don Lorenzo was well received. They had some intelligence of the fleet of the Soldan, but believed it an unfounded rumour, till it appeared in sight while Don Lorenzo was on shore with most of his officers. They hastened immediately on board, giving such orders as the time permitted, and were hardly on board when the enemy entered the harbour, making great demonstrations of joy at having so opportunely found the enemy of whom they were in search. Husseyn thought himself secure of victory, as he had surprised the Portuguese ships, and determined himself to board the ship commanded by Don Lorenzo. For this purpose he ran her on board, pouring in balls, arrows, hand-grenades, and other fireworks; but was answered with such determined bravery, that he gave over his intention of boarding, though the Portuguese vessel was much smaller than his. The other Egyptian vessels had no better success; and as night approached, both parties gave over the engagement to prepare for its renewal next morning.

[Footnote 104: Called Nizamaluco by De Faria.]

As soon as day appeared Don Lorenzo gave the signal to renew the fight; and in his turn endeavoured to board the Egyptian admiral, in which he was imitated by the other captains: Only two of them succeeded in capturing two gallies belonging to the enemy, all the men on board which were put to the sword. The battle was carried on with much bravery on both sides, and the Portuguese seemed fast gaining the superiority; when Malek Azz, lord of Diu, made his appearance with a great number of small vessels well manned, coming to the assistance of Husseyn. Don Lorenzo immediately dispatched two gallies and three caravels to hinder the approach of this reinforcement to his enemies, which executed their orders so effectually that Azz was obliged to flee for shelter to another place. The battle still continued between Lorenzo and Husseyn till night again parted them, both endeavouring to conceal their loss from the other. In the evening after the cessation of the battle, the Portuguese captains met in council on board the admiral to deliberate on what was best to be done; and were unanimously of opinion that it was rash to continue to defend themselves in the river of Chaul, especially as Malek Azz was so near with such a powerful reinforcement, and strongly recommended that they should go out to the open sea, where they might fight with less disadvantage, and would have it in their power to escape if circumstances rendered it necessary. But, remembering the displeasure of his father for not having attacked the fleet of Calicut in the river of Dabul, and fearing his retreat into the open sea might be construed as flight, Lorenzo determined resolutely to await the events of the next morning, only making some change in the disposition of his force, in order to protect some ships belonging to Cochin which were much exposed to the enemy.

Next morning, on observing the change of posture in the Portuguese ships, Malek Azz conceived that they meant to retreat; he immediately came out therefore from the place where he had taken shelter, and boldly charged them, undismayed at the havock which was made among his small vessels by the Portuguese cannon. Most unfortunately at this time the ship of Don Lorenzo ran foul of some stakes in the bed of the river, and let in so much water that she was in danger of sinking. The brave Lorenzo exerted himself to the utmost in this perilous situation, till a ball broke his thigh; then ordering himself to be set up leaning against the main-mast, he continued to encourage his men till another ball broke his back and killed him. His body was thrown below deck, where it was followed by his page Gato, who lamented the fate of his master with tears mixed with blood, having been shot through the eye by an arrow. After a vigorous resistance, the Moors boarded the ship, and found Gato beside his masters body. He immediately rose and slew as many of the Moors as covered the body of Lorenzo, and then fell dead among them. At length the ship sunk, and of above an hundred men who belonged to her only nineteen escaped. In all the Portuguese ships an hundred and forty men were slain, while the enemy lost upwards of six hundred. The other captains got to Cochin, where the viceroy then was, and who received the intelligence of his sons glorious death with wonderful resolution.

Soon after the defeat of the Portuguese fleet at Chaul, Almeyda received a letter from Malek Azz. This man was born in slavery, being descended of heretic Christian parents of Russia, and had risen by degrees to the rank he now held. The origin of his advancement was owing to the following trivial incident. One day a kite flying over the king of Cambaya, muted on his head, on which the king was so enraged that he declared he would give all he was worth to have the kite killed. Malek Azz who heard this, was an excellent bowman, and immediately let fly an arrow which brought down the kite. The king of Cambaya rewarded this lucky shot so bountifully, that the archer soon rose to be lord of Diu, a famous sea-port in Guzerat, seated on a triangular peninsula, which is joined to the continent by so small an isthmus that it is generally reputed an island. In this letter to the viceroy, Malek Azz craftily endeavoured to secure himself at the same time both in the favour of the king of Cambaya, and to conciliate the Portuguese, though he mortally hated them for the injury they had done to the trade of Diu. While he pretended to condole with the viceroy on the death of his son, whose bravery he extolled in exalted terms, he sent him the nineteen men saved from his sons ship, who had been made prisoners in the late battle; endeavouring by this conciliatory conduct to appease his wrath for having aided Mir Husseyn and occasioned the defeat of the Portuguese.

In this same year 1508, seventeen vessels sailed for India from Lisbon about the beginning of April, which were all separated by bad weather, but all rejoined at Mozambique, except one which was lost on the Islands of Tristan de Cunna. These ships, with those of the former year, coming all together to India about the close of the year 1508, greatly raised the courage of the Portuguese, which had been much depressed by their defeat at Chaul. By this fleet an order came from the king for Don Francisco de Almeyda to resign the government of India to Don Alfonso de Albuquerque, and to return to Portugal in one of the trading ships. But Almeyda took upon him to suspend the execution of this order, under pretence that he had already made preparations for taking revenge upon Mir Husseyn, and the Rums or Turks[105] who had slain his son. Owing to this a controversy arose between Albuquerque and Almeyda, the former demanding possession of the government, which the latter refused to demit; which became a precedent for succeeding governors to protract the time of their command. Albuquerque, much offended by this conduct of Almeyda, retired to Cochin, where he appears to have lived in private till the departure of Almeyda from India.

[Footnote 105: The Turks, as having conquered the eastern Roman empire, have succeeded in India to the name of Rums, Rumi, or Romans. The Circassian Mamelukes of Egypt are here named Turks, because so soon afterwards conquered by that nation.--E.]

Having dispatched the homeward bound ships under the command of Fernando Soarez and Ruy de Cunna, who perished by the way, Almeyda sailed on the 12th of November, 1508 from Cananor towards Diu in pursuit of Mir Husseyn. On this expedition he had nineteen vessels of different sizes, with 1600 soldiers and mariners, 400 of whom were native Malabars. All western India was alarmed at this armament, but chiefly the zamorin and Malek Azz, who had used every precaution in his power to ward off the danger. Having landed with his officers in the delightful island of Anchediva, Almeyda called a council of war, in which it was unanimously determined to attack Dabul in the first place. This city was one of the most noted on the coast[106], seated on a navigable river at the distance of two leagues from the sea. Its buildings were then magnificent and stately, and it enjoyed considerable trade, the inhabitants being a mixture of Pagans and Moors, subject to Sabay king of the Decan. It was always defended by a considerable garrison, which was at present augmented by 6000 men, being in fear of an attack from the Portuguese, and new works had been raised for its defence, which were planted with cannon. On the approach of the Portuguese fleet, the inhabitants began to remove their families and goods into the country, but were forbidden by the governor under pain of death; and the more to encourage them he brought his own wife into the town, in which example he was followed by many of the principal inhabitants, whose wives were brought in from their country-houses.

[Footnote 106: Dabul is on the coast of Canara, in lat. 17° 46' N. in that part usually called the Pirates coast, which is occupied by a number of half independent Mahratta chieftains, who often plunder defenceless trading ships, by means of armed grabs full of desperadoes.--E.]

On the 30th of December 1508, the fleet entered the harbour, and the troops immediately landed with the utmost promptitude, dividing into three bodies to attack three several gates at once. The Moors made a brave resistance at each attack, but the works being high, their shot flew over the heads of the assailants, who were more obstructed by the dead bodies than by the defenders or their works. Nunno Vaz Pereyra, who was sent with a detachment to force an entrance at another place, put the numerous troops who resisted him to flight after a brave resistance; but they now fled in such haste towards the mountain, though pursued by ten Portuguese only, that they tumbled over each other in their haste, and retarded their own escape. In this fight, which lasted five hours, fifteen hundred of the enemy were slain with the loss only of sixteen Portuguese. Having gained possession, Almeyda distributed his men in several quarters of the streets, with orders to keep strict guard, lest the enemy might return; which they accordingly did by stealth in the night, in order to recover their wives, children, and goods. In the morning, the viceroy gave permission to his troops to plunder the town; but this was speedily prevented by the houses taking fire, which in a few hours reduced the whole to ashes, so that the booty did not exceed 150,000 ducats. In fact the town was purposely set on fire by the private orders of the viceroy, lest the men might have been so satiated by the riches of the place as to retard his ulterior designs. The ships in the harbour were likewise destroyed by fire, to the no small risk of the Portuguese ships which were very near.

In fitting out for this expedition, the viceroy had not laid in any considerable store of provisions, as he expected to have got supplies on the coast; but on sending to the neighbouring villages none was to be had, as the last crop had been utterly eaten up by locusts, many of which were found preserved in pots for food by the natives, and being tasted by the Portuguese were found palatable, and not unlike shrimps. This made them conclude that there were land shrimps, as in some places, particularly in the vineyards about Rome, there are crabs found not unlike those of the sea. Hence if locusts were not so numerous and destructive, so as to blast the hopes of harvest and to be dreaded like a plague, they might be useful as food; and we know from Scripture that St John fed upon them in the desert.

Leaving Dabul, the viceroy proceeded for Diu, expecting to procure provisions along the coast. Payo de Sousa, having seen some cattle feeding on the banks of a river, went up the stream in his galley in hopes of procuring some; but was opposed by the natives, and he and George Guedez were both slain. Diego Mendez succeeded in the command of that galley, and while continuing the voyage towards Diu he met one of the Mameluke galleys going from Diu to Dabul, which was well manned and commanded by a courageous and experienced Turk; who, on discovering the Portuguese galley ordered all his soldiers to conceal themselves, so that Mendez immediately boarded without suspecting any danger, on which the Turks rushed out from their concealment and had almost gained the Portuguese galley; but the Portuguese recovered from their surprise, and made themselves masters of the Turkish galley, slaying every one of the enemy without losing a single man on their side. The chief booty taken on this occasion consisted of a young and beautiful Hungarian lady of noble birth, who was brought to the viceroy, and given by him to Gaspard de la India, who gave her to Diego Pereyra, who afterwards married her. Farther on, they took in the river of Bombaim, now called Bombay, a bark with twenty-four Moors belonging to Guzerat, by whose means they procured a supply of sheep and rice, while some cattle were procured in other places, and a farther supply was got at the fort of Maim, all the people flying to the mountains from terror of the Portuguese, having heard of what had happened at Dabul.

On the 2d of February 1509, the viceroy arrived at Diu, which from the ships appeared a grand and spacious place, girt with strong walls and lofty towers, all handsomely built and well laid out like towns in Portugal, which recalled in the men the memory of their own country, and animated their courage to achieve the conquest. Malek Azz the lord of Diu was at this time with his army about twenty leagues distant, making war upon the Rajaputs; but immediately on receiving notice of the approach of the Portuguese fleet, he hastened to his capital with all possible celerity. He had already used such precautions as not to excite suspicions in Husseyn of his fidelity, though little inclined to assist him, and he was now anxious not to exasperate the viceroy in case of his proving victorious. Taking into consideration the strength of the place, the courage and conduct of Azz and Husseyn, and above all that there were above two hundred vessels well manned and armed, he thought it necessary to proceed with the greatest circumspection, and accordingly it was settled in a council of war, that Nunna Vaz Pereyra should lead in with his ship, in which there were 120 fighting men, many of them gentlemen of tried valour. Pereyra was to be seconded by George de Melo, whose crew was equally numerous; after which the rest of the ships were to follow in succession, having from 80 down to 25 men in each according to their size. The night was spent by the Portuguese in anxious preparation for the approaching conflict, by exercises of religion and putting their arms of all kinds in order.

Between nine and ten next morning, when the tide had risen sufficiently to float the ships over the bar, the viceroy gave the signal for entering the port in the appointed order, and the fleet moved on amid the noise of loud shouts and the din of warlike instruments from both sides. The vessels belonging to Malek Azz made haste to oppose the entrance of the Portuguese, and poured in a shower of bullets and arrows into the galley commanded by Diego Perez who led the way for Nunno Vaz, by which ten men were slain; yet Nunno courageously continued his course, pouring his shot among the large ships of the enemy and sunk one of them. Vaz was in great danger between two ships of the enemy, when Melo came up gallantly to his rescue, and ran so furiously upon one of these ships that he drove it up against the ship commanded by Vaz, so much disabled that it was immediately boarded and taken by the next ship in succession commanded by Sebastian de Miranda. All the ships having penetrated into the harbour, pushed on in emulation of each other who should do most damage to the enemy; while the viceroy, placing himself in the midst of the enemy, directed his shot wherever it seemed most calculated to annoy the enemy and to aid his own ships. In this manner the action continued to rage for some time with reciprocal courage and violence, till at length the paraos belonging to Calicut fled along the coast, giving out every where that the Rumis or Mamelukes were victorious.

On the flight of the Moors of Calicut, and seeing many of his fleet destroyed, Mir Husseyn, who was wounded, went on shore in disguise; and mounting on horseback, went in all haste to the king of Cambaya, being no less fearful of the fury of the Portuguese than of the treachery of Malek Azz, against whom he made loud complaints, that though he had given aid in the battle with his vessels, he had not assisted in person. Yet did not the absence of Husseyn discourage his men, for those of his own vessel being boarded disdained to yield, and fought valiantly till they were all slain. The Portuguese now attempted to carry a large ship belonging to Malek Azz by boarding, but being unable to succeed, the ship commanded by the viceroy in person sunk her by repeated broadsides. Antonio de Campo boarded and took a large galleon. Ruy Soarez, who was next in order to enter the harbour, dashed boldly through the thickest of the enemies ships and placed his vessel in front of the city, where he fought his ship in so gallant a style, forcing the crews to abandon two gallies, which he took, that being noticed by the viceroy he exclaimed, "Who is this who so nobly excels the rest? I wish I were he!" The victory was now complete, and the viceroy and all the captains assailed the smaller vessels, whose crews endeavoured to escape by swimming; but the gallies and boats of the Portuguese being sent among them, killed such numbers that the sea was dyed in blood. In this great battle, the enemy lost above 1500 men, and the Portuguese only 40. Vast riches were acquired by plunder in the captured vessels; and by the great variety of books which were found in different languages, it was concluded that the crews were made up of various nations. Some of these books were in Latin, some in Italian, and others in Portuguese.[107] The colours of the Soldan and of his admiral Mir Husseyn were taken, and afterwards sent to the king of Portugal. Of all the vessels taken in this glorious and decisive victory, four ships and two gallies only were preserved, all the rest being ordered to be burnt by Almeyda. This great victory would have much more redounded to the honour of the Portuguese arms, had not the conquered been treated with barbarous cruelty: owing to which, many persons very reasonably considered the unhappy end of Almeyda and other gentlemen, as a just punishment for their crimes on this occasion.[108]

[Footnote 107: It is hardly necessary to observe that these books belonged in all probability to Christian galley slaves serving under the Mamelukes.--E.]

[Footnote 108: Though not called upon to vindicate the conduct of Albuquerque and the Portuguese on this occasion; it may be noticed that the almost interminable war which subsisted for many centuries between the Christians and Moors of the Peninsula, and after the expulsion of the latter, with the states of Barbary; joined to the hellish Inquisition on the one side, and the most degrading slavery inflicted on both by their enemies, long nourished the most rancorous spirit of enmity and hatred, now farther exalted by commercial rivalship.--E.]

Next morning Malek Azz sent a message to Almeyda by one of his principal officers, in which he congratulated the Portuguese viceroy on his glorious victory, with which he pretended to be well pleased. It was reported in the Portuguese fleet that the city of Diu was in the utmost consternation, being afraid of an assault from the victors; and when the Portuguese saw that Almeyda seemed inclined to accept the congratulatory compliments of Azz in good part, they complained of him for checking them in the career of fortune. On being informed of these murmurs, the viceroy convened his principal officers, and represented to them that he did not act on the present occasion from any regard to Malek Azz, but out of respect for the king of Cambaya who was still the friend of the Portuguese, and to whom the city of Diu belonged. He requested them likewise to consider that the city was strongly fortified, and defended by a numerous garrison; That they were already fatigued by the exertions of the late battle; and that between the men who had been slain and wounded, and those who were sick, out of 1200 there were now only 600 fit to carry arms in the assault of Diu: Even supposing they were to succeed in capturing the place, it would be utterly impossible to maintain possession of it; and that they might easily revenge themselves of Malek Azz by the capture of his trading ships. All the officers being completely satisfied by these reasons, the viceroy received the envoy of Malek Azz very graciously, and told him that two motives had principally induced him to make the late assault on Diu; one of which was to be revenged on the Rumi or Mamelukes, and the other to recover the Portuguese prisoners who had been taken by them at Chaul, as he considered them in the same light as the son he had lost on that former occasion. The first object he had already completely attained, and he demanded immediately to obtain the second, by having all the Portuguese prisoners in the power of Malek Azz delivered up to him. He demanded in addition to these, that all the artillery and ammunition which had belonged to the Rumi, still remaining in such of their ships as had been hawled on shore, should be delivered up, and these ships burnt; and that Malek Azz should supply the Portuguese fleet with provisions.

All these conditions were readily agreed to by Malek Azz, and executed with the utmost readiness and punctuality; in consequence of which a treaty of peace and friendship was settled between Azz and the viceroy. Almeyda left one of the liberated Portuguese prisoners at Diu, to load two ships with such articles as were in request at Cochin and Cananor; and besides supplying his own fleet with provisions, he dispatched Norenha with a supply of provisions, and some of the booty procured in the late battle, to his brother Don Alfonso at Socotora. These important affairs being dispatched, the viceroy left Diu and proceeded to Chaul, where the king was so much intimidated by the accounts he had received of the late victory, that he submitted to pay an yearly tribute. Passing thence to Cananor, he was received in the most honourable manner; and entered afterwards into Cochin in triumph. Even before he had laid aside his festive ornaments, Albuquerque pressed him to resign the government, pursuant to the royal orders; but the viceroy begged he would give him time to divest himself of his present heavy robes, after which there would be sufficient opportunity to talk of those matters. Evil councillors fomented the dispute on both sides, some persuading the viceroy to retain the government in his hands, while others incited Albuquerque to insist upon his resignation. The rajah of Cochin even became in some measure a party in these dispute, insomuch that he delayed loading two homeward bound ships with pepper, till Albuquerque should be installed in the government. Disputes at length rose so high, that Almeyda sent Albuquerque as a prisoner to Cananor, where he was courteously received by Lorenzo de Brito who commanded there; and to whom Almeyda wrote a few days afterwards to conduct himself towards the prisoner as one who was soon to be viceroy of India.

Some considerable time before this, the king of Portugal having been informed of the preparations which were making by the Soldan of Egypt, resolved to send a powerful reinforcement to India. This consisted of fifteen sail of ships commanded by Don Fernando Coutinno, who had an extraordinary power given him to regulate all matters that might happen to be amiss, as if the king had even surmised the probability of a disagreement between Almeyda and Albuquerque. Coutinno arrived safely at Cananor, whence he carried Alfonso de Albuquerque along with him to Cochin as viceroy. At first Coutinno treated Almeyda with much civility, but afterwards thwarted him, as he refused to let him have a ship which he had purposely prepared and fitted out for his return to Lisbon, and was obliged to put up with another which he had no mind to.

Don Francisco de Almeyda, now divested of the viceroyalty which indeed he had for some time unlawfully retained, sailed from Cochin on the 19th of November 1509, with two more ships in company. Before leaving Cochin some of the sorcerers or astrologers of that place predicted that he would not pass the Cape of Good Hope. He did pass the Cape however, but was slain and buried at the Bay of Saldanna only a few leagues beyond that place. Having passed the Cape of Good Hope with fine weather, he observed to some of his attendants, "Now God be praised! the witches of Cochin are liars." Near that place, he put into the Bay of Saldanna to procure a supply of water; and as some of the people went on shore to exchange goods with the natives for provisions, a servant belonging to the ex-viceroy treated two of the Hottentots so ill that they knocked out two of his teeth and sent him away bleeding. Some of the attendants upon Almeyda thought proper to consider this as an affront which ought to be avenged, and persuaded him to go on shore for that purpose, when they ought to have counselled him to punish the servant for abusing people among whom they sought relief. Almeyda yielded to their improper suggestions, though against his inclination, being heard to exclaim as he went into the boat, "Ah! whether and for what end do they now carry my old age?" Accompanied by about 150 men, the choice of the ships, they went to a miserable village, whence they carried off some cattle and children. When on their return to the boats, they were attacked by 170 natives, who had fled to the mountains, but now took courage in defence of their children; and though these naked savages were only armed with pointed stakes hardened in the fire, they soon killed fifty of the Portuguese and Almeyda among them, who was struck through the throat, and died kneeling on the sea-shores with his hands and eyes raised to heaven. Melo returned with the wounded men to the ships, and when the natives were withdrawn from the shore, he again landed with a party and buried Almeyda and the others who had been slain. This was a manifest judgment of God, that so few unarmed savages should so easily overcome those who had performed such heroic actions in India.

Don Francisco de Almeyda was the seventh son of Don Lope de Almeyda, Count of Abrantes, and was a knight of the order of St Jago. He was graceful in his person, ripe in council, continent in his actions, an enemy to avarice, liberal and grateful for services, and obliging in his carriage. In his ordinary dress, he wore a black coat, instead of the cloak now used, a doublet of crimson satin of which the sleeves were seen, and black breeches reaching from the waist to the feet. He is represented in his portrait as carrying a truncheon in his right hand, while the left rests on the guard of his sword, which hangs almost directly before him[109].

[Footnote 109: De Faria uniformly gives some description, as here, of the persons and dress of the successive viceroys and governors of Portuguese India; which however has been generally omitted in the sequel.--E.]

Among the ships which were dispatched from Lisbon for India in 1508, were two squadrons under the command of Duarte de Lemos and Diego Lopez de Sequeira, which were sent upon separate services, and which could not be conveniently taken notice of in their proper place. After encountering a storm, Lemos arrived at a place called Medones de Oro, whence he went to Madagascar, and thence to Mozambique, where he was rejoined by the rest of the squadron, except one ship commanded by George de Aguilar, which was lost. He now assumed the government of the coasts of Ethiopia and Arabia, according to his commission from the king. From Mozambique he sailed for Melinda, whence he proceeded to visit the several islands and towns along the eastern coast of Africa to compel payment of the tribute they had been in use to pay to Quiloa, and which was now considered as belonging of right to the crown of Portugal by the conquest of that place. Monfia submitted. Zanzibar resisted, but the inhabitants were driven to the mountains and the town plundered. Pemba acted in a similar manner, the inhabitants taking refuge in Mombaza, and leaving their houses empty; but some plunder was taken in a small fort in which the sheikh had left such things as he had not been able to remove. Returning to Melinda, he gave the necessary orders for conducting the trade of Sofala.

Lemos departed from Melinda for the coast of Arabia with seven ships, one of which was separated from the rest in the night on the coast of Magadoxa, and carried by the current to the port of Zeyla near the mouth of the Red Sea, and there taken by the Moors. In his progress along the Arabian coast, Lemos managed the towns more by cunning than force. Using the same conduct at Ormuz, he was well treated by the king and Khojah Attar, and received from them the stipulated tribute of 15,000 xerephines. From this place he dispatched Vasco de Sylveyra to India, who was afterwards killed at Calicut. He then went to Socotora, of which he gave the command to Pedro Ferreira, sending Don Antonio Noronha to India, who fell in with and took a richly laden ship belonging to the Moors. Noronha manned the prize with some Portuguese; but she was cast away in a storm between Dabul and Goa and the men made prisoners. His own ship was stranded in the Bay of Cambaya, where he and some others who attempted to get on shore in the boat were all lost, while about thirty who remained in the ship were made prisoners by the Moors and sent to the king of Cambaya. On his return to Melinda, Lemos took a Moorish vessel with a rich loading. When the winter was passed, he returned to Socotora, where he found Francisco Pantaja, who had come from India with provisions, and had made prize of a rich ship belonging to Cambaya; the great wealth procured in which he generously shared with Lemos and his men, saying they had a right to it as being taken within the limits of his government. Finding himself now too weak for any farther enterprises, Lemos sailed for India, where he was received with much civility by Albuquerque, who was now in possession of the government.

Diego Lopez de Sequeira, the other captain who sailed from Lisbon at the same time with Lemos, was entrusted with the discovery of Madagascar and Malacca. Arriving at the port of St Sebastian in the island of Madagascar, he run along the coast of that island, using a Portuguese as his interpreter, who had been left there[110] and had acquired the language. In the course of this part of his voyage he had some intercourse with a king or prince of the natives named Diaman, by whom he was civilly treated; but being unable to procure intelligence of any spices or silver, the great object of his voyage, and finding much trouble and no profit, he proceeded to India in the prosecution of the farther orders he had received from the king. He was well received by Almeyda, then viceroy, who gave him an additional ship commanded by Garcia de Sousa, to assist in the discovery of Malacca. In the prosecution of his voyage, he was well treated by the kings of Pedir and Pacem[111], who sent him presents, and at both places he erected crosses indicating discovery and possession. He at length cast anchor in the port of Malacca, where he terrified the people by the thunder of his cannon, so that every one hastened on board their ships to endeavour to defend themselves from this new and unwelcome guest.

[Footnote 110: Probably a malefactor left on purpose, as has been formerly mentioned from Castaneda in our second volume.--E.]

[Footnote 111: Pedier and Pisang; as called by the English.--Astl. I. 70. b.]

A boat came off with a message from the town, to inquire who they were and what they wanted, to which Lopez sent back for answer that he brought an ambassador from the king of Portugal, to propose entering into a treaty of peace and commerce advantageous for the king and city of Malacca. The king sent back a message in dubious language, such as is usual among the orientals when they mean to act treacherously, as some of the Moorish merchants, from enmity to the Portuguese, had prevailed upon him and his favourite Bandara, by means of rich presents, to destroy Lopez and the Portuguese. On the third day, Lopez sent Hierom Teixeyra in the character of ambassador, attended by a splendid retinue, who was well received on shore, and conducted on an elephant to the king, from whom he returned well pleased. All this was only a bait to entrap the Portuguese to their destruction; and in addition, the king sent an invitation to Lopez to dine with him in public. Lopez accepted this invitation, but was informed by a friend of Jao-Utimuti-rajah, that the king intended to murder him, on which he sent an excuse under pretence of indisposition. Credit was now given to an advice sent by a Persian woman to Duarte Fernandez, after she had been prevented by Sequeira from coming on board under night, thinking she came on an amorous errand, but which contributed to save the ships. Another contrivance was put in practice to destroy Lopez and his ships, by offering a lading of spice, and pretending that it was requisite to send for it to three several places. This succeeded in part; as while thirty men were sent on shore according to agreement, a fleet of small vessels was secretly prepared under cover of a point of land, ready to assault the ships, while the thirty men were to be murdered in the town. At this time likewise, a son of Utimuti-rajah came on board under pretence of a visit to Lopez, and finding him engaged at draughts requested him to continue his game, that he might have the better opportunity of assassinating him unobserved; and in fact he frequently put his hand to his dagger for that purpose, but waited till the other branches of the intended treachery should begin. At this time, a seaman on one of the tops who was on the outlook, seeing a throng in the town and hearing a considerable noise, called out 'Treachery! Treachery! they kill our men.' Lopez instantly threw away the draught board, calling out to arms; and the son of Utimuti, perceiving the treacherous designs discovered, leapt into his boat with his attendants in great consternation. The fleet of boats now came round the point and attacked the Portuguese, who exerted themselves as well as possible in their defence, considering the suddenness of the attack; and after sinking many of the enemies boats, forced the rest to retire. Not having a sufficient force to take vengeance for this treachery, Lopez was under the necessity of quitting Malacca, where he left sixty of his men in slavery, who were made prisoners on shore, and having eight slain. On his way back he took two Moorish ships bound for Malacca; and, having arrived at Cape Comorin, he sent on Teixeyra and Sousa with their ships to Cochin; resolving, though ill provided, to return alone to Portugal, being afraid of Albuquerque, as he had sided with Almeyda in the late disputes respecting the government of India. He reached the island of Tercera with much difficulty, and from thence proceeded to Lisbon.

SECTION V.

Transactions of the Portuguese in India under the Government of Don Alfonso de Albuquerque, from the end of 1509, to the year 1515.

Being put into possession of the government of India in November 1509, Albuquerque prepared for an expedition against Calicut, in conjunction with Fernando Coutinno. The design was kept secret, yet the zamorin and all the other princes along the coast provided for their defence, on hearing that the Portuguese were making preparations for war. Setting out from Cochin with thirty vessels of various sizes and 1800 land forces, besides several boats full of Malabars who followed in hopes of plunder, he arrived at Calicut on the 2d of January 1510; and consulting on the difficulties attending the enterprise, it was determined that the division of the fleet belonging to Albuquerque should be left in charge of Don Antonio de Noronha, while that belonging to Coutinno was to be commanded by Rodrigo Rabelo. Every one strove to be so posted as to land first, and the men were so eager for landing that they were under arms all night, and so tired in the morning that they were fitter for sleep than fighting, yet soon recovered when the signal was given and the cannon began to roar.

The troops landed in two divisions; that under Coutinno consisting of 800 men with some field-pieces, and that commanded by Albuquerque of the same number of Portuguese troops, together with 600 Malabars. They marched in strange confusion, each striving to be foremost. The first attack was made on the bulwark or bastion of Ceram by De Cunna and De Sousa, who were bravely resisted by 600 men, till on the coming up of Albuquerque, the defenders fled and the Portuguese got possession of the bulwark. Being fearful of some disastrous event from the confusion of his men, Albuquerque sent notice to Coutinno, who came with all speed to his assistance. On seeing the Portuguese colours flying on the bulwark, Coutinno believed he had been called back by a contrivance of the viceroy to prevent him from acquiring honour, and addressed him in the following terms. "Were you ambitious, Sir, that the rabble of Lisbon should report you were the first in storming Cochin, that you thus recal me? I shall tell the king that I could have entered it with only this cane in my hand; and since I find no one to fight with, I am resolved to proceed to the palace of the zamorin!" Without waiting any reply from Albuquerque, Coutinno immediately marched his men to the palace. Being above five leagues from the shore, and the road much encumbered with palm trees, and having met some opposition by the way, Coutinno and his people were tired by their long march, and rested some time in a plain before the palace. He then attacked it, and though well defended, the Moors[112] were forced to fly to the woods and mountains. The Portuguese soldiers being now possessed of the palace, quitted their ranks and began plundering in a disorderly manner, as if they had been close to the shore under protection of their ships, and had no enemy to fear. But the enemy having procured reinforcements, returned to the palace, and fell upon the disordered Portuguese, many of whom they killed while loaded with plunder, and did much harm to Coutinno and his men, though Vasco de Sylveira signalized himself by killing two of three chiefs called Caymals.

[Footnote 112: The author here very improperly calls the Nayres, or Malabar soldiers of the zamorin, Moors; though in all probability there might be some Mahometans among the defenders of Calicut.--E.]

In the meantime Albuquerque had got possession of the city of Cochin, which he set on fire; and finding no enemy to oppose him, he thought proper to march to the palace to see what Coutinno was about. On his arrival he found the palace surrounded by armed men, and that Coutinno was within in the most imminent danger. Having cleared the way from the enemy, he sent word to Coutinno that he waited for him; and after the third message, Coutinno sent back word that Albuquerque might march on and he would follow, being busy in collecting his men who were dispersed over the palace. Albuquerque accordingly began his march, much pressed upon by the enemy, and had not marched far when he received notice that Coutinno was in great danger. He immediately endeavoured to return to his relief, but was impeded by the multitude of the enemy, who slew many of his men, and he was himself so severely wounded by a dart in the throat, and a stone on the head, that he was carried senseless to the shore.

By this time Coutinno and many more were slain in the palace, and several others on their way back to the shore; being oppressed by the multitude of the enemy, spent with labour and heat, and almost stifled by the great dust. The whole of Coutinnos division had certainly been cut off, if Vasconcelles and Andrada, who had been left in the city with a reserve of 200[113] men had not checked the fury of the enemy and forced them to retire. There was now as keen a contest about who should get first on board, as had been about landing first, not considering that all their misfortunes had been occasioned by hurry and confusion. At length they got on board and sailed on their return to Cochin, having lost 80[114] men in this ill conducted enterprise, among whom were Coutinno and many persons of note. On recovering his senses while at sea, Albuquerque gave orders for the dispatch of the homeward bound ships; and on his arrival at Cochin, immediately made preparations for an attempt to reduce Ormuz.

[Footnote 113: In Paris, this reserve is stated at 2000 men, obviously a typographical error, yet copied in Astley's Collection, without considering that the whole original force was only 1800.--E.]

[Footnote 114: The loss acknowledged in the text is ridiculously small for so disastrous an enterprise, and we are almost tempted to suspect the converse of the error noticed in the preceding note, and that the loss might have been 800.--E.]

Being recovered from his wounds, all the preparations made for his expedition to Ormuz, and the homeward trading ships dispatched, Albuquerque set sail from Cochin with 1700 troops in 21 vessels of various sorts and sizes. On arriving at the river of Onor, he sent for the pirate Timoja, who being powerful and desirous of acquiring the friendship of the Portuguese, came immediately and supplied Albuquerque with provisions. Being skilful in the political affairs of India, Albuquerque consulted Timoja respecting his intended enterprise against Ormuz; but he endeavoured to dissuade him from that attempt, endeavouring to shew that Goa would be a more advantageous conquest, and might be easily taken as quite unprovided for defence. This advice pleased Albuquerque, and it was resolved upon in a council of war to change the destination of the armament, for which Timoja agreed to supply twelve ships, but gave out that he meant to accompany the Portuguese to Ormuz, that the governor of Goa might not be provided for defence. Timoja had been dispossessed of his inheritance and ill treated by his kindred and neighbours, and the desire of vengeance and of recovering his losses caused him to embrace the alliance of the Portuguese against the interest of his own countrymen.

The small island of Ticuari, in which the city of Goa stands, is situated in lat. 15° 30' N. in a bay at the mouth of the river Gasim on the coast of Canara, being about three leagues long and one broad. It contains both hill and level ground, has good water, and is fertile, pleasant, and healthy. The city of Goa, now seated on the northern part of the island, was formerly in its southern part. The present city was built by a Moor named Malek Husseyn about 40 years before the arrival of the Portuguese in India. It is not known when the old city was founded, but some authentic writings mention that Martrasat, king of that city above 100 years before, believed in one God, the incarnation of the Son, and the Trinity in Unity; besides which, a copper crucifix was found affixed to a wall when the city was taken. These Christians may have been descendants from the converts to the true faith through the ministration of the holy apostle Thomas.

About the year 1300 the Mahometans began to conquer India[115]. The first who attempted this with great power was Shah Mahmud Nasraddin[116], king of Delhi, who came down with a powerful army from the north, and conquered all the gentiles as far as the kingdom of Canara. He returned to Delhi, leaving Habed Shah to prosecute the conquest, who became so powerful by his valour and conduct that he coped with his master; and his nephew Madura prosecuting his enterprise after the decease of Habed, cast off his allegiance to the king of Delhi, and having possessed himself of the kingdom of Canara, called it the Deccan, from the various nations composing his army, this word having that import in their language[117]. Too great an empire is always in danger of falling to pieces. Mahmud Shah[118], being aware of this, used every possible precaution for his safety, which was effectual for some time; but at length several of the governors of this extensive empire erected their provinces into independent sovereignties. The greatest of these was he of Goa, the sovereign of which about the time of the Portuguese coming into India was named Sabayo, who died about the time that Albuquerque went against Goa; upon which Kufo Adel Khan, king of Bisnagar possessed himself of Goa, and placed it in the hands of his son Ismael. The other princes were Nizamaluco, Mudremaluco, Melek Verido, Khojah Mozadan, Abexeiassado, and Cotèmaluco, all powerful but some of them exceedingly so[119]. Sabayo was born of very mean parentage at Saba in Persia, whence his name; but having long served the king of the Deccan with great fidelity, had a grant of the city of Calberga, whence he extended his conquests over the Pagans of Bisnagar, and reduced Goa which had belonged to the Moors of Onor, killing Malek Husseyn its prince or ruler who defended it with a garrison of twelve hundred men. Goa had several dependencies, with which and the other territories he had acquired Sabayo, became the most powerful prince in these parts, and was consequently hated by them all. He maintained himself however against all his neighbours while he lived, sometimes by means of force, and at other times by profound policy; but his death produced great alteration.

[Footnote 115: From various circumstances in the context, the word India, is here evidently confined to the peninsula to the south of the Nerbudda, called generally Deccan, or the south.--E]

[Footnote 116: He was the sixth king of a dynasty of Turks from Persia, which founded the kingdom of Delhi in 12O2, or rather usurped it from the family of Ghaur, who conquered it in 1155 from that of Ghazni, which had subdued all India in 1001 as far as the Ganges. Mahmud Shah Nasr Addin began his reign in 1246, so that the conquests mentioned in the text must have happened considerably before 1300.--Astl. I. 71. 2.]

[Footnote 117: Deccan or Dakshin signifies the south, and is properly that portion of India which lies between the Nerbudda and Kistna river. It would far exceed the bounds of a note to illustrate the Indian history, which is very confusedly, and imperfectly stated in the text.--E.]

[Footnote 118: In the text of Faria named Mamud-xa, and probably the same person named immediately before Madura.--E.]

[Footnote 119: These names are strangely corrupted in the Portuguese orthography of Faria, and the princes are not well distinguished. Only three of them were very considerable: Nizam Shah, or Nizam-al-Mulk, to whom belonged Viziapour; Koth, or Kothb-shah, or Kothb-al-Mulk, the same with Cotamaluco of the text, who possessed Golconda; and Kufo Adel Khan, called Cufo king of Hidalcan in Faria, who held Bisnagar.--Astley, I. 71. d.--The great king of Narsinga is here omitted; which Hindoo sovereignty seems at that time to have comprised the whole of southern India, from the western Gauts to the Bay of Bengal, now the high and low Carnatic with Mysore.--E.]

Having sailed from Onor accompanied by Timoja, Albuquerque came to anchor off the bar of Goa on the 25th of February 1510. As it was necessary to sail up the northern arm of the bay or river, on the bank of which the city was situated, Albuquerque sent his nephew Antonio de Noronha, accompanied by Timoja, to sound the channel. A light vessel of easy draught of water which led the way gave chase to a brigantine belonging to the Moors, which took shelter under protection of a fort or blockhouse, erected for protecting the entrance of the harbour, which was well provided with artillery and garrisoned by 400 men, commanded by Yazu Gorji, a valiant Turk. Seeing the other vessel in chase, Noronha pressed after him; and though the fort seemed strong, they attacked and took it after a stout resistance, during which the commandant lost greater part of one of his hands, yet persisted to defend his post till deserted by his men, when he too retired into the city. In the mean time, in emulation of his new allies, Timoja attacked and took another blockhouse on the continental shore of the channel leading to Goa, which was defended by some artillery and forty men. After these exploits the channel was sounded without any farther obstruction.

Next day, as Albuquerque was sailing up the channel to proceed in his enterprise, he was met by Mir Ali and other chief men of the city, who came to surrender it to him, only stipulating, that their lives, liberties, and goods should be secured. The reason of this surrender was because Gorji had terrified them by his account of the astonishing and irresistible prowess of the Portuguese, and because a Joghi, or native religious saint, had predicted a short time before, that Goa was soon to be subjected by strangers. Albuquerque readily accepted the surrender on the terms proposed, and having anchored before the town on the 27th of February, was received on shore by the inhabitants with as much honour and respect, as if he had been their native prince. Mounting on a superbly caparisoned horse which was brought for his use, he received the keys of the city gates, and rode in great pomp to the palace which had been built by Sabayo, where he found a great quantity of cannon, arms, warlike ammunition, and horses. Having issued orders and regulations which were much to the satisfaction of the inhabitants, he dispatched several messages or embassies to the neighbouring sovereigns, the only effect, of which was to shew his high spirit. Such of the neighbouring towns as were dependent upon God, sent deputations without delay to proffer their obedience and submission. The command of the fort or castle was given to Don Antonio de Noronha, the government of the infidels to Timoja, and the other offices were disposed of to the general satisfaction. Understanding that several ships belonging to Ormuz and other places on the Arabian coast, were lading in the port of Baticala, four Portuguese vessels were sent thither, which took and carried them to Cochin, and sent an ample supply of provisions to Goa.

About four months after the easy conquest of Goa, the fortune of Albuquerque began to change its appearance, as those persons in Goa on whose fidelity he had reposed most confidence, in spite of the remonstrances of Timoja, entered into plots to deliver up the place to its former master Ismael. They had submitted so easily to Albuquerque, because unprovided for effectual resistance, to save their properties, and to gain time till Ismael Adel Khan was prepared to come to their relief. Having at length completed his preparations, he sent on before him in June 1510 his general-in-chief Kamul Khan with 1500 horse and 8000 foot, on which Albuquerque took proper measures to defend his recent acquisition. Having detected a conspiracy of the Moors to deliver up the city, his first step was to secure and punish the chief conspirators; among these were Mir Cassem and his nephew, to whom he had confided the command of four hundred Moors, whom he caused to be hewed in pieces by his guards; several others were hanged in the most public places of the city, and the rest were rigorously imprisoned, above 100 being convicted of participating in the plot. By these rigid measures the city was terrified into submission.

Soon afterwards Kamul Khan approached with the van of the army of Ismael, and attempted to pass over into the island by means of boats which he had provided for that purpose. He was courageously opposed by Noronha, who captured twelve of the boats; many of the enemy were killed by the Portuguese, and many others devoured by the alligators which swarmed in the channel round the island; but at length Kamul Khan effected a landing in force on the island, and the Portuguese were obliged to take refuge within the walls of the city. Kamul Khan then invested the city with his army, which he began to batter with his cannon, and Albuquerque used every possible effort to defend the place. Ismael Adel Khan now came up to second his general, at the head of 60,000 men, 5000 of whom were cavalry. Part of this great army passed over into the island to strengthen the besiegers, and the rest took post in two divisions on the continent to prevent the introduction of provisions, one of these being commanded by an officer of reputation, and the other by the mother and women belonging to Ismael, who maintained their troops by the gain from 4000 prostitutes, who followed the camp. By the arrival of this vast army the city of Goa was completely surrounded, and no opportunity was left for Albuquerque to execute any enterprise against the numerous assailants. Making what was necessary prudent, he and his officers resolved to abandon the city before day, which was accordingly executed though with much hazard, the way being occupied by the troops of the enemy, and Albuquerque had his horse killed under him; yet he got off all his men without loss after a siege of twenty days.

After this retreat, it was resolved to spend the winter in these seas, for which purpose the fleet came to anchor in a bay, which although not commodious was the best that could be had on this part of the coast; and being incommoded by a fort named Pangi which had a considerable number of cannon, it became necessary to gain possession[120]. Accordingly 300 Portuguese troops were appointed for the assault, while Noronha had the command of a body of reserve, and Albuquerque guarded the shore. While the Portuguese prepared during the night to assail the fort next morning, 500 men marched by order of Ismael to reinforce the garrison; and when the Portuguese marched to the assault, both the Moorish garrison and the relief, being all drunk, mistook the Portuguese for friends; the garrison believing them to be the reinforcement, and the relief conceiving them to have been the garrison coming out to meet them. They were soon however fatally undeceived by the attack of the Portuguese, in which 340 of them were slain, and the rest put to the rout, while the Portuguese only lost one man who was drowned accidentally. A similar circumstance happened at the bulwark which had been formerly won by Timoja at Bardes. By these two severe defeats of his people, Ismael was so excessively alarmed that he left Goa, and his fear was much increased as some conjurer had foretold that he was to be killed by a cannon-shot near some river. He sent several ceremonious messages to Albuquerque, on purpose to discover what was doing on board the ships, and by the threatening answers he received his fears were materially augmented. In consequence of this intercourse of messages, Ismael was prevailed on to exchange some Portuguese, who had necessarily been left behind when Goa was abandoned; for the Moors engaged in the late conspiracy who remained prisoners with Albuquerque.

[Footnote 120: From the context it is obvious that this bay and the fort of Pangi were in the close neighbourhood, of Goa; in fact the bay appears to have been the channel leading to Goa, and the fort one of those bulwarks on the continental shore which defended the navigation of that channel.--E.]

About this time Albuquerque received intelligence that some vessels were preparing at Goa to set his ships on fire, on which he anticipated the intentions of the Moors by sending a force up the river to burn these vessels, which was effected, but Don Antonio de Noronha was slain in this enterprise; Noronha used to moderate the violent passions of his uncle Albuquerque, who after his death allowed the severity of his temper to proceed to extremities. Having detected a soldier in an amour with one of the female slaves he used to call his daughters, and whom he was accustomed to give away in marriage, he ordered him immediately to be hanged; and as some of his officers demanded to know by what authority he had done this arbitrary and cruel deed, he ordered them all below deck, and flourishing his sword said that was his commission for punishing all who were disobedient, and immediately cashiered them all. During the continuance of this winter, the Portuguese fleet suffered extreme hardships, especially from scarcity of provisions; and on sailing from thence after the cessation of winter[121], they discovered four sail which they supposed to have been Turks, or Mamelukes rather, but on coming nearer, they were found to be a squadron from Portugal under the command of Diego Mendez. Besides these, the king had sent out this year other seven ships, under Sequeira, who arrived at Cananor soon after Albuquerque; and a third armament of two ships to settle a trade at Madagascar.

[Footnote 121: By winter on the coast of Malabar, must only be understood, the period of storms and excessive bad weather which occurs at the change of the monsoons, when it is imminently perilous to be at sea.--E.]

On the return of Albuquerque from Goa to Cananor, he was much rejoiced at the prospect of such powerful succours, and communicated his intentions of immediately resuming his enterprise against Goa, but was overruled in the council by Sequeira, on which Albuquerque went to Cochin, and obtained a victory over the Malabars of Calicut, who endeavoured to obstruct the Portuguese from loading pepper. Having dispatched Sequeira with the homeward bound ships, and soon afterwards Lemos with four more, he determined to resume the enterprise upon Goa. As Diego Mendez, who had formerly been favourable to this design, and several other captains, now opposed it, because it interfered with their intentions of going to Malacca, as directed by the king, Albuquerque commanded them all under the severest penalties not to quit the coast without his orders. Though much dissatisfied, they were obliged to obey. Accordingly, having fitted out twenty-three ships at Cananor, in which he embarked with 1500 soldiers, he proceeded to Onor to join his ally Timoja, whom he found busied in the celebration of his marriage with the daughter of a queen; and being anxious to have the honour of the viceroys presence at the wedding he invited him to land, which proved very dangerous, as they were kept on shore for three days in consequence of a storm, and when Albuquerque returned to the ships a boat with thirty men was lost. On leaving Onor for Goa, Timoja sent three of his ships along with Albuquerque, and promised to join him at Goa with 6000 men.

Albuquerque anchored for the second time before the bar of Goa on the 22d of November 1510. Impressed with a strong recollection of the dangers he had escaped from on the former attempt, and anxious to sooth the discontent which he well knew subsisted among some of his principal officers on account of having been reluctantly compelled to engage in this expedition, he addressed them in a conciliatory harangue by which he won them over entirely to concur with him in bringing the hazardous enterprise in which he was engaged to a favourable issue. Having made the proper dispositions for the assault, the troops were landed at early dawn on the 25th of November, and attacked the enemy who defended the shore with such determined intrepidity that they were put to flight with great slaughter, and without the loss of a man on the side of the Portuguese. The enemy fled and endeavoured to get into the city by one of the gates, and being closely pursued by the Portuguese who endeavoured to enter along with them, the fight was there renewed, till at length many of the Portuguese forced their way into the city doing prodigious execution, and the battle was transferred to the streets. These were successively cleared of the enemy by dint of hard fighting all the way to the palace, in which time the Portuguese had lost five officers of some note, and the fight was here renewed with much valour on both sides. Albuquerque, who had exerted himself during the whole action with equal courage and conduct, now came up with the reserve, and the Moors were completely defeated, flying in all directions from the city and endeavouring to escape to the continent, but through haste and confusion many of them perished in the river. After this decisive victory, it was found that of 9000 men who defended the city, 6000 had perished, while the Portuguese lost fifty men. Medeorao[122], or Melrao, nephew to the king of Onore, who commanded the three ships sent by Timoja, behaved with great courage and fidelity on this occasion; Timoja came himself to Goa with a reinforcement of 3000 men, but too late to assist in the attack, and was only a witness to the carnage which had taken place. The booty in horses, artillery, arms, provisions, and ships, was immense, and contributed materially to enable Albuquerque to accomplish the great designs he had in contemplation.

[Footnote 122: This person is afterwards named by Faria Melrao, and is said to have been nephew to the king of Onore; the editor of Astley calls him Melrau. Perhaps his real name might have been Madeo row, and both he and Timoja may have been of the Mahrana nation.--E.]

The Portuguese who were slain in this brilliant exploit were all honourably interred; those of the enemy were made food for the alligators who swarmed in the river. All the surviving Moors were expelled from the city, island, and dependencies of Goa, and all the farms were restored to the gentiles, over whom Timoja was appointed governor, and after him Medeorao, formerly mentioned. While employed in settling the affairs of his conquest, ambassadors came from several of the princes along the coast to congratulate Albuquerque on his brilliant success. Both then and afterwards, many of the officers of Adel Khan made inroads to the neighbourhood of Goa, but were always repelled with loss. At this time, Diego Mendez and other two captains belonging to his squadron, having been appointed by the king of Portugal for an expedition to Malacca, stole away from the port of Goa under night in direct contravention of the orders of Albuquerque, intending to proceed for Malacca. Albuquerque sent immediately after them and had them brought back prisoners; on which he deprived them of their commands, ordering them to be carried to Portugal to answer to the king for their conduct, and condemned the two pilots who had conducted their ships from the harbour to be immediately hung at the yard-arm. Some alleged that Albuquerque emulously detained Diego Mendez from going against Malacca, which enterprise he designed for himself, while others said that he prevented him from running into the same danger which had been already met with by Sequeira at that place, the force under Mendez being altogether inadequate to the enterprise.

To provide for the future safety of Goa, Albuquerque laid the foundations of a fort, which he named Manuel, after the reigning king of Portugal. On this occasion, he caused the names of all the captains who had been engaged in the capture of Goa to be engraven on a stone, which he meant to have put up as a monument to their honour; but as every one was desirous of being named before the others, he turned down the stone so as to hide all their names, leaving the following inscription,

Lapidem quem reprobaverant aedificantes.

Thus they were all pleased, rather wishing their own individual praises to be forgotten, than that others should partake. Albuquerque assuming all the powers of sovereignty in his new conquest for the king of Portugal, coined money of gold, silver, and copper, calling the first Manuels, the second Esperas, and the third half esperas. Resolving to establish a permanent colony at this place, he engaged several of the Portuguese to intermarry with the women of the country, giving them marriage portions in lands, houses, and offices as an encouragement. On one night that some of these marriages were celebrated, the brides became so mixed and confounded together, that some of the bridegrooms went to bed to those who belonged to others; and when the mistake was discovered next morning, each took back his own wife, all being equal in regard to the point of honour. This gave occasion to some of the gentlemen to throw ridicule on the measures pursued by Albuquerque; but he persisted with firmness in his plans, and succeeded in establishing Goa as the metropolis or centre of the Portuguese power in India.

The king of Portugal had earnestly recommended to Albuquerque the capture of the city of Aden on the coast of Arabia near the entrance of the Red Sea; and being now in possession of Goa, he thought his time mispent when not occupied in military expeditions, and resolved upon attempting the conquest of Malacca; but to cover his design, he pretended that he meant to go against Aden, and even sent off some ships in that direction the better to conceal his real intentions. Leaving Don Rodrigo de Castel Branco in the command of Goa with a garrison of 400 Portuguese troops, while the defence of the dependencies and the collection of the revenue was confided to Medeorao with 5000 native soldiers, Albuquerque went to Cochin to prepare for his expedition against Malacca.

The city of Malacca is situated on the peninsula of that name, anciently called Aurea Chersonesus, or the Golden Peninsula, and on the coast of the channel which separates the island of Sumatra from the continent, being about the middle of these straits. It is in somewhat more than two degrees of north latitude[123], stretching along the shore for about a league, and divided in two nearly equal parts by a river over which there is a bridge. It has a fine appearance from the sea, but all the buildings of the city are of wood, except the mosque and palace which are of stone. Its port was then frequented by great numbers of ships, being the universal mart of all eastern India beyond the bay of Bengal. It was first built by the Celates, a people who chiefly subsisted by fishing, and who united themselves with the Malays who inhabited the mountains. Their first chief was Paramisora, who had been a person of high rank in the island of Java, whence he was expelled by another chief who usurped his lordship, on which occasion he fled to Cincapura, where he was well received by the lord of that place and raised to high employment. But having rebelled against his benefactor, he was driven from thence by the king of Siam, and was forced to wander about Malacca, as a just punishment for his ingratitude. Having drawn together a number of the before-mentioned natives, with whom he established a new colony, he gave the name of Malacca to the rising city, signifying in the language of the country a banished man, as a memorial of his own fortunes. The first king of Malacca was Xuque Darxa, or sheikh Dár-shah, called by some authors Raal Sabu, or Ra-el-Saib, who was the son of Paramisora, and was subject to the kings of Siam; but from whom his successors revolted. The country of Malacca is subject to inundations, full of thick woods, and infested by dangerous and savage beasts, particularly tigers, so that travellers are often forced to pass the nights on the tops of high trees, as the tigers can easily take them off from such as are low by leaping. The men of Malacca are courageous, and the women very wanton. At this time the city of Malacca was rich and populous, being the centre of trade between the eastern and western parts of India, Mahomet was then king of Malacca, against whom the king of Siam had sent an army of 40,000 men, most of whom perished by sundry misfortunes, but chiefly through similar treacherous devices with those which had been put in practice against Sequeira. But now Albuquerque approached to revenge them all. Mahomet, fearing to meet the reward of his former treachery to the Portuguese, had procured the assistance of the king of Pam[124], who brought an army of 30,000 men with a great number of pieces of artillery[125].

[Footnote 123: In lat. 2° 25' N.]

[Footnote 124: Named Pahang or Pahan, by the editor of Astleys Collection.]

[Footnote 125: In the text of Faria, and following him in Astley, the number of cannon is said to have been 8000; a number so incredible that we have used a general expression only on this occasion in the text.--E.]

On the 2d of May 1511, Albuquerque sailed from Cochin on his expedition against Malacca, with 19 ships and 1400 soldiers, 800 of whom were Portuguese, and 600 Malabars. While off the island of Ceylon he fell in with and captured five vessels belonging to the Moors, which were bound for Malacca. On arriving at the island of Sumatra, the kings of Pedier and Pisang sent friendly messages to Albuquerque, on which occasion Juan de Viegas, one of the men left behind by Sequeira was restored to freedom, he and others having made their escape from Malacca. About this time likewise, Nehoada Beguea, who had been one of the principal authors of the treachery practiced against Sequeira, fled from Pedier and being taken at sea by Ayres Pereira, to the great astonishment of every one shed not one drop of blood, though pierced by several mortal wounds; but on taking off a bracelet of bone from his arm the blood gushed out. The Indians, who discovered the secret, said this bracelet was made from the bone of a certain beast which is found in Java, and has this wonderful virtue. It was esteemed a great prize and brought to Albuquerque. After this, they fell in with another ship in which were 300 Moors[126] who made so resolute a defence, that Albuquerque was obliged to come up in person to assist in the capture, which was not accomplished without considerable danger. In this vessel was Geniall, the rightful king of Pisang; who had been banished by an usurper. Three other vessels were taken soon after, from one of which a minute account was procured of the military preparations at Malacca.

[Footnote 126: All are Moors with Faria, particularly Mahometans. The crew of this vessel were probably Malays, perhaps the most ferociously desperate people of the whole world.--E.]

On the 1st of July 1511, the Portuguese fleet cast anchor in the roads of Malacca, infusing terror and dismay among multitudes that covered the whole shore, by the clangour of their warlike instruments, and the noise of repeated discharges of cannon; being sensible of their guilty conduct to Sequeira and conscious that the present armament was designed for their condign punishment. Next day a Moor came off in great state with a message from the king, and was received with much courtesy and ceremonious pomp by Albuquerque[127], to whom he said that if he came for trade, the king was ready to supply whatever merchandise he wanted. Albuquerque made answer that the merchandise he sought for was the restitution of the Portuguese who had been left there by Sequeira, and when they were restored, he should then say what farther demands he had to make from the king. On his return to the city, the Moor spread universal consternation by this answer, and it was agreed to endeavour to avert the threatened danger, by restoring the Portuguese, and by paying a large sum of money. But Prince Al'oddin, the son of the king of Malacca, and his brother-in-law the king of Pahang opposed this, and made ready for defence. Upon this Albuquerque began some military execution, and the king restored the captives. After this some farther negotiations ensued, as the king was desirous of peace, which Albuquerque offered to agree to, on condition of having permission to build a fortress at Malacca, and that the king should repay the entire charges incurred by Sequeira and the present armament, all the damage having been occasioned by his own treachery and falsehood; but he demanded to have an immediate answer; whether the king chose peace or war. The king was willing to have submitted to the terms demanded by the Portuguese viceroy, but his son and the king of Pahang opposed him, and it was at length determined to stand on their defence.

[Footnote 127: On this occasion, Faria mentions that Albuquerque wore his beard so long that it was fastened to his girdle; having made a vow when he was forced to retreat from Ormuz, that it should never be trimmed till he sat on the back of Khojah Attar for that purpose.--E.]

On the 24th of July, being the eve of St James the apostle, every thing being disposed in order for attack, the signal was given for landing, by the discharge of artillery, and immediately the Portuguese leapt on shore and charged the enemy with loud shouts. The hottest of the battle was about gaining and defending the bridge, which enterprise Albuquerque undertook in person, and where the enemy after a vigorous defence, in which great numbers of them were slain, were forced to leap into the river, where many of them were drowned. The prince and the king of Pahang bravely opposed another party of the Portuguese who endeavoured to force their way to the bridge to join the viceroy, and at the same time King Mahomet came out on a large elephant, attended by two others having castles on their backs, whence numbers of darts were launched against the Portuguese. But the elephants being soon severely wounded, turned and fled through among their own men, trampling many of them to death and making way for the Portuguese to join those who had possession of the bridge. At this place Albuquerque fortified himself, and as considerable harm was done to his men by poisoned arrows discharged from the tops of the adjoining houses, he caused them to be set on fire. After bestowing great praises on his captains for their courageous behaviour, and perceiving that his people began to grow faint by long exertions, excessive heat, and want of food, he withdrew to the ships towards night. Ten of the Portuguese died in consequence of their wounds from the poisoned arrows. The loss of the enemy was not known. The king of Pahang withdrew to his own country, under pretence of bringing a reinforcement, but never returned.

While Albuquerque rested and refreshed his men on board, Mahomet was busily employed in making every possible preparation for defending the city. For this purpose he undermined the streets in several places, in hopes to blow up the assailants, and strewed poisoned thorns in the way, covering them over to prevent their being observed. He likewise fortified the bridge, and planted cannon in many places. As a prelude to the second assault, Albuquerque sent Antonio de Abren in a vessel well manned to gain possession of the bridge. On his way thither he had to pass through showers of bullets from both sides of the river and from the battlements of the bridge, and though desperately wounded, refused to be brought off, when Deniz Fernandez Melo, who came up to his rescue proposed sending him to the ships to have his wounds dressed, saying, "Though he neither had strength to fight nor voice to command, he would not quit his post while life remained." Floats of wildfire were sent down the river to burn the vessel; but at length Albuquerque in person gained possession of the bridge, and the vessel being freed from the fire rafts, had liberty to act against the enemy. Having rested his men a short time on the bridge, Albuquerque penetrated the city, through showers of bullets, darts, and arrows; and having been apprised of the mines in the principal street, he took, another way and gained the mosque. At length, after a prodigious slaughter of the enemy, he gained entire possession of the city, having only with him in this action 800 Portuguese and 200 Malabars.

At the end of nine days every one of the Moors who inhabited this great city were either slain or driven out, and it was repeopled with strangers and some Malays, who were permitted to take possession of the vacant houses. Among these last was Utimuti rajah, whose son had formerly endeavoured to assassinate Sequeira. Utimuti was a rich and powerful native of Java, of whom more hereafter. The soldiers were allowed to plunder the city during three days. There were found 3000 pieces of great cannon, out of 8000[128] which King Mahomet had relied upon for the defence of his city, the rest having been carried off to Bintang, where the king and prince Al'oddin had fortified themselves. As it might have been of dangerous consequence to permit these princes to establish themselves so near the city of Malacca, Albuquerque sent a force to dislodge them, consisting of 400 Portuguese, 400 Malays belonging to Utimuti, and 300 men belonging to the merchants of Pegu who resided in Malacca. On the approach of these troops, the king and prince took flight, leaving seven elephants with all their costly trappings, and the Portuguese returned to Malacca. Now reduced to wander in the woods and mountains of the interior, Mahomet so severely reflected upon the obstinacy of his son and the king of Pahang, that he and his son quarrelled and separated, each shifting for himself.

[Footnote 128: This prodigious train of artillery is quite incredible, though, twice repeated in the same terms, but it is impossible to form any rational conjecture for correcting the gross error or exaggeration in the text.--E.]

To secure this important conquest, Albuquerque built a fort or citadel at Malacca, which from its beauty was called Hermosa. He likewise built a church, which was dedicated to the Visitation of our Lady; and coined money of different values and denominations, which was ordered to pass current by proclamation, and some of which he caused to be scattered among the populace. By these and other prudent measures he gained the hearts of the people, attracted strangers to settle in Malacca, and secured this important emporium of trade. Although Albuquerque was perfectly conscious of the deceitful character of Utimuti rajah, yet considering it to be sometimes prudent to trust an enemy under proper precautions, he gave him authority over all the Moors that remained in Malacca. It was soon discovered however, that Utimuti carried on a private correspondence with Prince Al'oddin, under pretence of restoring him to the sovereignty of Malacca, but in reality for the purpose of using his remaining influence among the people to set himself up. On receiving authentic information of these underhand practices, Albuquerque caused Utimuti with his son and son-in-law to be apprehended, and on conviction of their treason, he ordered them to be publicly executed on the same scaffold which they had formerly destined for Sequeira. This was the first public exertion of sovereign justice which was attempted by the Portuguese in India, but was soon followed by others. Pate Quitir, another native of Java, whom Albuquerque appointed to succeed Utimuti in the government of the Moors in Malacca, was gained by the widow of Utimuti, by promise of her daughter in marriage with a portion of 100,000 ducats, to revenge the death of her husband on the Portuguese, and to assassinate Albuquerque. Quitir accepted her offer, meaning to seize the city for himself. About the same time also, the king of Campar formed a similar design, for the attainment of which purpose he sent a congratulatory embassy to Albuquerque, from whom he demanded the office which had been conferred on Quitir. These plots having no consequences at this time, shall be farther explained in the sequel.

During his residence at Malacca, Albuquerque received embassies from several princes, particularly from the king of Siam; and he sent likewise embassies in return, to the kings of Siam and Pegu. He sent also two ships to discover the Molucca islands and Banda[129], and gave orders to let it be known in all quarters that Malacca was now under the dominion of Portugal, and that merchants from every part of India would be received there on more favourable terms than formerly. Having now established every thing in Malacca to his mind, Albuquerque determined upon returning to Cochin, leaving Ruy de Brito Patalim to command the fort with a garrison of 300 men. He left at the same time Fernando Perez de Andrada with ten ships and 300 soldiers to protect the trade, and carried four ships with himself on his return to Cochin.

[Footnote 129: According to some authors these were commanded by Lopez de Azevedo and Antonio de Abreu, who set out in 1511 and returned in 1513; but according to others Antonio de Abreu, Francisco Serrano, and Ferdinand Magalhaens were the officers employed on this occasion, during which Magalhaens projected his circumnavigation of the globe.--Astley, I. 74. 2.]

During these transactions at Malacca a rebellion broke out among the natives at Goa, taking advantage of which, Pulate Khan, an officer in the service of Kufo Adel Khan king of Bisnagar passed over into the island of Goa with considerable army, and laid siege to the city. One of the principal exploits during this siege was a sally made by Rodrigo Robello de Castello Franco the governor, in which the besiegers suffered considerable loss. But Rodrigo was soon afterwards slain, and Diego Mendez de Vasconcellos was chosen to take the command by the universal suffrages of the besieged. At this time Adel Khan became jealous that his general Pulate Khan intended to usurp the sovereignty over the territory of Goa, on which account he sent his brother-in-law, Rotzomo Khan to supersede him, who entered into a treaty with Diego Mendez, by whose assistance he got the mastery over Pulate Khan. Finding himself at the head of 7000 men, while there were not above 1200 troops in the city of Goa, 400 only of whom were Portuguese, Rotzomo resolved to endeavour to drive them out, and resumed the siege. Being short of provisions, the besieged began to suffer severely from famine, and several of the men deserted to the enemy, some of whom repented and returned to the city. In this critical situation, Emanuel de la Cerda who had wintered at Cochin fortunately arrived with succours, and was followed soon after by Diego Fernandez de Beja, who had been sent to demolish the fort at Socotora, and to receive the tribute at Onnuz. By these the besieged were abundantly relieved and succoured with recruits and provisions when almost reduced to extremity. Soon afterwards arrived Juan Serram who had gone from Portugal the year before with Peyo de Sa, in order to settle a trade in the island of Madagascar, but ineffectually; and Christopher de Brito, who happened to be at Cananor with a large ship and four smaller vessels, where he heard of the distressed situation of Goa, went immediately thither with a strong reinforcement and an ample supply of provisions.

On his voyage from Malacca to Cochin, the ship in which Albuquerque was embarked struck during the night on a rock off Cape Timia in the kingdom of Aru on the coast of Sumatra. Being completely separated a midships, the people who had taken refuge on the poop and forecastle were unable to communicate with each other, and the night was so exceedingly dark that no assistance could be sent from the other vessels. When day-light appeared next morning, Albuquerque was seen holding a girl in his arms, whom chance had conducted to him during the confusion. Pedro de Alpoem came up to his relief, though with much difficulty and danger. On this occasion some of the men were lost, and much valuable commodities, but what Albuquerque most regretted was the wonderful bone which prevented the wounded Moor from bleeding, and some iron lions of curious workmanship, which he had intended for supporters to his tomb. Albuquerque continued his voyage after this disaster in the ship commanded by Alpoem; and on his way back took two Moorish ships, which, though rich did not make amends for the loss he had sustained in the wreck of his own. Immediately on his arrival at Cochin, being informed of the distress of Goa, he dispatched eight vessels to that place with men and provisions, promising soon to repair thither in person. There were then in the town 1000 men, who were besieged by an army of 20,000 natives.

It being now the year 1512, six ships arrived in India from Portugal, having spent a whole year on the voyage without touching at any port; and though the men were tired and sick, they relieved several places. At this time likewise a fleet of thirteen ships arrived from Portugal, one of which was lost on the island of Angoxa. This fleet, which carried 1800 soldiers, anchored off the bar of Goa on the 15th of August 1512. They immediately drove the enemy from a fort which they had constructed at Benistarim; after which Don Garcia and George de Melo passed on with their squadrons, accompanied by Juan Machado and others, who had been recently delivered from slavery in Cambaya. Albuquerque was much rejoiced at the great reinforcements brought out by his nephew Don Garcia and Melo, and by the relief of the captives, as they enabled him to proceed in the enterprises which he had in contemplation. His satisfaction was much increased by the arrival of Antonio de Saldanna with the garrison of Quiloa, which had been abandoned as a place of small importance. About the same time there arrived ambassadors from Persia and Ormuz, the latter of whom had orders from his master to proceed to Portugal.

Having arranged everything at Cochin, and appointed Melo to the command of Cananor, Albuquerque proceeded to Goa, where he was received with every demonstration of joy and respect. After visiting the fortifications, he endeavoured to concert measures for driving Rotzomo Khan from the works which he had constructed for besieging Goa. On the sixth day after his arrival, being on an eminence with several officers taking a view of the works of the enemy, 4000 Moors, 200 of whom were horse, were seen sporting on the plain, it being Friday, which is the sabbath of the Mahometans. On this occasion, a detachment of the Portuguese made a sudden attack on the Moors, and after a hot skirmish drove them for shelter to their works, having slain above an hundred of the enemy, with the loss of one officer and one private, and several wounded. Having resolved to take possession of a strong fort which the enemy had erected near Goa for the protection of their camp, Albuquerque caused it to be attacked both by sea and land at the same time; and thinking that the sea attack was not conducted with sufficient vigour, he went himself in a boat to give orders, and came so near that a cannon-shot struck the head of a Canara who steered his boat, dashing the blood and brains on his beard. Enraged at this incident, he offered a high reward to any one who should destroy that cannon; on which one of his gunners aimed a shot so exactly that it struck the muzzle of the cannon which flew in pieces, and killed the Moorish cannoneer. By this fortunate circumstance, the Portuguese were able to get farther up the river and to get close to the fort. At this time Zufolari, one of the generals of the Moors, appeared with 7000 men on the continental shore to relieve the fort; but being unable to effectuate his purpose, was forced to retire after sustaining some loss by a distant cannonade. Albuquerque now closely invested the fort with 4000 men, 3000 of whom were Portuguese. He divided these into two bodies, one under his own immediate command, and the other under the charge of his nephew Don Garcia. At first the Portuguese received some damage; but in the end Rotzomo Khan agreed to surrender the fort with all its cannon and ammunition, to deliver up all the Portuguese prisoners and deserters, and to evacuate the island of Goa and its dependencies. The Portuguese deserters were severely punished by order of Albuquerque, having their ears, noses, right hands, and the thumbs of their left cut off, in which mutilated condition they were sent home to Portugal. One of these, named Ferdinando Lopez, as a penance for his crimes, voluntarily remained with a negro at the island of St Helena, where he began some cultivation, and was afterwards serviceable to several ships that called in there, by furnishing them with refreshments.

Having thus completely relieved Goa, Albuquerque endeavoured to gain over Rotzomo Khan to the Portuguese service, but unsuccessfully; but his good fortune made a great impression on many of the native princes, several of whom sent pacific embassies to the viceroy. The king of Calicut, terrified at the growing power of the Portuguese, concluded a treaty of peace with Don Garcia, whom his uncle had sent to take the command at Cochin[130]. The kings of Narsinga, Visiapour, Bisnagar, and other districts of India, sent ambassadors to the viceroy; who endeavoured in his answers to impress them powerfully with the value of amity with the Portuguese, and dread of encountering their arms, and sent back envoys of his own to these princes, to acquire intelligence respecting their power and resources. There arrived likewise at Goa an ambassador from the Christian sovereign of Abyssinia, whom the Europeans denominate Prester John[131], who was destined to go over to Portugal, carrying a piece of the true cross, and letters for the king of Portugal from the queen-mother Helena, who governed Abyssinia during the minority of her son David. The purport of this embassy was to arrange a treaty of amity with the king of Portugal, and to procure military aid against the Moors who were in constant hostility with that kingdom. This ambassador reported that there were then three Portuguese at the Abyssinian court, one of whom, named Juan, called himself ambassador from the king of Portugal; and two others, named Juan Gomez and Juan Sanchez, who had been lately set on shore at Cape Guardafu, by order of Albuquerque, in order to explore the country.

[Footnote 130: The editor of Astleys Collection adds, with liberty to build a fort; but this condition is not to be found in the text of Faria, which is followed in that work literally on most occasions, though often much abridged.--E.]

[Footnote 131: In our early volumes it will be seen that this imaginary Prete Jani, Prester John, or the Christian Priest-king, had been sought for in vain among the wandering tribes of eastern Tartary. The Portuguese now absurdly gave that appellation to the Negus of Habesh, or Emperor of the Abyssinians; where a degraded species of Christianity prevails among a barbarous race, continually engaged in sanguinary war and interminable revolution.--E.]

Every thing at Goa being placed in order, the viceroy now determined upon carrying the enterprise against Aden into execution, which had been formerly ordered by the king of Portugal. Without communicating his intentions to any one, he caused twenty ships to be fitted out, in which he embarked with 1700 Portuguese troops, and 800 native Canaras and Malabars. When just ready to sail, he acquainted the captains with the object of his expedition, that they might know where to rendezvous in case of separation. Setting sail from Goa on the 18th of February 1513, the armament arrived safe at Aden. This city, called Modocan by Ptolemy, is situated on the coast of Yemen or Arabia Felix, in lat. 12° 45' N. near the mouth of the Red Sea, and looks beautiful and strong from the sea, being rich and populous owing to the resort of many nations for trade. But Immediately behind are the barren and rocky mountains of Arzira, which present numerous cliffs and precipices. The soil is arid, having very little water, which is procured from a few wells and cisterns, as this part of the country is scarcely watered from the heavens above once in two or three years. Hence it is devoid of all trees, and has neither gardens nor orchards.

Immediately on the arrival of the Portuguese fleet, Miramirzan the governor sent a complimentary message to the viceroy with a present of provisions; but as there was no prospect of voluntary submission or surrender, Albuquerque resolved upon carrying the place by assault, but found the enterprise more difficult than he expected. Having landed his men early in the morning, the troops advanced to the walls with scaling ladders: but after a considerable number had got up to the top of the wall, the ladders broke under the weight of the multitudes who pressed to get up; so that Albuquerque was obliged to order down those who had already ascended, by means of a single ladder constructed out of the broken fragments of the rest. Thus, after four hours engagement, the Portuguese were forced to desist from the attack with some loss, occasioned more by the insufficiency of the ladders than by the prowess of the enemy. George Sylveyra and five men were killed on the spot, but several others died afterwards of their wounds, and some from bruises occasioned by falling from the walls and ladders. Submitting to his bad fortune, and by the persuasion of his officers, Albuquerque resolved to abandon this enterprise, that he might have sufficient time remaining to sail for the month of the Red Sea. But before leaving Aden, he took a redoubt or bulwark which defended the entrance into the harbour, where a great many Moors, or Arabs rather, were slain, and 37 pieces of cannon taken. Having plundered the ships in the harbour, they were all burnt; and on the fourth day after arriving at Aden, the fleet set sail for the mouth of the Red Sea, on their arrival at which great rejoicings were made by Albuquerque and the Portuguese, as being the first Europeans who had ever navigated that celebrated sea.

The form of the Red Sea is not unlike that of a crocodile, having its mouth at the narrow Straits of Mecca or Babelmandeb, the head being that sea which lies between Cape Guardafu and Fartaque, and the extremity of the tail at the town of Suez. Its general direction is from N.N.W. to S.S.E. being 530 leagues long, and 40 over where broadest[132]. The channel for navigation is about the middle, where it has sufficient depth of water for the largest ships, but both sides are very shallow, and much encumbered by sand banks and numerous small islands. No river of any note falls into it during its whole extent. It is called by the Moors or Arabs, Bahar Corzu or the Closed Sea, and by others the Sea of Mecca; but by Europeans the Arabian Gulf or the Red Sea, owing to the red colour it derives from its bottom, as was proved by a subsequent viceroy, Don Juan de Castro, who caused some of the bottom to be dragged up in several places, when it was found to consist of a red coralline substance; while in other places the bottom was green, and white in some, but mostly red. The water itself, when taken up, is as clear as in any other part of the sea. The Red Sea does not abound in fish, but it produces small pearls in many places. The mouth of the Red Sea, called the Straits of Mecca or of Bab-al-mandeb, is in lat. 12° 40' N. and is as it were locked up by seven small islands, the largest of which, now Mehun, was called by Ptolemy Perantonomasiam. On going from the straits towards Suez along the eastern or Arabian shore, there are only a few small ports of no note for the first 44 leagues, till we come to the island of Kamaran, which is subject to the king of Aden. At 60 leagues from thence we come to Gezan a large town; thence 130 leagues to Yambo, all in the dominions of Mecca, having several good towns and harbours. Among these are the famous and well known ports of Ziden and Juddah, or Joda; Mecca being 15 leagues inland from the latter. From Yambo it is 60 leagues to Toro, where the children of Israel are said to have crossed the Red Sea, which at this place is 3 leagues across. Thence to Suez is 40 leagues, and there ends the Arabian shore. On sailing back to the straits along the western shore of Egypt and Ethiopia, from Suez which is 20 leagues from Grand Cairo the vast metropolis of Egypt, it is 45 leagues to Al-cosier; thence 135 to the city of Suakem, in which space there are many ports: From thence 70 leagues farther on is the island and port of Massua, and opposite to it Arkiko; and thence other 85 leagues bring us back to the Straits of Bab-el-mandeb. Behind a ridge of mountains which runs close along the whole coast of Ethiopia, lie the dominions of Prester John, which has always preserved Christianity after its own manner, and has of late been much supported therein by the Portuguese arms.

[Footnote 132: The extreme length of the Red Sea is 400 geographical leagues, 20 to the degree, or about 1380 statute miles, and its greatest breadth 65 of the same leagues, about 225 miles.--E.]

Entering into the Red Sea, Albuquerque sailed along the coast to the island of Kamaran, which he found abandoned by its inhabitants from dread of his approach. He took two vessels by the way, and found four others at this place, one of which belonged to the Soldan of Egypt. From this island he visited several others; and one day there appeared in the sky to the whole persons in the fleet a very bright red cross, seemingly about six feet broad, and of a proportional length. All the Portuguese knelt down and worshipped the heavenly sign, Albuquerque making a devout prayer; after which the happy omen was joyfully hailed by the sound of music and cannon, till at length it was covered over by a bright cloud and disappeared. As the trade wind failed for carrying him to Judduh, Albuquerque returned to Kamaran where he wintered, and where his people suffered extreme misery from famine and sickness. In July 1513, as soon as the weather would permit, he sailed again for India, meaning to appear again before Aden, and touched at the island of Mehun, in the middle of the straits, to which he gave the name of Vera Cruz, in memory of the miraculous vision with which they had been favoured, and erected a very high cross upon an eminence. From thence he sent two ships to examine the city and port of Zeyla, on an island in a bay of the coast of Adel, where they burnt two ships belonging to the Moors, and joined the fleet again before Aden. He found the fortifications of this place repaired and strengthened; and after exchanging a cannonade which did little damage on either side, and burning some ships in the harbour, he sailed for India.

Albuquerque arrived at Diu about the middle of August 1513, and was immediately supplied, with some provisions accompanied by a courteous message from Malek Azz the lord of that city under the king of Cambaya, more from fear than affection. Being aware of his duplicity, Albuquerque dealt cautiously with this chief, and demanded permission to erect a fort at Diu; but Malek Azz excused himself, referring Albuquerque to the king of Cambaya, whom he secretly advised to refuse if asked. However it was agreed to settle a Portuguese factor at this place to conduct the trade; and at parting Azz treated Albuquerque with so much artful civility, that he said he had never seen a more perfect courtier, or one more fitted to please and deceive a man of understanding. Some time afterwards, the king of Cambaya gave permission for the Portuguese to erect a fort at Diu, on condition that he might do the same at Malacca. At this time there arrived two ships from Portugal, a third having been cast away in the voyage, but the men saved. Albuquerque went to Goa, and sent his nephew Noronha to Cochin to dispatch the homeward bound trade, along with which an ambassador was sent from the zamorin to the king of Portugal, peace being now established with that sovereign, who permitted a fort to be erected at his capital. By these ships likewise were sent the presents of many of the Indian princes to the king of Portugal, together with many captives taken in war. There went also a Portuguese Jew, who had been an inhabitant of Jerusalem, and had been sent by the guardian of the Franciscans to acquaint Albuquerque that the Soldan of Egypt threatened to destroy all the holy places at Jerusalem.

Pate Quitir, the native of Java, who had been preferred by Albuquerque to the command of the native inhabitants of Malacca, continued to carry on measures for expelling the Portuguese, and having strengthened himself secretly, at last broke out into rebellion. Having slain a Portuguese captain and several men, and taken some pieces of cannon, he suddenly fortified the quarter of the city in which he resided, and stood on his defence with 6000 men and two elephants. Ferdinando Perez and Alfonso Pessoa went against him with 320 men, partly by land and partly by water, and after a long contest forced him to flee for refuge into the woods after many of his men were slain. A considerable quantity of artillery and ammunition was found in that part of the city which he had fortified, which was burnt to the ground after being plundered of much riches. Having received succour from Java and Mahomet, the expelled king of Malacca, Quitir, erected another fort in a convenient place at some distance from the city, where he became powerful by sea and land, being in hopes of usurping the sovereignty of Malacca. Perez went out against him, but though he fought as valiantly as before, he was forced to retreat after losing three captains and four soldiers. At this time Lacsamana, an officer belonging to Mahomet, entered the river of Malacca with a great number of men and many cannon on board several vessels. Perez attacked him with three ships, and a furious battle took place which lasted for three hours, with much advantage on the side of the Portuguese, but night obliged the combatants to desist, and Perez took a position to prevent as he thought the Malayans from escaping out of the river during the darkness. But Lacsamana threw up an intrenchment of such respectable appearance during the night, that it was thought too dangerous to attempt an attack, and Perez retired to the fort. At this time three ships entered the port from India, bringing a supply of ammunition and a reinforcement of 150 soldiers; but Lacsamana had established himself so advantageously, that he intercepted all the vessels carrying provisions for Malacca, which was reduced to such straits that many fell down in the streets from famine. The same plague attended Pate Quitir in his quarters.[133]

[Footnote 133: It is probable that Mr Stevens has mistaken the sense of Faria at this place, and that the famine in Malacca was occasioned by the joint operations of Lacsamana and Pate Quitir, holding the city in a state of blockade.--E.]

When the season became fit for navigation, Perez set out with ten ships and a galley in quest of provisions. While sailing towards Cincapura, the galley discovered a sail, and stuck by it till the fleet came up. It was found to be laden with provisions and ammunition for Pate Quitir. Perez brought the captain and other head men on board his own ship, where they attempted to slay the Portuguese, even Perez being stabbed in the back by a cris or dagger. Being foiled in this attempt, most of them leapt into the sea, but some were taken and put to the rack who confessed there was a son of Quitir among them, and that they were followed by three other vessels similarly laden. These were likewise captured and carried to Malacca. At the same time Gomez de Cunna arrived with his ship laden with provisions from Pegu, where he had been to settle a treaty of amity and commerce with the king of that country. The famine being thus appeased, and the men recovered, Perez attacked Pate Quitir by sea and land; and having fortunately succeeded in the capture of his fortified quarters, which were set on fire, that chieftain was forced to retire to Java, and Lacsamana, on seeing this success of the Portuguese, retired with his forces.

Java is an island to the south-east of Sumatra, from which it is divided by a strait of fifteen leagues in breadth. This island is almost 200 leagues in length from east to west, but is narrow in proportion to its breadth, being divided by a long range of mountains through its whole length, like the Apennines of Italy, which prevents intercourse between the two coasts. It has several ports and good cities, and its original inhabitants appear to have come from China. In after times the Moors of Malacca[134] possessed themselves of the sea coast, obliging the natives to take shelter in the forests and mountains of the interior. At this period a Malay chief named Pate Unuz was lord of the city of Japara, who became afterwards king of Sunda. Indignant that the metropolis of the Malayan territories should he possessed by the enemies of the Mahometan faith, he had been seven years preparing a powerful armament of 90 sail to attempt the conquest of Malacca, during all which time he kept up a secret correspondence with the Javan Malays who inhabited that city. Several of his ships were equal in size to the largest Portuguese galleons, and the one destined for himself was larger than any ship then built by the Europeans. Having completed his preparations, he embarked with 12,000 men and a formidable train of artillery, and appeared suddenly before the city. Ferdinando Perez immediately embarked with 350 Portuguese and some native troops in 17 vessels, and attacked the Javan fleet, with which he had an obstinate engagement, doing considerable damage to the enemy, but night parted the combatants. Next morning Pate Unuz endeavoured to get into the river Maur with his fleet; but Perez pursued him, and penetrating into the midst of the enemy plied his cannon and fireworks with such success, that many of the Javan ships were sunk and set on fire. After a furious battle of some endurance, Unuz fled and was pursued all the way to Java, where he preserved his own vast vessel as a memorial of his escape and of the grandeur of his fleet, and not without reason, as a merchant of Malacca engaged to purchase it of Perez for 10,000 ducats if taken. This victory cost the Portuguese some blood, as several were slain, and few escaped without wounds. From this time forwards, the natives of Java were for ever banished from Malacca.

[Footnote 134: Faria perpetually confounds all Mahometans under the general denomination of Moors. These possessors of the coast of Java were unquestionably Malays.--E.]

Soon after this brilliant victory, Ferdinando Perez sailed from Malacca to Cochin with a valuable cargo of spice, accompanied by Lope de Azevedo and Antonio de Abreu, who came from the discovery of the Molucca islands with three ships. After their arrival at Cochin, Antonio de Miranda arrived there from Siam, to the great joy of Albuquerque, who thus reaped the rich fruits of his care and labour for the acquisition of Malacca, and the happy return of those whom he had sent upon other discoveries.

King Mahomet had not yet lost all hope of recovering Malacca, to which he now drew near; and having in vain attempted to succeed by force, had recourse to stratagem. For this purpose he prevailed on a favourite officer named Tuam Maxeliz, to imitate the conduct of Zopirus at Babylon. Being accordingly mutilated, Tuam fled with some companions to Malacca, giving out that he had escaped from the tyrannical cruelty of his sovereign. Ruy de Brito, who then commanded in the citadel of Malacca, credited his story and reposed so much confidence in his fidelity that he was admitted at all times into the fortress. At length, having appointed a particular day for the execution of his long-concerted enterprise, on which Mahomet was to send a party to second his efforts or to bring him off, he and his accomplices got admittance into the fort as usual, and immediately began to assassinate the Portuguese garrison by means of their daggers, and had actually slain six before they were able to stand to their defence. Brito, who happened to be asleep when the alarm was given, immediately collected his men and drove the traitor and his companions from the fort, at the very moment, when a party of armed Malays came up to second their efforts. The commander of this party, named Tuam Calascar, on learning the miscarriage of Tuam Maxeliz, pretended that he came to the assistance of Brito, and by that means was permitted to retire.

Soon after this Pedro de Faria arrived at Malacca from the Straits of Sabam, bringing with him Abdela king of Campar, who being no longer able to endure the insolence of his father-in-law Mahomet, came to reside in security under the protection of the Portuguese in Malacca. This was in the month of July [135], shortly after the arrival of George de Albuquerque from Goa to command at Malacca. By instructions from the viceroy, Abdela was appointed Bendara, or governor, of the natives, which office had till then been enjoyed by Ninachetu, who was now displaced on account of some miscarriage or malversation. Ninachetu, who was a gentile, so much resented this affront, that he resolved to give a signal demonstration of his fidelity and concern. He was very rich, and gave orders to dress up a scaffold or funeral pile in the market-place or bazar of Malacca, splendidly adorned with rich silks and cloth of gold, the middle of the pile being composed of a vast heap of aromatic wood of high price. The entire street from his dwelling to the pile was strewed with sweet-scented herbs and flowers, and adorned with rich hangings, correspondent to the magnificence of the pile. Having collected all his friends, and clad himself and family in splendid attire, he went in solemn procession to the bazar, where he mounted the scaffold and made a long harangue, in which he protested his innocence and declared that he had always served the Portuguese with the utmost zeal and fidelity. Having ordered the pile to be fired, and seeing the whole in flames, he declared that he would now mount to heaven in that flame and smoke, and immediately cast himself into the flaming pile, to the great admiration of all the beholders.

[Footnote 135: Faria omits any mention of the year, but from the context it appears to have been in 1513.--E.]

At this time the king of Campar had gone home, intending to return to assume his office of Bendara, but was hindered by Mahomet and the king of Bintang, who fitted out a fleet of 70 sail with 2500 men under the command of the king of Linga, and besieged Campar, in the harbour of which town there were eight Portuguese vessels and some native proas, under the command of George Botello. Observing this squadron to be somewhat careless, the king of Linga fell suddenly with his galley on the ship commanded by Botello, followed by the rest of his fleet; but met with so warm a reception that his galley was taken, so that he had to leap overboard, and the rest of the enemies fleet was put to flight. The siege was now raised, and Botello conveyed the king of Campar to Malacca, where he exercised the office of Bendara with so much judgment and propriety, that in four months the city was visibly improved, great numbers of people resorting thither who had formerly fled to Mahomet to avoid the oppressions of Ninachetu. Perceiving the growth of the city under the wise administration of Abdela, Mahomet determined to put a stop to this prosperity by means of a fraud peculiar to a Moor. He gave out secretly, yet so that it might spread abroad, that his son-in-law had gone over to the Portuguese at Malacca with his knowledge and consent, and that the same thing was done by all those who seemed to fly there from Bintang, with the design to seize upon the fort on the first opportunity, and restore it to him who was the lawful prince. This secret, as intended by Mahomet, was at length divulged at Malacca, where it produced the intended effect, as the commandant, George de Albuquerque, gave more credit to this false report than to the honest proceedings of the Bendara, who was tried and condemned as a traitor, and had his head cut off on a public scaffold. In consequence of this event, the city was left almost desolate by the flight of the native inhabitants, and was afterwards oppressed by famine.

During the year 1513, while these transactions were going on at Malacca, the viceroy Albuquerque visited the most important places under his charge, and gave the necessary, orders for their security. He dispatched his nephew Don Garcia to Cochin, with directions to expedite the construction of the fort then building at Calicut. He appointed a squadron of four sail, under the command of his nephew Pedro de Albuquerque, to cruise from the mouth, of the Red Sea to that of the Persian Gulf, with orders to receive the tribute of Ormuz when it became due, and then to discover the island of Bahrayn, the seat of the great pearl-fishery in that gulf. He sent ambassadors well attended to several princes. Diego Fernandez de Beja went to the king of Cambaya, to treat about the erection of a fort at Din, which had been before consented to, but was now refused at the instigation of Maluk Azz. Fernandez returned to Goa with magnificent presents to Albuquerque, among which was a Rhinoceros or Abada, which was afterwards lost in the Mediterranean on its way from king Manuel to the pope along with other Indian rarities. Juan Gonzalez de Castello Branco was sent to the king of Bisnagar, to demand restitution of the dependencies belonging to Goa, but with little success.

In September 1513, five ships arrived at Goa from Portugal under the command of Christopher de Brito, one of which bound for Cambaya was lost. Having dispatched these ships with their homeward cargoes, Albuquerque prepared for a military expedition, but was for some time indetermined whether to bend his course for Ormuz or the Red Sea, both expeditions having been ordered by the king. In order to determine which of these was to be undertaken, he convened a council of all his captains, and it was agreed that Ormuz was to be preferred, which was in fact quite consonant to the wishes of the viceroy. He accordingly set sail on the 20th of February 1514, with a fleet of 27 sail, having on board a land force of 1500 Portuguese and 600 native Malabars and Canaras. The fleet anchored in the port of Ormuz on the 26th of March, and an immediate message of ceremony came off from the king with rich presents; but Albuquerque was better pleased with finding that Michael Ferreyra, whom he had sent on an embassy to Ismael king of Persia, to negociate a treaty of amity and commerce, had strong hopes of success.

Seif Addin king of Orrauz and his governor Khojah Attar were now both dead, and Reis Hamet now possessed the entire favour and confidence of the new king. Among other things, Albuquerque sent to demand being put immediately in possession of the fort which he had formerly begun to build at Ormuz, and that some principal persons should be sent to ratify and confirm the submission which the former king Seif Addin had made of the kingdom to the supremacy of the king of Portugal. All was consented to, as there was no sufficient power for resistance; and Reis Noradin the governor came to wait upon Albuquerque accompanied by his nephew, to make the desired ratification. The viceroy made rich presents on the occasion, and sent a splendid collar of gold to the king, with the Portuguese standard, as a mark of the union between the two nations. Public rejoicings were made on both sides on account of this amicable arrangement; and Albuquerque took possession of the fort, which had been formerly begun, and by using every exertion it rose in a few days to a great height, so that the viceroy and his principal officers took up their residence in some houses in its neighbourhood. Albuquerque now made splendid preparations to receive the ambassador from the king of Persia, who brought a magnificent present from his sovereign, consisting of rich brocades, precious stones, splendid golden ornaments, and many fine silks. The ambassador was honourably received, and the treaty concluded to mental satisfaction. This ceremony took place on a scaffold erected in public near the residence of the viceroy, and had been delayed for a considerable time on purpose to be exhibited in great splendour to the people of Ormuz, that they might see that the Portuguese friendship was sought after by so powerful a sovereign. The king of Ormuz was at a window to see the procession.

Reis Hamet[136], formerly mentioned, had come to Ormuz from Persia with the design of seizing the city and delivering it up to the Sophi. He had insinuated himself so effectually into the favour of the king as to govern him in all respects, and nothing was done but by his directions. The better to carry on his enterprise, he had gradually introduced a number of his dependents into the city, and was actually preparing to kill the king and seize the government, but deferred his intentions to a more favourable opportunity. Albuquerque was fully informed of all these secret practices, and that the king was anxious to be delivered from the influence of Hamet; he therefore endeavoured to devise means for effectuating the purpose, and fortune soon gave him an opportunity. An interview had been appointed to take place between the king and Albuquerque; but prompted by his fears, Hamet endeavoured to shun this danger, by proposing that Albuquerque should wait upon the king, lest if the king went to visit the viceroy, he might be obliged to attend him. But Albuquerque insisted upon receiving the visit of the king, which was at last agreed to, on condition that neither party was to be armed. Some of the attendants upon Hamet were however secretly armed, and Hamet came armed himself, and pressed foremost into the room with much rudeness, on which Albuquerque made a concerted signal to his captains, who. instantly dispatched him. After this the king came, and a conference began between him and the viceroy, which was soon interrupted by a violent clamour among the people, who supposed their king was slain. But the people belonging to Hamet, knowing that their master had been killed, ran and fortified themselves in the kings palace. Albuquerque proposed immediately to have dispossessed them by means of his troops; but the king and governor found other means of expelling these men from the city, who to the number of 700 men went to Persia.

[Footnote 136: Reis or Rais signifies a chief, and is commonly given on the coasts of Arabia and Persia to sea captains: In Faria it is Raez.--Astl I. 75. 2.]

When this tumult was appeased, the people of Ormuz were much gratified at seeing their king conducted back to his palace in great pomp, attended by Albuquerque and all his officers, more especially as he was now freed from the tyranny of Hamet, and restored to the majesty of a king[137]. Albuquerque now dispatched the Persian ambassador, accompanied by Ferdinando Gomez, carrying a present of double the value of that he had received, and having orders to give a proper account of the late transactions at Ormuz, especially in regard to Reis Hamet. Gomez was well received, and brought back a favourable answer. It would require more room than can be spared in this history to give an account of the affairs of Persia; it may therefore suffice to say that the valiant prince who reigned over Persia at this time was engaged in war with the Turks, and was desirous of taking advantage of the Portuguese assistance against his enemy.

[Footnote 137: It is scarce possible to conceive how Faria could gravely make this observation, when the Portuguese had imposed an annual tribute on the king of Ormuz, and were actually building a fortress to keep the capital under subjection.--E.]

While the fort of Ormuz was building, or rather finishing, Albuquerque persuaded the king that it would contribute to the safety of the city to put all their cannon into the fort to defend them against their enemies, but in reality to disable them from resisting the Portuguese domination. Security is a powerful argument with those who are in fear, so that the king and his governor reluctantly consented to this demand. Thus the rich and powerful kingdom of Ormuz was completely subjected to the Portuguese dominion, yet more to the advantage than detriment of its native princes; who were more oppressed before by the tyranny of their ministers, than afterwards by the tribute they had to pay to the Portuguese, besides the security they enjoyed under protection of the Portuguese arms. Yet liberty is sweeter than all other conveniences.

Albuquerque dispatched his nephew Don Garcia de Noronha with most of the fleet to Cochin, with orders to send home the ships of the season with the trade to Portugal, remaining behind to conclude such arrangements as seemed to require his presence. He soon afterwards fell sick, and was persuaded by his attendants to return to India for the recovery of his health, which he consented to, and left Pedro de Albuquerque in the command of the fort at Ormuz. His departure gave great concern to the king, who loved him as a father. While on the voyage to Goa, he got notice that 12 ships were arrived in India from Portugal with orders for his return to Europe, Lope Soarez who commanded that fleet being appointed his successor. He was likewise informed that Diego Mendez and Diego Pereyra, both of whom he had sent home as prisoners for heinous crimes, had come back to India, the one as governor of Cochin and the other as secretary to the new viceroy. These news gave him much dissatisfaction, and he is reported to have vented his distress on the occasion to the following purpose. "It is now time for me to take sanctuary in the church, having incurred the kings displeasure for the sake of his subjects, and their anger for the sake of the king. Old man! fly to the church! Your honour requires that you should die, and you have never yet omitted any thing in which your honour was concerned!" Then raising his hands and eyes to heaven, he gave God thanks that a governor had come out so opportunely, not doubting that he should soon die. He fell into a profound melancholy, and arrived at Dabul almost in the arms of death, at which place he wrote the following letter to the king. "This, Sir! is the last letter your highness will receive from me, who am now under the pangs of death. I have formerly written many to your highness full of life and vigour, being then free from the dread thought of this last hour, and actively employed in your service. I leave a son behind me, Blas de Albuquerque, whom I entreat your highness to promote in recompence of my services. The affairs of India will answer for themselves and me."

Having arrived on the bar of Goa, which he called his Land of Promise, he expired on the 16th of December, 1515, in the sixty-third year of his age, retaining his senses to the last, and dying as became a good Christian. Alfonso de Albuquerque was second son to Gonzalo de Albuquerque lord of Villaverde, by Donna Leonora de Menezes, daughter of Alvaro Gonzalez de Atayde, first count of Atouguia. He had been master of the horse to King John the Second. He was of moderate stature, having a fair and pleasing countenance, with a venerable beard reaching below his girdle to which he wore it knotted. When angry his looks were terrible; but when pleased his manners were merry, pleasant, and witty. He was buried in a chapel which he built near the gate of the city of Goa, dedicated to Our Lady of the Mountain, but, after a long resistance from the inhabitants of Goa, his bones were transferred to the church of Our Lady of Grace at Lisbon.

The dominion of the Portuguese in India was founded by three great men, Duarte Pacheco, Francisco de Almeyda, and Alfonso de Albuquerque; after whom scarcely was there a single successor who did not decline from their great character, having either a mixture of timidity with their valour, or of covetousness with their moderation, in which the vices predominated. In gaining this Indian crown, Pacheco alone acted with that fiery heat which melted the arms and riches of the zamorin; only Almeyda could have filed and polished it, by his own and his sons sword, bringing it into form by humbling the pride of the Egyptian Soldan while Albuquerque gave a finish to its ornaments, by adorning it with three precious jewels, Goa, Malacca and Ormuz[138].

[Footnote 138: Portuguese Asia, II. vii. This rhetorical flourish by De Faria, gives a specimen of what was perhaps considered fine writing in those days; but it strongly marks the important services of Albuquerque, and is therefore here inserted.--E.]

SECTION VI.

Portuguese Transactions in India, under several governors, from the close of 1515, to the year 1526.

While the great Alfonso de Albuquerque was drawing towards the last period of his life, Manuel, as if he had foreseen that event, sent out Don Lope Soarez de Albergaria to succeed him in the government, with a fleet of 13 ships, carrying a force of 1500 soldiers, many of whom were gentlemen by birth, and still more so by their actions. Among them was Duarte Galvam, a person of learning and judgment, who was sent ambassador to Abyssinia with considerable presents, some for Prester John, and some for the church. On his arrival at Cochin, the new governor offended many by the reservedness of his carriage and manners, and became particularly disagreeable to the rajah, who had been accustomed to the discreet and easy civility of Albuquerque. Don Garcia de Noronha took charge of the homeward bound ships, and went away after no small disagreement with Soarez. Till this time, the Portuguese gentlemen in India had followed the dictates of honour, esteeming arms their greatest riches; but henceforwards they gave themselves entirely up to trade, those who had been captains becoming merchants; insomuch that command became a shame, honour a scandal, and reputation a reproach. Having entered upon the exercise of his government, he visited the forts, in which he placed new captains, gave out orders, and transacted other affairs of small moment, which serve rather to fill the page than to advance the dignity of history.

In the year 1515, five ships sailed from Lisbon under the command of Juan de Sylveira, three of which arrived in Lisbon, and the other two were lost on the sands of St Lazarus. By orders from the king, proceeding on information that the Soldan was fitting out a great fleet at Suez, Soarez sailed from Goa on the 8th of February 1516, with 27 sail of vessels of various sizes and descriptions, having 1200 Portuguese and 800 Malabar soldiers on board, besides 800 native seamen, and directed his course for the Red Sea in order to oppose the Mameluke fleet. On arriving at Aden, Miramirzan the governor immediately offered to surrender the place, declaring he would have done so to Albuquerque if that officer had not at the very first proceeded to hostility. The real state of the matter was that the place was indefensible, as Reis, Soliman, the admiral of the Egyptian fleet of which Soarez was in search had beaten down a part of the wall so that the town was defenceless. Lope Soarez was so much pleased by this flattering offer that he trusted Miramirzan and declined taking possession of the city till his return from the Red Sea, and went away in search of Reis Soliman; but he neither met with him, nor did he take Aden on his return. While on his voyage up the Red Sea, Don Alvaro do Castro with forty men was lost through covetousness, as he so overloaded his ship with goods from some captured vessels that she became water-logged and went to the bottom. Some other ships of the fleet received damage during this part of the voyage. Hearing that Soliman was driven by stress of weather to Jiddah, where he had no means of defence, Soarez determined to sail to that place.

Jiddah or Juddah, the sea-port of Mecca, is a town and harbour of Arabia on the eastern shore of the Red Sea in about 22° of north latitude, situated in a most barren soil composed of deep loose sand, being more calculated for commerce than delight. The buildings are good, but the harbour very bad, and its inhabitants consist partly of native Arabs and partly of foreign merchants. It was fortified by Mir Husseyn after his defeat by Almeyda, under pretence, of defending the sepulchre of Mahomet, but in reality for his own security as he was afraid to return defeated to the Soldan. While he was occupied in constructing the fortifications, Reis Soliman a low born Turk of Mitylene in the Archipelago, but a bold and successful corsair, offered his services to the Soldan, and was appointed admiral of the Suez fleet of 27 sail, which was fitting out for the attack of Aden. Mir Husseyn was accordingly discarded and Soliman appointed in his place. After the failure of his attempt on Aden, where he lost a considerable number of men, Soliman made a descent on Zobeid in the Tehamah near the island of Kamaran, where he acquired a considerable booty, from whence he proceeded to Jiddah, where he slew Mir Husseyn: And learning that the emperor of the Turks had slain the Soldan in battle, and subverted the sovereignty of the Mamelukes in Egypt, he surrendered the Egyptian fleet and the port of Jiddah to the conqueror.

Finding the port dangerous, Soarez came to anchor about a league from the city of Jiddah, yet so excellent were some of the cannon of the place, that three or four pieces were able to carry that prodigious distance. Soliman sent a message to the Christian fleet offering a single combat man to man, which Gaspar de Silva and Antonio de Menezes both offered to accept, but Soarez would not allow the combat. Soarez now caused the channel leading up to Jiddah to be sounded, and at this time the inhabitants were much alarmed by the fire of one of the Portuguese vessels; but Soliman appeased the tumult, and made his appearance without the walls with some of his men, while the walls were filled by vast multitudes of the infidels, who rent the air with loud cries. After two days of inaction, the Portuguese began to complain of the delay; but Soarez appeased his officers by shewing his instructions, in which he was ordered to fight the fleet of the Mamelukes, which could not be accomplished, and not to attack the city, where there might be much danger and little chance of profit. Though the votes differed in the council of war, it was resolved by a majority to desist from the enterprise against Jiddah, and accordingly Soarez and his armament retired to Kamaran, whence he detached several ships to different parts of the Red Sea. At this place died Duarte Galvam, a learned and ingenious man, who had been employed in several embassies in Europe, and though above seventy years of age was now going ambassador to Prester John. At the time of his death, he told his attendants that his son George and all his men had been cast away in their vessel, and that the inhabitants of the island of Dalac had cut off the heads of Lorenzo de Cosme and others that had been sent to that place. All this was afterwards found true, yet it was utterly impossible that the intelligence could have reached Duarte at Kamaran before his death.

After suffering much distress from famine, of which several men died, and losing seventeen Portuguese who were made prisoners by the Arabs, and carried to Jiddah, Soarez set sail from Kamaran and appeared before Zeyla in the kingdom of Adel, on the north-east coast of Africa, a little way out from the mouth of the Red Sea. This place was called Emporium Avalite by Ptolemy, who describes it as a great mart in ancient times. On the present occasion Zeyla was taken with little opposition, being unprepared for defence, and was reduced to ashes. From Zeyla, Soarez went to Aden on the coast of Arabia, but soon found he had been to blame for not taking possession when formerly offered it; as Miramirzan had repaired the wall, and now procrastinated the surrender of his city by various affected delays. Soarez fearing to lose the season of the trade winds for returning to India, set sail for Barbora on the same coast with Zeyla, which he meant likewise to destroy; but the fleet was dispersed in a storm, and on its being afterwards collected, it was found that more than eight hundred men had perished, from famine, disease, and shipwreck, in this disastrous and ill-conducted expedition.

While these disasters attended Soarez, the city of Goa, where Monroy commanded, was threatened with destruction. According to orders from Soarez, some ships had been taken from the enemy, but with more profit than reputation, though not without danger. One Alvaro Madureira, who had married at Goa, fled to the enemy and turned Mahometan. He afterwards repented and returned to Goa; but again fled to the Moors and brought them to attack the Portuguese ships, which were in imminent danger of being captured. About this time likewise, one Ferdinando Caldera, who was also married at Goa, fled from that city to avoid punishment for some crime he had committed, and joined the Moors; though some say that he was forced to desert by Monroy, who was in love with his wife. However this may have been, Caldera went to serve under Ancostan an officer of the king of Bisnagar. Don Gutierre de Monroy demanded of Ancostan to deliver him up, which was refused; after which Monroy suborned another person to go over to the enemy to assassinate Caldera; which was done, but the assassin was instantly slain by the Moors. On the return of Soarez to Goa, being informed of these incidents, he left Monroy to take what satisfaction he thought proper from Ancostan. Monroy accordingly sent out his brother Don Fernando at the head of 150 Portuguese, 80 of whom were horse, and a considerable body of natives, to attack Ancostan. Fernando defeated the Moors at Ponda; but the Moors having rallied defeated him in his turn, and obliged him to retire with the loss of 200 men killed and taken prisoners. On these hostilities, the whole country was up in arms, and Adel Khan the king of Bisnagar ordered his general Sujo Lari to besiege Goa. Lari accordingly endeavoured to cross over into the island at the head of 4000 horse and 26,000 foot, but was repulsed. In the mean time, as all intercourse was cut off between the island and the continent, the besieged became distressed by want of provisions; but on the arrival of three ships, one from Portugal, one from Quiloa, and the third from China, Lari raised the blockade and the former peace was renewed.

Similar misfortunes took place at Malacca, through the misrule of George de Brito and others, which occasioned all the native inhabitants to desert the city to avoid oppression. In this situation, Mahomet, the exiled king, sent a considerable force to attempt recovering his capital, under the command of Cerilege Rajah his general. Cerilege intrenched his army, and so pressed the besieged that the Portuguese had assuredly been driven from Malacca, had not Don Alexius de Menezes arrived to assume the government with a reinforcement of 300 men.

Antonio de Saldanna arrived in India in 1517 with six ships. In this fleet one Alcacova came out as surveyor of the king's revenue, invested with such power as greatly curtailed the influence of Soarez, and having the inclination to encroach still farther on his authority than he was warranted. This occasioned great dissensions between the governor and surveyor; who finding himself unable to prevail, returned into Portugal where he made loud complaints against the administration of affairs in India. Hence began the practice of listening to complaints at home against the governors and commanders employed in India; and hence many took more care in the sequel to amass riches than to acquire honour, knowing that money is a never-failing protection from crimes. Soarez sent Juan de Sylveira to the Maldive islands, Alexius de Menezes to Malacca, Manuel de la Cerda to Diu, and Antonio de Saldanna with six ships to the coast of Arabia by orders from the king. The only exploit performed by Saldanna was the capture and destruction of Barbora, a town near Zeyla but much smaller, whence the inhabitants fled. Saldanna then returned to India, where he found Soarez about to sail for the island of Ceylon.

The island of Ceylon, the southernmost land in India, is to the east of Cape Comorin. It is sixteen leagues distant from the continent[139], to which some imagine that it was formerly joined. This island is about 80 leagues from north to south, and about 45 leagues from east to west[140]. The most southerly point, or Dondra Head, is in lat. 5° 52' N. The most northerly, or Point Pedro, in 9° 48'. In the sea belonging to this island there is a fishery of the most precious pearls. By the Persians and Arabs it is called Serendib[141]. It took the name of Ceylon from the sea by which it is surrounded, owing to the loss of a great fleet of the Chinese, who therefore named that sea Chilam, signifying danger, somewhat resembling Scylla; and this word was corrupted to Ceylon. This island was the Taprobana of the ancients, and not Sumatra as some have imagined. Its productions are numerous and valuable: Cinnamon of greatly finer quality than in any other place; rubies, sapphires, and other precious stones; much pepper and cardamoms, Brazil wood, and other dyes, great woods of palm-trees, numbers of elephants which are more docile than those of other countries, and abundance of cattle. It has many good ports, and several rivers of excellent water. The mountains are covered with pleasant woods. One of these mountains, which rises for the space of seven leagues, has a circular plain on the top of about thirty paces diameter, in the middle of which is a smooth rock about six spans high, upon which is the print of a man's foot about two spans in length. This footstep is held in great veneration, being supposed to have been impressed there by a holy man from Delhi, who lived many years on that mountain, teaching the inhabitants the belief in the one only God. This person returned afterwards to his own country, whence he sent one of his teeth to the king of the island as a token of remembrance, and it is still preserved as a holy relick, on which they repose much confidence in time of danger, and many pilgrims resort thither from places a thousand miles distant. The island is divided into nine kingdoms, Columbo on the west being the chief of these. The others are Gale on the south, Jaula, Tanavaca, Cande, Batecalon, Vilacem, Trinquinimale, and Jafanapatam[142].

[Footnote 139: The distance between Ceylon and the Carnatic across Palks Bay is about 63 English miles; but at Jafnapatnam and Ramiseram, this distance is lessened to 43, by two capes, at the former projecting from the island, and at the latter from the continent.--E.]

[Footnote 140: From Point Pedro in the north to Dondra Head in the south are 265 miles, and its widest part from Negombo in the west to Poukiri Chene in the east is 143 statute miles.--E.]

[Footnote 141: More properly Selan-dib, or the Isle of Selan. The derivation of the name of Ceylon in the text does not admit of commentary.--E.]

[Footnote 142: All of these except Cande, Candi, or Kandi, the central mountainous region, still occupied by the native Hindoo race, appear to have been small sovereignties of the Moors or Malays; and have been long under European rule, having been conquered by the Portuguese, Dutch; and British in succession. The topography of Ceylon will be illustrated hereafter, and does not admit of being explained in the compass of a note--E.]

Albuquerque had established a treaty of amity and commerce with the king of Columbo, who furnished the Portuguese with cinnamon; and Soarez went thither at this time, by order of the king of Portugal, to construct a fort at Columbo, and to reduce the prince of that country to pay tribute. On this occasion his fleet consisted of seven gallies, two ships, and eight small vessels, carrying materials and workmen for building the fort, and 700 Portuguese soldiers. At first the king consented to have the fort built, but changed his mind at the instigation of the Moors, and put Soarez to considerable difficulty; but in the end the Moors were put to flight, the fort built, and the king constrained to become a tributary vassal of Portugal, by the yearly payment of 1200 quintals of cinnamon, twelve rings of rubies and sapphires, and six elephants.

At this time Juan de Sylveira returned from the Maldives, where he had taken two ships belonging to Cambaya, and had got permission of the king of the Maldives to erect a fort at the principal harbour. Sylveira went upon a similar mission to Bengal, where he was in great danger; as a young man of Bengal who sailed there with him, gave notice of his having taken these two ships, so that he was considered as a pirate. He had fared worse than he did, but for the arrival of Juan Coello from Pisang, sent by Andrada to the king of Bengal. After passing the winter in Bengal with great difficulty on account of famine, Sylveira set sail, being invited by the king of Aracan to come to his port of Chittagon by a messenger who brought him a valuable present; but all this kindness was only intended to decoy him to his ruin, at the instigation of the king of Bengal. He escaped however from the snare, and arrived at Ceylon as Soarez had finished the fort of Columbo, of which he appointed Sylveira to the command, leaving Azevedo with four ships to guard the sea in that neighbourhood.

About the same time Menezes secured the safety of Malacca, as mentioned before, by supplying it with men and ammunition, and appointed Alfonso Lopez de Costa to the government, in place of Brito who was dying. Duarte de Melo was left there with a naval force; and Duarte Coello was sent with an embassy and present to the King of Siam, to confirm a treaty of peace and amity, and to request of him to send a colony of his subjects to inhabit the city of Malacca, so that the Moors whom he hated as much as the Portuguese, might be for ever excluded from that place. All this was agreed to, and as a testimonial of his friendship to the Christians, he caused a great cross, ornamented with the arms of Portugal, to be erected in a conspicuous part of the city of Hudia, where he then resided. Having thus succeeded in his mission, Coello was forced by stress of weather upon the coast of Pahang, where he was received in a friendly manner by the king, who voluntarily submitted to become a vassal to the crown of Portugal, and to pay a cup of gold as an annual tribute. This was done more from hatred to the king of Bintang, than from love to the Portuguese.

The kingdom of Siam was at this time one of the greatest in the east, the two others of greatest consequence being China and Bisnagar. The great river Menam runs through the middle of the kingdom of Siam from north to south, having its source in the great lake of Chiamay in lat. 30° N. and its mouth in 13°, so that the length of this kingdom is 330 leagues. On the west it joins Bengal, on the south Malacca, on the north China, and on the east Cambodia. Its territory contains both mountains and plains, and it is inhabited by many different races of people, some of whom are extremely cruel and barbarous, and even feed on human flesh. Among these the Guei ornament themselves with figures impressed by hot irons[143]. Siam abounds in elephants, cattle, and buffaloes. It has many sea-ports and populous cities, Hudia being the metropolis or residence of the court. The religion of the Siamese agrees in many considerable points with Christianity, as they believe in one God, in heaven and hell, and in good and bad angels that attend upon every person[144]. They build sumptuous temples, in which they have images of vast size. They are very religious, sparing in their diet, much given to divination, and addicted to the study of astrology. The country is exceedingly fertile, and abounds in gold, silver, and other metals. The memorable services of the subjects are recorded that they may be read to the kings. When the king of Siam takes the field, he is able to set on foot a force of 300,000 men and 10,000 elephants.

[Footnote 143: Perhaps tattooing may be here alluded to.--E.]

[Footnote 144: It is hardly possible to conceive how it could enter into the conception of any one to compare the stupid polytheism of the worshippers of Budda with the Christian religion: In one thing indeed the Catholic church has contrived to establish a resemblance, by the subordinate worship of innumerable idols or images.--E.]

About this time, Fernan Perez de Andrada arrived at Pisang, where he was well received, but lost his largest ship, which was set on fire by the careless management of a lighted candle, so that he was forced to return to Malacca. From that place Juan Coello[145], was sent to China, meeting with furious storms and other dangers by the way. While on the coast of Tsiompa, taking in fresh water, he was nearly lost. At Patane and other places he established commercial treaties with the native princes, and spent the winter without being able to reach China, being obliged to return to Malacca to refit. After which he again resumed his voyage for China with eight ships. The empire of China is the most eastern in Asia, as Spain is the most westerly in Europe; and opposite to China is the island of Hainan, as that of Cadiz is to Spain. It is almost as large as all Europe, being divided from Tartary by a wonderful wall which runs from east to west above 200 leagues, and ends at a vast mountain or promontory which is washed by the eastern sea of Tartary. This vast empire is divided into fifteen provinces. Along the coast are those of Quantung, Fokien, Chekiang, Nanking, Xantung, and Leaotung; those of the inland country are Queichieu, Junnan, Quangsi, Suchuen, Huquang, Xensi, Kiangsi, Honan, and Xansi, in all of which there are 244 cities. Its riches are prodigious, and its government admirable above all others. The natives allege that they alone have two eyes, the Europeans one, and that all the other nations are blind. They certainty had both printing and cannon long before the Europeans. The city of Quantung or Canton, which is the principal sea-port, is remarkable for its size, the strength of its fortifications, and the prodigious resort of strangers for trade.

[Footnote 145: It will appear from the sequel that Fernan Perez de Andrada commanded on this voyage, not Coello as stated in the text.--E.]

After some considerable difficulties and dangers, Fernan Perez arrived at Canton, where he had a conference with the three governors of the city, to whom he presented Thomas Perez as ambassador to the emperor from the king of Portugal, and requested them to forward him and the present he was charged with. Perez settled a commercial treaty with the governors of Canton, and having concluded his traffic there and at the neighbouring parts, he returned to Malacca, loaded with riches. He was no less welcome there than Menezes had been formerly, as it was reduced to a dangerous situation in consequence of war with the king of Bintang, of which we shall have occasion to give an account in the sequel.

In 1518 Diego Lopez de Sequeira was sent out as governor of India, in reward for his services in Africa and for having discovered Malacca. One of his ships was in danger of perishing at the Cape of Good Hope in consequence of being run against by a great fish, which stuck a long horn or beak two spans length into her side. It was afterwards found that this was a fish called the needle. Soarez immediately resigned the government to Sequeira, and set sail for Portugal with nine ships. On taking possession of the government, Sequeira sent Alonson de Menezes to reduce Baticala in the island of Ceylon, the king of which place had neglected to pay the stipulated tribute; and Juan Gomez was sent to build a fort at the Maldive islands. Sequeira then went from Cochin to Goa, whence he dispatched Antonio de Saldanna to the coast of Arabia, and Simon de Andrada to China.

About this time the king of Bintang attacked Malacca by land with 1500 men and many elephants, while 60 vessels blockaded the harbour. The Portuguese garrison consisted only of 200 men, many of whom were sick, but the danger cured them of their fevers, and every one ran to repel the enemy. After a severe encounter of three hours the enemy was repulsed with great loss: He continued however before the town for three weeks and then retired, having lost 330 men, while 18 of the Portuguese were slain. On the arrival of reinforcements, having been much injured by frequent inroads from the fort of Maur not far from Malacca, the Portuguese took that place by assault, killing most of the garrison which consisted of 800 Moors, and after securing the spoil burnt Maur to the ground. There were 300 cannon at this place, some of which were brass. Nothing more of any note happened this year, except that Diego Pacheco with most of his men were lost in two ships, which went in search of the Island of Gold[146].

[Footnote 146: Possibly Japan is here meant.--E.]

In the year 1519, Antonio Correa concluded a treaty of amity and commerce with the king of Pegu, which was mutually sworn to between him and the kings ministers, assisted by the priests of both nations, Catholic and Pagan. The heathen priest was called the grand Raulim, who, after the treaty or capitulation was read, made according to their custom in the golden mine[147], began to read from a book, and then taking some yellow paper, a colour dedicated to holy purposes, and some sweet-smelling leaves impressed with certain characters, set both on fire; after which, holding the hands of the minister over the ashes, he pronounced some words which rendered the oath inviolable. By way of a parallel to this solemnity, Correa ordered his priest to attend in his surplice with his breviary; but that was so tattered and torn that it was unfit to be seen by these heathens, on which he ordered a book of church music to be brought, which had a more creditable appearance, being larger and better bound; and opening at the first place which appeared, the priest began the lesson Vanity of Vanities, which answered among these ignorant people as well as if it had been the gospel[148]. The metropolis of the kingdom is called Bagou, corruptly called Pegu, which name is likewise given to the kingdom. It has the Bay of Bengal on the west, Siam on the east, Malacca on the south, and Aracan on the north. This kingdom is almost 100 leagues in length, and in some places of the same breadth, not including the conquered provinces. The land is plain, well watered, and very fertile, producing abundance of provisions of all kinds, particularly cattle and grain. It has many temples with a prodigious multitude of images, and a vast number of ceremonies. The people believe themselves to have descended from a Chinese dog and a woman, who alone escaped from shipwreck on that coast and left a progeny; owing to which circumstance in their opinion, the men are all ugly and the women handsome. The Peguers being much addicted to sodomy, a queen of that country named Canane, ordered the women to wear bells and open garments, by way of inviting the men to abandon that abominable vice.

[Footnote 147: This singular expression may have been some court phrase of the court of Pegu, meaning the royal presence.--E.]

[Footnote 148: On this trifling incident, the editor of Astley's Collection gives the following marginal reference, A merry passage. Ludere cum sacris is rather a stale jest, and perhaps the grand Raulim was as ingenious as Correa and his priest, to trick the ignorant unbelievers in their sacred doctrines of Bhudda.--E.]

On the arrival of Antonio Correa with relief at Malacca, Garcia de Sa resolved to take revenge on the king of Bintang. He therefore gave Correa the command of 30 ships, with 500 soldiers, 150 of whom were Portuguese, with which armament Correa proceeded to the place where the king had fortified himself, which was defended by a fort with a great number of cannon and a numerous garrison. The access to this place was extremely difficult and guarded by a great number of armed vessels; yet Correa attacked without hesitation and carried the fort, which had 20 pieces of cannon, the garrison being forced to retire to the town, where the king still had a force of 2000 men and several armed elephants. The Portuguese, following up their first success, pushed up the river clearing away all that obstructed them; after which they landed and took the town, killing many of the enemy, and put the rest to flight, the king among the rest fled on an elephant, and never stopped till they came to Bintang. The town above mentioned was plundered and burnt by the Portuguese; and the discomfited king remained long at Bintang unable for any new enterprise against the Portuguese. The successes of the king of Bintang in the beginning of this war had encouraged the kings of Pisang and Acheen to commit some outrages against the Portuguese; for which reason being now victorious, Garcia de Sa determined to be revenged upon them. Having some success, he fitted out a ship commanded by Manuel Pacheco to take some revenge for the injuries, he had sustained; and Pacheco had occasion to send a boat for water rowed by Malays, having only five Portuguese on board, which fell in with three ships belonging to Pisang each having 150 men. Finding it impossible to escape, they boarded the commander with such resolute fury that they soon strewed the deck with the dead bodies of the enemy, and the remainder of the crew leapt overboard, followed by their captain, who was seen hewing them with his cymeter in the water in revenge for their cowardice. The five Portuguese thus obtained possession of the ship, and the other two fled, on which Pacheco returned to Malacca with his prize in triumph, and the captured ship was long preserved as a memorial of this signal exploit. The king of Pisang was so much terrified by this action that he sued for peace, and offered ample reparation of all the injuries he had done to die Portuguese.

In this same year 1519 Diego Gomez went to erect a fort at the principal island of the Maldives; but behaved himself with so much arrogance that the Moors lulled ten or twelve of his men. This is the chief of a thousand isles which lie in clusters in that sea, and such is the signification of Male-dive. They resemble a long ridge of mountains, the sea between being as valleys and serving for communications from isle to isle; and about the middle of the group is the large island, in which the king resides. The natives of these islands are gentiles, but the government is in the hands of the Moors. They are so close together, that in many of the channels the yard-arms of ships passing through rub against the shores, or on the trees on both sides. Their chief product is cocoa-nut trees, the kernel of these nuts producing a pleasant and nutritive fruit, while the outer rhind or husk is useful for making cables. There is another sort of these trees growing at the bottom of the sea, having larger fruit than the land cocoa-nut, and which is a more powerful antidote against poison than even the Bezoar stone[149].

[Footnote 149: This submarine cocoa-nut tree is utterly inexplicable. --E.]

During this same year 1519, a fleet of 14 ships was sent from Portugal to India, which was dispersed to several parts. Some fell in with the coast of Brazil, where fifty men were slain; and Don Luis de Guzman, one of the captains, turned pirate and became very rich, but afterwards met with his deserts. Six staid at Mozambique. George de Albuquerque the admiral reached India with only four sail. One was driven back to Lisbon. Another watering at Matira lost some men, and six more at Oja, whom the king long kept with kind entertainment; but their ship which left them was lost on a sand bank off Quiloa, and the Moors of that place and of Monfia and Zanzibar slew them all except one man.

After Sequeira had dispatched the homeward bound trade of the season, under the command of Fernan Perez de Andrada, he sailed on the 13th of February 1520, from Goa with 24 sail of ships of various sizes, having on board 1800 Portuguese soldiers, and about an equal number of Malabars and Canarins, bound for the Red Sea. Off the coast of Aden his ship struck on a rock and split in pieces; but the men were all saved, and Sequeira the governor went into the galleon of Pedro de Faria. A Moorish ship was taken at the entrance into the Red Sea, from which they learnt that there were six Turkish gallies at Jiddah with 1200 men, intending to proceed against Aden.. The weather prevented the Portuguese from going in quest of the Turkish squadron, and in fact it would have been to no purpose; as on hearing that the Portuguese were in these seas, the Turks hauled their gallies on shore. While Sequeira was on his voyage for Massua, a small black flag was seen on the disk of the sun towards evening on the 9th of April being Easter Sunday. On arriving at Massua they found all the inhabitants had fled, yet they found some vessels in the port which they captured. The inhabitants of Massua had fled to the neighbouring port of Arkiko in the dominions of Prester John, and the governor of the town sent a messenger with a letter to Sequeira desiring that he would make peace with the people who had fled to him for protection; at the same time he asked nothing for the town where he commanded, because they were all Christians, and because they had a prophecy among them which foretold the coming of Christians to settle a correspondence with them, and which he now believed to be fulfilled on seeing the Christian colours. Sequeira sent a courteous answer, and drew nearer the shore, on which several Christians came on board. They told him that their prince had sent several years before an ambassador named Mathew, to a king at the other end of the world whose fleet had conquered India, on purpose to become acquainted with these remote Christians and to demand succour against the Moors; but that the ambassador had never returned. On hearing this, Sequeira was satisfied that they dealt ingeniously with him, as he had actually brought that ambassador along with him, and had orders from the king of Portugal to land him safe in the dominions of Prester John. On this, the ambassador of whom they spoke of was brought before them, to their great mutual joy, as he had been ten years absent from his country. Next day ten monks came from a neighbouring convent of the Vision to visit Mathew, and were received in great ceremony by the priests of the fleet dressed in their surplices. Great rejoicings were made on occasion of this meeting between two such distant nations agreeing in the same faith; and the consequence of this meeting was, that those who from the beginning had not acknowledged the supremacy of the Roman pontiff, now submitted to his authoritye[150].

[Footnote 150: The submission of the Abyssinian church to the Roman pontiff was a mere pretence, which afterwards produced long and bloody civil wars, and ended in the expulsion of the Portuguese from the country.--E.]

The kingdom of Prester John, now first visited by Sylveira, is mostly known by this appellation but improperly, as its right name is the empire of Abyssinia, Abassia, Habesh, or the higher Ethiopia. It received the former appellation from the great king Jovarus, who came to it from the Christians of Tartary, having a cross carried before him like our bishops, and carrying a cross in his hand, with the title of Defender of the Faith, as being a Jacobite Christian[151]. The dominions of this prince are situated between the rivers Nile, Astabora, and Astapus. To the east they border on the Red Sea for 120 leagues, this being the smallest side, as their whole extent is 670 leagues. On the west it borders on those Negroes who possess the great mines of gold, and who pay tribute to the sovereign of Abyssinia. On the north it is divided from the Moors by a line drawn from the city of Suakem to the isle of Meroe in Nubia. On the south it borders on the kingdom of Adel, from the mountains of which country the river Obi descends, and falls into the sea at the town of Quilimane in the kingdom of Melinda.

[Footnote 151: It is not worth while to inquire whence this ridiculous legend of king or Saint Jovarus has been derived. The origin of Christianity in Abyssinia will be considered on an after occasion, when we come to the particular travels in that country.--E.]

The kings of Abyssinia pretend to descend from King Solomon by the queen of Sheba or Saba; who being delivered by the way, named her son Melech, and sent him to his father, to be by him declared king of Ethiopia. Whereupon Solomon anointed him, and gave him the name of David, after his grandfather. Solomon likewise appointed him a household, giving him officers of his own, and sent with him as high priest, Azaria the son of Zadoc, who stole the tables of the law from the temple of Jerusalem, and carried them along with his new prince. It is affirmed that the descendants of these original officers still possess the same employments. The Abyssinians had some knowledge of the law of Christ from Queen Candace, in whom they glory as being of their country: But their true apostles were St Philip and St Mathew. In memory of his descent, the king or emperor of Abyssinia begins the enumeration of his many titles in this manner: "David, beloved of God, pillar of the Faith, descendant of Judah, grandson of David, son of Solomon, son of the pillar of Sion, son of the progeny of David, son of the hand of Mary, &c. Emperor of the higher Ethiopia," &c. He dwells for the most part in a camp, resembling a populous city, and is frequently removing from one part of the country to another. In his messages, he uses a style similar to that of the kings of Portugal and Spain, beginning "I the king." The people are very religious, having many churches and great numbers of monasteries which belong only to two religious orders, that of St Anthony, and the Canons regular. Those religious persons who live in convents wear long cotton garments; but all the others, and their priests and nuns, are dressed in skins, hardly covering so much as modesty requires. They have no considerable towns, have little learning, no skill in mechanics, and are very rude in their diet and clothing. In such houses as assume any degree of grandeur, all the furniture is brought from other countries. There are as expert thieves in this country as our gypsies are in Europe. This is the substance of what could be gathered by the first discoverers of Abyssinia.

On the news of the arrival of the Portuguese fleet at Massua, and of the return of Mathew the ambassador, the Baharnagash[152] or governor of the province in which Arkiko is situated came there attended by 200 horse and 2000 foot. After some difference about a proper place of meeting between him and Sequeira, they at length agreed to meet on the sea-shore, and were seated on chairs on the sand, under the burning heat of the sun. At this meeting, Sequeira delivered Mathew the Abyssinian ambassador to the Baharnagash, and recommended to his protection Don Rodrigo de Lima who was sent ambassador from King Manuel to the emperor of Abyssinia. They treated likewise about building a fort as a protection against the Moors, either at Kamaran or Massua, and both swore to the sincerity of their friendly intentions on a cross, after which they separated and presents were mutually interchanged. Don Rodrigo de Lima set forwards on his journey unaccompanied by Mathew, who soon afterwards died in the monastery of the Vision. Sequeira erected a great cross in that port, in memory of the arrival of the Portuguese fleet, and caused many masses to be said in the mosque of Massua. From that port he went to the island of Dalac, where he burnt the town, previously abandoned by its inhabitants. He then stood over to the coast of Arabia, where one galley was cast away in a storm and most of her men lost. Leaving the Red Sea and sailing along the coast of Yemen, the fleet arrived at Cape Kalayat, towards the entrance of the Persian Gulf, where George Albuquerque waited its arrival. Going from thence to Muscat, Albuquerque was left to winter there with all the ships, and Sequeira went on to Ormuz with the gallies.

[Footnote 152: In Faria called Barnagux.]

In this same year 1520, during the expedition of Sequeira to the Red Sea, Chrisna-rao king of Bisnagar collected together a vast army of 35,000 horse, 733,000 foot, and 686 armed elephants, each of which carried a castle on its back with four men. In this army there were 12,000 water-bearers, that all might be supplied without any being under the necessity of dispersing to seek for it. The baggage was immense and the followers numberless, among whom were above 20,000 common women. This prodigious army was collected for the purpose of taking the city of Rachol then under the power of Adel Khan king of Visiapour, but which had belonged to the ancestors of Chrisna-rao, who had left it in charge to their successors to attempt its recovery. The city of Rachol was naturally almost impregnable, being situated on a high mountain and fortified by several stone walls, with large deep ditches and strong towers, well stored with artillery and other means of defence, and having a garrison of 400 horse, 8000 foot, 20 elephants, and a sufficient quantity of provisions and ammunition to tire out the most patient besiegers. Chrisna-rao encamped his vast army around the city, to which he gave many fruitless assaults during three months. At length Adel Khan approached to relieve the siege, having an army of 18,000 horse, 120,000 foot, 150 elephants, and many large pieces of cannon. After many skirmishes, the two armies at last joined battle, in which at the beginning Chrisna-rao received much damage; but rallying his innumerable forces, made such havoc among the troops of Adel Khan, that only those escaped from the sword or from captivity who at last moved pity even in their enemies. Besides great riches in the camp of Adel Khan, the victor got 100 elephants, 4000 horses, 400 large cannons, and a great many small ones. Adel Khan made his escape on an elephant; but forty Portuguese who served in his army were all slain after behaving themselves with great valour.

After this great victory, Chrisna-rao resumed the siege of Rachol, but was unable to make any impression on its walls. At this tine one Christopher de Figueredo came to his camp, attended by twenty other Portuguese, bringing some Arabian horses for sale to the king. In discourse with Chrisna-rao respecting the siege, Figueredo asked permission to view the place, and to try what he could do with his Portuguese, which was granted. Figueredo gave two assaults, and being seconded in the latter by the troops of Chrisna-rao, he gained possession of the place. Soon afterwards, Adel Khan sent an embassy to Chrisna-rao, begging the restoration of the prisoners and plunder which had been taken in the late battle and in the captured city. Chrisna-rao offered to restore the whole, on condition that Adel Khan would acknowledge his supreme authority, as emperor of Canara, and come to kiss, his foot in token of submission and vassalage. This degrading condition was accepted, but its performance was prevented by several accidents. In the mean while, however, Ruy de Melo, who commanded in Goa, taking advantage of the declining situation of the affairs of Adel Khan, possessed himself of those parts of the continent adjoining to the Isle of Goa, with a force only of 250 horse and 800 Canara foot.

In the same year 1520, Lope de Brito went to succeed Juan de Sylveira in the command of the fort of Columbo in Ceylon, and carried with him 400 soldiers and many workmen, by whose means he made the fort so strong that it raised the jealousy of the natives of Columbo, who at the instigation of the Moors gave over trade with the Portuguese, and besieged the fort for five months, during which the garrison suffered great hardships. At length Antonio de Lemos arrived with a reinforcement of fifty men; with which small additional force Brito ventured to attack the vast multitude of the enemy, whom he completely routed, and matters were immediately restored to their former quiet.

On the change of the monsoon, Sequeira set sail from Ormuz and joined Albuquerque at Muscat, where he found one ship from Lisbon of nine that sailed together, but all the rest came safe afterwards. One of the ships of this fleet, while sailing before the wind beyond the Cape of Good Hope, was stopped all of a sudden. On examining into the cause, it appeared that a sea monster bore the ship on its back, the tail appearing about the rudder and the head at the boltsprit, spouting up streams of water. It was removed by exorcisms, no human means being thought sufficient. By the sailors it was called the Sambrero, or the hat-fish, as the head has some resemblance to a hat. A similar fish, though less, had been seen on the coast of Portugal near Atouguia, where it did much harm.

As the king had sent orders to the governor to build forts at the Moluccas, Sumatra, Maldive, Chaul, and Diu, Sequeira determined upon attempting the last first. Having dispatched the homeward ships from Cochin, he collected a fleet of 48 vessels of various kinds and sizes, on board of which he embarked 3000 Portuguese and 800 Malabars and Canarins. With this great force he appeared before Diu on the 9th of February 1521. Malek Azz, being suspicious that this armament was destined against him, had fortified and intrenched the city with great care. At the arrival of the Portuguese, Malek Azz was at the court of Cambaya, but had left his son Malek Saca with a strong garrison and three experienced commanders. Observing the strength of the place, Sequeira called a council of war to consult upon what was proper to be done, when it was concluded to desist from the enterprise. The officers of the fleet, though they had all concurred in this decision, and even privately allowed its prudence and necessity, accused the governor of cowardice on this occasion, though his valour was well known. Sequeira accordingly retired to Ormuz for the winter, sending Alexius de Menezes to Cochin with full power to conduct the government during his absence, and several of the other captains went to different ports to trade. Menezes dispatched the homeward trade from Cochin, and sent other ships to various parts of India, some of which went to Sumatra.

The island of Sumatra extends in length from the north-west to the south-east, for about 220 leagues, by 70 in its greatest breadth, and is cut nearly in two equal parts by the equinoctial line. It is separated from Malacca by a narrow strait, and its most southern point is parted from Java by one still narrower. Java is above 100 leagues long by twelve in breadth. To the east of Sumatra is the great island of Borneo, through which likewise the equinoctial passes, leaving two-thirds of the island on the north side of the line. The maritime parts of Sumatra are flat, but the interior is full of mountains, pervaded by many large rivers, and covered by impenetrable woods which even the rays of the sun are unable to pierce. Owing to these circumstances Sumatra is very unhealthy, yet is much resorted to for its rich and valuable productions, and particularly on account of its abounding in gold. Besides gold, it produces white sandal-wood, benzoin, camphor, pepper, ginger, cinnamon[153], abundance of silk, and abounds in fish and cattle. It has in one part a spring of petroleum or rock oil, and one of its mountains is a volcano. The original natives of the island are pagans; but the Moors who came there first as merchants, have possessed themselves of the island as lords ever since the year 1400. Among the inland tribes is one called Batas, who are of most brutal manners, and even feed on human flesh. The Moors who dwell on the coast, use several languages, but chiefly the Malay. Their weapons are poisoned arrows like the natives of Java from whom they are descended, but they likewise use fire-arms. This island is divided into nine kingdoms; of which Pedier was once the chief; but now that of Pacem or Pisang is the most powerful, yet its kings only continue to reign so long as it pleases the rabble.

[Footnote 153: Probably cassia.]

At this time George Albuquerque was sent to Sumatra, on purpose to restore a king of Pisang who had been expelled and had fled to the Portuguese for protection and aid. On his arrival, having secured the co-operation and assistance of the neighbouring king of Ara, Albuquerque sent a message to the usurper desiring him to resign the kingdom to the lawful prince, who had submitted to the king of Portugal, Genial, the usurper, offered to make the same submission, if allowed to retain possession, but this offer was refused. Albuquerque then attacked Genial in his fort, which was scaled and the gate broke open; yet the usurper and thirty men valiantly defended a tower over the gateway, till Genial was slain by a musket-shot, on which the others immediately fled. The Portuguese troops, about 300 in number, were opposed by 3000 Moors in the market-place, assisted by some elephants. Hector de Sylveira endeavoured to strike one of these in the trunk with his lance, which the beast put aside, and laying hold of Sylveira threw him into the air, yet he had the good fortune to survive. Two other Portuguese soldiers had better success, as one of them killed the rider and the other wounded the elephant, on which he turned among his own party whom he trampled to death without mercy. The Moors now returned to another post, but with the aid of the king of Ara, they were completely defeated by the Portuguese, 2000 of them being slain. In this battle Albuquerque received two wounds in his face, and four or five persons of note were killed on the side of the Portuguese, besides a great many wounded. Next day the dispossessed prince of Pisang was reinstated with much ceremony, being made tributary to the king of Portugal, and a fort was erected at his capital, as at other places, to keep him under subjection.

At this time Antonio de Brito arrived at Pisang from, Acheen, where his brother George de Brito had been slain by the Moors with a great number of men, in a scandalous attempt to rob the sepulchres of the kings of that country of a great quantity of gold they were said to contain. Antonio was now left by Albuquerque in the command of the new fort of Pisang, with three ships which were afterwards of great service against a Moor who infested the coast. On his return to Malacca, of which he had the command, Albuquerque prepared to make war upon the king of Bintang. That island, about 40 leagues from Malacca, is forty leagues in circumference, having two strong castles, and its rivers staked to prevent the access of ships, so that it was considered as almost impregnable. Albuquerque went from Malacca with 18 vessels and 600 men, and finding it impossible to get his ships up, he endeavoured to land his men from boats to attack one of the forts; but the water being up to their middles, and the enemy making a brave resistance, they were forced to retire after losing twenty men, besides a great number wounded.

In the same year 1521, Antonio de Brito sailed for the Molucca islands. These islands are in the middle of a great number of others under the equator, about 300 leagues east from Malacca. There are five principal islands to which the general name of Moluccas is applied, about 25 leagues distant from each other, the largest not exceeding six leagues in circumference. The particular names of these are Ternate, Tidore, Mousell, Macquein and Bacham[154]. They are covered with woods and subject to fogs, and are consequently unhealthy. These five islands produce cloves, but no kind of food; and the large island of Batochina, which is 60 leagues long, produces food but no cloves. In some of these islands, particularly Ternate, there are burning mountains. Their chief subsistence is of a kind of meal made from the bark of certain trees resembling the palm[155]. There are certain canes that have a liquor in their hollows between the joints, which is delightful to drink. Though the country abounds in animals, the natives eat very little flesh, but live chiefly on fish which their seas produce inexhaustibly. They are very warlike and by no means affable, and are most expert both in running and swimming. Their religion is idolatrous, but we have no account whatever respecting their original. The Moors had possessed themselves of this country not long before the coming of the Portuguese, as a Mahometan priest who had come along with the first of the Moorish invaders was still alive at the arrival of Brito.

[Footnote 154: The principal island of the Molucca group is Gilolo; those in the text being small islands to the west of Gilolo. The large island mentioned in the text under the name of Batochina, can be no other than Gilolo.--E.]

[Footnote 155: This is obviously an erroneous account of Sago, an alimentary substance procured from the pith of a tree of the palm tribe, not from the bark.--E.]

Antonio de Brito was sent on this occasion to build a fort in the island of Ternate, which had been long desired by its king Boylefe. His force consisted of six ships and 300 soldiers, and was increased at the island of Agacim by four sail under the command of Garcia Enriquez. On arriving at Ternate, the old king Boylefe was dead, and the king of Tidore had admitted the Spaniards to settle on his island; yet seeing that the queen who governed Ternate during the minority of her son gave a friendly reception to Brito, the king of Tidore visited him and offered to deliver up the Spaniards to him if he would build the fort on Tidore instead of Ternate. But Ternate was preferred as the most convenient, Brito laying the first stone on the festival of St John the Baptist, the 28th of December 1521.

At this time a private correspondence was carried on between Francis Serram, who resided in Ternate and Ferdinando de Magallanes in Portugal, which turned to the advantage of Spain and the detriment of Portugal. Magalanes, otherwise named Magellan, was a man of note and a knight of St Jago, who had served with reputation at Azamor in Africa and in several parts of India. Having solicited for a small allowance usually given in reward of service, and which was refused, he left Portugal and entered into the service of Spain. From his skill in sea affairs, and the correspondence he held with Serram at Ternate, he concluded there might be another way to India; and as the Spaniards had already tasted the fruits of these islands, he wrote to Serram that he hoped soon to be his guest at Ternate going thither by a new way[156]. He accordingly got the command of five ships with 250 men, some of whom were Portuguese. Sailing from the port of San Lucar de Barameda on the 20th of September 1519, after having renounced his country by a solemn act, he sailed toward the south along the eastern coast of South America. When past Rio de Janeiro on the coast of Brazil, the men began to grow mutinous, and still more so when they had gone beyond the river of St Julian on the coast of Patagonia, where they did not immediately find the strait of passage to the Pacific Ocean, and found themselves pinched by the cold of that inhospitable climate. As they proceeded to hold disrespectful discourses against Magellan, both reflecting upon his pretended knowledge, and espousing doubts of his fidelity, which came to his knowledge, he called together all the principal people in his squadron, to whom he made a long and learned discourse. Yet a conspiracy was entered into to kill Magellan, by three of his captains, named Cartagene, Quixada, and Mendoza. Their design however was discovered, on which Mendoza was immediately stabbed, and the other two arrested and punished as traitors; Quixada being quartered alive, while Cartagene and a priest concerned in the plot were set ashore on the barbarous coast. Most of the men were engaged in the conspiracy, but it was necessary to pardon them that there might be seamen for prosecuting the voyage.

[Footnote 156: From the text, coupled with a consideration of the infallible grants of his holiness, who had given every part of the world to the west of a certain meridian to the Spaniards and all eastwards to the Portuguese, or all to both, those Spaniards who had been at the Moluccas must have come from the western coast of Mexico. Magellan proposed a new route by the southwest, to evade the grant of the sovereign pontiff, which was actually accomplished, though he lived not to enjoy what may in some measure be termed the treasonable honour.--E.]

Magellan wintered at this place[157], and some men who were sent about twenty leagues into the interior brought a few natives to the ships, who were of a gigantic stature, being above three yards high. After suffering much through cold, hunger, and continual fatigue, they at length reached the Cabo de las Virgines, in lat. 52° S. so named because discovered on the day of the 11,000 virgins. Below this cape, they discovered the strait of which they were in search, being about a league wide.[158] In their progress, the strait was found in some places wider and in others narrower than its mouth. The land on both sides was high, partly bare, and part covered with wood, among which were many cypress trees. The mountains were covered with much snow, which made them appear very high. Having advanced about 50 leagues into this strait, another was seen and Magellan sent one of his ships to explore it; but after waiting much beyond the time appointed for her return, he ordered the astrologer, Andrew Martin to erect a figure, who answered that she was gone back to Spain, and that the crew had confined the captain, Alvaro de Mesquita, for opposing that measure. This was actually the case, and they were eight months on the voyage. After this event, which gave much vexation to Magellan, he continued his voyage through the straits much against the inclination of his people, and at length got out into the southern Pacific Ocean with three ships, that commanded by Juan Serrano having been wrecked and the men saved with much difficulty.

[Footnote 157: Though not directly so expressed in the text, Magellan appears to have wintered at Port St Julian.--E.]

[Footnote 158: Now called the Straits of Magellan from its discoverer.--E.]

To escape from the excessive cold of the southern extremity of America, Magellan now shaped his course W.N.W. and when about 1500 leagues from the straits, he found an island in lat. 18° S. and another 200 leagues further on. Having lost his computation for the Moluccas, he discovered several islands in lat. 15° 30' N. and at length came to the island of Subo in lat. 10° N. being about 12 leagues in circumference. He was hospitably received here, and found the natives of so tractable a disposition, that the king and queen of the island, with their children and above 800 of the inhabitants were baptised. This prince was at war with a neighbour, and was assisted by Magellan. After two victories, Magellan was slain in a third battle on the 27th of April 1521, together with his astrologer and some others. The baptised king now entered into an agreement with his enemies, and poisoned all the Christians who were on shore. Those who remained on board, being too few in number to navigate the three ships, burnt one, and set sail with the other two, one of which was the famous Victory, commanded by Juan Sebastian Cano, being the first ship that circumnavigated the globe. They arrived at the Moluccas, where they were well received by the king of Tidore, who was much dissatisfied by the Portuguese having given the preference to Ternate in forming their establishment. At this place they took in a loading of spice, and went thence to Banda, where they completed their cargo by the assistance of a Portuguese named Juan de Lourosa. One of the Spanish ships returned to Ternate, many of the crew having died of a contagious disease, and the small remnant being unable to continue the voyage. They were hospitably received by Antonio de Brito, who relieved and sent them to India, whence they returned to Europe in the Portuguese ships.

The famous ship Victory returned in triumph to Spain, after performing that wonderful Voyage round the World. Her arrival occasioned new contests between the courts of Spain and Portugal, Charles V. and John III. then reigning, because the Molucca islands were considered as belonging to Portugal, according to the former agreement respecting the discoveries of the globe. In the year 1524, a congress of civilians and geographers was held to determine this affair, at a place between Badajos and Elvas; but it was not settled till the year 1526.[159]

[Footnote 159: As this first circumnavigation will fall to be related more at large, in a division of our arrangement devoted expressly to that subject, it has not been deemed necessary to elucidate this short incidental account from De Faria, by any geographical commentary.--E.]

In one of the former years, Fernan Perez de Andrada had established a trade at Quantung or Canton in China, which was so exceedingly profitable that every one was eager to engage in it. In the present year 1521, Simon de Andrada was sent by Sequeira to China with five ships, and cast anchor in the port of the island of Tamou opposite to Canton, where his brother had been formerly. The Portuguese ambassador to the emperor of China still remained at that place, but set out soon afterwards up a large river with three vessels splendidly decorated with Portuguese colours, it being a received custom that none but those of China should be seen there, which are gules a lion rampant.[160] In this manner he arrived at the foot of a mountain from which that great river derives its source. This mountainous ridge, called Malexam, beginning at the bay of Cochin-China in the province of Fokien,[161] runs through the three southern provinces of China, Quangsi, Quantung, and Fokien, dividing them from the interior provinces, as Spain is divided from France by the Pyrenees. Thomas Perez, leaving the vessels at this place, travelled northwards to the city of Nanking, where the king then was, having spent four months in the journey without stopping at any place. The emperor however thought proper to appoint his audience at Peking, a city far distant, to which place Perez accordingly followed. While on the journey, Simon de Andrada behaved himself so improperly in the island of Tamou that an account of his proceedings was sent to court, and Thomas Perez and his companions were condemned to death as spies. The rigour of this sentence was mitigated, but the embassy was not received, and Perez was sent back as a prisoner to Canton, with orders that the Portuguese should restore Malacca to its native king, who was a vassal to China, in which case the embassy would be received; but otherwise the ambassador and his suite were to be put to death, and the Portuguese for ever excluded from China as enemies. Simon de Andrada conducted himself with a high hand, as if he had been king of Tamou, where he raised a fort, and set up a gallows to intimidate the people. He committed violence against the merchants who resorted to the port, and bought young people of both sexes, giving occasion to thieves to steal them from their parents. These extravagant proceedings lost nothing in their transmission to court, and were the cause of the severe orders respecting Perez and his followers.

[Footnote 160: The text seems irreconcileably contradictory, perhaps from mistranslation; but the circumstance is not important.--E.]

[Footnote 161: This account of the ridge of Malexam is considerably erroneous. The ridge of mountains in the text begins in the west of China on the borders off the province of Yunnan, between Koeitchoo and Quansee, and ends in the east at the province of Foo-tchien.--E.]

At this time Diego Calva arrived with one ship from Lisbon, and several others from Malacca, and in consequence of this addition to their strength, the Portuguese acted still more insolently than before, and so exasperated the governors of the province that they apprehended several of them, and even contrived to take the last arrived ship. At the commencement of hostilities Duarte Coello arrived from Malacca with two ships well manned and armed. The Itao, or Chinese admiral in these seas, attacked the Portuguese with fifty ships, and though he did them some damage, he was so severely handled by the artillery that he was forced to retire and to remain at some distance, keeping up a strict blockade. After matters had remained in this state for forty days, Ambrose del Rego arrived with two additional ships from Malacca, and the Portuguese determined upon forcing their way through the Chinese fleet. The battle on this occasion was very bloody; but in consequence of a gale of wind dispersing the Chinese fleet, the Portuguese were enabled to get away from the island of Tamou. The Itao revenged himself upon such of the Portuguese as had fallen into his hands, and particularly upon Thomas Perez and his companions, who were all slain, and their baggage robbed of the present intended for the emperor, and of all the commodities which Perez had purchased during his residence in China. Such was the profitableness of the China trade at this time, that Perez though only an apothecary of mean parentage, had by this time acquired 2000 weight of rhubarb, 1600 pieces of damask, 400 pieces of other silks, above 100 ounces of gold, 2000 ounces of silver, 84 pounds of loose musk, above 3000 purses or cods of that perfume, called Papos, and a great deal of other commodities.

As Mocrim king of Lasah refused to pay the tribute which was due to the king of Ormuz for the islands of Bahrayn and Catifa on the coast of Arabia, the king of Ormuz was backward in paying the tribute to the Portuguese, alleging his inability on account of not receiving payment from his vassal. On this account a force had been already sent against the king of Lasah, accompanied by some Portuguese auxiliaries, but had been unsuccessful. The king of Ormuz, wishing effectually to humble his vassal, applied to Sequeira for assistance, who consented on purpose to secure the tribute due to the Portuguese. Accordingly in the year 1521, an armament of 200 vessels belonging to the king of Ormuz, having on board 3000 Arabs and Persians, sailed for Bahrayn under the command of Reis Xarafo or Sharafo, accompanied by seven Portuguese ships with 400 soldiers commanded by Antonio Correa. On their arrival at Bahrayn, Mocrim was found well prepared for their reception, having 300 Arab horse, 400 Persian archers, 20 Turkish musketeers besides some natives armed with firelocks, and above 11,000 native troops armed with different weapons. He had besides thrown up strong intrenchments and redoubts, well provided with cannon, and these formidable military preparations were under the charge of experienced commanders.

The Persian Gulf, which intervenes between Arabia and Persia, takes its name from the latter, as the more noble country. This famous gulf begins at Cape Jasques or Carpela, in lat. 26° N. and ends at the mouth of the river Euphrates, having many cities, rivers, woods, and islands along its northern or Persian shores. On the other or Arabian shore, beginning at Cape Mozandan or Musaldon, named Assaborum by the ancients, and ending where it meets the other side at the Euphrates, there are only four towns. One of these, Catifa or Al Katif, is opposite the island of Bahrayn, where is the pearl-fishery. This island is 30 leagues in circumference, and seven leagues long, and is 110 leagues from Ormuz. The principal product of this island is tamarinds, but it has likewise all the other fruits that grow in Spain. The largest town is of the same name with the island, besides which there are about 300 villages, inhabited by Arabs and Moors[162]. The air is very unhealthy. The pearls found here, though not in such abundance, are more valuable than those of Ceylon in India, or of Hainan in China. On the continent of Arabia, opposite to Bahrayn is the city of Lasah[163], of which Mocrim was king.

[Footnote 162: It is difficult to comprehend the distinction; and perhaps we ought to read Arabs or Moors.--E.]

[Footnote 163: Lasah may have been the name of the territory, and perhaps applied likewise to the capital which is named Al Katif in our maps, and the territory Bahrayn. These are two islands of Bahrayn, one of which from the text appears to have been named Catifa.--E.]

Having formed his dispositions of attack, Correa landed at the head of 170 Portuguese, giving orders to Reis Xarafo to send assistance wherever he might see it necessary. Ayres Correa, the brother of the Portuguese commander, led the van or forlorn hope of fifty men, all of whom were knee deep in water. The Portuguese assaulted the trenches with great bravery, and were opposed with much resolution by the enemy, headed by the king; and after some time both parties were so much fatigued by the heat as to be under the necessity of taking some respite, as by mutual consent. After a short rest, the attack was renewed, and the king being shot through the thigh, of which wound he died six days afterwards, his men lost heart, and great numbers of them being killed and wounded, they fled leaving a complete victory to the Portuguese. During the whole engagement, Reis Xarafo looked on from his vessel as an unconcerned spectator; but when afterwards the body of the deceased king was carried over to Lasah for interment, he went there and cut off his head, which he sent to Ormuz. In this engagement the Portuguese had seven men killed and many wounded, but the island was effectually reduced. For this exploit, Correa had the title of Bahrayn added to his name, and was authorized to bear a kings head in his coat of arms, which is still borne by his descendents.

In this same year 1521, the zamorin of Calicut made war against Cochin at the head of 200,000 men; and although only forty Portuguese were in the army of Cochin, and but thirty of these armed with muskets, the enemy retired in dismay. At this time likewise Diego Fernandez de Beja, who had been left before Diu, came to join Sequeira at Ormuz, having been attacked by some vessels belonging to Malek Azz, whose double dealing was now apparent. To prevent certain frauds that had been practised by the native officers of the customs at Ormuz, Sequeira thought proper to appoint Portuguese officers in that charge, which so exasperated the natives that they endeavoured to shake off the yoke, as will appear hereafter.

Being determined to resume the plan of establishing a fort at Diu, Sequeira sent back Beja to that place with four stout vessels, with orders to hinder all ships from entering the port. Beja executed these orders for some time effectually, and even took some vessels; but Malek Azz came against him with a number of ships well armed with cannon, sunk one of the Portuguese galleons and did much damage to the others which were becalmed; but on the wind springing up, the vessels of the enemy were forced to retire. While Sequeira was on his voyage from Ormuz against Diu, he captured a vessel by the way, and divided the Moorish crew among his ships. Those who were put on board the ship commanded by Antonio Correa, set fire to the powder-room, by which the poop was blown into the air and the vessel sunk; in which miserable catastrophe the brave conqueror of Bahrayn perished. [164]. Owing to these misfortunes, Sequeira desisted from the enterprise against Diu, and went to Chaul where he found Ferdinando Camelo, who had brought permission from Nizam al Mulk to build a fort at that place, chiefly to favour the importation of horses for his own use, as that trade was then confined to Goa. The building of the fort was accordingly begun without delay. As Malek Azz suspected that the establishment of the Portuguese at this place might lessen greatly the trade of Diu, he made his appearance off Chaul with above fifty vessels, and sunk a large Portuguese ship just come from Ormuz. Azz continued to blockade the port of Chaul for three weeks, doing much damage to the squadron which was opposed to him; yet the construction of the fort went on with all diligence. Learning that his successor was arrived at Cochin, which rendered his presence necessary at that place, Sequeira forced his way through the enemy, leaving his nephew Henry de Menezes to command the fort, and Antonio Correa with the charge of the ships.

[Footnote 164: Yet only a few lines afterwards, Antonio Correa is found to be alive and commanding a squadron off Chaul. Having no means to correct this contradiction, the text is left as published by Stevens.--E.]

After the departure of Sequeira for Cochin, Aga Mahomet who commanded the fleet belonging to Malek Azz did every thing in his power to hinder the construction of the fort. To secure the entrance of the river, the Portuguese had erected a redoubt or bulwark on the side opposite the fort, which was commanded by Pedro Vaz Permeo with a garrison of thirty men. Mahomet sent 300 of his men by night to surprise this bulwark, but they were so valiantly opposed by the small garrison, though the captain and several men were slain, that they maintained their ground till relieved by Ruy Vaz Pereira with a reinforcement of sixty men, who put the enemy to flight after having lost a hundred men. By this success the enemy were much daunted, and particularly one Sheikh Mamud, a great man in the city, who pretended to be a friend to the Portuguese, yet did every thing in his power secretly to molest them. On occasion of the defeat of Aga Mahomet, the sheikh sent to congratulate Antonio Correa; who well knowing his treachery, sent him back the heads of his messengers, and hung up their bodies along the shore. The sheikh was astonished at this act, and now proceeded to open hostilities, encouraging Aga Mahomet to persevere in the blockade, giving him intelligence that the Portuguese were in want of ammunition. But Don Luis de Menezes arrived with reinforcements and a supply of ammunition and provisions, to whom Correa resigned the command.

Don Duarte de Menezes entered upon the government of India on the 22d of January 1522, John III. being then upon the throne of Portugal. Having dispatched his predecessor with the homeward trade, and sent off commanders to the different establishments in India, he began to experience the bad effects of Sequeira having appointed Portuguese officers to the custom-house at Ormuz; as he received advice that the Moors of that place had taken arms and killed some men, and had even besieged the fort. He immediately sent his brother with relief, and appointed Simon de Andre to command at Chaul, who began his career by taking two Turkish gallies, and gaining a victory over the people of Dabul, by which that city was reduced to pay tribute. Malek Azz was terrified by these successes, and withdrew his fleet from before Chaul.

As formerly mentioned, the late governor Sequeira had appointed Portuguese officers to collect the revenue of Ormuz, which in fact had been done contrary to his own private judgment, but by command of the king of Portugal. These officers conducted themselves oppressively to the natives, from whom they made many undue exactions to satisfy their own cupidity, and behaved to them with much insolence and violence, even forcing from them their wives and daughters. Unable to endure these oppressions, the inhabitants of Ormuz and its dependencies formed a conspiracy against the Portuguese, and broke out into open insurrection against them suddenly at Ormuz, Bahrayn, Muscat, Kuriat, and Zoar[165], all in one night by previous concert, by a private order from the king of Ormuz. This attack was so sudden and well concerted, that above 120 of the Portuguese were slain on that night, and one Ruy Boto was put to the torture by the Moors in defence of the faith. The Portuguese at Ormuz, where Don Garcia Coutino then commanded, exerted themselves as well as they could to defend themselves, and secured the ships which happened to be at that place under the protection of the fort, which was immediately besieged. Of these events immediate intelligence was sent by Don Garcia to Cochin and other places for relief, fearing he might be constrained to surrender for want of provisions and water; and in fact two of the Portuguese vessels were burnt by the Moors under the guns of the fort.

[Footnote 165: These three last mentioned places are all on the north-eastern point of Arabia, near Cape Rasaigat, and appear to have been then dependent on the kingdom of Ormuz.--E.]

Tristan Vaz de Vega and Manuel de Souza happened to be then at Muscat in their ships, and immediately made sail to the relief of Ormuz. Tristan Vaz arrived first, and made his way to the fort through 160 sail of Moorish vessels by which it was blockaded. Two days afterwards the ship commanded by Manuel de Souza was seen at anchor at the distance of two leagues. It was very dangerous for those at the fort to assist him, and yet it was absolutely necessary for the common safety that he should be relieved; wherefore Tristan Vaz adventured with his ship to his aid, forcing his way as before through the vast Moorish fleet, eighty of which pursued him in full sail, and even De Souza, thinking him at first an enemy did him some harm. The king of Ormuz, to inspire his people to exert themselves in the capture of these two ships, exhibited a large heap of gold as his intended reward for such of his subjects as should take Tristan and Manuel prisoners; while at the same time he set apart a heap of female attire, to be worn in disgrace by those who might not behave valiantly. Actuated at the same time by desire of reward and fear of disgrace, the Ormuzians manned 130 of their vessels, with which they furiously assailed the two Portuguese ships: yet they both made their way through showers of bullets and arrows to the fort, to the great joy and relief of the governor and garrison. Despairing of being able to shake off the Portuguese yoke, and dreading the punishment of his revolt, the king of Ormuz abandoned his city and retired to Kishom or Queixome, an island about 15 leagues in length and 3 leagues from Ormuz, close to the shore of Persia. This island is sufficiently fertile but very unhealthy. On his retreat, he gave orders for all the inhabitants of Ormuz to follow him, and to set their city on fire, which burnt furiously for four days and nights. Even at this time some of the Portuguese gentlemen in the fort of Ormuz were in private correspondence with the king, giving him instructions how to conduct himself with the succeeding governor, so as to ensure his restoration; which they did on purpose to enrich themselves by exacting presents from the king in recompence of their services.

Don Luis de Menezes, as already mentioned, was sent by his brother Duarte, the governor-general, with ten sail to relieve and take the command of Ormuz. On arriving at Zoar, he destroyed the town with fire and sword, and then gave the sovereignty of it to Sheikh Husseyn, to hold it in direct vassalage of Portugal, instead of being dependent upon Ormuz as hitherto. In the mean time the king of Ormuz was murdered at Kishom by his own officers, who crowned his son Mamud Shah, a youth of thirteen. On the arrival of Don Luis, a treaty was entered Into with the new king, by which it was agreed that the king and inhabitants were to return to Ormuz; that the former tribute of 20,000 Xerephines should be continued, and all arrears paid up; and that the Portuguese officers should not interfere in the government of the city or its revenues. On the conclusion of this treaty, the king sent a present of gold, jewels, pearls, and silks for the king of Portugal, and another for Don Luis, but which he publicly ordered to be sent along with the other.

Some time after this, but in the same year 1522, Don Duarte went to Ormuz to examine into the cause of the late troubles; but he punished those who had least influence, and overlooked the most guilty. Reis Xarafo, a person of great power, who had been the most active instigator in the late troubles, was rewarded; and Reis Xamexir, who had killed Reis Xahadim at the instigation of Don Luis, was banished instead of the promised reward. Duarte augmented the tribute by adding 35,000 Xerephines to the former 25,000[166], which could not be paid when the city was in a flourishing condition, and yet 60,000 were now demanded when it lay in ruins and its trade was destroyed.

[Footnote 166: It was only called 20,000 a few lines before.--E.]

At this time Don Luis was sent with nine ships to the Red Sea. At Socotora he lost one of his ships. He took and burnt the town Zaer[167] on the coast of Arabia, because the sheikh refused to restore the goods of a Portuguese merchant or factor who had died there. At Veruma[168] he burned some ships, and then battered the city of Aden, after which he entered the Red Sea, where he did nothing worthy of notice, and returned to his brother at Ormuz, but was much dissatisfied with the conduct of Duarte at that place.

[Footnote 167: Perhaps Shahr near Makulla on the coast of Yemen.--E.]

[Footnote 168: This place was probably near Aden on the coast of Arabia.--E.]

That part of the continent of India adjoining to Goa, belonging to Adel Khan king of Visiapour, which had been seized by Ruy de Melo during the war with the king of Narsinga, was now lost by Francisco Pereyra Pestana. Pestana was a brave officer, and exerted himself to the utmost; but as Adel Khan had now no other object to employ his arms, his power was not to be resisted. Ferdinando Rodriguez Barba indeed obtained a signal victory over the forces of Adel Khan; and after this Pestana and Sotomayor, with only thirty horse and a small number of foot, defeated 5000 foot and 400 horse. But in the end numbers prevailed, and the country was reduced to the obedience of Adel Khan, and afterwards confirmed to him by treaty.

About this time the governor Duarte made particular inquiry respecting St Thomas the apostle, in consequence of orders to that effect from the king of Portugal; and the following is the substance of the information he transmitted. In the year 1517, some Portuguese sailed in company with an Armenian, and landed at Palicat on the coast of Coromandel, a province of the kingdom of Bisnagar, where they were invited by the Armenian to visit certain ruins of many buildings still retaining the vestiges of much grandeur. In the middle of these was a chapel of indifferent structure still entire, the walls of which both outside and in were adorned with many crosses cut in stone, resembling those of the ancient military order of Alcantara, which are fleuree and fitched[169]. A Moor resided there who pretended to have miraculously recovered his sight by a visit to this holy place, and that his ancestors had been accustomed to entertain a light in the chapel. There was a tradition that the church, of which this small chapel was all that remained entire, was built by St Thomas, when he preached Christianity to the Indians, and that he and two of his disciples were here interred, together with a king who had been converted by his miracles. In consequence of this information, Don Duarte sent Ernanuel de Faria, with a priest and a mason to repair this chapel. On digging about the foundation on one side which threatened to fall, they found about a yard below ground a tomb-stone with an inscription implying "That when St Thomas built this church the king of Meliapour gave him the duties of all merchandize imported, which was the tenths[170]." Going still deeper, they came to a hollow place between two stones, in which lay the bones of a human body with the butt and head of a spear, which were supposed to be the remains of the saint, as those of the king and disciple were also found, but not so white. They placed the bones of the saint in a China chest, and the other bones in another chest, and hid both under the altar. On farther inquiry, it appeared by the ancient records of the kingdom, that Saint Thomas had come to Meliapour about 1500 years before, then in so flourishing a condition that it is said by tradition to have contained 3300 stately churches in its environs. It is farther said that Meliapour was then twelve leagues from the coast, whereas its ruins are now close to the shore; and that the saint had left a prediction, "That when the sea came up to the scite of the city, a people should come from the west having the same religion which he taught." That the saint had dragged a vast piece of timber from the sea in a miraculous manner for the construction of his church, which all the force of elephants and the art of men had been unable to move when attempted for the use of the king. That the bramin who was chief priest to the king, envious of the miracles performed by the saint, had murdered his own son and accused the saint as the murderer; but St Thomas restored the child to life, who then bore witness against his father; and, that in consequence of these miracles, the king and all his family were converted.

[Footnote 169: Heraldic terms, implying that the three upper arms of the cross end in the imitation of flowers, while the lower limb is pointed.--E.]

[Footnote 170: The strange expression in the text ought probably to have been the tenths of the duties on importation.--E.]

An Armenian bishop who spent twenty years in visiting the Christians of that part of India which is near Coulam[171], declared on oath that he found what follows in their writings: That, when the twelve apostles were dispersed through the world, Thomas, Bartholomew, and Judas Thaddeus went together to Babylon where they separated. Thaddeus preached in Arabia, since possessed by the Mahometans. Bartholomew went into Persia, where he was buried in a convent of Armenian monks near Tebris. Thomas embarked at Basrah on the Euphrates, crossed the Persian Gulf, to Socotora, whence he went to Meliapour, and thence to China where he built several churches. That after his return to Meliapour and the conversion of the king, he suffered martyrdom through the malice of the bramins, who counterfeited a quarrel while he was preaching, and at length had him run through by a lance; upon which he was buried by his disciples as formerly related in the church he had built at Meliapour. It was likewise affirmed by a learned native of Coulam, that there were two religious houses built in that part of the country by the disciples of St Thomas, one in Coulam and the other at Cranganor; in the former of which the Indian Sybil was buried, who advised King Perimal of Ceylon to meet other two Indian kings at Muscat, who were going to Bethlem to adore the newly born Saviour; and that King Perimal, at her entreaty, brought her a picture of the Blessed Virgin, which was kept in the same tomb. Thus was the invention of the holy relics of the apostle of India; which gave occasion to the Portuguese to build the city of St Thomas, in the port of Palicat, seven leagues from the ruins of the ancient Christian city of Meliapour.

[Footnote 171: Coulam is on the coast of Travancore; in which country a remnant of the ancient Indian Christians has been recently visited by Dr Buchannan, which will fall to be particularly noticed in a future division of this collection--E.]

In the year 1522, Antonio Miranda de Azevedo was commander of the fort at Pisang in the island of Sumatra. On the west coast of that island there are six Moorish kingdoms of which Pedier was the chief, and to which those of Achem and Daga were subordinate. But in consequence of war among themselves, Achem gained the superiority, and the king of Pedier retired to the fort for the protection of the Portuguese[172]. On coming to the city of Pedier with a great force, the king of Achem endeavoured to inveigle the king of that place into his hands, and prevailed on some of the leading men of the city to write their king that he might come there in safety as his enemies were expelled, and he might easily destroy them by the assistance of the Portuguese. He accordingly went to the city, aided by eighty Portuguese soldiers and two hundred Moors, which went by sea in small row boats, while the king himself went along the shore with above a thousand armed elephants[173]. He was received at Pedier with feigned joy, but with a determination to make him prisoner, which was only deferred till the arrival of the Portuguese, that they likewise might be secured; but being apprized of his danger, the king fled next day to the mountains with two elephants and a few faithful followers. The Portuguese thus left on the shore unsupported were attacked by the enemy with showers of darts and arrows, when their commander Don Emanuel Enriquez and thirty-five soldiers were slain, and the rest fled. Don Andres Enriquez, after this loss, found himself unequal to defend the fort, and sent for relief to Raphael Perestello who was at Chittigon the chief port of Bengal. Perestello immediately sent a ship for this purpose under the command of Dominick Seixas, who landed at Tenacari to procure provisions; but one Brito who had succeeded Gago as captain of a band of thirty Portuguese pirates, ran away with the vessel from that port after she was laden, and left Seixas with seventeen other Portuguese on shore, who were reduced to slavery by the Siamese. Such is the fate of those who trust persons who have violated all human and divine laws[174]. Don Andreas Enriquez, being reduced to great extremity, requested the governor-general to send him a successor, who accordingly sent Lope de Azevedo; but Enriquez changed his mind, as the situation was very profitable, and refused to surrender the command, on which Azevedo returned to India. In the mean time the king of Achem overran the whole country with fire and sword, and took possession of the city of Pisang with fifteen thousand men, summoning Enriquez to surrender the fort. Enriquez having sustained and repelled these assaults, set sail for India that he might save the great riches he had acquired, leaving the command to Ayres Coello, who valiantly undertook the dangerous service.

[Footnote 172: At first sight this appears to have been the fort of Pisang, but from the sequel it would rather seem to have been another fort at or in the neighbourhood of Pedier.--E.]

[Footnote 173: It is hardly possible that the lord of a petty state on the coast of Sumatra should have so large a number of elephants, more perhaps than the Great Mogul in the height of the sovereignty of Hindustan. Probably Capt. Stevens may have mistaken the original, and we ought to read "With above a thousand men and several armed elephants."--E.]

[Footnote 174: Though obscurely expressed in the text, these thirty pirates appear to have been employed in the ship commanded by Seixas; probably pardoned after the punishment of their former leader Gago.--E.]

While on his voyage to India, Enriquez met two ships commanded by Sebastian Souza and Martin Correa, bound for the Island of Banda to load with spices; who learning the dangerous situation of Pisang, went directly to that place. Ayres Coello had just sustained a furious assault with some loss; and on seeing this relief the enemy abated their fury. Eight days afterwards, Andres was forced back by stress of weather to Pisang. One night, above 8000 of the enemy surrounded the fort, in which there were 350 Portuguese, some of whom were sick and others disabled by wounds, but all much spent with continual watching and fatigue. The enemy advanced in profound silence and applied seven hundred scaling ladders to the walls, on which they immediately mounted with loud shouts. The dispute was hotly maintained on both sides for some time; but some ships being set on fire enabled the Portuguese to point their cannon with such accuracy, that many of the enemy were slain, and the rest obliged to desist from the assault. Next morning above two thousand of the enemy were found slain around the walls, with two elephants; while on the Portuguese side only one woman was slain in her chamber by an arrow. The remaining six thousand of the enemy immediately retired, leaving half their ladders and large quantities of fireworks. Yet taking into consideration the difficulty and expence of maintaining this port, it was resolved to ship off all the men and goods, and to set it on fire, leaving the large cannons filled with powder, that they might burst when the fire reached them. Greater part of the fort was destroyed; but the enemy saved some of the cannon, which were afterwards employed with considerable effect against the Portuguese. Some goods were lost in shipping, as the Portuguese were in a great fright, and embarked up to the neck in water. By this abandonment of their post, the Portuguese lost more reputation with the natives of Sumatra than they had gained by their former valiant defence. They were fully sensible of this, as they met a powerful reinforcement at sea under Azevedo; and learnt that the king of Aru was marching by land to their assistance with 4000 men. The king of Achem followed up his good fortune, and rendered himself all-powerful in Sumatra, beyond even his hopes.

About this time[175] Malacca was much straitened by the king of Bintang, who sent a powerful armament against it, to oppose which. George Albuquerque sent a naval force under Don Sancho Enriquez; but in a violent storm 70 out of 200 Portuguese were lost. Till now the king of Pahang had sided with the Portuguese; but seeing the tide of fortune had turned against them, he too became their enemy. Ignorant of this change, Albuquerque sent three-ships to his port for provisions, where two of his captains and thirty men were killed: The third made his escape, but was slain with all his men at Java. Simon de Abreu and his crew were slain on another occasion; and two vessels sent to prevent provisions from getting into Bintang were lost.

[Footnote 175: De Faria is often defective in dates, and always confused. The events about this time are only vaguely stated as having happened during the government of Duarte Menezes, between the years 1522 and 1524, both inclusive. Among the confused mass of ill-digested and often indistinctly related events, many of which possess hardly any interest, we have now deemed it proper, in the farther prosecution of this History of the Portuguese transactions in India, to omit many trivial and uninteresting events, confining our attention to those of some importance, and which appear worth recording. The Portuguese Asia of DeFaria minutely relates every consecutive squadron sent to or from India, and every trifling commercial adventure; the insertion of which in our collection would be needlessly tedious.--E.]

In 1524, the memorable DON VASCO DE GAMA, now count of Vidugueyra, went out to India as viceroy with 14 ships and 8000 soldiers. During the voyage, two caravels were lost with all their men, and a third was lost but the men saved. Gaspar Mossem, one of the captains, was basely killed by his crew, merely because he was not a Portuguese. While at sea near Cambaya in a dead calm, the sea tossed so violently all of a sudden that all the people thought they were lost: But the viceroy perceiving it was caused by an earthquake, called out, "Courage my friends, the sea trembles for fear of you." One great ship of Mecca, worth 60,000 crowns, was taken, and the fleet arrived at Goa. Having visited some of the forts, and issued the necessary orders, Gama sent three gallies from Cochin to Calicut, as the subjects of the zamorin began to be troublesome. One of these fought for three hours with fifty large paraos and lost three men; but on the coming up of the others, the enemy were put to flight. The new viceroy had intended to execute several important enterprises; but he soon fell sick, and finding his end fast approaching, he appointed Lope Vaz de Sampayo to act as his successor till Don Enrique de Menezes, then at Goa, who was next in nomination by the king, might arrive. Vasco de Gama died on Christmas eve 1524, having been only three months viceroy. He was of middle stature, somewhat gross, and had a ruddy complexion. He had a natural boldness for any great undertaking, and was well fitted for every thing entrusted to him, as a sea captain, as discoverer, and as viceroy; being patient of fatigue, prompt in the execution of justice, and terrible when angry.

Immediately after the death of the viceroy, Lope Vaz de Sampayo dispatched Francisco de Sa to Goa, to carry information to Don Enrique de Menezes that he had succeeded to the government of Portuguese India. Leaving De Sa to command in Goa, Menezes went immediately to Cochin to assume his new situation; having first sent his nephew George Zelo with a galliot and five armed paraos against a fleet which infested the coast. Zelo met 38 vessels laden with spice commanded by Cutiale, four of which were taken and the rest driven on shore. These four were brought in barbarous triumph to Goa, having many of the enemies hung upon the shrouds. The Canarin rowers carried thirty heads, in token of the victory, and twelve prisoners alive, who were given up to the boys to be stoned to death. Zelo had similar success afterwards against a ship and nine paraos. He sailed after that to Cochin with his uncle, who, being accidentally joined by George de Menezes, defeated 36 paraos belonging to Diu, 17 of which were taken. When at Cananor be hanged a Moor of quality, on which many of his relations left the city and took to robbing on the river. But, with consent of the king of Cananor, Don Enrique sent Hector de Sylveira against them with two gallies and a brigantine, who destroyed four towns[176] and took all their cannon, not without considerable difficulty. About the same time Christopher de Brito went with fourteen row-boats and about an hundred men to scour the coast of Canara, where he destroyed some of the Moors; but those of Dabul sent two galliots and seven other vessels against him, with above three hundred men. In the commencement of the engagement Brito was slain; but his people exerted themselves so valiantly to revenge the death of their commander, that after four hours hard fighting most of the Moors were slain, and their commander and all the rest taken. The Moorish captain died afterwards of his wounds at Goa, being first converted to the Christian faith.

[Footnote 176: Perhaps instead of towns we ought to read tonys, a species of vessel then need by the inhabitants of the Malabar coast.--E.]

The fort at Calicut was at this time much straitened by the Nayres, yet the small garrison of fifty Portuguese maintained their post with much honour. Don Enrique, to punish the hostilities of the Moors of Calicut, fitted out fifty sail of vessels from Cochin, to which were added other fifty belonging to the inhabitants of that city, twenty-seven of which belonged to one individual named Arel de Porca[177]. With these vessels, carrying 2000 soldiers, the governor arrived at Paniani, one of the principal towns in the territory of Calicut, which was well fortified and stored with cannon under the command of a Portuguese renegado. Besides these fortifications on the land, the river was defended by a number of armed vessels drawn up in order of battle. After a severe contest, the fortifications of Paniani were carried, and the enemy fled into the woods. The town and all the vessels in the fort were burnt. Next day twelve ships were burnt in the port of Calicut, and several more in some creeks near the town. The armament proceeded in the next place to Coulete, which was fortified in a similar manner to Paniani, with a prodigious number of artillery, an hundred and fifty armed ships, and a garrison of 20,000 men. The Portuguese proceeded to the attack, and after a long and obstinate contest, drove the enemy from their works with great slaughter, and took fifty-three vessels, most of which were laden with pepper, with the loss of fifty-four Portuguese killed and many wounded. The other vessels belonging to the enemy, being much shattered in the engagement, were all burnt, and the town was destroyed.

[Footnote 177: These hundred vessels were probably paraos, or small native craft, considering that they only carried 2000 soldiers, only at the rate of 20 for each vessel--E.]

Shortly after this, the zamorin of Calicut besieged the Portuguese fort at that place with an army of 12,000 men, and surrounded it with a broad and deep trench. Don Juan de Lima commanded in the fort with 300 men, and did every thing in his power to obstruct the besiegers in the construction of their lines; but they were at length finished and planted with a vast number of cannon, some of which were so large as to carry balls of two spans diameter. On receiving advice of this siege, Don Enrique sent a reinforcement of 150 men in two caravels commanded by Christopher Jusarte and Duarte Fonseca. They succeeded in forcing their way into the fort in spite of a violent opposition by sea and land. Immediately afterwards, the enemy endeavoured to take the fort by escalade, but were repulsed with great slaughter. A farther reinforcement of 500 men from Cochin being unable to reach Calicut, Don Enrique went there with all the naval force he could collect, being unwilling that his government should suffer the disgrace of allowing this fortress to be taken by the enemy. Having thrown some strong reinforcements into the fort, Don Enrique landed with the remainder of his troops, after clearing the shore of the enemy, by means of his guns assisted by grenadoes and other fireworks. All the intrenchments and redoubts of the besiegers were successively carried, with prodigious slaughter of the Moors and Nayres, of whom above 3000 were slain, besides many others burnt in their wooden forts and bulwarks. In this engagement Don George de Menezes made great slaughter of the enemy with a two-handed sword; till losing his right hand, he took a smaller sword in his left, and continued to fight with great valour.

Don Enrique remained master of the field, in which he encamped for some days: But as the fort was not considered important in proportion to its expence, it was stripped of every thing of value with great care and privacy, and mines and trains laid to blow it up; after which the whole army retired to the ships. On seeing the fort evacuated, the Moors rushed in to plunder in vast numbers; but the mines suddenly taking fire, blew up the whole fabric with a vast explosion, in which great numbers of the enemy perished miserably.

In the year 1526, Hector de Sylveira went with a squadron to the Red Sea, and on his way thither assaulted and took the city of Dhofur on the coast of Yemen in lat. 17° N. He then entered the Red Sea, where he reduced the islands of Massua and Dallac to pay tribute; after, this he went to Arkiko on the coast of Abyssinia, where he received Don Rodrigo de Lima who had been on an embassy to the king of Abyssinia, and was there waiting for a passage along with an ambassador from Prester John to the king of Portugal.

In this same year 1526, a small vessel was sent from Ternate to discover the islands of Celebes, which were said to abound in gold. The discoverer easily found the islands but no gold. Being on his return to the Moluccas, he was carried away by a storm to the eastward till he lost his reckoning, and unexpectedly fell in with a large and beautiful island, inhabited by a simple race of men who treated the Portuguese with much civility. They were strong made and of a comely appearance, with their complexion inclining to fair, having long lank hair and long beards, and their clothing was of fine mats. Their food consisted chiefly of roots, cocoa nuts, and figs. Their language was not understood, but by signs they gave the Portuguese to understand that there was gold in the mountains, but of which they made no use. They had no knowledge of iron or any other metal. Leaving this island, which they named after the pilot Diego Lopez Sequeira, they returned to Ternate, after an absence of eight months.

Don Enrique de Menezes, died at Cananor about the end of January 1526, in the thirtieth year of his age. He was a man of large stature, with a pleasing countenance, just in all his actions, continent, free from covetousness, a true patron of merit, and of the most unblemished honour. During his government he refused uniformly to accept any of the numerous presents offered him by the eastern princes; and conducted himself with such perfect integrity in every transaction, that at his death his whole treasure amounted only to thirteen rials and a half; and he had even expended the whole of his patrimonial estate during the short continuance of his government of Portuguese India, chiefly in rewarding the merits of his officers.

SECTION VII.

Continuation of the Portuguese Transactions in India, from 1526 to 1538.

At his death in January 1526, Don Enrique de Menezes left a paper sealed up, by which the succession to him in the government was to be regulated, in case the person nominated for that purpose by the king should happen to be absent. That paper was lost, yet it was known that he had named Francisco de Sa, then commanding in Goa, as his provisional successor. The second royal nomination was now opened, in which Pedro de Mascarenas was appointed successor to Don Enrique; but Mascarenas commanded at Malacca, which was at a great distance, and the season of the year did not admit of that navigation. On opening the third patent, Lope Vaz de Sampayo was the person there named, who was accordingly invested in the government, having, engaged on oath to resign to Mascarenas on the arrival of that officer from Malacca.

At this time George Zelo and Pedro de Faria blockaded the port of Cananor, in which lay a fleet belonging to the zamorin. Sampayo immediately sent orders to Antonio de Sylveria and Christopher de Souza, then at Goa, to join the other two officers at Cananor to prevent the escape of the enemy, and went in person with seven ships and a considerable land force to endeavour to destroy them. Cutiale, the admiral of this fleet belonging to the zamorin, used every effort to defend himself, both by disposing his ships in formidable order, and by intrenchments and batteries on shore, where he had a land force of 10,000 men. Having made proper dispositions, Sampayo landed with about 1300 soldiers, leaving orders with Pedro de Faria to set the paraos belonging to the enemy on fire. The trenches of the enemy were carried after an obstinate resistance, and with great slaughter of the Moors, and seventy paraos were destroyed. By this signal victory, above eighty brass cannon were gained; but Sampayo spared the town, as it belonged to the king of Narsinga, with whom the Portuguese were then in peace.

Having dispatched several officers on command to different places, Sampayo sailed for Ormuz with five ships and 300 men. In his way thither he reduced the towns of Kalayat and Muscat, which had revolted owing to the exactions of Diego de Melo. His only transaction at Ormuz was to compose some differences that had arisen between Melo and Reis Xarafo, to receive the tribute due by the king of Ormuz, and to take along with him the ambassador whom George de Lima had brought from Abyssinia. From Ormuz, Sampayo dispatched Hector de Sylveira to cruise off Diu, on purpose to intercept the ships of the Red Sea that traded with Cambaya, of which three were taken. Sylveira then went to Diu, where he remained a long time at the request of Malek Saca, who made use of him to, secure himself against the tyranny of the king of Cambaya.

Reis Soliman, the Turk who killed Mir Husseyn at Juddah, as formerly related, recovered the favour of Sultan Selim who had conquered Egypt from the Mamelukes, having acquired the favour of that prince by delivering up to him the city of Juddah which he had gained in the service of the Soldan, and by means of a considerable present: for even princes, though they have no need of receiving gifts, are apt to be won like other men by their means; and as Soliman promised to perform wonders in India for his service, Selim ordered twenty gallies and five galleons which were then at Suez to be added to the fleet under Reis Soliman. In the mean time Selim died at Cairo, and was succeeded by his son Soliman, who sent that large reinforcement, under the command of Hayraddin, to Reis Soliman, who was then fortifying the island of Kamaran. Upon some disgust, Hayraddin killed Reis Soliman; and in his turn was slain by Mustapha the nephew of Soliman. Mustapha, being afraid of the consequences of this action, sailed from Kamaran with a small number of vessels, the greater part of the fleet refusing to join him. He went first to Aden and thence to Diu, where he put himself under the protection of the king of Cambaya. An account of these revolutions in the Turkish fleet, which had given great apprehensions to the Portuguese in India, was carried to King John by Antonio Tenreyro over land, to the great admiration of every one; being the first who had performed that journey, till then thought impossible.

At this time Mascarenas, who waited in Malacca for the proper season of sailing to Cochin to assume the government, went against Bintang with twenty-one ships and 400 Portuguese soldiers, having likewise 600 Malays commanded by Tuam Mahomet and Sinai rajah. Although the capital of Bintang was well fortified and defended by 7000 men, Mascarenas surmounted every opposition and took the place. Of the enemy 400 were slain and 2000 made prisoners. A vast booty was made on this occasion, among which were nearly 300 pieces of cannon, and the Portuguese lost only three men in this glorious exploit. The king of Bitang died of grief, and Mascarenas restored it to the lawful heir under vassalage to Portugal, the former king having been an usurper.

The island of Sunda is divided on the south from Java by a very narrow channel. It produces pale gold with abundance of pepper and provisions. The natives are numerous but unwarlike, yet are curious in adorning their arms. They worship idols, and often sell their children to supply their necessities. The women are beautiful, those of the higher ranks being chaste, contrary to what is usual in most parts of the world. They have convents, as in Spain and Portugal, in which they reside while virgins; and the married women kill themselves on the death of their husbands. This were a good custom to shew their duty and affection, were it not contrary to the law of nature, and therefore a barbarous error. Enrique Leme happening to go there, drawn by the plenty and goodness of its pepper, he was well received by the king of Samiam, who offered ground for a fort, and to pay an yearly tribute of 351 quintals of pepper, to purchase the friendship and support of the Portuguese against the Moors, by whom he was much infested. But when Francisco de Sa came to build the fort, he met with such opposition from the Moors that he was obliged to return to Malacca.

In the same year 1526, Martin Iniguez de Carchisano arrived in the port of Kamafo in Tidore with a Spanish ship, one of six which had been sent the year before from Spain to those parts which belonged of right to the Portuguese. Don Garcia Enriquez, who then commanded at the Moluccas, on learning the arrival of these Spaniards, and finding that they occasioned the spice to rise in price, went in person to expel them, but was obliged to retire with considerable damage from the Spanish cannon; yet the Spanish ship afterwards sunk. At this time Don George de Menezes, formerly mentioned as having lost his hand in the glorious action at Calicut, arrived at the Moluccas, having discovered the island of Borneo and many other islands by the way. Soon afterwards two ships were sent to Borneo with presents for the king, among which was a piece of tapestry adorned with figures of men. On seeing these, the ignorant barbarian cried out that they were enchanted men, who would kill him in the night; and no persuasions could convince him of his error, nor would he receive the presents or permit the Portuguese to remain in his port.

In the year 1527, it being understood at Cochin that Pedro de Mascarenas was on his way from Malacca to assume the government, Lope Vaz de Sampayo who acted ad interim, held a council of the principal officers, at which it was resolved not to admit Mascarenas to that high office. After this determination, Sampayo sailed for Goa, leaving Alphonso Mexia to command at Cochin, with orders to execute the resolutions of the council. On landing unarmed at Cochin, Mascarenas was opposed and wounded by Mexia; and proceeding afterwards to Goa, be was made prisoner and put in irons by order of Sampayo. These violent proceedings had nearly occasioned a civil war among the Portuguese in India; but at length, in the end of December 1527, Sampayo was confirmed in the government, and Mascarenas went home to Portugal, where he was appointed to the command of Azamor in Africa.

In the year 1528, Don Joan Deza was sent to cruise on the coast of Calicut, where in several rencounters he took fifty vessels laden with various commodities. He burnt the town of Mangalore; and falling in with the fleet of Calicut, consisting of seventy paraos well manned and armed under the command of the Chinese admiral Cutiale, Deza took most of them killing 1500 Moors, and taking nearly as many prisoners, among whom was Cutiale.

Antonio Miranda de Azevedo was sent in the end of January 1528 to the Red Sea, with twenty ships and above 1000 soldiers, to endeavour to burn the Turkish gallies in the port of Kamaran which had formerly belonged to Reis Soliman. After taking some prizes by the way, be met with Enrique de Macedo in the mouth of the Red Sea, who had engaged a large Turkish galleon. The Turks had boarded him, and threw a burning dart which stuck in his main-sail and began to set it on fire; but in consequence of a strong gust of wind shaking the sail, the dart fell back into the Turkish vessel, where it set fire to the powder and the ship and all her crew were blown up. Several other valuable ships belonging to the Moors were taken, but the main object of this expedition completely failed, as the wind did not allow the fleet to get up the Red Sea to Kamaran.

In consequence of the civil discord among the Portuguese, the Moors had been enabled to annoy their trade in different parts: And as Lope Vaz understood that a successor to the government was on his way from Portugal, he prepared to be revenged on the Moors, wishing to deliver up the government in prosperity, by clearing the sea from pirates. With this view he fitted out eighteen ships at Cochin, with which he encountered 130 armed paraos at Cananor; and as the wind did not allow his large ships to get into action, he went against that numerous fleet with only thirteen paraos. Even with this disproportionate force he did considerable damage to the Malabar fleet. On seeing two paraos coming from Cananor to the aid of Sampayo, and that the large Portuguese ships were enabled to make sail by means of a breeze springing up, the Malabars fled as fast as possible. In the pursuit eighteen of them were sunk and twenty-two taken, in which were fifty pieces of cannon. Eight hundred of the enemy were slain, and many made prisoners. Those that fled, and others who joined them, fell afterwards into a snare near Cochin.

With the same fleet, Sampayo went immediately in search of Arel, lord of Porca. In this expedition, Simon de Melo burnt twenty-six ships belonging to the enemy, and set the town of Chatua on fire. Afterwards with a thousand men he assaulted Porca; and though Arel was not there at the time, the inhabitants made a brave but unavailing defence, as the place was taken, plundered, and destroyed. At this place the wife of Arel was taken, with a great spoil in gold, silver, jewels, silks, and other valuables, and thirteen considerable vessels. On his return to Cochin, as his successor was not yet arrived, Sampayo went back to Cananor, whence he dispatched his nephew Simon de Melo against Marabia and Mount Dely, both of which places were taken, plundered, and, destroyed, with many piratical paraos. About this time, the king of Cambaya fitted out a fleet of eighty barks, under the command of a valiant Moor named Alexiath, who did much injury to the subjects of Nizam-al-mulk, and to the Portuguese trade at Chaul, in consequence of which aid was demanded from Sampayo by both. Sampayo accordingly set sail with forty vessels of different kinds, in which were 1000 Portuguese soldiers, besides a considerable force of armed natives. In this expedition Hector de Sylveira commanded the small vessels that rowed[178], while Sampayo took charge of the sailing vessels. On arriving at Chaul, Sampayo sent eighty Portuguese to the assistance of Nizam-al-Mulk, under the command of Juan de Avelar, and then sailed for Diu, as he understood the eighty barks of Cambaya were gone thither. Off Bombay that fleet belonging to Cambaya of which he was in search was descried, on which part of the ships were detached to secure the entrance of the river Bandora, to prevent the enemy from escaping, while Sylveira with his brigantines or row-boats bore down upon Alexiath. After a furious cannonade, the Portuguese gallantly boarded the enemy, and Alexiath fled with seven only of his barks, all the rest being taken. Of the 73 vessels captured on this occasion, 33 were found serviceable and were retained, all the rest being set on fire. In this glorious exploit, a vast number of prisoners, much artillery, and abundance of ammunition were taken, and the Portuguese did not lose one man.

[Footnote 178: Such is the expression in the translation of the Portuguese Asia by Stevens. They were probably Malabar vessels, which in the early writers are named paraos, tonys, and caturs, and might perhaps be called row-boats.--E]

Juan de Avelar, who had been detached with eighty Portuguese to the assistance of Nizam-al-Mulk against the king of Cambaya, acquired great honour in that service by his gallantry. Assisted by 1000 of the native subjects of Nizam-al-Mulk, he scaled a fort belonging to the king of Cambaya, till then thought impregnable, being the first who entered; and having slain all the defendants, he delivered it up to the Nizam.

It was now about the beginning of the year 1529. Lope Vaz de Sampayo was much elated by the last-mentioned success against the fleet of Cambaya, and believed that in the present state of dismay Diu would surrender on the first summons: He was therefore eager to have gone against that place, but as all his captains except Sylveira were of a contrary opinion, he was obliged to lay aside that intention and to return to Goa, leaving the valiant Hector with twenty-two row-boats to cruise against the pirates in the north. In the south, or on the Malabar coast, Antonio de Miranda was employed in similar service, where, he destroyed twelve paraos. Being joined by six brigantines and a galley, with 100 chosen men, commanded by Christopher de Melo, the united squadron took a very large ship laden with pepper in the river Chale, though defended by numerous artillery and 800 men. Near Monte-Hermosa, they defeated 50 sail of vessels belonging to Calicut, taking three paraos with a considerable number of cannon and many men. Hector de Sylveira, who had been left on the coast of Cambaya, did much damage to the enemy. Going up the river Nagotana of Bazain, he landed and burnt six towns belonging to the king of Cambaya. The commander of Nagotana took the field against him with five hundred horse and a large force of infantry, endeavouring to intercept Sylveira on his way to reimbark. An engagement took place, in which the enemy were repulsed with some loss, and Sylveira was enabled to embark. Going afterwards to Bazain, on a river, of the same name, he found that place well fortified and defended by a considerable number of cannon. He entered the river however during the night, and next morning stormed the fortifications of Bazain, killing many of the defendents. After this success, he was unexpectedly attacked by Alexiath at the head of 3500 men; but he bravely repelled and defeated that vastly superior force with great slaughter, after which he plundered and burnt the city of Bazuin. Terrified by these exploits, the lord of the great city of Tana, not far distant, submitted to become tributary to Portugal, and Sylveira retired to Chaul.

While these things were doing on the coast of Hindostan, Simon de Sousa Galvam, on his way to the Moluccas in a galley with seventy men was driven by a storm to take shelter, in the port of Acheen. Several vessels flocked immediately about him, on pretence of giving assistance, but the natives were no sooner on board than they fell upon the seventy Portuguese, with all kinds of weapons. Recovering from their first surprise, the Portuguese bravely drove the enemy from their ship, although not more than twenty were left that could stand to their arms. The king of Acheen gave orders to his admiral to attack the Portuguese galley next morning; when, after a desperate resistance, most of the Portuguese were slain and Galvam among them; only those being spared who were so severely wounded as to be unable to resist. Don George de Menezes, who commanded at the Moluccas, sent a party to Tidore against the Spaniards; but on the rout of that party, Menezes collected a considerable allied force, consisting of the people of Ternate, the Sangages, and the subjects of Cachil Daroez king of Bacham. With these and a small number of Portuguese, Menezes landed in Tidore, where he defeated the Spaniards and troops of Tidore, obliging the former to retire into their fort after losing six men, two of whom were slain and four taken. Menezes then assaulted and took the city of Tidore, which he plundered and burnt; after which he invested the Spanish fort, and summoned Ferdinando de la Torre the Spanish commander to surrender. Being unable to resist, the Spanish captain agreed to evacuate Tidore, retiring to the city of Comafo, and engaging to commit no hostilities upon the Portuguese or their allies, and not to trade to any of the islands producing cloves. After this the king of Tidore was made tributary to the Portuguese, and Menezes returned victorious to Ternate.

During his absence, Bohaat king of Tidore had died, not without suspicion of having been poisoned by Cachil Daroez, and was succeeded by his brother Cachil Daialo. The new king being suspicious of Cachil Vaiaco, fled to the fort; but afraid that Menezes might give him up to his enemy, threw himself from a window. All Ternate now mutinied against Menezes; and as he imagined that Cachil Vaideca, a noble of Tidore, had caused the death of a Chinese sow belonging to him, he imprisoned that nobleman, after which he set him free, having first anointed his face with bacon, which among that people is reckoned a most heinous affront. Not contented with this violence, he sent to rob the houses of the Moors of their provisions, and became suddenly most outrageous and tyrannical. The Moors stood upon their defence, and treated some of the Portuguese as they now deserved. Menezes seized the chief magistrate of the town of Tabona and two other persons of note. These two he set at liberty after cutting off their hands; but he let loose two fierce dogs against the magistrate, which tore him in pieces. Becoming odious to all by these cruelties, Cachil Daroez stirred up the natives to expel the Portuguese; but being made prisoner, Menezes caused him to be beheaded. Terrified by this tyranny, the inhabitants of Ternate fled to other places, the city becoming entirely deserted. Don George de Menezes was afterwards sent a prisoner to India for these enormities, whence he was sent to Portugal, where he was condemned to banishment. Any reward was too small for his former services, and this punishment was too slight for his present offences.

Nuno de Cuna, appointed governor-general of India, arrived in May 1529 at Ormuz. Setting out too late from Lisbon in the year before with eleven ships, he had a tedious voyage. One of his ships was lost near Cape Verd, when 150 men perished. After passing the line, the fleet was dispersed in a violent storm. Nuno put in at the port of St Jago in Madagascar, where he found a naked Portuguese soldier, who had belonged to one of two ships commanded by Lacerda and Abreu, which were cast away in 1527 at this place. The people fortified themselves there, in hopes that some ships passing that way might take them up. After waiting a year, one ship passed but could not come to their assistance; and being no longer able to subsist at that place, they marched up the country in two bodies to seek their fortunes, leaving this man behind sick. In consequence of intelligence of these events sent home to Portugal by Nuno, Duarte and Diego de Fonseca were sent out in search of these men. Duarte perished in Madagascar; and Diego found only four Portuguese and one Frenchman, who had belonged to three French ships that were cast away on that island. These men said that many of their companions were still alive in the interior, but they could not be got at. From these it was thought had sprung a people that wore found in Madagascar about eighty years afterwards. This people alleged that a Portuguese captain, having suffered shipwreck on the coast, had conquered a district of the island over which he became sovereign; and all his men taking wives from among the natives, had left numerous issue, who had erred much in matters of faith. Great indeed must have been their errors, to have been discovered by the atheistical Hollanders! Doubtless these people did not descend from that shipwreck only, but might have sprung likewise from the first discoverers, who were never heard of, and among others from three ships that sailed from Cochin in 1530 along with Francisco de Albuquerque.

While Nuno was at Madagascar, his own ship perished in a storm. The men were saved in the other two ships, but much goods and arms were lost. Sailing thence to Zanzibar, he landed 200 of his men who were sick, under the care of Alexius de Sousa Chichorro, with orders to go to Melinda when the people were recovered. Being unable to continue his voyage to India, on account of the trade wind being adverse, he determined upon taking revenge upon the king of Mombaza, who infested those of Melinda and Zanzibar from hatred to the Portuguese. If successful, he proposed to have raised Munho Mahomet to the throne, who was son to him who had received De Gama on his first voyage with so much kindness. Mahomet however objected to this honour, saying, "That he was not deserving of the crown, being born of a Kafr slave: But if Nuno wished to reward the friendship of his father, he might confer the crown on his brother Cide Bubac, a younger son of his father by a legitimate wife, and who was therefore of the royal blood of the kings of Quiloa." Nuno set off on this expedition with 800 men, accompanied by Mahomet and Bubac, each of whom had sixty followers. On the way he was joined by the sheikh of Otonda, a neighbouring town, who offered to accompany him with a well appointed vessel. This prince had silver chains on his legs, which he wore as a memorial of having been wrongfully imprisoned by the king of Mombaza, and had sworn never to take them off till revenged, having been so used merely because he had shewn friendship to the Portuguese.

Having been apprized of the intended attack, the king of Mombaza had provided for his defence, by planting cannons on a fort or bulwark at the mouth of the river, and brought 600 expert archers into the city. Though opposed by a heavy cannonade from the bulwark, Nuno forced his way up the river and anchored in the evening close to the city, whence the archers shot continual flights of arrows into the ships, and were answered by the Portuguese cannon. Next morning early the troops were landed under Pedro Vaz, brother to Nuno, who carried all before him, and planted the Portuguese colours, after killing many of the Moors and driving the rest from the city, without losing a single Portuguese soldier. To secure and repeople the city, Nuno sent for a nephew of the king of Melinda, who came with 500 men, many of whom were of some rank; and these were followed by the prince of Montangue with 200 more. Many likewise of the former inhabitants came in and submitted, so that the island began to reassume an appearance of prosperity. The expelled king, sensible of the desperate situation of affairs, sent one of his principal men to propose an accommodation, offering to pay a ransom to preserve his city from destruction, and to become tributary. An agreement was accordingly entered into to this effect, and the king began to make the stipulated payments; but finding sickness to prevail among the Portuguese of whom two hundred soon died, and many more were incapacitated from service, he began to fall off from the completion of the agreement, and as the prince of Melinda durst not undertake to defend the place without a considerable force of Portuguese, Nuno destroyed the city by fire and returned to Melinda, carrying with him those he had formerly left sick at Zanzibar. Leaving Melinda, he left 80 of his men there sick, to be carried to India on their recovery by Tristan Homem: who afterwards defended Melinda with these men against the king of Mombaza, who endeavoured to revenge himself there for the injury he had sustained from the Portuguese.

It has been formerly mentioned that Nuno de Cuna arrived at Ormuz in May 1529, into which he made a formal and pompous entry, to the great admiration of the natives. He immediately issued a proclamation at that place and its dependencies, "That all who had cause of complaint against the Portuguese should appear before him for redress." Many complainers accordingly came forwards, and the offenders were obliged to make restitution, to the great astonishment and satisfaction of the Moors, who had not been accustomed to see justice executed on their behalf. He found that Reis Xarafo; great guazil[179] or rather arch tyrant over the king and people of Ormuz, though restored to that situation by Sampayo, was by no means clear of the great crimes he had been formerly accused of, particularly of rapine and murder. On a representation of this to the king of Portugal, Manuel de Macedo had orders to bring him prisoner to Lisbon, and accordingly had him arrested by the assistance of Nuno, who waited upon the king of Ormuz to justify this procedure. The king readily acquiesced, and presented the governor with a rich present of jewels and cloth of gold, together with a fine horse richly caparisoned in the Persian manner. As the reigning king was implicated in the murder of his predecessor Mahomet, Nuno imposed upon him a fine of 40,000 Xerephines, in addition to the tribute of 60,000 which he had to pay yearly; that crime being used as a pretence to overburthen him with a tribute equal to a third part of the yearly revenue of Ormuz[180]. Xarafo, or Ashraf, was sent to Portugal with examinations respecting the crimes laid to his charge; but he carried such riches along with him, that he was not only able to purchase a remission of punishment, but was actually reinstated in his former employment. While Nuno still remained at Ormuz, Tavarez de Sousa came there, who had been with forty men to assist the king of Basrah against the lord of Gizaira[181]; having been the first Portuguese who went up the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Basrah or Bazora, in about the lat. of 30° N. is about 30 leagues from the mouth of the great river Euphrates, and received its name in commemoration of the more ancient city of Basrah, eight leagues higher up, the ruins of which are said by eye-witnesses to be twice as extensive as the city of Grand Cairo. The island of Gizaira, or Jazirat, is formed by the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates, being about 40 leagues in circumference, and is said to contain 40,000 archers. The river Tigris rises among the Curds in the greater Armenia, and the springs of the Euphrates are in Turkomania. The king of Basrah received Sousa with much state, and appeared greatly satisfied at his assistance. Sousa accompanied him on his expedition against the lord of Jazirat, the infantry of Basrah amounting to 5000 men, 600 of whom carried firelocks, were conveyed up the river in 200 dalacs or large boats, accompanied by seven vessels full of Turks with a considerable number of cannon. The king went along with his infantry by water, while his nephew marched by land at the head of 3000 horse. The king established his camp on the right or Arabian side of the river, opposite to the encampment of the lord of Jazirat, who was, posted on the island with 12,000 men. By order of the king of Basrah, Sousa wrote to the lord of Jazirat, saying that he was sent by the Portuguese commander of Ormuz, either to make peace between the contending parties on reasonable terms, or in case of refusal to take part with the king of Basrah. The king of Jazirat made answer, that as this was the first request of the captain of Ormuz, and as Sousa was the first Portuguese who had come into these parts, he agreed to comply with the terms demanded, which were merely the restoration of certain forts belonging to the king of Basrah which he had taken possession of. Persons were accordingly appointed on both sides to treat for an accommodation, which was satisfactorily concluded. But the king of Basrah now refused to perform what he had promised to Sousa for his aid; which was to deliver up the seven Turkish vessels, and not to admit any more of that nation into his dominions, because enemies of the Portuguese. Enraged at this breach of compact Sousa after embarking with his men, took one of the large barks belonging to Basrah, after which he landed with thirty-six of his men and burnt a town of 300 houses on the Arabian side of the river, and a smaller one on the Persian side.

[Footnote 179: In Astley, I. 80, this person is named Reis or Raez Ashraf, Wazir or Visier of Ormuz. The strange title in the text, great guazil, is probably a translation of Alguazil mayor, giving a Portuguese or rather a Spanish denomination to an Arab officer.--E.]

[Footnote 180: On a former occasion, the Xerephine was stated as equal in value to 3s. 9d. Hence the total revenue of Ormuz was only about L.83,750 yearly: The tribute to Portugal L.11,250; and the fine L.7500. It is true that the value of money was then much greater than now, and these sums for comparison with our present money of account may perhaps be fairly rated at L.837,500, L.112,500 and L.75,000 respectively, or ten times their numerical amount in 1529.--E.]

[Footnote 181: Called Jazirat by the Editor of Astleys Collection.]

In reward to Sousa for his gallantry, Nuno gave him the command in the Persian Gulf, and sent him to Bahrayn at the request of the king of Ormuz, to reduce Reis Barbadim who had revolted. But as Sousa had not a sufficient force for this purpose, Simon de Cuna was sent there with eight vessels and 400 men, besides a native force in the barks of the country. Joining Sousa, the fort of Bahrayn was battered for three days; but powder running short, they had to send to Ormuz for a supply, and in the mean time the Portuguese sickened so fast, owing to the unhealthiness of the climate that above an hundred of them died, and even the Persian soldiers belonging to Ormuz, though accustomed to the climate, were in very little better condition, insomuch that they had to give up the siege and return to Ormuz, where Simon de Sousa died.

In the mean time Nuno de Cuna, leaving Ormuz, arrived at Goa in the latter end of October 1529, where he found four ships just arrived from Lisbon after a prosperous voyage with a reinforcement of 1500 men all in perfect health, not having lost a man by the way except one captain. Nuno made a solemn entry into the city, where he found a powerful fleet of 140 vessels, which had all been provided by the former governor, Lope Vaz de Sampayo. The most considerable of these were six galleons, eight royal gallies, six caravels, and fourteen galliots, all well provided with cannon and military stores; for though Sampayo had usurped the government, he had conducted it better than many of those who had received regular appointments. Finding it necessary to proceed to Cochin, to dispatch the homeward trade, he stopped at Cananor, where Sampayo then was, who came on board and resigned the government with the usual solemnities. Sampayo was inclined to have landed again at Cananor, but Nuno ordered him to go along with him to Cochin, and published a proclamation that all who had been wronged by Sampayo might repair to the new governor, who would do them justice. Sampayo complained of this as a libel against him, as those who had complaints to make needed not to be invited by sound of trumpet. On arriving at Cochin, Nuno ordered Sampayo to be imprisoned and an inventory to be taken of all his effects, all of which were directed to be deposited in safe custody and sent to Lisbon, to be there delivered as the king might direct. On being taken into custody, Sampayo desired the officer to say to Nuno, "I imprisoned others, you imprison me, and there will come one who will imprison you." To this message Nuno answered, "Doubtless I may be imprisoned; but the difference between us will be, that Sampayo deserves it, and I shall not." Neither was Sampayo wrong, as Nuno had certainly been taken into custody in Portugal on his return if he had not died by the way. Sampayo was treated with much and improper severity: the worst ship in the fleet being appointed for him, with only two servants, and barely as much of his own wealth as sufficed for the expence of his voyage.

On his arrival at the Tercera islands an officer was in waiting to put Sampayo in irons, with which he landed at Lisbon and was carried to a dungeon in the castle, in which was confined at the same time Reis Xarafo the visier of Ormuz. After two years confinement, the chief crime alleged against him being his unjust proceedings in regard to Pedro de Mascarenas, the duke of Braganza took pity on the misfortunes of this brave gentleman, and prevailed on the king to give him a hearing in council. Accordingly, the king being seated in council surrounded by the judges, Sampayo was brought before him, having his face covered by a long and thick white beard, and with such tokens of misery which he had endured in almost three years imprisonment, counting from his arrest in India, that even Mascarenas or any other of his enemies might have thought themselves sufficiently revenged. Being put to the bar, after receiving the kings permission, he made a copious and comprehensive speech with an undaunted countenance, in his justification. After enumerating the services of his ancestors and immediate progenitors to the crown, he particularized his own from his early youth to the period of his imprisonment, and commented upon the injuries which had been since done to him. He exposed the malice of his accusers, and justified his own proceedings. By many apt examples of others who had been guilty even of greater crimes than those of which he was accused, and who had been pardoned in consideration of their services, he drew a parallel between himself and these persons, and concluded by throwing himself entirely on the justice and mercy of his majesty; from one or other of which he trusted to receive a discharge, and hoped to have more cause of thankfulness for the future, than he had of complaint till then of the hard usage he had been subjected to.

Having listened to him attentively, the king examined him in regard to each separate article of his impeachment, forty-three in all, to every one of which he gave apt answers. The principal article alleged against him related to Pedro Mascarenas, all the others being such as would never have been thought of except to fill up the measure of accusation. Being carried back to the castle, he sent in his defence in writing, as is usual in such cases. In the end, he was sentenced to forfeit all his allowances as governor; to pay Mascarenas a compensation of 10,000 ducats; and to be banished into Africa. He contrived however to get into Spain, where he disnaturalized himself, as had been done by the famous Magellan; and wrote a letter from Badajos to the king, in which he affirmed that his sentence was unjust, and declared his resolution to try, by changing his country, to better his fortune and restore his honour. In consequence of this he was restored to his country.

We must now return to the affairs of India, where Diego Sylveira reduced the people of Calicut to such straits that the zamorin was constrained to sue to Nuno de Cuna for peace. This was granted on certain terms, part of which the zamorin was willing to accept, but rejected the rest; on which Sylveira reduced the city to extreme distress, by intercepting all provisions. Some relief was received however from Cananor, and Simon de Sousa being driven in his brigantine on shore, was blown up while bravely defending himself against the Moors.

Malek Saca[182] being expelled from Diu, found it expedient for compassing his ends with the king of Cambaya, to employ similar artifices with Nuno de Cuna as had been formerly practised with Hector de Sylveira, by offering to deliver up the city to him. Accordingly he wrote to Nuno, that although he could not now deliver up Diu, he would assist him to reduce it; and as it was convenient that a meeting should take place between the governor and Malek Saca, Nuno sent him a safe conduct, and ships to transport him and his retinue, commanded by Gaspar Paez, who had formerly been known to Malek Saca at Diu. On this occasion Malek Saca granted every condition required, not meaning to perform any, and made use of this sham alliance to get himself restored to the favour of the king of Cambaya, putting off Paez with various artifices, under pretence that the safe conduct was not securely expressed, and that there were too few ships. In revenge of this deceit, Paez was only able to burn nine small barks belonging to Malek Saca. Being much enraged at the duplicity of Malek, Nuno began to make preparations for the reduction of Diu. In the mean time, he visited and conciliated the rajah of Cochin, who had been much displeased with the conduct of Lope Vaz Sampayo and Alfonso Mexia. He went next to Goa, whence he visited the king at Chale, and satisfied him in all things. About the middle of February 1530 he came to Cananor, the king of which place he gratified by conforming to the ceremonials of his court; and being offered a present of jewels, he accepted them lest he should affront that prince, but delivered them over to the officers of the revenue, as belonging to the king of Portugal.

[Footnote 182: He is stated on a former occasion to have been the son of Malek Azz.--E.]

At this time a rich merchant of Mangalore did great injury to the Portuguese, as he favoured the zamorin of Calicut though living in the dominions of the king of Narsinga who was in friendship with the Portuguese. Diego de Sylveira was ordered to punish that man, and went accordingly against him with a force of 450 men and sixteen vessels. He accordingly entered the river of Mangalore, where he was opposed by a great number of ships belonging to the Moorish merchant, which were put to flight after a short contest. Sylveira then landed with 240 men and entered the town without opposition, after which he took the fort whence the merchant endeavoured to escape, but was slain by a musquet-ball. A vast booty fell into the hands of the Portuguese, but Sylveira ordered it all to be burnt, lest he might endanger his ships by overloading them. As winter was coming on Sylveira dismissed half of his fleet, yet afterwards had occasion for them all, as he soon after encountered Pati Marcar, a commander belonging to Calicut, who was going to Mangalore with sixty paraos. The weather prevented him from fighting at that time; but Sylveira waited the return of the Calicut fleet, to which he gave battle off Mount Dely, and sank six paraos, after which he returned to Cochin. In the same year 1530, Antonio de Sylveira commanded on the coast of Cambaya with fifty-one sail of vessels, three of which were gallies and two galliots, in which were 900 Portuguese soldiers. With this force he went up the river Taptee where he burnt Surat and Reyner, the chiefest towns in that part of India. Surat on one side of the river contained 10,000 families, mostly Banians[183] and handicrafts of no courage; while Reyner on the other side of the river had six thousand houses inhabited by a warlike race, and was well fortified. On sounding, the river was found too shallow for the larger vessels, which were left off the bar under the command of Francisco de Vasconcelles; while with the smaller, Sylveira went up the river about four miles to Surat. He there found 300 horse and nearly 10,000 foot drawn up to oppose his landing, all well armed with bows and firelocks; but after one discharge this vast multitude fled in dismay without waiting an attack. The city of Surat was then entered without farther resistance, and being plundered of every thing worth carrying off was set on fire with some ships that were in its arsenal. The city of Reyner stood a little higher up on the other side, and was inhabited by the Nayteas Moors, a race of more courage and policy than the Banians; yet they fled almost at the first fire, leaving all their property to the Portuguese, who had all been enriched if they had been able to carry away the whole plunder. Having removed all that their ships could carry, the town was set on fire, together with twenty ships and many small vessels. In both actions Emanuel de Sousa was conspicuously valiant, being the first to land with much danger, especially in the latter, where he was opposed by a numerous artillery. On returning to the mouth of the river, Sylveira found, that Vasconcelles had taken six vessels bound with provisions for Diu. After this, Antonio de Sylveira destroyed the towns of Daman and Agazem on the coast, at the latter of which places 300 vessels belonging to the enemy were burnt.

[Footnote 183: Called Bancanes in the text of De Faria; perhaps an error of the press for Banianes or Banzanes.--E.]

On the 21st of January 1530, Hector de Sylveira sailed from Goa for the Red Sea with ten ships and 600 men. Spreading his fleet across the mouth of that sea, that no enemy might escape, several rich ships were captured. Appearing afterwards before Aden, Hector induced the sheikh of that place to submit to the crown of Portugal, and to an yearly tribute of 12,000 Xerephines. The sheikh of Zael, who had only a short time before accompanied Mustapha, a Turkish captain, with 20,000 men to make war upon Aden, submitted to similar terms.

Having completed his preparations for the expedition against Diu, Nuno de Cuna sailed early in the year 1531 with a great fleet and army for that place. In a general review at the Island of Bombay, the fleet consisted of above 400 sail of all kinds of vessels, many of which were large, more indifferent, and most of them small; some being only sutlers, fitted out by the natives for private gain. On board this fleet were 3600 soldiers and 1450 seamen all Portuguese, besides above 2000 Canara and Malabar soldiers, 8000 slaves, and about 5000 native seamen. Landing at Daman, a fort belonging to the king of Cairibaya, which was immediately evacuated by the Moors, advice was brought that the Arabs, Turks, and others, to the number of 2000 men, had fortified themselves in the Island of Beth, seven leagues from Diu. This place was so strong by art and nature, environed with rocks and fortifications, that Nuno gave no credit to the accounts respecting it till convinced by inspection. Coming before Beth on the 7th of February, he summoned the garrison to surrender; but many of them shaved their heads, as devoting themselves to death or victory, which they call making themselves amoucos[184]. The commandant of the barbarians gave a brutal example of determined and savage resolution, by throwing his wife, son, and goods into a fire made on purpose, in which they were all consumed; that if the Portuguese succeeded in the enterprise, they might only gain a heap of ashes. His example was followed by others. Being resolved to carry this place, Nuno made dispositions for an assault, dividing his force into six bodies, which were ordered to attack in six different places at the same time. After a desperate conflict the place was taken, in which 1800 of the enemy were slain, and sixty cannons taken.

[Footnote 184: Corruptly called by the British in India running a muck.--E.]

Departing from Beth, Nuno appeared with his powerful armament before Diu. This city is built upon rocks, and is entirely encompassed by rocks and water. The entrance into the river or haven was shut up by massy chains suspended upon vessels, behind which eighty vessels were drawn up full of archers and musqueteers to defend the passage. The garrison consisted of 10,000 men, with a prodigious number of cannon. On the 16th of February, the signal was given for the attack, but after fighting the whole day without gaining any advantage, and having suffered some loss, it was determined in a council of war to desist from the enterprise as. impracticable. It was agreed by all, that if so much time had not been fruitlessly employed in the capture of Beth, Diu must have fallen; as it had been reinforced only three, days before the arrival of the Portuguese by a Turk named Mustapha, who was the principal cause of its brave and effectual resistance. Nuno returned with the principal part of his fleet and army to Goa, where he arrived on the 15th of March, leaving Antonio de Saldanna with 60 vessels in the Bay of Cambaya to annoy the enemy.

After the departure of the Portuguese fleet, Mustapha presented himself before Badur king of Cambaya, who received him honourably, giving him the command of Baroach in the Bay of Cambaya, with the title of Rumi-khan. He was called Kami, as having been born in Greece; as the Moors of India, being ignorant of the divisions of the European provinces, call the whole of Thrace, Greece, Sclavonia, and the adjacent countries by the general name of Rum, and the inhabitants Rumi though that term ought only to be applied to Thrace, the modern Romania. The Turks and Rumes are different nations; the former being originally from Turkistan, and the natives of Greece and Thrace consider themselves as of more honourable descent than the Turks[185]. The tide of Khan now bestowed on Mustapha is a dignity among the Tartars equivalent to that of Duke in Europe, and is bestowed in the east on persons of distinguished merit.

[Footnote 185: On a former occasion, the name of Kami has been mentioned as universally given in India to the Turks as coming in place of the Romans. DeFaria therefore was mistaken in deriving it from the province of Romania or Thrace.--E.]

Antonio de Saldanna, who was left in command of the sea of Cambaya, with 60 vessels and 1500 men, took and burnt the town of Madrefavat,[186] five leagues from Diu towards Beth. He then went against Gogo, twenty-four leagues farther, formerly a strong and populous place of great trade. There were fifteen of the largest paraos belonging to Calicut at that time in the port laden with spice, which took shelter in a creek, and were followed by Saldanna with 800 men in the smaller vessels. Finding it necessary to land, he was opposed by 300 horse and 800 foot that came to defend the Makbars; but after a sharp encounter, in which 200 of the enemy were slain, they were constrained to abandon the vessels, which were all burnt; after which Saldanna destroyed the town of Gogo and eight ships that were in the port He afterwards destroyed the towns of Belsa, Tarapor, Mail, Kelme, and Agasim, and lastly Surat, which was beginning to revive from its former destruction. Having thus ravaged the coast of Cambaya, he returned to Goa. About this time a brother of the king of Cambaya, who was rightful heir to that crown, came into the hands of Nuno; who expected through his means to obtain what had been so long desired, the possession of Diu, and the command of the trade of Cambaya.

[Footnote 185: On a former occasion, the name of Kami has been mentioned as universally given in India to the Turks as coming in place of the Romans. DeFaria therefore was mistaken in deriving it from the province of Romania or Thrace.--E.]

[Footnote 186: Perhaps that now called Jaffrabad.--E.]

About this time the Portuguese cruisers had taken twenty-seven ships belonging to the zamorin, all richly laden. Being perplexed by the great losses he was continually sustaining through the Portuguese superiority at sea, the sovereign of Calicut made overtures towards an accommodation; and in a treaty of peace gave permission to the governor-general to build a fort in the island of Chale, in a river that falls into the sea about three leagues from Calicut, which is navigable by boats all the way to the foot of the Gaut mountains. Urinama, a heathen, was at this time rajah of Chale, and both he and the neighbouring rajah of Tanore, who were subjects to the zamorin, were anxious to throw off their subjection to that prince, and to enter into alliance with the Portuguese, in hopes of becoming rich by participating in their trade. Immediately upon procuring the consent of the zamorin to construct the fort, Nuno set out from Goa with 150 sail of vessels, in which were 3000 Portuguese troops and 1000 native Lascarines. So much diligence was used in carrying on the work, even the gentlemen participating in the labour, that in twenty-six days it was in a defensible situation, being surrounded by a rampart nine feet thick and of sufficient height, strengthened by towers and bastions or bulwarks at proper places. Within the fort a church was built, together with a house for the commander, barracks for the soldiers, and store-houses for trade. Diego de Pereira, who had negotiated the treaty with the zamorin, was left in command of this new fortress, with a garrison of 250 men; and Manuel de Sousa had orders to secure its safety by sea, with a squadron of twenty-two vessels. The zamorin soon repented of having allowed this fort to be built in his dominions, and used ineffectual endeavours to induce the rajah of Chale, Caramanlii, and Tanore to break with the Portuguese, even going to war against them, but to no purpose.

About the end of February 1532, Emanuel de Vasconcelles was sent to the Red Sea with two galliots and several brigantines to cruise against the Turks. Off Xael he captured several Turkish vessels, among which, was a large ship, named Cufturca, which was sent to Muscat. The king of Xael, fearful of danger, made his peace with Vasconcelles. Soon afterwards Antonio de Saldanna arrived with ten ships to take the command in the Red Sea, who was dissatisfied with the terms entered into with the sheikh of Xael, on which that prince sent all the valuables belonging to the town, together with the women and children into the interior, that he might provide for defence; but being obliged to quit the Red Sea on account of the weather, Saldanna sailed first to Muscat and thence to Diu, where he took several vessels belonging to the enemy, among which was one in which he got above 60,000 Venetian chequins. About the same time Diego de Sylveira plundered and burnt Puttun, a city twelve leagues from Diu, and destroyed four ships that were in the harbour. He acted in a similar manner at Pate and Mangalore and other places, and returned to Goa with above 4000 slaves and an infinite booty.

All this encouraged Nuno de Cuna to continue hostilities against Diu and the king of Cambaya, in hopes of constraining him to allow of the construction of a fort in that city. Malek Tocam[187], lord of Diu, was then fortifying the city of Basseen, and as that place might prove injurious to the designs of Nuno against Cambaya, he determined to destroy it. For this purpose he fitted out a fleet of 150 vessels, in which he embarked with 3000 Portuguese soldiers and 200 native Canarins. Tocam on hearing of this expedition, left a garrison of 12,000 men in Basseen and retired to Diu. Despising the danger of attacking such superior numbers, Nuno landed his troops and took Basseen by assault, in which action 600 of the enemy were slain, and only eight or nine on the side of the Portuguese. Having ravaged the surrounding country and razed the fortifications of Basseen, Emanuel de Albuquerque was sent with twelve vessels and 300 men to destroy the fort of Daman, which he was unable to accomplish. He burnt however all the towns upon the coast from Basseen to Tarapor, and reduced Tanua, Bandora, Maii, and Bombay to become tributary. About this time orders were sent from Portugal that all the commanders of forts in India should make oath of obedience to the governor-general, whence it appears that till then they were in a great measure independent.

[Footnote 187: The lord of Diu only a little before was named Malek Saca; but De Faria gives no intimation of any revolution, except by change of name. Yet from the sequel it is evident this person was the son of Malek Azz.--E.]

About this time Malek Tocam, lord of Diu, desired Nuno to send a proper person to him with whom he might treat of an important affair, he being at that time apprehensive that the king of Cambaya meant to deprive him of his government. Vasco de Cuna was accordingly sent on this embassy, with instructions to procure the surrender of Diu, but was unsuccessful. At the same time Tristan de Ga pressed the king of Cambaya to allow of building a fort at Diu, and Badur expressed a desire of conferring with the governor-general on the subject, though his real design was to kill him rather than grant permission to build a fort. Nuno went accordingly to Diu with a fleet of 100 sail and 2000 Portuguese troops; but the king who was then at Diu delayed the interview on various pretences, and desired Nuno to send some of his principal captains to wait upon him. They went accordingly richly dressed and were splendidly received. While in discourse with the king, Emanuel de Macedo took the liberty, yet in a respectful manner, to say "That he wondered much his majesty should deprive Malek Tocam of the government of the city, who had not only served him faithfully, but was the son of one who had performed many signal services and had long enjoyed his favour, and that he should bestow the command on Mustapha Rumi Khan, whose principal merit was disloyalty to the Grand Turk, his natural prince." He added, that if Mustapha denied this, he challenged him to combat, either hand to hand, or in any other manner he might think fit. Rumi Khan was present, but made no answer, till the king looking angrily at him, he said his silence proceeded from contempt. Macedo repeated the challenge, and the Turk, no longer able to shun it with a good grace, agreed to fight him at sea. But this challenge took no effect, as the parties could not agree upon the terms of combat. Being unable to come to any agreement with the king of Cambaya, Nuno de Cuna entered into a league with Humayun[188] padishah, or emperor of the Moguls, and returned to Goa, dispatching several of his captains with squadrons to different places.

[Footnote 188: In De Faria called Omaum Patxath, king of the Moguls.--E.]

At this time, Cunale Marcar, a bold pirate, scoured the seas about Calicut with eight vessels well equipped and full of men. One night off Cape Comorin he surprised a Portuguese brigantine at anchor, in which were twenty-one Portuguese, all so fast asleep that they were bound before they waked. He caused their heads to be bruised to pieces, to punish them for daring to sleep while he was at sea, a merry cruelty. From thence Cunale went to Negapatnam on the coast of Coromandel, where there were forty Portuguese, who defended themselves to no purpose, as the degar or governor of that place agreed with Cunale to rob them. Khojah Marcar, though a relation of Cunale, used his endeavours to deliver the Portuguese from this danger, by instilling mutual jealousy into the Degar and Cunale, who however took some Portuguese vessels then in the river at Negapatnam, and shot eight of their men. Antonio de Silva was sent against him from Cochin with 200 musqueteers in fifteen small vessels, on which Cunale took refuge in a bay on the coast called Canamnera, where he fortified himself. But Antonio forced him to make his escape in the habit of a beggar to Calicut, leaving his vessels and cannon, with which Antonio returned to Cochin.

In 1534 Martin Alfonso de Sousa, Portuguese admiral in India, took the fort of Daman; and Badur king of Cambaya, fearing still greater losses, and finding his trade completely interrupted, made peace with Nuno, on the following conditions. The fort of Basseen with all its dependencies was ceded to the crown of Portugal: All ships bound from the kingdom of Cambaya for the Red Sea, were to come in the first place to Basseen, and to touch there on their return, paying certain duties to the crown of Portugal: No ships belonging to Cambaya were to trade to any other parts without licence from the Portuguese government: No ships of war were to be built in any of the ports belonging to Cambaya: The king of Cambaya was on no account to give any assistance to the Rumes or Turks. There were other articles in favour of the king of Cambaya, to render the harshness of these more palatable; and even these were afterwards moderated when he gave permission for building a fort at Diu.

The kingdom of Guzerat, commonly called Cambaya from the name of its metropolis, extends from Cape Jaquet or Jigat in the west, to the river Nagotana near Chaul, within which limits there is a large and deep bay or gulf having the same name with the capital, in which bay the sea ebbs and flows with wonderful rapidity, insomuch that any ship that is caught in this tremendous bore certainly perishes. To avoid this danger, there is always a man stationed on an eminence, who gives notice with a horn when he sees the approach of this torrent. The distance between Cape Jigat and the river of Nagotana is above 200 leagues. On the west Guzerat borders on the Resbuti or Rajputs, a people dwelling in a mountainous country.[189] On the north it joins with the kingdom of Chitor[190]: On the east with that of Pale.[191] The coast is covered by numerous towns and cities. It is watered by two famous rivers, the Taptii and Tapei[192] by many creeks that form several islands. Guzerat is all plain, so that they generally travel in waggons, as in Flanders, but lighter made, which are easily drawn by oxen, smaller than those of Spain. The country breeds cattle in great abundance, and plenty of provisions of all sorts. The natives are of four different kinds. The first called Baneanes Baganzariis, feed after our manner: The second called simply Baneanes[193], who eat of nothing that hath life. Their priests are called Vertias, who are clothed in white, and never change their apparel till it falls in pieces. These live altogether on charity; and, like the children of Israel in the desert, they never keep any thing for the next day. They place their greatest hope of salvation in abstaining from killing any creature whatever, and even use no light at night, lest any moth should fly into the flame; and always carry a broom to sweep the ground they tread on, that they may not trample any worm or insect to death. The third race consists of the Resbuti or Rajputs, who are good soldiers, and to whom formerly the kingdom belonged. These people acknowledge one God in three persons, and worship the blessed Virgin, a doctrine which they have preserved ever since the time of the apostles[194]. The fourth and last class of inhabitants are the Mahometans called Lauteas, consisting both of strangers who have conquered the country, and natives who have embraced that religion. The inhabitants of Guzerat are very ingenious mechanics in works of silk, gold, ivory, mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, crystal, ebony, and other articles. They follow the rules of Pythagoras, killing no creature; but rather buy all, though even venomous, from those who take them, on purpose to set them free. They have even a set of men whose only employment is to go about the towns and fields looking out for sick beasts, which are tended with great care in hospitals built on purpose. Yet in spite of all this charity to the brute creation, they are devoid of human kindness, and will not reach out their hand to help a fellow creature in the utmost need.

[Footnote 189: These mountains are in the middle of Guzerat, which they pervade in a range of considerable length from N.E. to S.W.--E.]

[Footnote 190: More properly Agimere, in which is the town or city of Cheitore, whence the name in the text.--E.]

[Footnote 191: Malwa, one of the kingdoms or Soubahs of Hindostan is to the east of Guzerat. The meaning of the name in the text is not obvious.--E.]

[Footnote 192: The Taptee is evidently one of these, but it is hard to say what river is meant by the other. Next to the Taptee on the north, the great river Nerbuddah flows into the Gulf of Cambay, dividing the two great Subahs of Malwa and Candeish. The Mahie divides Guzerat from Malwa; and the Mehindry and Puddar pervade Guzerat; which is bounded on the west by the Cagger, dividing it from the great sandy desert of Sinde or Jesselmere, and from Cutch.--E.]

[Footnote 193: Banians: It would much exceed the bounds of a note to enter upon any explanation here of the Hindoo casts, which will be fully illustrated in the sequel of this work.--E.]

[Footnote 194: It is most wonderful, that in the grossest, most ridiculous, and most obscene of all idolatrous polytheism, the Portuguese should have fancied any resemblance to the pure religion of Christ! even under its idolatrous debasement of image worship, and the invocation of legions of saints. The monstrous superstitions of the bramins will be discussed in a future division of this work.--E.]

In the year of God 1292, or according to the Mahometan account the 700, a pagan king named Galacarna ruled in peace in Guzerat; but involved the country in war to deprive his brother of the kingdom of hampanel or Champaneer which had been left him by their father. Galacarna employed two generals in this war, one of whom named Madana had to wife one of the most beautiful women of the country, of the race of Padaminii, who, besides their beauty, are said to have so sweet a scent from their skin that they are esteemed beyond all other women. It is said there are scarcely any of these women in Guzerat, but many in Orissa. There is no mischief without a woman even with an ill savour, how much more then for one of a good scent! King Galacarna fell in love with the wife of Madana, and used every means to gain her but to no purpose. But she being chaste, which was doubtless the sweet smell, gave notice to her husband and brother of the dishonourable conduct of the king; on which they called in Shah Nasr Oddin king of Delhi, who invaded the kingdom of Guzerat and slew Galacarna in battle; after which he left his general Habed Shah to reduce the kingdom to subjection, having in the first place rewarded the two brothers for their services, and made the kings of Mandou and Cheitore tributary[195]. Shah Nasr Oddin was soon afterwards killed by his nephew, and the kingdom of Delhi was so much weakened by civil war, that Habed-shah revolted and set himself up as king of Guzerat.

[Footnote 195: Probably Malwa and Agimere are here meant.--E.]

In 1330, Hamet a Mahometan Tartar, who resided in the city of Cambay, by the assistance of a number of Arabs, Persians, and Rumes or Turks, usurped a great part of Guzerat, then possessed by Deosing-rao. Ali Khan succeeded Hamet, and left forty sons, three of whom became kings. The eldest Peru-shah succeeded in the kingdom of Guzerat. The second Azeide-khan got the kingdom of Mandou or Malwa by his wife; and the third named Ali-khan acquired the kingdom of Agimere in the same manner. Peru-shah followed the example of his father and grandfather in securing his kingdom against foreign enemies, and built the city of Diu in memory of a victory over a Chinese fleet. Sultan Mahomet his son succeeded, and reigned at the time when Vasco de Gama discovered India. He left the kingdom to his son Modafer, as most worthy; but in consequence of a civil war, Modafer was slain, and his youngest brother Mahomet Khan was raised to the throne. An elder brother Latisa Khan aspired to the kingdom, but without success; and after a succession of civil wars it fell to Badur, or Behauder Khan, who was king of Guzerat at this period. The former king Modafer divided the possessions belonging to Malek Azz who was lord of Diu among his three sons, which destination gave great displeasure to his own sons who coveted these territories. But Badur was chiefly dissatisfied, and even poisoned his father Modafer Khan. After this parricide, he fled to the king of Chitore, where he killed a person even in the presence of the king at an entertainment, and fled to Delhi. He there professed himself a Calendar or religious person, to shun the punishment due to his crimes. These Calendars go about loaded with iron chains and live abstemiously; yet with all their outward shew of religious austerity, they practice all manner of lewdness and wickedness in secret. They enter into no town, but blow a horn on the out-skirts, that people may bring them alms. Sometimes they go about in bands of two thousand or more, laying the country under contributions.

After remaining some time among the Calendars, Badur got notice of the distractions prevailing in Guzerat, and went there with his chains in search of the crown, and acquired the favour of the people so strongly by his pretended religious austerity, that he was proclaimed king. To secure his ill-gotten power, he caused Madrem-al-Mulk to be flayed alive for having raised his youngest brother Latisa Khan to the throne, and put to death all his brothers. Being desirous to take off Malek Saca lord of Diu, Saca fled, and was succeeded by his brother Malek Tocam. In the year 1527, one Stephen Diaz Brigas, a Portuguese who had fled his country for some crime, came to India as captain of a French ship with forty Frenchmen, and putting into Diu was there made prisoner with all his men, who were cruelly put to death by order of Badur.

While at Champaneer in 1527, ambassadors came from Baber, padishah or emperor of Delhi, demanding homage and tribute for Guzerat, as part of his dominions. At first Badur was disposed to have slain these unwelcome messengers; but he dismissed them, saying that he would carry the answer in person. He accordingly drew together an army of 100,000 men and 400 elephants, with a great train of artillery. But he was prevented from carrying his designs into execution, in consequence of a great town called Doitabad being taken by Nizam-al-Mulk; and though he recovered it, he met with great loss of men, chiefly by the weather, it being winter, some of his men being slain by a shower of stones as large as oranges[196]. Certain men came to Badur, from the kingdom of the Colii[197], who demanded tribute; but he flayed them alive. In 1529, Badur marched with 70,000 horse and 200,000 foot into the dominions of Nizam-al-Mulk, where he did much damage. In the same year Baber padishah of the Moguls of Delhi, marched with an army for the reduction of Guzerat; but met with so much loss in a battle with the king of Cheitore in Agimere that he was forced to retire to Delhi.

[Footnote 196: The story in the text is difficultly intelligible. I am apt to believe that the great army belonged to Baber, the Great Mogul, designed for the reduction of Guzerat, but turned aside for the recovery of Dowlatabad in the Deccan, and that the shower of stones of the text is to be understood of hail.--E.]

[Footnote 197: Who these were does not appear.--E.]

Badur invaded the kingdom of Mandou[198], and killed the king by treachery. He then imprisoned all the kings sons, and distributed the wives and daughters of the deceased king among his officers. Salahedin, one of the principal officers of that kingdom fled to Raosinga, a place almost impregnable by nature and art, but was inveigled into the power of Badur and forced to turn Mahometan. Badur then besieged the mountain fort of Raosinga, and commanded the women belonging to Salahedin to come out; but they sent word that they would not do so unless along with Salahedin, who was accordingly sent into the fort for that purpose. His women, about 500 in number, exclaimed against his becoming a Mahometan, saying they would rather be all burnt alive than delivered to the enemy. Whereupon Salahedin, with 120 men who guarded his zenana, slew them all upon a pile of wood, where they were burnt with all his riches. After this Badur went against Chitore with an army of 100,000 horse, an innumerable infantry, and 600 cannon, and besieged Chitore for two months, at the end of which it surrendered. By this conquest Badur was in possession of three considerable kingdoms.

[Footnote 198: Probably Malwa.--E.]

At this time Tristan de Ga, as formerly mentioned, was at the court of Badur on an embassy from Nuno de Cuna to treat of peace, but which negociation was delayed by sundry accidents, and in particular by the death of the Great Mogul, of whom Badur was in great fear. Through covetousness Badur discontinued the pay of many of those leaders who had served him with great fidelity in his late conquests, on which account 4000 men of note deserted from him to the Mogul. One of his officers named Mujate Khan endeavoured to convince him of the dangerous effects this conduct might have upon his affairs; in reward for which Badur sent him on some frivolous pretence to Diu, and at the same time sent secret orders to Melek Tocam to put him to death; but Tocam disdained to execute the tyrannical order, and advised the faithful Mujate Khan to save himself by flight. Instead of following this advice, Mujate returned to Badur and prostrated himself at his feet, delivering up his scymeter with these words, "If I have deserved death from you, I here present you the traitor and the instrument of his punishment. Kill me, therefore, that I may have the honour of dying by your hand: Yet the faithful services of my grandfather, father, and self, have merited a better reward." Badur, struck with his fidelity and attachment, received him again to favour; but turned his rage against Melek Tocam for revealing the secret orders with which he had been entrusted, and sent Mustapha Rume Khan to Diu to put him to death. Malek Tocam got notice of this at a country house in which he occasionally resided, whence he fled from Rume Khan. After this Badur came to Diu which he reduced, having arrived there at the same time with Nuno de Cuna, when the interview between the governor and him was proposed; but which Badur only intended as a feint to ward off the danger which he apprehended from the padishah of the Moguls; meaning, if he could patch up an agreement with that sovereign, to break with the Portuguese. But the Mogul recalled his ambassadors and commenced war upon Bader, of which hereafter.

Those whom we name Moguls call themselves Zagetai, in the same manner as the Spaniards call themselves Goths. Zagetai is the name of the province which they inhabited in Great Tartary near Turkestan, and the nobles do not permit themselves to be called Moguls. According to the Persians, the Moguls are descended of Magog the grandson of Noah, from whom they received the worship of the one only God. Wandering through many provinces, this nation established themselves in Mogalia or Mongolia, otherwise Mogostan, called Paropamissus by Ptolemy. At this time they extend farther, and border upon the kingdom of Horacam or Chorassan, called Aria, or Here by that ancient geographer. From the extreme north, the Moguls extend to the river Geum or Jihon, which runs through Bohara or Bucharia, the ancient Bactria, so named from its capital, the celebrated seat of learning from the time of Zoroaster, and where Avicenna acquired the knowledge which made him so famous. Bucharia, or Bactria borders upon Quiximir or Cashmire and Mount Caucasus, which divides India from the provinces of Tartary in the north. This kingdom of the Moguls now reaches to the mountainous regions of Parveti and Bagous which they call Angou [199]. As in this dominion there ace great mountains, so there are likewise very large and fruitful plains, watered by five rivers which compose the Indus. These are the Bet, Satinague, Chanao, Rave, and Rea[200]. The cities of this country are numerous and, the men courageous.

[Footnote 199: De Faria becomes here unintelligible, unless he here means the range of mountains which bound Hindostan, particularly on the north-west, including Cashmir and Cabul; which seems probable as immediately followed in the text by the Punjab, or country on the five rivers composing the Indus.--E.]

[Footnote 200: These rivers are so strangely perverted in their orthography as hardly to be recognisable, and some of them not at all. The true Punjab or five rivers is entirely on the east of the Indus, Sinde or Nilab. Its five rivers are the Behut or Hydaspes, Chunab or Acesinas, Rauvee or Hydraotes, Setlege or Hesudrus, and a tributary stream of the last named the Hyphasis by the ancients. These two last are the Beyah and Setlege of the moderns. The Kameh and Comul run into the Indus to the west of the Punjab--E.]

The Moguls are of the Mahometan religion, using the Turkish and Persian languages. They are of fair complexions, and well made, but have, small eyes like the Tartars and Chinese. Their nobility wear rich and gay clothes, fashioned like those of the Persians, and have long beards. Their military dress is very costly, their arms being splendidly gilt and highly polished, and they are singularly expert in the use of the bow. In battle they are brave and well disciplined and use artillery. Their padishah is treated with wonderful majesty, seldom making his appearance in public, and has a guard of 2000 horse, which is changed quarterly. Both Moguls and Patans endeavoured to conquer India; but by treachery and the event of war, the Patans and the kingdom of Delhi were reduced by the Moguls at the time when Baber, the great-grandson of the great Tamerlane was their padishah.

At the period to which we have now proceeded in our history of the Portuguese in India, Omaum or Humayun, the son of Baber, was padishah of the Moguls, and declared war against Badur king of Guzerat; who immediately sent an army of 20,000 horse and a vast multitude of foot to ravage the frontiers of the enemy. Ingratitude never escapes unpunished, as was exemplified on this occasion. Crementii queen of Chitore, who had formerly saved the life of Badur, and who in return had deprived her of the kingdom of Chitore, was required by him to send her son with all the men he could raise to assist him in the war against Humayun. The queen required he would restore her other son, whom he kept as an hostage, that she might not be deprived of both, and in the mean time raised all the forces she was able. Not aware of her intentions, Badur sent her son to Chitore, on which she immediately put herself under the protection of Humayun. Badur immediately drew together an army of 100,000 horse, 415,000 foot, 1000 cannon, 600 armed elephants, and 6000 carriages, with which he besieged Chitore, and battered its walls with great fury. While engaged in this siege, he received information that the army he had sent to ravage the country of the Moguls had been defeated with the loss of 20,000 men. He at length got possession of Chitore by policy more than force, after losing 15,000 men during the siege; but the queen made her escape with all her family and wealth. He repaired the fortifications of Chitore, in which he left Minao Husseyn with a garrison of 12,000 men. He then marched to meet the army of the Moguls, which was advancing through Mandou or Malwa in order to relieve Chitore. On learning that Chitore had fallen, and that Badur was intrenched with his army at Dozor, Humayun marched to that place and took up a position with so much judgment that the army of Badur was reduced to extremity for provisions. Being unable to extricate his army from this state of difficulty, Badur fled with all speed to Mandou, or Mundu near the Nerbuddah on the southern frontier of Malwa, accompanied by Mustapha Rumi Khan and a few Portuguese. His prodigious army was utterly destroyed or dispersed, and his camp plundered by the Moguls; he even escaping with difficulty from the pursuit of 10,000 Mogul horse.

Badur fortified himself in Mundu, giving the command of his remaining force to Rumi Khan, who soon deserted to Humayun. The family and wealth of Rumi Khan were at this time in the fortress of Champaneer, and both Badur and Rumi Khan strove which of them should first be able to secure that place, in which Badur had deposited one of his three tres, which only in copper money was worth 30 millions[201], besides pearls, precious stones, and other valuables. Badur got possession of Champaneer, whence he immediately sent all the treasure, and the family of Rumi Khan, under a strong escort to Diu; while he wasted the country and destroyed all the artillery, that it might not fall into the hands of Humayun, and even did the same at Cambaya his own capital. Seeing his women and riches in the hands of Badur, Rumi Khan obtained five hundred horse from his new master, with which he pursued Badur so expeditiously that he entered one of the gates of Cambaya as Badur was going out at the other. Finding himself so closely pursued, Badur left the women and riches by the way, in hopes of stopping the pursuit, which had the desired effect, as Rumi Khan immediately returned with them to Champaneer, and Badur got safe to Diu, leaving his entire kingdom to Humayun.

[Footnote 201: No intimation is given by De Faria of the denomination of money here alluded to.--E.]

In this state of adversity, Badur at length consented to the erection of a fort at Diu by the Portuguese. He had formerly given up Basseen to them, to secure their friendship during his contest with Humayun, and was now in hopes by their assistance to recover his dominions. Still however his pride prompted him to temporize, and he sent an ambassador to request assistance from the Turks to recover his territories. Hearing that Humayun had taken Champaneer he gave himself up to despair and resolved upon going to Mecca, to wait the answer of the grand Turk; but his mother and friends dissuaded him, advising him to allow the Portuguese to erect the fort at Diu, as by their aid his affairs might be restored. He immediately sent notice to that effect to Martin Alfonso de Sousa, then at Chaul, who communicated the event to Nuno de Cuna, and went immediately to Diu at the request of Badur, arriving on the 21st of September 1536. A league offensive and defensive was immediately entered into between Badur and the Portuguese, in which the former treaty was confirmed, except that the emporium of trade was to be transferred from Basseen to Diu: The fort was to be built where and in what manner should be judged best by the governor-general; and in the mean time a bulwark or castle upon the sea, commanding the entrance of the port was to be delivered up. There were many other articles, and among these that the Portuguese were not to meddle with the kings revenues at Diu and other places. The governor general on receiving notice of this treaty, came immediately to Diu, where he was honourably received by Badur.

A Jew and an Armenian were immediately sent off to carry intelligence of this event to Portugal [202]. At this time there was a person named Diego Botello residing at Diu who was in disgrace with the king of Portugal, on account of it being reported that he intended to go over to the French in hopes of high promotion, as he was very conversant in the affairs of India. Knowing how earnestly King Joam had desired the establishment of a fort at Diu, he resolved upon endeavouring to be the first messenger of this news. For this purpose, having procured a copy of the treaty and a draught of the intended fort, he embarked in a small vessel, only sixteen feet and a half long, nine feet broad, and four feet and a half deep, manned by his own slaves, with three Portuguese and two others, giving out that he was going to Cambaya. But when out at sea, he informed his companions that he meant in this frail bark to traverse the prodigious extent of ocean between India and Portugal, and prevailed upon those along with him to concur in his design. Being reduced to unspeakable miseries, the slaves, who were the only mariners on board, entered into a conspiracy to kill him, and even killed one of his servants, but were all slain. Being now without seaman or pilot, he held on his course and arrived at Lisbon to the astonishment of every one. Botello was restored to the royal favour for this wonderful action, but received no other reward, and the bark was immediately destroyed, that it might not be known so small a vessel was capable of performing so great a voyage.

[Footnote 202: Though not so expressed in the text, these messengers were probably sent over land.--E.]

Nuno de Cuna lost no time in erecting the fort at Diu, the command of which was given to Emanuel de Sousa with 900 Portuguese troops, the ramparts being furnished with sixty pieces of great cannon. Badur soon found the benefit of his alliance with the Portuguese, as Nizam-al-Mulk at the instigation of Nuno made peace with and aided him against Humayun; and a Portuguese force under Vasco Perez recovered for him a considerable place towards the Indus named Varivene[203]. Garcia de Sa and Antonio Galvam defended Basseen against the Moguls, who were constrained to retreat from that place; and Mirza Mahmoud, nephew to Badur, recovered many places on the frontiers from the Moguls. Being thus prosperous, solely by the assistance of the Portuguese, 500 of whom served in his army under the command of Martin Alfonso de Sousa, Badur repented of having allowed them to build a fort at Diu, and even began to build a wall or fortification between the fort and the city, under pretence of separating the Portuguese from the natives, to prevent differences by too free communication. But after several strong remonstrances this was desisted from.

[Footnote 203: Perhaps Warwama on the Gulf of Cutch.--E.]

In the year 1537, Badur became still more intent upon removing the Portuguese from Diu, for which purpose he again sent to procure assistance from the Turks, and in the mean time used his utmost endeavours to take the fort and to destroy Nuno de Cuna, whom he invited to Diu with that view. Though apprized of the treacherous designs of Badur, De Cuna omitted to avail himself of an opportunity of securing him while on a visit on board his ship, deferring it to a future opportunity in a proposed conference in the fort. While Badur was going on shore in his katur or barge, Emanuel de Sousa the commandant of the fort of Diu followed him in a barge and went on board the royal katur to give the invitation from the governor-general. At this time another Portuguese barge coming up hastily, Badur became suspicious of some evil intention, and ordered his officers to kill De Sousa. One Diega de Mosquita who had aided Badur in the late war and had acquired a perfect knowledge of the language, understood what was said by Badur, whom he immediately attacked and wounded, but De Sousa was slain by his attendants. Upon this a bloody affray took place between the Portuguese and the attendants on Badur, in which seven of the latter were slain. Several other boats belonging to both parties came up, and Badur attempted to escape in his barge to the city, but was stopped by a cannon-shot which killed three of his rowers; on which he endeavoured to escape by swimming, but being in danger of drowning he called out, discovering who he was. Tristan de Payva reached out an oar for him to take hold of, that he might get on board the boat; but a soldier struck him on the face with a halberd, and then others, till he was slain. His body sunk, and neither it nor the body of De Sousa could afterwards be found for interment.

Most of the citizens of Diu were witness to this scene from the walls, and when the intelligence of the kings death reached the city, the inhabitants began to abandon it in such haste and confusion that many were trampled to death in the throng, being afraid that the Portuguese would plunder them. The governor-general soon restored confidence by a public proclamation, and the inhabitants returned quietly to their houses. He even entered the town unarmed, to reassure the inhabitants and to restrain the avarice of his people, so that no disorder was committed. De Sousa being slain, as before mentioned, De Cuna gave the command of the fortress of Diu to his brother-in-law Antonio de Sylveira Menezes, and his gallant conduct afterwards shewed that he was worthy of the station. The queen-mother had retired to Navanaguer[204], and Nuno sent a message of condolence for the death of her son, endeavouring to demonstrate that it had been occasioned by his own fault; but she refused to receive or listen to the message. The treasure found in the palace of Diu in gold and silver was of small value, not exceeding 200,000 pardaos[205], but the quantity of ammunition was exceedingly great. The number of brass cannon was prodigious, those of iron not being deemed worthy of account. Among the brass ordnance were three basilisks of prodigious size, one of which was sent by De Cuna as a curiosity to Lisbon, which was placed in the castle of St Julian at the mouth of the Tagus, where it is known by the name of the Gun of Diu. Among the papers belonging to Badur and his treasurer Abd' el Cader letters were found from Saf Khan, communicating the progress he had made in his negociations for bringing the Turks upon the Portuguese, and copies of others from the sheikhs of Aden and Xael to the same purpose. Having collected these and other testimonies of the treachery of the late king, Nuno caused Khojah Zofar, a man of great reputation among the citizens both Mahometans and Gentiles, to convene a meeting of the principal people, merchants, and cazis, or teachers of the Mahometan law, to whom these letters and testimonials were produced, in justification of the conduct of the Portuguese, and in proof of the treacherous intentions of the late king. All the Moors and Pagans acknowledged themselves satisfied by these documents, and accordingly gave certificates to that effect in the Arabic and Persian languages, which were signed by Khojah Zofar and all the leading people among the Mahometans and Hindoos, which were communicated to the kings of the Deccan, Narsinga, and Ormuz, and to all the sheikhs along the coast of Arabia as far as Aden.

[Footnote 204: Probably Noanagur on the east side of the Gulf of Cutch.--E.]

[Footnote 205: At 3s. 9d. each, worth L. 37,500 sterling.--E.]

For the greater security and satisfaction of the people, Nuno gave orders that the Mahometans should enjoy the free exercise of their religion, and that the laws and regulations established by Badur for the government of the city and its dependencies should continue to be executed, even continuing all the salaries and pensions granted by the late king. Among these was a Moor of Bengal who, by authentic information was 320 years old[206]. This man had two sons, one ninety and the other only twelve years of age. He appeared to be only about sixty, and it was said that his beard and teeth had fallen and been renewed four or five times. He was rather under the middle size, and neither fat nor lean. He pretended that before he was an hundred years old, while herding cattle on the banks of a river, there appeared a man to him clothed in a gray habit and girt with a cord, having wounds on his hands and feet, who requested to be carried by him across the river on his shoulders; which having done, this person said that as a reward for his charity, he should retain all his faculties till he saw him again. Going accordingly into one of the Portuguese churches in India, this old man exclaimed on seeing the image of St Francis, This is he whom I carried across the river so many years ago.

[Footnote 206: Perhaps an error of the press for 120.--E.]

Mir Mahomet Zaman, a descendant of the ancient kings of Guzerat, on learning the death of Badur, went to condole with the queen-mother at Novanaguer; but she, fearing he came to rob her, refused to see him and even endeavoured to remove to another place. Offended at her suspicions, Mahomet Zaman lay in wait for her with 2000 horse, and robbed her of all her riches, amounting to above two millions of gold. He then raised above 5000 horse, with which he seized Novanaguer, and had himself proclaimed king of Guzerat. He then sent a messenger to Nuno de Cuna, giving an account of the posture of his affairs and of his title to the crown, desiring his assistance, in requital for which he offered to cede to the Portuguese all the coast from Mangalore to Beth[207], including the towns of Daman and Basseen with the royal country house of Novanaguer, and other advantages. Nuno accepted these offers, caused him to be proclaimed king in the mosque of Diu, and urged him to raise forces and disperse the other pretenders. Fearing that this advice was only given to deceive, Zaman procrastinated and took no effectual steps to secure the crown to which he aspired, of which misconduct he soon experienced the evil consequences; as the principal people of Guzerat set Mahomet Khan, a nephew of the deceased Badur on the Musnud, and made preparations to subdue Zaman. As Nuno was under the necessity of leaving Diu early in 1538 to attend to the other affairs of his extensive government, the Guzerat nobles in the interest of Mahomet raised sixty thousand men, with which they marched against Zaman; and having corrupted most of his officers, he was obliged to flee to Delhi, where he was honourably received by the padishah of the Moguls, from whom he received the kingdom of Bengal. The successful party in Guzerat called Antonio de Sylveira who commanded in Diu to account for the death of Badur, and being satisfied on that head proposed a treaty of peace; but as they peremptorily refused to accede to the condition conceded by Zaman, the negociations were broken off.

[Footnote 207: This account if the matter is inexplicable. Mangalore is on the coast of Malabar far to the south of Guzerat, Beth is not to be found in any map of India in these parts, and Novanaguer or Noanagur is at the other extremity of Guzerat on the Gulf of Cutch.--E.]

The most inveterate enemies of the Portuguese in India were the Moors upon the coast between Chaul and Cape Comorin, a space of about 200 leagues, who had flocked thither in great numbers allured by the vast and profitable trade in that part of India. About this time there lived in Cochin a rich and powerful Moor named Pate Marcar, who being irritated against the Portuguese for taking some of his vessels went to reside in Calicut to have an opportunity of being revenged upon them by the assistance of the zamorin, who furnished him with above 50 ships, 2000 men, and 400 pieces of cannon. With these he went to the assistance of Madune Pandar who had revolted against his brother the king of Ceylon who was the ally of the Portuguese. At Coulam Marcar attacked a large Portuguese ship which was loading pepper, but was beat off after killing the captain. In another port farther south he took a ship belonging to the Portuguese and killed all her crew. Beyond Cape Comorin he destroyed a town inhabited by native Christians. On hearing of these depredations, Martin Alfonso went in 19 row-boats from Cochin in pursuit of Marcar, whom he found in a creek where he offered him battle; but as Marcar declined this, and Alfonso did not think his force sufficient to attack him in that situation, he returned to Cochin for a reinforcement. Setting out again with 28 row-boats and 400 men, Alfonso found Marcar careening his vessels at a port or creek beyond Cape Comorin named Beadala, where he gave the Moors a total defeat though they had gathered a force of 7000 men to resist him. Alfonso took 23 barks, 400 cannon, 1500 firelocks, and many prisoners, and set free a considerable number of Portuguese slaves, having lost 30 men in the action, chiefly through the mistake of a signal. After this great victory, Alfonso went over to Columbo in Ceylon, the king of which place was besieged by his rebellious brother Madune Pandar, who at first believed the Portuguese fleet to be that of Marcar coming to his assistance; but hearing of the destruction of his ally, he raised the siege and made peace.

It is proper that we should give some account of the rich and fertile kingdom of Bengal on the bay of that name, which receives the waters of the famous river Ganges by two principal mouths and many subordinate creeks. This river has its source in the mountains of Great Tartary, whence it runs southwards near 600 leagues, dividing India into two parts infra et extra Gangem, or on this side and the other side of the Ganges. On the great eastern mouth of the Ganges stands the city of Chatigam or Chittagong, and on the western mouth the city of Satigam[208]. On the east of the Ganges, which runs through the middle of Bengal, Caor, Camatii, Sirote, Codovascam, Cou, and Tipora were subject to that kingdom, but the two last uniting together had thrown off the yoke. On the west of the river, the country of Cospetir, whose plain is overflowed annually by the Ganges as the land of Egypt by the Nile, had been conquered by the Patans. According to the Pagans, God hath granted to the kingdom of Bengal an infinite multitude of infantry, to Orixa abundance of elephants, to Bisnagar a people well skilled in using the sword and buckler, to Delhi a prodigious number of towns, and to Cou innumerable horses. The kingdom of Bengal, reaching between the latitudes of 22° and 26° 30' N. is well watered and exceedingly fertile, producing abundance of fruit, with sugar and long pepper, great quantities of cotton, which the inhabitants manufacture with much skill, and has great abundance of cattle and poultry. The natives are heathens of a pusillanimous character, yet false and treacherous; for it ally the case that cowardice and treachery go together.

[Footnote 208: It is impossible even to guess what place is meant in the text by Satigam, unless it may have some reference to the river Sagar.--E.]

The king is universal heir to all his subjects. The capital city, named Gowro, on the banks of the Ganges, is three leagues in length. It contains 1,200,000 families, and is well fortified. The streets are long, wide, and straight, with rows of trees to shelter the people from the sun, and are sometimes so thronged with passengers that many are trodden to death.

About fifty years before the discovery of India by the Portuguese, an Arabian merchant who dwelt in Gowro became very rich and powerful, and having defeated the king of Orixa in a great battle grew so much in favour with the king of Bengal that he was made captain of his guards. But, ungrateful to his benefactor, he killed the king and usurped the kingdom, leaving it as an inheritance to the Moors who have since possessed this rich and fertile kingdom. The succession to this kingdom proceeds upon no rule of hereditary descent; but is often acquired by slaves who kill their masters, and whosoever acquires the government, were it only for three days, is looked upon as established by Providence and Divine right. Hence during a period of forty years this kingdom had been ruled by 13 successive princes. At the time when Martin Alfonso Melo de Jusarte was prisoner in Bengal, Mahomet Shah was king and held his court in Gowro with such state that there were 10,000 women in his Zenana, yet was he in continual apprehension of being deposed. Martin and the other Portuguese prisoners did signal service to Mahomet in his wars with the Patans; and Martin and his followers obtained their liberty through the means of one Khojah Sabadim, a rich Moor, who engaged to procure liberty for the Portuguese to build a fort at Chittagong, if Nuno de Cuna would carry him to Ormuz. Nano being eager to acquire an establishment in Bengal, granted all that was asked, and sent Martin Alfonso with 200 men in five vessels to Bengal, and to secure the friendship of the king sent him a magnificent present. Thirteen men who carried the present to Gowro, and thirty others who accompanied Martin Alfonso to an entertainment at Chittagong were made prisoners. On learning this event, Nuno sent Antonio de Silva with 350 men in nine vessels, to treat for the liberation of Martin Alfonso and prisoners, by the assistance of Khojah Sabadim, to whose suggestions the former unfortunate expedition was owing; and to secure the fidelity of Sabadim, a ship belonging to him with a rich cargo was detained in pledge. From Chittagong, Silva sent a messenger to Gowro with a letter and a present; but as the answer was long in coming, Silva judged that the king had detained his messenger along with the rest, on which he rashly destroyed Chittagong and some other places; for which proceeding the king confined the prisoners more rigidly than before. But his necessities obliged him soon after to change his severity into kindness.

Xerchan, or Shir Khan, a general of note among the Moguls, being in disgrace with the padisbah or Great Mogul, fled from Delhi to Bengal accompanied by his brother Hedele Khan, and both of them rose to eminent rank in the service of Mahomet. Being now at the head of a large army, Shir Khan resolved to avenge upon Mahomet the murder of the former infant king of Bengal; for which purpose he revolted with his army to Humayun the Mogul padishah, and turned his arms against Mahomet. In his distress, Mahomet consulted with Martin Alfonso how best to oppose the arms of Shir Khan. By his advice, some vessels commanded by Portuguese were stationed in the Ganges at a pass near the fort of Gori where the Ganges enters Bengal. These effectually barred the passage of Shir Khan in that direction; but having discovered another ford, he advanced to Gowro, which he invested with 40,000 horse, 200,000 foot, and 1500 elephants. Shir Khan likewise brought a fleet of 300 boats down the river, to a place where Mahomet had 800 boats to oppose the enemy. At this place Duarte de Brito did signal service in the sight of King Mahomet, and among other things, accompanied by eight other Portuguese, he took an elephant that was swimming across the river. The city of Gowro being reduced to distress by the besiegers, Mahomet bought a peace, and Shir Khan drew off with his army. Being now as he thought in safety, Mahomet allowed Martin Alfonso to depart with the other Portuguese, only retaining five as hostages for the assistance he had been promised by Nuno.

Shir Khan returned soon afterwards to Gowro, which he took by assault, obliging the king, who was wounded in the assault, to abandon the city. Mahomet died of his wounds on his way to ask assistance from Humayun. Shir Khan drew off from Gowro, where he acquired treasure to the amount of 60 millions in gold. Humayun brought the dead body of King Mahomet to Gowro, where he appointed his own brother-in-law Mir Mahomet Zaman to the vacant kingdom, who had been lately driven from Guzerat. But on the return of Humayun towards Delhi, Shir Khan returned to Gowro and drove out Mahomet Zaman. Humayun then marched against Shir Khan with 100,000 horse and 150,000 foot, with above 200,000 followers. The two armies met on the banks of the Ganges near the city of Kanoje when Shir Khan gained so complete a victory that Humayun made his escape with only 25 attendants, and never stopt till he arrived at Lahore. Shir Khan treated the women belonging to Humaynn with great respect, and restored them to the padishah. Finding himself too weak for the conquest of Bengal, Humayun determined upon endeavouring to reduce Guzerat; but abandoned in his distress by his own Omrahs, he went into Persia, where the Sophi supplied him with an army of 12,000 horse, to which he was enabled to add 10,000 volunteers. With these allies, added to the troops that continued to adhere to him, he invested Candahar, where his brother Astarii Mirza had proclaimed himself king of Mogostan. The city was taken and given up to the Persians. In the mean time Shir Khan made himself formidable in Bengal, having an army of 400,000 horse. He took the city of Calijor belonging to the Rajputs, meaning to plunder a vast treasure contained in the temple at that place; but pointing a cannon to kill an elephant belonging to the temple, the piece burst and killed himself.

The present formerly mentioned, which was sent by the king of Guzerat to the Grand Turk to obtain his assistance, was delivered at Constantinople, where at the same time arrived news of the kings death. But the great value of the present demonstrated the vast riches of India, and made the Turkish emperor desirous of acquiring a footing in that country, whence he thought the Portuguese might be easily expelled, and their possessions reduced under his dominion. In this enterprise he was greatly encouraged by a Portuguese renegado at Constantinople, who asserted that the Turkish power might easily supplant that of the Portuguese in India. For this purpose, the Turkish emperor ordered a fleet to be fitted out at Suez, the command of which was given to the eunuch Solyman Pacha, governor of Cairo. Solyman was a Greek janizary born in the Morea, of an ugly countenance, short of stature, and had so large a belly that he was more like a beast than a man, not being able to rise up without the aid of four men. At this time he was eighty years of age, and he obtained this command more by dint of his wealth than merit, as he offered to be at the entire charge of the expedition. To enable him to perform this, he put many rich men to death and seized their wealth. Among others he strangled Mir Daud, king or bey of the Thebaid, and seized his treasure. It might be said therefore that this fleet was equipped rather by the dead than the living. It consisted of 70 sail, most of them being large gallies, well stored with cannon, ammunition, and provisions; on board of which he embarked 7000 soldiers, part Turkish janizaries and part Mamelukes; besides a great number of choice sailors and galley-slaves, many of the latter being taken from the Venetian gallies then at Alexandria, which were seized in consequence of a war breaking out between the Turks and the republic of Venice.

Solyman, who was both a tyrant and a coward, set out from Suez on the 22d of June 1538, ordering four hundred of the soldiers to assist at the oars, and as they resisted this order as contrary to their privileges, he put two hundred of them to death. At Jiddah he endeavoured to take the sheikh, but knowing his tyrannical character, he escaped into the interior. At Zabid, after receiving a rich present, he put the sheikh to death. He did the same thing at Aden; and arrived at Diu about the beginning of September 1538, losing six of his vessels by the way.

When Badar king of Guzerat was killed, one Khojah Zofar swam on shore and was well received by the Portuguese, being the only one of the kings retinue who was saved on that occasion. For some time he seemed grateful for his safety; but at length fled without any apparent reason to the new king of Guzerat, to whom he offered his services, and even endeavoured to prevail upon him to expel the Portuguese from his dominions, asserting that this might be easily done with the assistance of the Turks. By his instigation, the king of Guzerat raised an army at Champaneer of 5000 horse and 10,000 foot, to which Khojah Zofar added 3000 horse and 4000 foot in his own pay. Getting notice of these preparations, Antonio de Sylveira who commanded in Diu, used every precaution to provide against a long and dangerous siege. Khojah Zofar began the war by attacking the town of the Rumes[209] near Diu. Francisco Pacheco defended himself bravely in a redoubt at the place, with only fourteen Portuguese, till relieved by Sylveira, and Zofar was forced to draw off his troops, being himself wounded. Immediately afterwards Ali Khan, general of the Guzerat army, joined Zofar with all the army, and Sylveira thought proper to evacuate all the posts beyond Diu, that he might be able to maintain the city and fort; but some vessels and guns were lost in the execution of these orders. In consequence of these losses, and because there were many concealed enemies in the city who only waited an opportunity of doing all the evil in their power to the Portuguese, Sylveira deemed it expedient to evacuate the city, giving his sole attention to the defence of the fort. Ali Khan and Zofar immediately took possession of the city, and began to fire upon the fort with their cannon. Lope de Sousa, who guarded the wood and water belonging to the garrison, had several rencounters, in which he slew many of the enemy without any loss on his side, except being himself severely wounded.

[Footnote 209: This must have been some town or village inhabited by Turks.--E.]

Hearing that the Turkish fleet was approaching, Sylveira sent immediate notice of it to Nuno de Cuna, who prepared with great diligence to go in person to relieve Diu. Michael Vaz was sent to sea by Sylveira to look out for the enemy, and falling in with their fleet came so near on purpose to examine their force that several of their shot reached his vessel. He got off however, and carried the news to the governor of Goa. The Turkish fleet came at length to anchor in the port of Diu, where it was formidable not only to the small Portuguese garrison in the fort, but to the Moors even who had long expected their arrival. Next day Solyman landed 600 well armed janizaries, who immediately entered the city and behaved with much insolence. Drawing near the fort, they killed six Portuguese; but 300 musqueteers attacked them from the fort and drove them away with the loss of fifty men. In consequence of a storm, Solyman was obliged to remove his fleet to Madrefavat, as a safer harbour, where he remained twenty days, during which time Sylveira was diligently occupied in strengthening the fortifications of the castle, planting his artillery on the ramparts, and assigning every one his proper post for the ensuing siege. At the same time, the Turks assisted by Zofar commenced operations against the fort, by constructing batteries, and endeavouring to ruin the defences of a bulwark at the entrance of the harbour, which they battered with their cannon. With this view likewise, they built a wooden castle on a large bark, which, they filled with combustibles, meaning to send it against the bulwark to set it on fire. But Francisco de Gouvea, who commanded the small naval force then at Diu, went against this floating castle under night, and contrived to destroy it by fire. At this time likewise some relief was sent to the fort by Nuno de Cuna, and the garrison was much elated by the assurance of his intention of coming speedily in person to raise the siege.

Returning from Madrefavat, Solyman commenced a heavy fire from his ships against the sea bulwark in which Francisco de Gouvea commanded, but was so well answered both from that work and the tower of St Thomas, that one of his gallies was sunk and most of her men drowned. The greatest harm suffered at this time by the Portuguese was from the bursting of some of their own cannon, by which several men were killed. Two brothers only were slain by the fire of the Turks. Zofar now so furiously battered the bulwark in which Pacheco commanded, that it became altogether indefensible, on which seven hundred janizaries assaulted it and set up their colours on its ruined walls; but the Portuguese rallied and dislodged them, killing an hundred and fifty of the enemy. The assault of this bulwark was continued a whole day, and at night the enemy were forced to retreat with much loss. Next day Pacheco deeming it impossible to resist, surrendered upon promise of life and liberty to himself and his men. Solyman did not perform the latter stipulation, but he granted their lives for the present and clothed them in Turkish habits. By one of these prisoners, Solyman sent a summons to Sylveira to surrender, but the proposal was treated with contempt. Solyman now planted his artillery against the fort, having among other cannon nine pieces of vast size which carried balls of ninety pounds weight. His artillery in all exceeded 130 pieces of different sizes, and his batteries were continually guarded by 2000 Turks. This formidable train began to play against the castle on the 4th of October 1538, and continued without cessation for twenty days, doing great injury to the defences of the fort, which could hardly do any injury in return to the besiegers, neither could the garrison repair sufficiently the most dangerous breaches, though they used every possible exertion for that purpose. On the sixth day after the commencement of this violent cannonade, perceiving that the bulwark commanded by Caspar de Sousa was much damaged, the Turks endeavoured to carry it by assault, but were repulsed with much slaughter, two only of the defenders being slain. Every day there were assaults by the besiegers or sallies by the garrison. In one of these Gonzalo Falcam lost his head; and Juan de Fonseca being disabled by a severe wound of his right arm continued to wield his lance with his left as if he had received no hurt. A youth of only nineteen years old, named Joam Gallego, pursued a Moor into the sea and slew him, and afterwards walked back deliberately to the fort through showers of balls and bullets. Many singular acts of valour were performed during this memorable siege.

At length many brave officers and men of the besiegers were slain, powder began to wax short and provisions shorter. The relief expected from Non Garcia Noronha, now come out as viceroy of India, was long in making its appearance. The remaining garrison was much weakened by a swelling in their gums, accompanied by their teeth becoming so loose that they were unable to eat what little food remained in the stores. Yet the brave garrison continued to fight in defence of their post, as if even misery and famine were unable to conquer them. Even the women in the fort exerted themselves like heroines. Donna Isabella de Vega, the wife of Manuel de Vasconcelles, had been urged by her husband to go to her father Francisco Ferram at Goa, lest the fort might be taken and she might fall into the hands of the Turks; but she refused to leave him. During the distress of the garrison, as many of the men were obliged to work in repairing the works, this bold-spirited lady called together all the women who were in the fort, and exhorted them to undertake this labour, as by that means all the men would be enabled to stand to their arms. The women consented to this proposal, and continued for the remainder of the siege to perform this duty. She was even outdone by Ann Fernandez, the wife of a physician, who used to visit the most dangerous posts by night, and even appeared at the assault to encourage the soldiers. Her son happening to be slain in one of the attacks, she immediately drew away his body, and returned to the place of danger, and when the fight ended she went and buried her son.

Perceiving that the Turks were undermining the bulwark which he commanded, Gasper de Sousa made a sally with seventy men to prevent that work and made a great slaughter of the enemy. When retreating he missed two of his men and returned to rescue them; but being surrounded by the enemy they cut the tendons of his hams, after which he fought upon his knees till he was overpowered and slain. The mine was countermined; but the continual labour to which the besieged were subjected became insupportable, and they were utterly unable to repair the many breaches in their works. At this conjuncture, four vessels arrived from the viceroy Don Garcia, and landed only a reinforcement of twenty men. Solyman was much concerned at this relief though small, and was astonished the fort should hold out against so many assaults, more especially as Zofar had assured him he might carry it in two. At the beginning of the siege the garrison consisted of six hundred men, many of whom were slain and several of the cannon belonging to the fort had burst; yet Solyman began to lose confidence, and looked anxiously to the sea, fearful of the Portuguese fleet which he had learnt was coming against him. This induced him to press the siege more vigorously, especially against the sea bulwark where Antonio de Sousa commanded, which was furiously attacked by fifty barks, two of which were sunk by the Portuguese cannon. The Turks made several attempts to scale this bulwark, in all of which they were repulsed with great slaughter, yet returned repeatedly to the charge with similar bad fortune. Sousa sent off his wounded men from the rampart to have their wounds dressed. Among these was a person named Fernando Ponteado, who waiting his turn heard the noise of a fresh assault, and forgetting the dressing ran immediately to his post where he received a fresh wound. Going back to get dressed, a third assault recalled him before the surgeon had time to attend to his wants, and he was a third time wounded, and at length returned to get all his three wounds dressed at once.

By this time, out of the original garrison of 600 men, only 250 remained that were able to stand to their arms. Solyman was almost in despair of success, yet resolved to make a desperate effort to carry the place. In hopes of putting Sylveira off his guard, and to take the place by surprise, he sent twelve of his gallies to sea, as if he meant to raise the siege; but Sylveira was not to be lulled into security, and continued to exert the utmost vigilance to provide against every danger. One night some noise was heard at the foot of the sea-wall of the castle, where it appeared that the enemy were applying great numbers of scaling ladders. Every effort was made to oppose them during the darkness of the night, and when morning broke, the place was seen beset all round by at least 14,000 men. The cannon of the fort was immediately directed against the assailants, and the garrison mounted the walls in every part, but chiefly near the governors house where the defences were weakest, but where Sylveira had placed such people as he could most rely upon. Being repulsed from thence with great slaughter, the enemy made an attempt on an adjoining bulwark, where Gouvea commanded, and poured in prodigious showers of bullets and arrows. Fourteen gallies came up against this bulwark, which they battered with their cannon; but Gouvea obliged them to draw off, having sunk two of the gallies and killed many of their crews. At length 200 Turks forced their way into the bulwark and planted their colours on its rampart. Scarcely thirty Portuguese remained to oppose them, yet they charged the enemy with great fury, who were so thick that every shot told, and they were driven out with much loss. Fresh men succeeded and regained the bulwark, on which they planted four standards. Many Portuguese who were wounded and burnt by the fireworks of the enemy ran and dipped themselves in jars of salt water, where seeking ease they perished in dreadful torment.

Sylveira went continually from place to place, encouraging all to do their duty manfully and supplying reinforcements where most needed. The enemy had much the better in the second assault on the bulwark commanded by Gouvea, on which several gentlemen rushed upon them. At this time, one Joam Rodrigues, a strongman of great bravery, ran forward with a barrel of powder on his shoulder, calling out to clear the way, as he carried his own death and that of many. He threw the barrel among the enemy, which exploded and blew up above an hundred of them, yet Rodriques came off unhurt, and performed other memorable deeds, so that he merited the highest honours and rewards of those that were gained in this siege. By other fireworks the four ensigns who set up the colours were burnt to death, and two others who went to succeed them were slain. Being again driven from the bulwark, the enemy made a third assault: But their commander being slain, who was son-in-law to Khojah Zofar, his men were dismayed and took to flight. These reiterated assaults lasted four hours, during which a small number of exhausted Portuguese had to withstand vast numbers of fresh enemies. At length, having 500 men slain and 1000 wounded, the enemy retired; while on the side of the Portuguese fourteen were killed, and 200 were disabled from wounds. Only forty remained who were able to wield their arms, insomuch that no hope remained of being able to withstand a fresh attack. The walls were shattered and ruined in every part: No powder remained: In fact nothing remained but the invincible courage of Sylveira, who still encouraged the remnant of his brave garrison to persist in their defence. Not knowing the desperate state to which the fort was reduced, and dismayed by the bad success of all his efforts, Solyman raised the siege and set sail with all his fleet on the 5th of November.

When Sylveira saw the Turkish fleet weigh anchor and depart he thought it was merely a feint preparatory for another assault, for which reason he posted the forty men who still remained of his garrison, determined to resist to the last man. He even made some of the wounded men be brought to the walls, on purpose to make a shew of a greater number than he really had. Many even who were so badly wounded as to be unable to rise, made themselves be carried in their beds to the walls, saying that it was best to die in an honourable place. Several even of the women armed themselves and appeared on the walls. The whole night was spent in anxiously waiting for the enemy; but the morning gave comfort to the afflicted garrison, as Solyman was seen in full sail, and had no thoughts of returning. Fear did much on this occasion, yet Zofar did more towards inducing Solyman to go away. Zofar was weary of the insupportable pride of the Turks, and had even received orders from the king of Guzerat, in case it appeared that the Turks meant to keep the city and fort of Diu, rather to endeavour that it might remain in the hands of the Portuguese. Zofar accordingly framed a letter which fell into the hands of Solyman, saying that the viceroy of India would be at Diu next day with a vast fleet; on reading which letter Solyman thought proper to hasten his departure. On the same night, Zofar set fire to the town of Diu and marched away. Thus ended the first siege of Diu, which added new lustre to the Portuguese fame, all due to the invincible courage of the renowned Antonio de Sylveira, and those valiant gentlemen who fought under his command, whose fame will last from generation to generation.

Solyman, on his voyage back to Suez, touched at several ports in Arabia, where he took such Portuguese as happened to be there, to the number of 140, whose heads he cut off, salting their ears and noses to send to the Grand Turk as memorials of his services against the Christians. Among these was Francisco Pacheco, who had not the courage to die in his bulwark, and had surrendered with some men at Diu, as formerly related. On his return to Turkey, Solyman was not well received, and was reduced to the necessity of killing himself, a fit end for such a tyrant.

This famous siege was far advanced when Don Garcia de Noronha arrived as viceroy in India, to whom Nuno de Cuna immediately resigned the government. His arrival with a great reinforcement might well have enabled him immediately to relieve the deplorable situation of Diu, yet on the contrary contributed to augment its danger. For, if he had not come, Nuna had certainly relieved Diu much sooner and prevented so many miseries, and the death of so many brave men, as he had prepared a fleet of eighty sail, and was ready to have gone to Diu when Don Garcia arrived. Still fresh advices were brought of the extremity to which the besieged were reduced, yet still Don Garcia wasted time in considering of proper means for their relief, without putting any into execution, and refusing to take the advice of De Cuna for his proceedings. By these means the siege was raised before he could determine on the mode of relief, for which purpose he had gathered 160 sail of vessels of all sorts and sizes. Don Garcia did not want courage, of which he had given sufficient demonstrations while under Alfonso de Albuquerque: But he chose rather to commit an error through his own obstinacy, than rightly to follow the advice of Nuno de Cuna. It soon appeared indeed, that he was not at all disposed to take any advice from De Cuna, whom he treated so disrespectfully at Goa, that he forced him to retire to Cochin to arrange his affairs previous to his return to Portugal. When at Cochin, he even refused him a convenient ship which he had chosen for his accommodation; although he had authority from the king to continue to act as governor while he remained in India, and liberty to choose any vessel he thought proper, but Don Garcia forced him to hire a merchant vessel for himself and family. If the viceroy treated De Cuna ill in India, no less evil designs were entertained against him in Portugal; and doubtless the knowledge Don Garcia had of the evil intentions of the ministers of state, was the cause of the hard usage he gave him in India. Nuno de Cuna fell sick and died on the voyage. He protested at his death that he had nothing belonging to the king except five gold medals found among the treasure of the late king Badur, which he had selected for their beauty and meant to have presented to the king in person. Being asked by a chaplain what he would have done with his body after his death; he said, that since it had pleased God he was to die at sea, he desired that the sea might be his grave. Nuno de Cuna, who was an excellent governor of India, died at fifty-two years of age. He was of large stature and well proportioned, but wanted an eye. Though of stately manners, he was extremely courteous, not subject to passion, easily reconciled, a strict observer of justice, loved to do good to all around him, free from covetousness, prudent in council, and affable in discourse. He governed for ten years, all but two months, and died in the beginning of the year 1539.

Don Garcia de Noronha assumed the government of India as viceroy in November 1538, having arrived from Lisbon with 3000 soldiers, many of whom were men of note. Although this great armament had been principally intended for opposing the Turks who besieged the castle of Diu, yet the viceroy permitted them to continue their operations before that place, and merely sent hopes of relief to the oppressed garrison. At length however he sent a second reinforcement under Antonio de Menezes in 24 small vessels. Though this armament came late, yet Menezes contended in some measure with the great Sylveira for the honour of having occasioned the retreat of the Turks, as he valued himself much in having witnessed their flight. The viceroy had indeed made ready to sail for Diu with a fleet of 160 sail of vessels of different kinds, having 5000 soldiers and 1000 pieces of cannon, when advice came that the Turks had abandoned the siege. On this intelligence he dismissed all the trading ships from his fleet, still retaining 90 sail, with which he set out for Diu, but proceeded so slowly as if some evil omen had threatened his ruin at that place, since he not only avoided it while environed with danger, but seemed afraid to visit it in peace. Hearing that it was still infested by Lur-Khan and Khojah Zofar, he sent Martin Alfonso de Melo against them with his galley, together with the vessels that had been there before under Antonio de Menezes. Melo was too weak to be able to do any thing against the enemy, and had to seek protection under the guns of the fort.

At length the viceroy sailed for Diu on the first of January 1539; but the fleet was dispersed by a storm to different ports, two gallies and some other vessels being lost. He arrived however at Diu with 50 sail; and having given all due praise to Antonio de Sylveira for his valiant defence, he repaired the fort and confided it to the charge of Diego Lopez de Sousa, who had been nominated to the command by the king. A treaty of peace was set on foot with the king of Guzerat, which was concluded, but very little to the advantage of the Portuguese, which was attributed by common fame to the covetousness of the viceroy.

During this year 1539, the viceroy sent Ferdinand de Morales with a great galleon laden on the kings account to trade at Pegu. Morales was induced by the king of Pegu to assist him against the king of Birmah, who had invaded the kingdom of Pegu with so prodigious a power that the two armies amounted to two millions of men and 10,000 elephants. Morales went in a galliot having the command of the Pegu fleet, and made great havock among the ships of the enemy. The king of Birmah came on by land like a torrent, carrying every thing before him, and his fleet was so numerous that it covered the whole river, though as large as the Ganges. Morales met this vast fleet with that which he commanded, at the point of Ginamarreca; where, though infinitely inferior, he fought a desperate and bloody battle. But overpowered by the multitude of the Birmans, the Peguers deserted Morales, who was left alone in his galliot amid a throng of enemies, against whom he performed wonders and long maintained the battle, doing astonishing execution; but at last oppressed by irresistible multitudes, he and all his followers were slain: Yet the memory of his heroism was long preserved among these people.

The cause of this war and of the revolt of the king of Birmah, who was tributary to Pegu, was as follows. Above 30,000 Birmans laboured in the works of the king of Pegu, as that was one condition of their vassalage. The king of Pegu used often to visit these labourers attended only by his women, who were curious to see the foreigners and the great works that were carrying on. The Birmans seized an opportunity on one of these visits to murder the king, after which they plundered the women of every thing they had of value, and fled to their own country. As many of the subjects of Dacha Rupi, who succeeded to, the kingdom of Pegu, rebelled against him, Para Mandara king of the Birmans seized this favourable opportunity to recover his independence and to enlarge the bounds of his dominions. He accordingly reduced with astonishing rapidity the kingdoms of the Lanjaoes, Laos, Jangomas, and others, who like his own dominions were tributary to Pegu. By these means he possessed himself of the whole ancient kingdom of Ava, which extends to the length of two months of ordinary travelling, and contains 62 cities. To the north-east of this, at the distance of a months journey is the kingdom of the Turks, containing as many cities, which the king of Pegu had conquered from the king of Cathay. The kingdom of Bimir is west from Ava, and is of similar extent, having 27 populous cities. North of this is Lanjam, of equal size, with 38 cities and abounding in gold and silver. On the east is the kingdom of Mamfrom, equally large, but having only 8 cities. East again from this is Cochin-China; on the south is Siam, which was afterwards conquered by the king of Birmah; and east of Siam is the great kingdom of Cambodia. All the inhabitants of these kingdoms are Pagans, and the most superstitious of all the east: Yet they believe in one only God, but in time of need have recourse to many idols, some of which are dedicated to the most secret acts and necessities of nature, even in the very form in which they are acted. They hold the immortality of the soul; are zealous in giving alms, and hold their priests in great veneration. These are very numerous, and live according to rules like those of the Catholics in monasteries, subsisting from day to day upon what is given them, without laying any thing up for the next. These priests and monks eat neither flesh nor fish, as they kill no creature whatever. They observe Lent and Easter after the manner of the Christians; whence some have inferred that they are some remnant of the disciples of St. Thomas, though mixed with many errors. They wear yellow cassocks and cloaks, with hats of oiled paper. The whole natives of these countries are white, and their women very beautiful; but their bodies are all over wrought with blue figures down to the knees made with hot irons. In their manners they are very uncivilized and even brutal.