Volume 2 / Part 2 / Book 1 — CHAPTER VI. (continued 6)

Intelligence of all this was conveyed to Cochin, and that the zamorin proposed to invade that city by the straits of Cambalan. Rodrigo Reynel, who sent this intelligence by letter, lay then very sick and died soon after, on which the zamorin caused all his goods to be seized. On the approach of the zamorin, the Moors of Cochin would very willingly have induced the inhabitants to run away, but durst not venture to do so from the fear they were in of Pacheco. He, on the contrary, that all might know how little he esteemed the zamorin and all his power, made a descent one night on one of the towns of Repelim, to which he set fire. But on the coming up of a great number of armed naires, he was forced to retreat in great danger to his boats, having five of his men wounded, after killing and wounding a great number of the enemy. On their return to Cochin, the targets of our men were all stuck full of arrows, so great was the multitude of the enemies who had assailed them. The rajah came to visit Pacheco at the castle on his return from this enterprize, and expressed his satisfaction at his success, which he considered as a mighty affair, especially as the zamorin and so great an army was in the island. Pacheco made light of the zamorin and all his force, saying that he anxiously wished he would come and give battle, as he was not at all afraid of the consequences, trusting to the superior valour of his own men.

As the people of Cochin remained quiet, Pacheco now prepared for defending the pass of Cambalan. Leaving therefore a sufficient force to guard the castle, and twenty-five men in the caravel under the command of Diego Pereira to protect the city and watch the conduct of the Moors, taking with himself seventy-three men in one of the caravels and several armed boats, he departed for Cambalan on Friday the 16th of April 1504[2]. On passing the city, Pacheco landed to speak with the rajah, whom he found in evident anxiety; but making as if he did not observe his heaviness, Pacheco addressed him with a cheerful countenance, saying that he was just setting out to defend him against the zamorin, of whom he had no fear of giving a good account. After some conference, the rajah ordered 500 of his naires, out of 3000 who were in his service, to join Pacheco, under the command of Gandagora and Frangera the overseers of his household, and the caymal of Palurta , whom he directed to obey Pacheco in all things as if he were himself present. On taking leave of Pacheco, while he exhorted him to use his utmost efforts for defending Cochin against the zamorin, he desired him to be careful of his own safety, on which so much depended.

[2] The particular distribution of the force under Pacheco at this time is thus enumerated in Astleys Collection: In the fort thirty-nine men; in the ship left to defend Cochin twenty-five; in the caravel which accompanied him in the expedition to Cambalan twenty-six; into one boat twenty-three; and in the boat along with himself twenty-two; making his whole effective force 135 men; seventy-one only of which went along with him to defend the pass.--Astl. I. 56.

Pacheco arrived at the passage of Cambalan two hours before day, and seeing no appearance of the zamorins approach, he made an attack on a town on the coast of the island about the dawn, which was defended by 300 naires, all archers, and a small number armed with calivers, or match-locks, all of whom were embarked in certain paraws, and endeavoured to defend the entrance of the harbour. They were soon constrained by the cannon of the Portuguese to push for the shore and quit their paraws, but resisted all attempts of the Portuguese to land for near an hour, when they were completely defeated after losing a great many of their number, killed or wounded, and our men set the town on fire. Having taken a considerable number of cattle at this place, which he carried off with him, Pacheco returned to defend the pass of Cambalan. At this time the zamorin sent a message to Pacheco, offering him a handsome present, and proposing a treaty for a peace between them: but Pacheco refused accepting the present, and declared he would never make peace with him while he continued at enmity with the rajah of Cochin. Next day, the zamorin sent a second message, proudly challenging him for daring to obstruct his passage into the island of Cochin, and offering him battle, declaring his resolution to make him a prisoner, if he were not slain in the battle. To this Pacheco made answer, that he hoped to do the same thing with the zamorin, in honour of the day which was a solemn festival among the Christians, and that the zamorin was much deceived by his sorcerers when they promised him the victory on such a day. Then one of the naires who accompanied the messenger, said smiling as if in contempt, that he had few men to perform so great an exploit; whereas the forces of the zamorin covered both the land and the water, and could not possibly be overcome by such a handful. Pacheco ordered this man to be well bastinadoed for his insolence, and bid him desire the zamorin to revenge his quarrel if he could.

That same evening, the rajah of Cochin sent a farther reinforcement to Pacheco of 500 naires, of whom he made no account, neither of these who were with him before, believing they would all run away; his sole reliance, under God, was on his own men, who feasted themselves that night, that the zamorin might learn how much they despised all his threats, and how eager they were for battle. Early next morning, Pacheco made a short speech to his men, exhorting them, to behave valiantly for the glory of the Christian name and the honour of their country, and promising them an assured victory with the assistance of God; by which their fame would be so established among the natives that they would be feared and respected ever after. He likewise set before them the rewards they might assuredly expect from their own sovereign, if they behaved gallantly on the present occasion. His men immediately answered him that they hoped in the ensuing battle to evince how well they remembered his exhortations. They all then knelt down and sung the salve regina , and afterwards an Ave Maria , with a loud voice. Just at this time, Laurenço Moreno joined Pacheco with four of his men armed with calivers, who were all anxious to be present in the battle, and of whose arrival the general was extremely glad, as he knew them to be valiant soldiers.

In the course of the night, by the advice of the Italian lapidaries who had deserted to the enemy, the zamorin caused a sconce or battery to be erected directly over against the place where Pacheco was stationed, on which five pieces of ordnance were placed, from which great service was expected in the ensuing battle, owing to the narrowness of the pass. On the morning of Palm Sunday, the zamorin marched forwards with 47,000 men, partly naires and part Moors, and accompanied by all the rajahs and caymals who had joined him in this war. Of these, the rajah of Tanor had 4000 naires; the rajahs of Bybur and Curran , whose countries lay near the mountains of Narsinga, had 12,000 naires; the rajah of Cotogataco , which is between Cochin and Cananor close beside the mountains, had 18,000 naires; the rajah of Curia , which is between Paniani and Cranganor, had 3000 naires. Naubea Daring, the prince of Calicut, and his brother Namboa, who were particularly attached to that part of the army composed of the zamorins immediate subjects, had a large body of men whose numbers I do not particularize. Their warlike instruments were many and of divers sorts, and made a noise as if heaven and earth were coming together.

Before day, the van of this prodigious army arrived at the sconce of the Italians, and began immediately to play off their ordnance against the caravel, which was so near that it was an absolute miracle that not a single shot did any harm. But our cannon were better served, and every shot did execution among the enemy: and so well did they ply their guns, that before sunrise above thirty discharges were made from our caravel. At day-break, the whole of the enemies fleet, consisting of 169 barks, came out of the rivers of the island of Repelim to attack our small force. Sixty-six of these were paraws, having their sides defended with bags of cotton by advice of the Italians, to ward off our shot; and each of these had twenty-five men and two pieces of ordnance, five of the men in each paraw being armed with calivers or matchlocks. Twenty of the foysts or large barks were chained together, as a floating battery to assault the caravel; besides which, there were fifty-three catures and thirty large barks, each of which carried sixteen men and one piece of ordnance, besides other weapons. Besides all these armed vessels, there were a great many more filled with soldiers, so that the whole river seemed entirely covered over. Of this numerous fleet, which contained near 10, 000 men, Naubea Daring was admiral or commander in chief, and the lord of Repelim vice-admiral. All these advanced against the Portuguese, setting up terrible shouts, which was answered alternately by sounding all their military instruments of music. The whole of these people were almost naked, having targets of various colours, and made a very gallant appearance. On the approach of this prodigious fleet, our caravel and boats were hardly discernible, so completely did the enemy cover the face of the water. Terrified by so prodigious a multitude, the naires of Cochin all ran away, only Grandagora and Frangora remaining, who were on board the caravel, or they would have done like the rest. Indeed their presence was of no importance, except to serve as witnesses of the valour of our men.

Our people plied their ordnance and small arms so incessantly that the air was quite darkened with smoke, and as the boats of the enemy were very numerous and without order, they hindered each other, and our fire did prodigious execution among them, several of their paraws being torn to pieces and great numbers of their men killed and wounded, without any hurt on our side. The twenty-five paraws[3] which were chained together were now brought forwards, and gave much annoyance to our men, who were now likewise much fatigued, as the battle had continued a long time. The captain-general gave orders to fire off a saker ,[4] which had not been, hitherto used during the battle. By the time this had been twice fired, it did such terrible execution among the thick of the enemy as to sink four of their paraws, and all the others made the best of their way out of the battle, eighteen of the paraws being sunk in all, and vast numbers of the enemy slain and wounded. On the defeat of this squadron, which was commanded by Prince Naubea Daring, Elankol, the lord of Repelim, who was vice-admiral, came forward with a fresh squadron, and gave a proud onset, commanding his paraws to lay the caravel on board; but the Malabars had not resolution to put this order into execution, and held off at some distance. The zamorin also approached with the land army, doing his utmost to force the passage of the ford; but all their efforts were in vain, although this second battle was more fiercely urged than the first. Though the battle continued from daybreak to almost sunset, the enemy were able to make no impression, and were known to have lost 350 men slain outright, besides others, which were above 1000.[5] Some of our men were wounded, but none slain; for the balls of the enemy, though of cast iron, had no more effect than as many stones thrown by hand. Yet our barricades of defence were all torn to pieces, and one of our boats was very much damaged, which was entirely repaired during the night.

[3] A very short space before these are only stated as twenty; but the numbers and names in the text seem much corrupted.--E.

[4] In a former note we have given a list of the names and circumstances of the English ordnance near this period. In that list the saker is described as a light cannon of only 5-1/2 pound ball, now looked upon as one of very small importance; we may therefore conclude that the other cannon used on the present occasion could hardly exceed falcouns , or two-pounders.--E.

[5] Such is the unintelligible expression in Lichefilds translation. In the account of this war compiled by the editor of Astleys Collection from the Portuguese historians, the enemy are said to have lost in the former part of this battle, twenty paraws sunk, 180 persons of note, and above 1000 common men; while in the second attack, nineteen paraws were sunk, sixty-two fled, and 360 men were slain. In this account, a third naval engagement is mentioned, in which sixty-two paraws were sunk, and sixty fled; after which 15,000 men were defeated by land, and four towns were burnt by Pacheco.--Astl. I. 56.

The rajahs and other chiefs who were allied with the zamorin, lost all hope of ever being able to get the victory over the Portuguese, and were sorry for having joined in the war so greatly to their own dishonour. Being afraid the captain-general might burn and destroy their towns and houses, which were all situated on the banks of rivers, they were anxious to leave the army of the zamorin, and to give over making war on the Portuguese. Some among them withdrew privately from the camp of the zamorin to the island of Vaipi with all their men, and reconciled themselves with the rajah of Cochin: These were Maraguta, Muta Caymal, his brother and cousins. The zamorin was exceedingly mortified by the discomfiture of his people, and severely reprimanded his chiefs for their pusillanimous conduct, in allowing themselves to be defeated by such a handful of men. The two Italian deserters, while they acknowledged the valour of the Portuguese in the late action, represented that it would be impossible for them to continue to bear up long against such vast odds without reinforcements, and recommended the frequent reiteration of assaults, under which they must necessarily be at last overthrown. All those rajahs and chiefs who were for continuing the war, joined in opinion with the Italians. The zamorin made a speech, in which he recapitulated the defeats they had sustained and the defection of some of his allies, who had entered into treaty with the rajah of Cochin. He stated how short a period of the summer now remained for continuing the operations of the war, which must soon be laid aside during the storms and rain of the winter season, when it was impossible to keep the field; and that, on the conclusion of winter, a new fleet would come from Portugal with powerful reinforcements to the enemy, who would then be able to carry the war as formerly into his dominions, to their utter loss and destruction. He concluded by giving his opinion that it was necessary for him to make peace with the Christians. Naubea Daring, the prince of Calicut, made a long speech, in which he defended the Portuguese against the imputation thrown upon them by the Moors of their being thieves and pirates. He recapitulated all their conduct since their first arrival in India, showing that they had always conducted themselves with good faith, whereas they had been forced into war against Calicut by treachery and oppression. He concluded by strongly recommending to negotiate peace with the Christians, as otherwise the city and trade of Calicut would be utterly destroyed, to the irreparable injury of the zamorins revenue, which was of more importance to him than the friendship of the Moors, whose only object was their own profit. The zamorin was greatly moved by this discourse, and recommended to the other chiefs that they should concur with the prince, in procuring the establishment of peace. This opinion was by no means relished by Elankol, the lord of Repelim, who had confederated with the Moors to urge a continuance of the war, and endeavoured to impress upon the zamorin that his reputation would be destroyed by proposing peace at this time, which would be imputed to him as an act of cowardice. The principal Moors, likewise, who were present in the council used all their art and influence to induce the zamorin to persevere; and it was at length determined to continue the war.

One Cogeal , a Moor of Repelim who had been a great traveller, and had seen many warlike devices, proposed a new invention for attacking the caravels at the ford, which was considered to be perfectly irresistible. Cogeal directed a floating castle to be built of timber on two boats or lighters, which were firmly secured by two beams at their heads and sterns. Over this the castle or square tower was strongly built of beams joined together by bars of iron and large nails, carried up to the height of a lance or spear, and so large that it was able to contain forty men with several pieces of ordnance. It was proposed that this castle should be brought Up to grapple with the caravels, by which the Portuguese might be attacked on equal terms. On seeing this machine, the zamorin liberally rewarded Cogeal for his ingenuity, and gave orders to have other seven constructed of the same kind. By means of his spies, Pacheco got notice of the construction of these floating castles, and likewise that the enemy were preparing certain fireworks to set the caravels on fire[6]. To keep off the fireships and floating castles, he constructed a species of rafts, made of masts or spars eight fathoms long, and bound together with iron bolts and hoops. Several of these, which were likewise eight fathoms broad, were moored with anchors and cables, at the distance of a stones throw from the caravels. Likewise, to prevent the caravels from being overlooked by the floating castles, one Peter Raphael built certain turrets on the decks of the caravels of spars set upright, in each of which seven or eight men had room to handle their arms. At this time the rajah of Cochin visited Pacheco, whom he earnestly exhorted to provide well for defence against the zamorin; as he was well assured his own subjects would desert him, if Pacheco were defeated. Pacheco upbraided Trimumpara for his tears, desiring him to call in mind the victories which the Portuguese had already gained over the enemy; and requested of him to return to his capital showing himself confident among his people, and to rest assured that he and the Portuguese would keep the pass against every force the zamorin might bring against it.

[6] Castaneda tells a long ridiculous story at this place, of a ceremonial defiance of the zamorin, not worth inserting. In Astley, I. 56. we are told that the Moors of Cochin were detected about this time communicating intelligence to the enemy, and that Trimumpara allowed Pacheco to punish them. On which he put five of their chief men into strict confinement, giving out that they were hanged; which gave much offence to the rajah and his people.--E.

In expectation of an immediate attack, Lorenco Moreno returned to the caravels with as many of his people as could be spared from the factory. Pacheco made all his people take rest early in the night, that they might be able for the expected fatigues of the ensuing day, on which he had intelligence that the grand attack was to be made. About midnight, his small force was summoned under arms; when, after confession and absolution, he made a speech to his men, exhorting them to behave themselves manfully in the approaching conflict. They all answered, that they were resolved to conquer or die. About two in the morning, some of the most advanced vessels belonging to the Calicut fleet began to fire off their ordnance, as they approached towards the pass. The zamorin was himself along with the land army, which exceeded 30,000 men, accompanied with many field pieces. Elankol, the lord of Repelim, who commanded the vanguard, advanced to the point of Arraul , which in some measure commanded the ford, at which place he began to throw up some ramparts or defences of earth. Pacheco landed secretly at the point with a detachment of his troops, on purpose to prevent the enemy from throwing up entrenchments, and a sharp skirmish ensued, in which many of the enemy were slain. On the appearance of day, Pacheco retired to his boats, though with no small difficulty, owing to the vast numbers of the enemy who thronged around; yet got off with all his people unhurt, having effectually hindered the proposed intrenchments.

The land army of the enemy now brought their ordnance to the point, where they began a furious cannonade upon; the caravels, yet without doing us any harm, as our people were all effectually secured by means of high wooden defences on the gunwales of their vessels; whereas every shot of ours made prodigious havoc among the enemy, who were quite unsheltered. The zamorin sent orders to his fleet to come on with all expedition, to deliver him and his men from this imminent danger. The Calicut fleet now approached in most formidable order, having several fire rafts in front, intended for setting our caravels on fire. After them came 110 paraws, full of men, and every one of them having ordnance, many of these being fastened together by means of chains. After these came 100 catures and eighty tonys , each of which had a piece of ordnance and thirty men. In the rear of all came the eight castles, which kept close by the point of Arraul , as the ebb was not yet altogether entered .[7] The enemy came on with loud shouts and the sound of many instruments, as if to an assured victory, and immediately began a furious cannonade. Their fire rafts advanced burning in a most alarming manner, but were stopped by the canizos , or rafts of defence, formerly mentioned. By these likewise, the paraws and other vessels of the enemy were prevented from closing with our caravels and boats, which they seem to have intended. In this part of the battle many of the paraws and other vessels of the enemy were torn to pieces and sunk, and a great number of their men were killed and wounded. On the turn of the tide, the floating castles put off from the point, and were towed by boats towards the caravels. In the largest of these castles there were forty men, in others thirty-five, and the smallest had thirty, all armed with bows or matchlocks, besides ordnance; and they seemed quite an irresistible force in comparison of ours, which consisted only of two caravels and two armed boats.

[7] Such are the words of Lichefild; which, perhaps may have been intended to imply that there was not yet sufficient depth of water to allow of their approach to the caravels; or it may mean that they waited for the tide of ebb, to carry them towards the Portuguese caravels, being too cumbrous for management by means of oars.--E.

When the largest castle came up to our floating defence, it immediately commenced a tremendous fire of all its ordnance upon our caravels; and at this time Pacheco ordered a saker to be shot off, which seemed to do very little harm even at a second discharge. The remainder of the castles now came into their stations, and the battle raged with the utmost fury. What with incessant flights of arrows, and the smoke of so many guns, our people could seldom see the vessels of the enemy. In this extremity, the saker was discharged a third time against the largest castle, which had been somewhat shaken by the two former discharges. By this shot its iron work was broken, some of its beams were forced from their places, and several of the men on board were slain. By two other discharges of the saker this castle was all torn in pieces, and was forced to retire out of the battle. Still however the rest of the castles, and the numerous fleet of small craft kept up the fight. Towards evening all the castles were much injured, many of the paraws were sunk and torn in pieces, and great numbers of the enemy slain; so that at length they were constrained to retire. On our side not one man was even wounded: One only ball went through the caravel in which Pacheco commanded, and passed among many of his men without doing any hurt. On the enemy retiring, Pacheco gave chase in the two boats and some paraws; and the caravels kept up a constant fire upon point Arraul , whence they forced the zamorin and the land army to retire, after having 330 of his men slain. After this great victory, the inhabitants of Cochin became quite reassured, and were no longer in dread of the power of the zamorin. Trimumpara came to visit Pacheco, whom he embraced, and congratulated on his great prowess: Many of the principal naires of Cochin went to compliment him; and even numbers of the Moorish merchants brought him rich presents, hoping to secure his favour.

The zamorin was greatly disheartened by the overthrow of all his mighty preparations, and losing all hope of victory wished seriously to end the war. In a council of his allies and great men, they represented the great losses they had already endured in the war with the Portuguese, and proposed to treat with them for peace. His brother Naubea Daring, who had always been averse to the war, seemed to believe that Pacheco would refuse any treaty, and advised rather to defer making an offer of peace till the arrival of the next captain-general from Portugal. This prince was likewise of opinion that the Calicut army should still keep the field till the coming on of the rainy season made it advisable to retire; as it would look like flight to retreat at this time. Yet he recommended that no more attacks should be made on the pass, in which attempts they had already met with so much loss. Elankol, the lord of Repelim, urged the continuance of the war, and to make reiterated assaults on the Christians, which must be at last successful; by which means all the Portuguese that were in Cochin, Cananor, and Coulan would be destroyed. He advised likewise, to send false intelligence to these places, saying that they had taken our caravels and slain all our men; on which news the people of Cananor and Coulan would put the people in our factories to death. This was accordingly done; but as the inhabitants of these places had already received notice of the real state of affairs, they gave no credit to this false story. Yet, owing to the malice of the Moors who dwelt in these places, our men were in great danger and durst not come out of their factories, and one of our men was slain in Coulan.

By the persuasion of Elankol and the Moors, the zamorin reluctantly consented to try the event of another battle: And, the castles being repaired, a fresh assault was made both by land and water, with many more men and vessels than before. This battle continued longer than the other, and the enemy was overthrown with far greater loss than they had ever received before. In consequence of this new victory, the inhabitants of Cochin became quite confident in their security from the power of their enemies; and the rajah, who had hitherto been in much dread of the event, became quite elated. He now came to visit Pacheco in a chair of state, with far more splendour than he had ever assumed since the commencement of the war. When this was told in the enemies camp, the chiefs urged the zamorin to a fresh attack, lest the rajah of Cochin might hold him in contempt. He desired them to cease their evil counsels, from which he had already sustained great loss, and which would still lead him into greater danger; but to leave him to consider what was best to be done for revenge against his enemies.

The zamorin gave orders to some of his naires in whom he reposed great confidence, that they should go to Cochin on some false pretence, and endeavour to assassinate the general of the Portuguese and such of his men as they could meet with. But the naires are an inconsiderate people unable to keep any of their affairs secret, so that this shameful device became immediately known to Pacheco, who appointed two companies of the Cochin naires to keep strict watch for these spies ; one company at the ford, and the other along the river, waiting by turns day and night. By this means these spies were detected and made prisoners. The chief spy was a naire of Cochin, of the family or stock of the Lecros who had certain other naires attending upon him, who were strangers. On being brought before him, he ordered them to be all cruelly whipt and then to be hanged. The Cochin naires remonstrated against this punishment, because they were naires whose customs did not allow of this mode of execution; but he would not listen to their arguments, saying that their treachery richly merited to be so punished. The Portuguese officers represented to him the great troubles which the rajah of Cochin had endured for giving protection to their nation, and how much this action might displease him, when he was informed of naires having been put to death in his dominions without his authority. Besides, that this might give occasion to some of those about the rajah, who were known to be already unfriendly to the Portuguese, to insinuate that the captain- general had usurped the authority from the rajah, and might in that way wean his affections from them. Pacheco was convinced by these arguments that he had acted wrong, and immediately sent to countermand the execution. Two of them were already half-dead ; but those who were still living , he sent to the rajah, informing him that they had deserved death, but that from respect to him he had spared their lives. The rajah was singularly gratified by this mark of respect, and the more so because there happened to be then present several of his principal nobles and some chiefs from other places, besides sundry of the chief of the Moors of Cochin, who had endeavoured to impress on his mind that the Portuguese were willing to assume the command in his dominions[8]. Henceforwards Pacheco had such good intelligence, that all the subtle devices of the zamorin were counteracted.

[8] This seems the same story which has been already mentioned in a former note, from Astleys Collection; but which is there related as having taken place with Moors .--E.

come on, from which Pacheco naturally concluded that the zomorin would soon break up his encampment, on which occasion he was fully resolved to give them an assault, having sufficient experience of the pusillanimity of the enemy. But the zamorin, being afraid that Pacheco might attack him at his departure, gave out that he intended to make another assault on the ford with a greater fleet than ever, and even directed the floating castles to be repaired. He even gave out that he meant to assail the passage of

Palurte

and the ford both at once; that Pacheco might occupy himself in preparing to defend both places, and he might have the better opportunity to steal away unperceived. Accordingly, on the evening of Saturday, which was the eve of St John[9], the whole army of the enemy appeared as usual, and Pacheco fully expected to have been attacked that night. Next morning, however, he learnt from two bramins that the zamorin had withdrawn with all his army into the island of Repelim. Pacheco was much disappointed at this news, yet he made a descent that very day into Repelim, where he fought with many of the enemy, killing and wounding a great number of them, and then returned to the ford, where he remained several days, because the rajah was still afraid lest the zamorin might return and get across the ford into the island of Cochin.

[9] The nativity of St John the Baptist is the 24th June; the eve therefore is the 23d, yet Castaneda has already said that June was ended.--E.

The month of June was now ended and the rainy season, or winter, began.

The zamorin was so crest-fallen by the great and repeated losses he had sustained in this war from a mere handful of men, that he resolved to retire into religions seclusion, that he might conciliate the favour of his gods, and dismissed his allies and chiefs to act as they thought best. His princes and nobles endeavoured to dissuade him from this resolution, but he continued firm to his purpose, and went into the torcul or religious state of seclusion, accompanied by some of his chief bramins or chaplains. Soon afterwards, his mother sent him word that great changes had taken place in Calicut since his seclusion. That many of the merchants had already deserted the place, and others were preparing to follow. That the city was becoming ill provided with victuals, as those who used to import them were afraid of the Christians. Yet she advised him never to return to Calicut, unless he could do so with honour; and that he should therefore continue in seclusion for a time, and afterwards endeavour to recover his credit and reputation by victory, or lose all in the attempt. On this message which greatly increased his discontent, the zamorin sent for his brother, to whom he confided the government of his dominions till such time as he should have completed his religious austerities in seclusion.

On this strange resolution of the zamorin, the rajahs and nobles who had joined him in the war departed to their own countries, most of which lay on the coast. And being under great apprehensions that Pacheco might reduce their dominions, they endeavoured to enter into treaties with him for peace and concord; for which purpose they sent messages to Trimumpara, requesting that he would act as mediator between them and Pacheco. The rajah of Cochin was a prince of a mild and forgiving disposition; and forgetting all the past injuries they had done him in these wars, he undertook the office of mediation, and sent them safe conducts to come to Cochin to make their peace. On their arrival, he accompanied them to wait upon Pacheco, and even became their advocate with him to accept of their proferred friendship, which he readily consented to at the desire of the rajah. Some of these princes were unable to come personally, but sent their ambassadors to solicit peace, which was accorded to all who asked it. Several even of the great Moorish merchants of Calicut, that they might quietly enjoy their trade, forsook that place and came to dwell in Cochin, having previously secured the consent of Pacheco. Others of them went to Cananor and Coulan, by which means the great trade which used to be carried on at Calicut suddenly fell off.

Owing to the great resort of Moors to Cochin, in whom Pacheco could not repose much confidence, and because, by the orders of Naubea Daring, the paraws of Calicut frequently made excursions into the rivers, the captain- general continued for a long while to defend the passage of the ford, where he often fought with and did much injury to his enemies. He made frequent incursions, likewise, into the island of Repelim, whence he carried off cattle and other provisions, and often fought with his enemies, always defeating them with much slaughter[10]. At length Elankol, the lord of that island, wishing to put an end to the miseries of his country, waited on Pacheco and entered into a treaty of friendship with him, making him a present of a great quantity of pepper, which was abundant in his country[11].

[10] About this time, in consequence of a message from the Portuguese factor at Coulan, stating that the Moors obstructed the market for pepper, Pacheco went to that place, where he made five Moorish ships submit, and settled the pepper market on fair terms, yet without doing them any harm.--Astl. I. 57.

[11] According to Astley, the zamorin lost 18,000 men in this war in five months, and desired peace, which was granted by the rajah of Cochin.-- Astl. I. 57. Yet this could hardly be the case, as the first operation of the new commander-in-chief in India was to cannonade Calicut.--E.

SECTION IX.

The Voyage of Lope Suarez de Menesis to India, in 1504; being the sixth of the Portuguese Expeditions to the East Indies.

Learning the necessity of sending powerful succours to protect the Portuguese trade from the hostilities of the zamorin, the king of Portugal fitted out a fleet of twelve[1] large ships in 1504, of which the command was given to Lope Suarez de Menesis, who had been captain of the Mina on the coast of Guinea in the reign of John II. The captains of these ships were, Pedro de Mendoza, Lionel Cotinho, Tristan de la Silva, Lope Mendez de Vasconcelles, Lope de Abreu, Philip de Castro, Alonso Lopez de Castro, Alonzo Lopez de la Cocta, Pero Alonzo de Aguilar, Vasco de la Silvero, Vasco Carvallo, and Pedro Dynez de Sutunell: All of whom were gentlemen by birth or service. Having embarked many valiant soldiers, the whole fleet left Lisbon on the 22d of April and arrived on the 2d of May near Cape Verd. Having observed during this part of the voyage, that several of the ships were very irregularly navigated, not keeping in their proper course, by which they had run foul of each other; some pushing before, while others lagged behind, and others stood athwart the order of the fleet; Suarez convened an assemblage of all the captains, masters, and pilots of the fleet, to whom he communicated the following written instructions: 1. As soon as it is night, every ship shall keep in regular order a-stern of the admiral; and no vessel to carry any light except in the binnacle and in the cabin. 2. The masters and pilots to keep regular watch, taking special care not to run foul of each other. 3. All to answer the signals of the admiral. 4. As soon as day appears, every ship shall come to salute the admiral, and all are carefully to avoid getting before him during the night. The penalty for breach of any of these articles was a fine of ten crowns, besides which the offender was to be put under arrest without being entitled to wages, and so to remain to the end of the voyage. As some of the masters and pilots had been very negligent, allowing some of the ships to fall aboard of others, he removed these to other ships. By this attention to discipline, the fleet was kept afterwards in good sailing order.

[1] These are said to have been the largest ships hitherto built in Portugal, and to have carried 1200 men; perhaps soldiers, besides their ordinary crews.--Astl. I. 57.

In the month of June, at which time they reckoned themselves off the Cape of Good Hope, the fleet was surprised by a heavy storm, and had to drive for two days and nights under bare poles in imminent danger of being cast away, the weather during all this time being wonderfully dark, so that the ships were in great hazard of running aboard of each other. To guard against this danger, the admiral caused guns to be fired at intervals from all the ships, to give notice of their situations, and the better to keep company. On the subsidence of the storm, the ship commanded by Lope Mendez was missing, and the admiral caused the fleet to lie to for some days in hopes of her reappearance. While in this situation, two of the ships ran foul of each other, by which a large hole was broken in the bow of one of the ships, through which she took in so much water as to be in great danger of sulking. The admiral immediately bore up to her assistance, and encouraged the crew to stop the leak, and even sent his boats on board to give every aid. By great exertions they got the leak effectually stopped, by nailing hides over the hole, and covering the whole with pitch. On St Jameses day, 25th July, the fleet arrived at Mozambique, where they were well received by the governor, who supplied them abundantly with fresh provisions, and sent off the letter which Pedro de Tayde had written respecting the state of affairs in India a short time before his death, as formerly mentioned. The admiral expedited the refitting of the ships which had been so much injured, as quickly as possible, and departed from Mozambique on the 1st of August. The king of Melinda sent off one of his principal Moors to visit the admiral, to whom likewise he sent sixteen of our men who had deserted from Pedro de Tayde.

Having stopt only two days at Melinda for refreshment, the fleet sailed across for India, and came to Anchediva, where they found two Portuguese ships commanded by Antonio de Saldanna and Ruy Lorenzo, who were much afraid of our fleet, suspecting it to have belonged to the Rumes[2]. Saldanna informed Suarez, that he had been sent out the year before from Portugal along with Lorenzo, as vice-admiral, with orders to explore the Red Sea and adjacent countries. That they were separated in a storm off the Cape of Good Hope. That Lorenzo proceeding alone in the voyage, had taken a ship belonging to the Moors near Sofala, out of which he had taken a large quantity of gold, and had left the hull at Melinda. That Saldanna prosecuted his voyage to Cape Guardafui, where he had taken many rich prizes, without having entered the Red Sea; after which he had sailed to India, and the winter coming on, had taken shelter in Anchediva, where he was afterwards joined by Lorenzo. At this place, Lope Mendez de Vasconcelles, who had been separated in the storm off the Cape of Good Hope, rejoined the fleet. The admiral used every expedition to get the fleet ready to proceed for Cananor, where he arrived on the 1st of September, and was informed by the factor of the events in the war with Calicut; and how he and his companions in the factory had been often in great hazard of their lives.

[2] The Turkish empire, as succeeding that of the Romans or Greeks of Constantinople, is still called Rumi in the east. It will be afterwards seen, that these Rumes , Romans, or Turks, made some powerful efforts to drive the Portuguese from India, as greatly injurious to the Indian trade with Europe through the Red Sea and Egypt.--E.

The day after his arrival, the admiral went on shore in great state to visit the rajah of Cananor, attended by all the captains of the fleet in their boats, decorated with flags and streamers, and armed with ordnance, all the boats crews being dressed in their best apparel. The admirals barge had a rich awning, and was dressed out with carpets, on which stood a chair of state covered with unshorn crimson velvet and two cushions of the same for his feet. His doublet and hose were of satin of divers colours, wrought diamond fashion; his shoes of black velvet, studded with gold; his cap covered over with gold buttons. Over all he wore a loose robe or gown of black velvet, in the French fashion, trimmed all round with gold lace. From his neck hung a triple chain of gold enamelled, from which depended a golden whistle. His rapier and dagger, which were borne by a page, had handles of pure gold. Two lackeys preceded him in splendid attire and six trumpeters with silk flags. He was also accompanied by a band of wind instruments, in a small boat In another boat were the presents which he carried for the rajah from the king of Portugal. There were, six beds of fine Holland, with their pillows of the same, all wrought with gold embroidery. Two coverlets or carpets of unshorn crimson velvet, quilted all over, having three guards of cloth of gold, that in the middle a span in width, and the others two fingers broad. The bedstead was gilded all over, having curtains of crimson satin, fringed with cold thread. On putting off from his ship, all the fleet saluted him with their cannon; then the trumpets and drums sounded for a long time; after which the organs never ceased to play till the boats reached the shore, where vast numbers of Moors and Gentiles waited to receive the admiral.

On his landing, the admiral Was conducted into a sarame or house appointed for his reception and audience of the rajah, in which he ordered the bed and all its rich furniture to be set up, close to which was placed a chair for the admiral to sit upon. Soon afterwards, the rajah was brought to the house, carried in a rich chair of state, preceded by three armed elephants, three thousand nayres, armed with swords, spears, and targets, and two thousand armed with bows and arrows. The admiral, apprized of the rajah's approach by the fleet saluting him with all their guns, went to the door to receive him, where they embraced. Then going together into the apartment, the admiral presented him with the bed already described, on which the rajah immediately lay down, and the admiral sat down beside him in the place appointed. They here conferred together for two hours, when they were interrupted by the barking of a greyhound belonging to the admiral, which wanted to attack one of the elephants.

Soon afterwards a Moor from Calicut waited upon the admiral, having along with him a Portuguese boy, who brought a letter from some of our men who were captives at Calicut ever since the time of Cabral being there. This boy informed the admiral, that the zamorin was so humbled by the defeats he had sustained from Pacheco, that he had gone into religious seclusion. That many of the Moorish merchants had gone from Calicut to other places, as they could carry on no trade there owing to the war, and that even provisions had become extremely scarce. That the zamorin and the prince of Calicut, and the magistrates of that place, were exceedingly desirous of peace with the Portuguese, for which reason they had sent him to the admiral, and had allowed the Portuguese prisoners there to write him to that effect, which they had done accordingly, but chiefly in hopes that he would free them from captivity. After reading the letter, the admiral would have sent a written answer, meaning to have sent it by the Moor. But the boy told him, they had no permission to carry any letter, and that he must return along with the Moor, as the people of Calicut had threatened to put all their Portuguese prisoners to death in case he did not return. On this account, the admiral gave the boy a verbal message for the prisoners; saying that he would very soon come to Calicut, where he would anchor as near as possible to the shore; and as the captives were allowed to go about the city without irons, they might find an opportunity to come off to the fleet either in boats or by swimming.

Suarez went accordingly with the fleet to Calicut, where he came to anchor on Saturday the 7th September; and presently afterwards the boy who had been to visit him at Cananor came on board, accompanied by a servant of Cosebequin, who brought the admiral a present from the rulers of Cochin, and a message requiring a safe conduct for Cosebequin, that he might come on board to treat for peace. The admiral refused to accept of any present until such time as peace were restored; but sent word that Cosebequin might repair on board without fear, as a servant of the king of Portugal; he sent a private message at the same time to the Portuguese prisoners, advising them to use their best endeavours to escape. On receiving this message, Cosebequin was sent on board by the governors of Calicut, to treat of peace, carrying with him two of the Portuguese captives. They requested he would wait three or four days, by which time they believed the zamorin would come out from his seclusion, and that they were convinced he would agree to all that should be required. The admiral answered, that unless they would deliver up the two Italian deserters he would agree to no terms; but he sent no message for the liberation of our captives, as he thought they might easily escape. As soon as the Italians learnt that the admiral had demanded them, they suspected the captives would run away of which circumstance they gave notice to the governors, requiring them to secure the Portuguese captives, as they were men of consideration, and that a peace might be procured in exchange for them almost on any terms the zamorin pleased to prescribe. On this advice, the governors took care to prevent the captives from escaping, and became less urgent in their desire of peace. Owing to this, they remained in captivity till Don Francisco de Almeida became viceroy of India, though some made their escape in the interim, and others of them fell victims to the diseases of the climate.

After waiting some days, and finding no friendly steps taken by the governors of Calicut towards a peace; and being likewise without hope of recovering the captives, Suarez resolved to take revenge by cannonading the city of Calicut, which he did for a whole day and a night, during which time he did prodigious damage, destroying the palace of the zamorin, several of their pagodas or idol temples, and many of the houses, and slew a great number of the inhabitants. For this service, he brought seven of his smallest ships as near the shore as possible, and advanced all the boats of the fleet, likewise carrying ordnance, close almost to the beach. After this he departed for Cochin, where he arrived on Saturday the 13th of September. He landed next day near the Portuguese castle, in as great state as he had done before at Cananor, and was received with many marks of satisfaction by Trimumpara. After embracing, they went hand in hand into the hall, in which a chair of state was placed for the admiral. As the rajah sat on the cushions on the floor, according to the custom of the country, and was therefore much lower than the admiral, he commanded his chair to be removed somewhat farther from the rajah, by which he greatly offended the native chiefs who were present at the interview. He now delivered to Trimumpara a letter from the king of Portugal, in which great compliments and many thanks were given, for the favour and protection the rajah had vouchsafed to the Portuguese. To this the rajah answered, that he had been amply repaid, by the good service which Duarte Pacheco had rendered him in the war with the zamorin. Next day, the admiral sent a large sum of money to Trimumpara, as a present from the king of Portugal, who knew that his finances had been greatly injured ill consequence of the war with Calicut.

Soon after, Suarez sent Pedro de Mendoza and Vasco Carvallo with their ships to guard the coast of Calicut, with orders to capture all ships belonging to the Moors that were laden with spices. He likewise dispatched De la Cocta, Aguilar, Cotinho, and Abreu, to go to Coulan to take in their loading, being informed that spices were to be had there in abundance. He likewise sent Tristan de la Silva with four armed boats up the rivers towards Cranganor, against some armed paraws of Calicut which were stationed in that quarter. In this expedition, Silva had a skirmish with these paraws and some nayres on the shores of the rivers; but falling in with a Moorish ship laden with pepper, he captured her and brought her to Cochin, where he and the other captains loaded their ships, as spices were now procured in great abundance.

Duarte Pacheco happened to be off Coulan when he learnt the arrival of Suarez; and knowing that his own command was ended so soon as the new captain-general should arrive at Cochin, determined to attempt some exploits while he remained master of his own conduct. With this view, he put to sea on the 22d of October, and soon after got sight of a ship at a great distance, to which he gave chase all that day and part of the night. The chase was driven into Coulan, when Pacheco learnt that she belonged to the confederates[3] , and was bound from Coromandel. He immediately afterwards descried three ships of Calicut, to which he gave chase, keeping as near the coast a possible to take the advantage of a land breeze. In the morning he put off to sea in chase of the vessel, which he was unable to get up with till towards evening close to the land; after a brave defence, as the ship had many men, she at length yielded; and not chusing to encumber himself with so many prisoners, he landed a part of her company, and made the rest prisoners in irons in his own ship. Learning that this was one of the three ships belonging to Calicut of which he was in search, he put two of his men on board the prize, with orders to keep him company. Being arrived directly abreast of Cape Comorin, he met with a sudden whirlwind, by which he was nearly cast away, and when this subsided, he came to anchor within a league of the shore, where he remained all night. While at anchor thirty of his Moorish prisoners made their escape, twelve of whom were retaken by means of his boat. Pacheco remained for some time off the Cape in expectation of the other ships of the Moors coming round from Coromandel, but none making their appearance, he went to Coulan with the ship he had captured, which he delivered to the factor at that city with all its rich merchandize. He then went to Cochin, where he put himself under the command of Suarez.

[3] This expression is quite inexplicable, unless we may pick out very darkly that it belonged to the Calicut confederacy against the Portuguese. Yet Castaneda, or his imperfect translator Lichefild, does not inform us whether this vessel was made a prize. Lichefild seems almost always to have had a very imperfect knowledge of the language of the author, often to have mistaken his meaning or expressed it with great obscurity, and sometimes writes even a kind of jargon, by endeavouring to translate verbally without being able to catch an idea from the original.--E.

The zamorin had now resumed the government, having withdrawn from the torcul or religious seclusion. He had dispatched one of his generals with a fleet of eighty paraws and fifty ships[4] to defend the passages of the rivers, and to obstruct the trade of Cochin with the interior; and had likewise set on foot a considerable land army under the prince Naubea Daring. It was the intention of the zamorin to stand on the defensive only while the Portuguese fleet remained in India, and to renew the war against Cochin after their departure. But the admiral Suarez, by the advice of all his captains, resolved to make an attack on Cranganor, a town belonging to the zamorin, about four leagues from Cochin, whence the enemy had often done much injury to the dominions of Trimumpara during the late war. For this purpose, Suarez took fifteen armed boats with raised defences on their gunwales, and twenty-five paraws belonging to Cochin, all armed with cannon, and accompanied by a caravel, the whole manned with about 1000 Portuguese soldiers, and an equal number of nayres from Cochin. The armament arrived before day at Palypuerto , where it had to wait for daylight, not daring to attempt the passage of certain shoals, as the boats were heavily laden. On arriving at Cranganor, the fleet of Calicut was found drawn up ready to repel the Portuguese attack. The Calicut commander was posted in the front, in two new ships chained together, which were full of ordnance and well manned; chiefly by archers. In the rear of these ships, and on both flanks, the paraws of Calicut were arranged, all full of armed men.

[4] According to Astley, from De Fariz only five ships; and indeed in the sequel, Castaneda only mentions two ships as employed, on the present occasion and three others that were drawn up on shore.--E.

On the arrival of the Portuguese flotilla, the battle immediately commenced by the discharge of ordnance on both sides. Five Portuguese captains who led the van, pushed on to attack the Calicut admiral in his two chained ships, which they carried by boarding after a brave resistance, in which that officer and two of his sons with many others of the Malabars were slain. After the capture of these ships, the paraws made little resistance, and soon took to flight. Suarez immediately disembarked his troops, which soon put Naubea Daring to flight, who commanded the land army of Calicut. The Moors and Malabars in their flight, plundered the houses of Cranganor, which was immediately afterwards set on fire by the Portuguese. Certain Christian inhabitants of the place came to Suarez and prayed him not to burn their city, representing that it contained several churches dedicated to the Virgin and the Apostles, besides many Christian houses which were interspersed among these belonging to the Moors and Gentiles. For their sakes, Suarez ordered the conflagration to be stopped; yet many of the houses were destroyed before that could be effected, as they were all of wood. After the fire was quenched, our men plundered the houses belonging to the Moors, many of whom had formerly dwelt in Cochin. The two ships, and several paraws which had been taken in the before mentioned engagement, were set on fire, and other three ships that were found drawn on shore.

At this time Suarez was joined by the prince of Cochin, who informed him that Naubea Daring remained with his army at no great distance, and intended to return to Cranganor after his departure. A considerable force was therefore sent against Naubea Daring; but immediately on seeing their approach, the troops of Calicut fled. On the return of the Portuguese flotilla towards Cochin, Suarez was disposed to have destroyed another town which lay near their passage; but the prince of Cochin represented that half of it belonged to him, and prevailed on the admiral to spare it, as he could not destroy one part without the other. Suarez, therefore, returned to Cochin, where he knighted some of his officers for their bravery during the last engagement. A few days after his return, there came an ambassador from the rajah of Tanor , whose dominions are next adjoining to those of Cochin. This ambassador represented, that his master had hitherto adhered to the zamorin, and had assisted him in all his wars against Pacheco. But that the zamorin, since he had come out from his religious seclusion, had redoubled his arrogant ideas of his irresistible power, and in reward of the services of the rajah of Tanor, now threatened him with war and conquest. He farther represented, that on the late occasion, when the general of the Calicut forces was in full march for the relief of Cranganor, the rajah of Tanor had placed 4000 of his nayres in ambush in a defile in their line of march, who had defeated the troops of Calicut, and hod slain 2000 of them. On this account the rajah of Tanor was in great fear of the zamorin, and humbly requested assistance from the admiral, promising in return to become subject to the king of Portugal.

For this purpose, the admiral sent Pedro Raphael in a caravel to Tanor, with 100 soldiers, most of whom were crossbow men. It chanced that on the very day of his arrival at Tanor, the zamorin arrived before that city with his army and gave battle to the rajah; but, chiefly owing to the valour of Raphael and his company, the army of the zamorin was defeated with great slaughter. In reward for this well-timed succour, the rajah of Tanor became subject to the king of Portugal. In consequence of this defeat, the zamorin was much humbled, and lost more credit with the Moors than by all the victories which Pacheco had obtained; as these had been obtained by strangers, while the present victory had been gained by a native prince. In consequence of these reverses, seeing no likelihood of ever being able to recover their trade, all the Moors who dwelt in Calicut and Cranganor determined upon removing to their own country with their remaining wealth. For this purpose, they fitted up seventeen large ships at Pandarane , which they armed on purpose to defend themselves against any attack from our men, and loaded them with all expedition for Mecca. Besides these, they loaded a great number of paraws and tonys with such goods as the ships were unable to contain.

The season now approached for the return of the fleet to Portugal, and Suarez appointed Manuel Telez de Vasconcelles[5] as captain-general of the Indies, with whom he left a ship and two caravels, of which last Pedro Raphael and Diego Perez were captains. The admiral presented these officers to the rajah of Cochin, who would much rather have procured Duarte Pacheco to remain, having great confidence in his valour and attachment to his service, but dared not to request this of the admiral, as he was of a haughty disposition. In a conference between Pacheco and the rajah, the latter entreated him to remain in India if possible, as he did not think himself quite secure from the enmity of the zamorin; and even urged him to remember that he had promised not to leave him till he had made him king of Calicut. Pacheco answered, that he left him in a good situation, his country being restored to quiet, and the zamorin so much humbled that he was no longer to be dreaded; as a proof of which the Moors were about to depart from Calicut, seeing their trade entirely ruined. And that he hoped to return from Portugal, and to serve him longer and to greater purpose than he had done hitherto. The rajah was somewhat satisfied with this answer, and craved pardon of Pacheco that he had not rewarded his services as they deserved, because he was extremely poor; yet requested he would take as much pepper as he pleased. Pacheco refused to accept of any thing; saying, he hoped to find the rajah rich and prosperous on his return to Cochin, and then he would accept a reward. The rajah gave Pacheco a letter for the king of Portugal, in which he set forth all his gallant actions during the war, strongly recommending him to his majesties favour.

[5] At the commencement of this section, Castaneda names this person Lope Mendez de Vasconcelles; in Astley, I. 58, he is called Manuel Tellez Barreto.--E.

The admiral Suarez departed from Cochin on the 27th December[6], taking with him the whole of his fleet, even those captains who were to remain in India. His intention was to have come to anchor in the harbour of Paniani, on purpose to visit the rajah of Tanor; but from foul weather, and bad pilots, the fleet could not make that port, and was driven to Calicut and Pandarane. Being off these ports and with a scanty wind, the admiral detached Raphael and Perez with their caravels, to examine if there were any ships of the Moors at anchor. While on this service, ten paraws came off to attack them, and an engagement ensued. On the rest of the fleet hearing the sound of the ordnance, they bore up as close to the wind as possible, and came to anchor[7]. In a council of war, it was resolved to attack the seventeen ships of the Moors, which lay all aground; and as the ships were unable to get near them, because they lay within the bar, the attack was determined to be made by the boats of the fleet, with orders to set the Moorish ships on fire. This being resolved upon, the admiral and all the captains of the fleet embarked in the boats, taking with them all the soldiers belonging to the expedition.

[6] In Lichefilds translation of Castaneda, this date is made the 27th September, which is an obvious mistake.--E.

[7] By some strange blunder, Lichefild says they came to Cananor ; but from all the circumstances in the contexts, it is obvious that the fleet came to anchor on the outside of the bar at Pandarane.--E.

The Moorish ships were all drawn on the beach in a close line, having their sterns to the shore, and were well armed with ordnance, and had many soldiers on board armed with bows and arrows, a considerable number of them being men of a fair complexion[8]. Besides all these, the Moors had two pieces of ordnance on a small bulwark or redoubt which flanked the passage of the bar. Our boats, seeing all these formidable preparations, returned towards the fleet[9], whence they towed several caravels within the bar to assist the boats in the attack. After a severe conflict, in which the Portuguese had twenty-five men killed, and 127 wounded, the whole seventeen ships of the Moors were boarded and taken, with the loss of 2000 men. But as the Moorish ships were all aground, the victors were under the necessity to burn them, with all the rich merchandize they contained. Owing to this severe loss, the Moors deserted the city of Calicut, which by the cessation of trade became much distressed for provisions, insomuch that most of its inhabitants withdrew to other places. The zamorin was so much humbled by this succession of disastrous events, that he remained quiet for a long time afterwards[10].

[8] Arabs probably, whites in the estimation of the Portuguese as compared with the native blacks of Malabar.--E.

[9] This part of the story is very confusedly translated by Lichefild. According to his relation, in one sense, the admiral alone returned in his boat for the caravels; while, by another part of his expressions, the whole boats returned for the admiral and the caravels.--E.

[10] According to Astley, a peace was concluded between the Portuguese and the zamorin immediately after the victory obtained by the rajah of Tanore; but this does not agree with the circumstances just related respecting the destruction of the Moorish fleet in the harbour of Pandarane, which would hardly have been done during a time of peace--E.

The particular incidents of this engagement are so confusedly related in Lichefilds translation of Castaneda as to baffle every attempt to reduce them into intelligible order. Among these, the two following are more distinctly told. Tristan de la Silva endeavoured to board a ship which appeared to be the admiral, of which the captain and a numerous crew were Turks. A little before De Silva got up to this ship, the crew had fired off a piece of ordnance which lay on the upper deck, and which by its recoil broke a large hole in the side of the ship. The Turks were so intent on defending themselves against the Portuguese boats, that they neglected to barricade this hole, of which the people in De Silvas boat took advantage to get on board; Alonzo Lopez the master, and Alvaro Lopez one of the kings servants, now town-clerk of Santarem, being the first who entered by the hole. A desperate conflict ensued on deck, in which many of the Turks were slain, others hid themselves below the hatches, and others leapt into the water, most of whom were drowned, as they were covered with shirts of mail.

The caravel commanded by Pedro Raphael, one of these brought within the bar to co-operate with the boats, was struck by a ball from the battery on shore, which killed three men and dangerously wounded other ten. In the confusion occasioned by this accident, another shot killed the master at the helm, and the caravel drove with the tide of flood right under the bows of a large Moorish ship full of men which had not yet been attacked by the boats. In this situation, a great number of the enemy boarded the caravel, and used our men very ill . The caravel afterwards drifted on certain rocks, where she remained till the end of the battle. The situation of the caravel was now perceived by the admiral, who ordered effectual succour to be sent to Raphael. The succours boarded the caravel, which was quite full of Moors, whom they drove out with great slaughter; but all of our men belonging to that caravel were sore hurt.

On the next day, being the first of January 1505, the admiral went with the fleet to Cananor, to take in the rest of his lading. He was here informed by the factor of the humbled situation of the Moors, from whom, in his opinion, the Portuguese had no longer any thing to fear in India. Being ready to depart for Europe, the admiral made an oration to Manual Telez, and those who were to remain with him in India, giving them instructions for their conduct after his departure; and as the enemy was so greatly humbled, he considered that such a fleet as had formerly been left by Albuquerque was quite sufficient, in which he left an hundred soldiers. Indeed the zamorin, as has been already said, was sick of the war, and remained quiet after the departure of the admiral.

Departing from Cananor, Suarez arrived off Melinda on the 1st of February; where, without landing himself, he sent Antonio de Saldanna to bring away the rich prizes he had formerly made at Cape Guardafui. From Melinda, the fleet went to Quiloa, on purpose to enforce the payment of the tribute from the king of that place. Departing from thence on the 10th of February, he arrived safe at Lisbon on the 22d of June 1505[11], without any incident worth relating[12]; carrying with him two ships more than had accompanied him to India, all laden with rich commodities, and was received by the King Don Manuel with great honour.

[11] By some strange typographical mistake, Lichefild makes this date 1525, both in the text and in a marginal note, thus adding no less than twenty years to the true chronology. In Astleys Collection, the conclusion of this voyage is dated 22d July 1506; but we have chosen to retain the regular series of dates as given by Castaneda. Owing to the mistake in Lichefilds translation not being detected till a part of this chapter was printed off, it has been repeated in our introduction to this article, which our readers are requested to correct.--E.

[12] In Astley, the ship commanded by Pedro Mendoza, is said to have been stranded during the homeward voyage, fourteen leagues from the Aguada , or watering-place of St Blas, and never more heard of.--Astl. I. 58.

When the king learnt the great service which Pacheco had performed in India, he expressed his high approbation of his conduct in a public procession. The king went, in all the splendour usually shewn on Corpus Christi day, from the high church to that of St Domingo, accompanied by Duarte Pacheco. After solemn service, a sermon was preached by Don Diego Ortis, bishop of Viseo; who, by the kings command, gave a rehearsal of all that had been performed by Pacheco in the war against the zamorin. On the same day, a solemn festival was held in all the churches of Portugal and Algarve. The king sent letters on the occasion to the pope and all the princes of Christendom, announcing all these notable acts and victories which had been performed in the Indies.[13]

[13] Astley concludes the account of the honours conferred on Pacheco in the following words: "But soon after imprisoned, and allowed him to die miserably. A terrible example of the uncertainty of royal favour, and the little regard that is had to true merit!"--Astl. I. 58.